Deer Shanty Brook 10/25/06

[Deb]

There are so many special places in the Catskills that I have yet to visit, but with the help of a guide book I am crossing a few more off every year.

It still feels like fall on the east bank of the Hudson River where I live - even many maples still have their leaves - but down on Rt. 42 south of Big Indian Wednesday it was winter. The high peaks all around were frosty with snow.
My destination was Table Mountain via the old Denning Rd. from the Slide trailhead.
It was a Jekyll and Hyde day - dark, windy and freezing one minute, blue skies and sun the next. Several times snow squalled over though the sky above me was clear.
The hike as far as the Curtis/Ormsbee trail was in slush, but once over the rise the descent was totally different; warmer, no snow. I got a good look at Table from there and could see it had a lot of snow above 3000 feet or so.

Towering hemlocks, rushing water and a rugged, boulder-strewn landscape all amazed me in the Deer Shanty Brook area.
As I went up Table, Slide disappeared in a whiteout. By this time I was up on the fourth of a series of ledges and knew I didn't have far to go. I was walking in two inches of snow with sopping trail runners, though, and it was getting dark. When the squall settled over Table, I turned around.
I camped at a nice designated site in a flat area not far from the Deer Shanty floodplain. The wind blew hard all night; about 1am the tent rustled in a sleet storm.
It was all blue sky Thursday morning though, and I was back to the car by 10 am.

One question: Is the East Branch of the Neversink called the Deer Shanty? Or do the two different creeks converge there? There were two water courses, but only one had water.

[Mark Schaefer]

One question: Is the East Branch of the Neversink called the Deer Shanty? Or do the two different creeks converge there? There were two water courses, but only one had water. The Deer Shanty Brook is a tributary of the East Branch of the Delaware. The Deer Shanty drains the southwest corner of Slide. The East Branch drains the southeast corner of Slide and the western slopes of the bushwhack range up to Cornell. The recently reconstructed two log bridge is over the mainstream of the East Branch, but at times this may have been the Deer Shanty brook. This was discussed in this thread (http://www.adkhighpeaks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2134).

It is a classic flood plain. Every time the streams experience a large flood, and based upon the amount of debris that flows, both stream courses may be altered. In theory and some claim that the confluence of the two streams has been south of the two log bridge, with the East Branch in one of the usually dry, wide channels to the east, and the Deer Shanty Brook under the two log bridge. I don't think I have ever seen that configuration, but I don't hike in from Denning often. The 1969 Peekamoose Mt USGS quad shows the confluence precisely where it is today, north of the two log bridge.

What contributes to the confusion is that the Long Path crossing of the streams is incorrect on NY/NJ map #43. The Long Path is shown too far north, crossing both streams above the confluence. The two GPS tracks in the above thread show the NY/NJ map to be in error.

I went back to my old Walking News maps, which preceded the NY/NJ maps. The 1973 edition of Walking News map #66 (Central Catskills) looks the same as the incorrect NY/NJ map #43 (LP too far north, crossing both streams). That was corrected in the 1975 and 1979 editions of Walking News map #66, which show the LP crossing below the confluence, at the point of the current the two log bridge. I do not believe the Long Path crossing has changed much over the years. My conclusion is the NY/NJ map makers either copied from the incorrect 1973 Walking News map, or were just confused by the many stream beds in the flood plain, all of which carry water during periods of high water. The next edition of the NY/NJ should be all digital, e.g. using GPS tracking of the trails. So hopefully the next map will be correct. There is no schedule for that, and the TC is probably several years from starting work on the new maps.

[Deb]

Thank you, Mark. Somehow I overlooked the previous thread and discussion, though it was only in September.
Now I see my confusion was general, not individual; that's usually not the case.
Didn't realize the reconstruction of the bridge was completed so recently.

I liked daLunartik's photos. Not having read the Cannister article, how exactly did they lift those massive logs into place? They look at least 30 feet long and must weigh tons.

[daLunartik]

Thank you, Mark. Somehow I overlooked the previous thread and discussion, though it was only in September.
Now I see my confusion was general, not individual; that's usually not the case.
Didn't realize the reconstruction of the bridge was completed so recently.

I liked daLunartik's photos. Not having read the Cannister article, how exactly did they lift those massive logs into place? They look at least 30 feet long and must weigh tons.
I have more photo's that I did not post, since it included the equipment the crew had left behind (and things that an unscrupulous person could walk off with, though as the Ranger we met said, "who really wants to hike 2 miles for a Maddox?"). There was a large cable across the stream, with one end anchored by a metal tripod, and the other in a tree, plus a bunch of heavy duty winches. I'll post the additional shots when I get home this evening.

[pete_hickey]

I liked daLunartik's photos. Not having read the Cannister article, how exactly did they lift those massive logs into place? They look at least 30 feet long and must weigh tons.47 feet long. They do weigh a lot. Someplace, somewhere I think I have pictures of them placing them last year. They used a highline.

If you have the Dec issue of Backpacker (Gods of Rock), you'll see the bridgebuilders and some pictures of the highline movfing rocks.

[Deb]

47 feet, holy cats.

The Backpacker article 'Gods of Rock' is the best thing that magazine has published in a long time, in my opinion. Those AMC trail crews are a different breed.
I give them all the respect in the world for the work they do.
Spending all day moving and placing a few rocks isn't for everyone, but fortunately these crews are into it.
I thought about that article as I looked at the bridge and remembered the high line they used to move rocks. Still didn't see how something on the scale of that bridge was possible. That's the way it looked to my untrained eye.

[pete_hickey]

Those AMC trail crews are a different breed.
ADK, not amc. Don't EVER let them hear you call them AMC crews.

I give them all the respect in the world for the work they do.
Spending all day moving and placing a few rocks isn't for everyone, but fortunately these crews are into it. Oh, they really are into it. It's like a private club.
I thought about that article as I looked at the bridge and remembered the high line they used to move rocks. Still didn't see how something on the scale of that bridge was possible. That's the way it looked to my untrained eye.I'll try to look for the pictures tonight. Most of them are them goofing around or pictures of a particular piece of work, such as:

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/bridge2.jpg

and

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/bridge3.jpg

When moving the big stuff, they were working with nobody to take the pictures. Remember, these are last years pictures.

[pete_hickey]

A few more pictures of them working on those logs. You can see a bit of the highline in the first one. The others are preperation of the logs.

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/tmp/bridge09.jpg

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/tmp/bridge10.jpg

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/tmp/bridge11.jpg

[Deb]

ADK! Sorry! Very sorry Gods of Rock.

Those are great photos, Pete. I told a friend of mine, an engineer, about the bridge and he had all kinds of questions. Now I can show him the pictures.

Can you explain the half-buried logs in the trenches in photo 3? Are they for the base structure or for leverage?

These guys can be very proud of their work.
I'm a big fan.