Bearpen & Vly 3/2/13
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 10:04 pm
So I was supposed to go hiking with a few people but everyone bailed. I was headed up to Bearpen and Vly for my 3500 progress. I read about it on this website and looked for exactly where to park. I decided to go from the south from Rt.3 and go to Vly first. These were climb 35 and 36 for me.
Right when I got there I noticed that there was a lot of snow. In NJ there hasn't been snow on the ground for over 3 weeks, and I didn't have my snowshoes with me! I brought the crampons in case it started getting slippery and I started up the snowmobile trail.
Bearpen from the trail
The trail was well used, there were snowshoers ahead of me, and 4-6 snowmobiles buzzing around the mountains.
The cabin through the trees
The pictures I have are deceptive. I was following snowshoers, so the snow only looks to be a few inches deep. It about 1-2 feet deep though, and the snowshoers ahead of me just weren't sinking as much as I was. I could sort of stay on top if I moved fast and stepped where they did, but it was slow going.
A shot of Bearpen through the trees as I climbed up vly
The rime was nice.
Vly canister
After I went down past the cabin I just followed the snowmobile tracks up Bearpen
My right leg sunk in up to my knee, and my left is on top of the snow. Sometimes I would just hit a soft patch and sink.
On top of Bearpen I didn't get much of a view since a snow cloud was moving in and it was flying low
Around the summit the snowmobilers came to congregate. I didn't stick around for long, there was no view I just took a couple more pictures, ate my lunch and headed back down.
Vly from the trail down
Right when I got there I noticed that there was a lot of snow. In NJ there hasn't been snow on the ground for over 3 weeks, and I didn't have my snowshoes with me! I brought the crampons in case it started getting slippery and I started up the snowmobile trail.
Bearpen from the trail
The trail was well used, there were snowshoers ahead of me, and 4-6 snowmobiles buzzing around the mountains.
The cabin through the trees
The pictures I have are deceptive. I was following snowshoers, so the snow only looks to be a few inches deep. It about 1-2 feet deep though, and the snowshoers ahead of me just weren't sinking as much as I was. I could sort of stay on top if I moved fast and stepped where they did, but it was slow going.
A shot of Bearpen through the trees as I climbed up vly
The rime was nice.
Vly canister
After I went down past the cabin I just followed the snowmobile tracks up Bearpen
My right leg sunk in up to my knee, and my left is on top of the snow. Sometimes I would just hit a soft patch and sink.
On top of Bearpen I didn't get much of a view since a snow cloud was moving in and it was flying low
Around the summit the snowmobilers came to congregate. I didn't stick around for long, there was no view I just took a couple more pictures, ate my lunch and headed back down.
Vly from the trail down