Vly and Bearpen Mountain

Vly and Bearpen Mountain are two very different mountains. Vly has an unmaintained trail to the summit of the mountain with no views on the top and a good uphill climb. Bearpen has an easy hike up to the top because it use to be an old ski resort plus it had remarkable views. I would have to climb up one mountain then backtrack and climb up the other. Vly was on my list first.

You first start on a worn down private road that leads uphill to a private hunters cabin. There you had to decide wether to take a right to Vly Mountain or a left to Bearpen Mountain. I'm going to do Vly first. Now its a very short hike, but at the same time its pretty steep and it wears you down. Not to mention it was about 85 degrees outside plus incredibly humid. So it was wearing me down a lot. I also wasn't ready for how steep the mountain was. I thought it would be very easy, short and quick hike to the summit and back, but the high-grade of the mountain wore me down. It wasn't vertical rock climbing but I wasn't ready for it and I was drenched in sweat. Also, on my way up I found a cellphone on the ground. I really don't know how it caught my eye, but I picked it up and put it int my pocket. When I got home later in the day, I found the owner by calling some numbers and I had it on the way back to the owner in the mail within the next couple days!

When you reach the summit of Vly, since it is an unmaintained trail, there is a canister at the top you can sign into to show that you were there. After that, its a good fast trip back down to the junction of Bearpen and Vly. The trip down to the junction is about a mile long and it took about 13 minutes. I was basically jogging down the mountain.

Going up to the summit of Bearpen is very easy climb. Since it was an old ski center, there is a snowmobile trail to the summit where the ski slopes use to exist. The ski center was shut down after the county lines were reconfigured in 1946. Further research concluded that the man who had reconfigured the lines for the county, was tied with another man who owned land next to the Bearpen Ski Center. After the reconfiguration of the county line, Bearpen was shutdown. Because of where the mountain was located, it receives more snow than any other place in New York. That ski center was going to be one of the best places to ski in the east. Bearpen was going to be a great place not only because of the skiing, but also because the owner wanted to keep the locals involved with the center. You can read an amazing story all about the ski center here : http://nyskiblog.com/magazine/#nabble-td255173

Back to the hike - going up to the top was very easy because of the snowmobile trail but it was still at decent grade. Also, the heat and humidity weren't helping out at all. The sun was breaking in and out of the clouds and when it was showing, man was it hot. Here's what the trail look like almost all the way to the top:

At one point you can go off trail and cut a good amount of time and length off of your hike. Instead of taking the snowmobile trail there is an unmarked trail that I decided to take. It led me to this beautiful viewpoint near the summit of the mountain. This definitely was once a spot of the top of ski runs! You can see a break in the trees in the picture below(like a v-shape) to show you where the run was. The trees have grown so much in 50 years that it basically hidden now. But, I bet if you did ski down the run, you would be able to find your way down without ease. Later on, I will definetly be skiing down this mountain!

As you can see, it was very hazy and humid. I was sweating like crazy. At this position, you can't see where the old ski runs were because of the tree growth. Its been over 50 years so the trees have grown over the old ski run areas. In the winter though, when the leaves aren't on the trees, you can see some of the places where the trees were cut down for the skiing. The last picture is of an old ski pull up. Bearpen Mountain had rope tows to pull the skiers back up to the top of the mountain to ski again. It's amazing that they have been left there. To me, it's great because its a piece of history of the mountain. They basically were trucks with the wheels replaced as pulley's to install where the ropes would pull the skiers back up to the top.

After that, you slowly gain in elevation and arrive at the summit. It had an opening where I decided to have lunch. And boy was it a perfect place to have it!!

On the other side of the mountain was a ledge with view looking to the west. It was another stunning spot to just walk around and get lost in the views. As you can see from the pictures, the humidity was overwhelming. I was sweating even in the shade.

The views were amazing from each end. Lunch was great: a good ole peanut butter sandwich(yes, JUST peanut butter), doritos, and a lot of water! The sun was breaking through the clouds here and there and it was punishing. Even though I was at 3600 feet, it was still hot. The wind was blowing nicely but it felt like it was hot air. I took pictures and then I was on my way back down the mountain. After my hike, I saw that there were more viewpoints and places on the mountain where the summit lodge use to be and where there was a ice skating pond. The next time i go up there I will definitely be checking out those areas. Until next time Bearpen!!