"Hiked Vly and Bearpen with Tom2 and Rebecca out of Johnson Hollow. We carried snowshoes but only used micro spikes the whole way. There were some deep/drifty spots where we could have used the ‘shoes but the spots were very short and not worth spending the time switching. We experienced a variety of weather from overcast to blue sky and sun then back to cloudy with snow flurries only to go back to sunny and so on. Rebecca headed to Tannersville to spend time at the Snowed Inn while Tom2 and I headed to the Halcott PA on Rt 42. Again we carried snowshoes but found a solid packed track all the way to the canister so only used the spikes. A short day so I had p,entry of time to do some food shopping, get the car washed and visit my parents in Dutchess County before heading to home in Westchester." — Nimblefoot • Feb 4, 2025

"Back to Vly and Bearpen for the Fall season then a quick saunter up to the tower on Balsam Lake mountain, also for Fall, on my way to Red Hill fire tower. Took the newer and longer trail to Red Hill as the trailhead came up first and it is a more pleasant hike than coming up from Dinch road. On the final ascent I met a gentleman descending from the tower that looked familiar. As we neared each other he “asked if I was on Balsam Lake today”? Yup and so was he but with a different shirt on. Turns out he is working on the ADK Fire Tower challenge and spending a few days getting the five in the Catskills. Red Hill completes round #12 of the Catskill FT challenge and I “needed” for the month of September. Still need the months of October and December. A three hike/three shirt day with two towers and one canister only seeing a few others on BLM and Red Hill. Enjoying the fine Fall weather, leaves are already falling and occasionally slippery." — Nimblefoot • Sep 30, 2024

"Easy sauntering day with Tom M. Day 3 of 7 straight days he’s hiking to complete a round of the Catskill 35 and finishing his 7th 420 Grid( 2940 35Rs)on the 7th day. Friggin showoff(!), though it helps to actually live in the Catskills rather than be 2 hrs away. I got day #351 out of 366 of our 35R Everyday challenge, still 9 days behind Tom(#360/366). After meeting Tom in downtown Fleischmans he drove us up to the Hunters cabin between Vly and BP in his plug-in Subie. One other hiker was out doing the peaks, that we know, but we never crossed paths. I’m sure he had a time jump on us as we didn’t started until 8:45 as this was a semi- rest day for Tom. Up to the canister on Vly via the usual herd path then over to BP summit via the road with the herd path shortcut in between. Two and a half hours later we were back to the Subie, for a second time, and off to Mill Brook road PA for our final peak of the day. At the small lot on Mill Brook road there was one car in the lot that was actually parked the wrong way, parallel will the road rather than more perpendicular which makes better use of the space. We commenced on a saunter up the road/trail to the tower shortly after 12 noo..." — Nimblefoot • Sep 3, 2024

"Tom R., Rebecca, Tom M. and I did a buffet of four peaks starting with Vly/Bearpen out of Johnson Hollow followed by BLM from Mill Brook rd and finishing with Halcott from Rt 42. A bit of a sweat-fest bookended with peaks having canisters. Tom M. graciously drove us up to the hunters cabin in his Subie saving us the road walk twice. Recent rains really did a number on the road, less packed down than usual. The shade near the tower on BLM offered a nice respite for an early lunch break, though it didn’t seem early when one has breakfast at 4:30 in the AM. Little Halcott was the toughest climb right in the brunt of the mid-afternoon heat and bright sun. Thanks to Rebecca we devoured a large bowl of chilled watermelon cut up in bite-size pieces right before our final climb. Got to get your liquids any way you can." — Nimblefoot • Jul 8, 2024

"Tony invited the four of us to join him in a hike of Bearpen and Vly in order to complete his single season Spring round of the Cat 35. Besides the Spring triangle patch he also earned his Four in a Row patch(Summer’23 to Spring’24) from Hikers Anonymous. Fortunately Tom was willing to drive us up the road to the Hunters cabin. After a short chat we headed up to the Bearpen summit then onto the furthest view looking west. Back to the cabin for another chat then onto the canister on Vly where Tom presented Tony with his patches and a Four in a Row t-shirt both of which were a total surprise. Tony surprised us with homemade cookies and brownies from his wife…yummy! Back to our cars, seeing very few other hikers, to eat our lunch while drive up to the Mill Brook road TH. Here we expected meet two more hikers, Marguerite ( aka Itty Bitty ) and her friend Doug from NH who was visiting for a few days. We were early so we headed and hung out on the fire tower to get in the cooling wind and out of the black flies. Tony surprised with another container of the same treats keeping us fed as we waited. Upon their arrival and climb of the tower we took more group photos then headed back t..." — Nimblefoot • May 21, 2024

"Originally it was Mimi, Rebecca and myself to be hiking Vly & Bearpen in the morning then finishing the day on Balsam Lake mountain. Mimi had to head back out because her son was making a surprise visit over the weekend so it was down to Rebecca and I. Quick scoot up and down Vly passing four friends who started 20 minutes after us. On our way up Bearpen we kept an eye out for big patches of ramps that have popped up recently off the right side of the road. With constant chitchat we were up to the summit before we knew it. On our way back down we didn’t see our four friends again until we got close to the Hunters cabin, they had found and harvested some ramps over on Vly. Rebecca stopped first,prepared with a stool and scissors to harvest the amount allowed by the State ,while I went further down the road to harvest enough to put into several nights salad. Since Mimi would miss BLM we decided to skip it for a time when she could join us. On my way down from the cabin I ran into another friend that haven’t seen since last fall so I was able to hear about her two month trip to New Zealand over the winter. Nice easy day with plenty of time to run some errands on my way home." — Nimblefoot • Apr 21, 2024

"Bearpen and Vly in the AM then BLM in the afternoon to finish the day. All day alternated between full overcast with snow showers and blue sky with bright sun. Windy most of the day. Only spikes today snowshoes stayed in the car." — Nimblefoot • Jan 14, 2024

"Rebecca and I joined Mimi for her final three peaks needed to complete her single season Fall round. Vly and Bearpen in the morning followed an ascent of BLM in the afternoon where Tom joined us. On the summit of BLM Rebecca presented Mimi with her Fall triangle patch from Hikers Anonymous(Ha!). Only micro spikes were carried, leaving the snowshoes in the car, and used only by two of us on BLM for better grip." — Nimblefoot • Dec 16, 2023

"A 3-Peaker of Vly and Bearpen then Richard, Johnny and I finished our day on Balsam Lake mountain. Cloudy on V/BP with water and ice pellets dropping out of the trees at the higher elevations. Blue sky over on BLM where watched ice falling off the fire tower with the warmer temps and sun making it a bit unsafe to climb the tower." — Nimblefoot • Oct 23, 2023

"A very quiet Labor Day Monday. In the morning I did Bearpen and Vly out of Johnson Hollow without seeing a soul. Maybe the early morning showers and high humidity scared everyone off. For the afternoon I headed over to the Blackhead range to visit the summits of Thomas Cole and Black Dome. Because Barnum road trailhead was closer than Big Hollow road I started from it, something I haven’t done in probably 5 yrs or more. This allowed me to tick off the Caudal and Camels Hump once again. I even headed off trail to make sure I got the summit “X” on the Caudal. I only met one couple with their pup getting all three peaks of the range. " — Nimblefoot • Sep 4, 2023