Big Rosy Bone Knob

[Jay H]

I wanna go!!!!

It's by Pople hill not far east of the Long Path as it gets close to Vernooy Falls...

If anybody has the guts to call it that, I think I Must check it out..

Jay

[Mark Schaefer]

The name has always been a curiosity to me as well. Several of my books mention the existence of the mountain, but offer no insights on the origin of the name. The topo map (http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=41.8983&lon=-74.3454&size=l) shows a road that starts from the Trails End Road area near the current Palentown. Palentown had originally been the name of the entire Samsonville area before the partnership of Henry A. Samson and Zadock Pratt purchased the Palen tannery. The road leads to a private parcel area just north of Big Rosy Bone Knob. Most of the knob's summit is state land. Another private parcel appears to border the knob's summit on the west, however, NY/NJ map #43 appears to indicate that parcel may now be state land now. Unfortunately map #43 ends just north of the knob. Many of these somewhat bizarrely thin parcels date back to time of the Hardenbergh Patent when the Catskills were carved up without any direct knowledge of the topography.

I suspect the knob may consist of mountain laurel, blueberry, and/or huckleberry bushes. The laurel may appear red when in bud stage. Perhaps it is similar to the Little Ashokan knob which has a mountain laurel variety which seems to have mutated a bit and is a very dark red in its bud stage. I have been searching a similar laurel variation elsewhere, but without any luck. Also the knob may appear red in the autumn when the blueberries and huckleberry bushes both turn red. That is also a phenomena at the Little Ashokan knob and throughout the Shawangunks, especially Sam's Point. BTW many people use the terms blueberry and huckleberry interchangeably, but there is a difference. Huckleberries have a discernibly hard seed, while blueberries have very soft seeds, not generally noticeable. Ashokan High Point has more blueberries, while Little Ashokan has more huckleberries. Both berries are present at both Ashokan locations.

[snowshoe]

Another way to tell the difference between Blueberries and Hucks is the leaves. I beleive the Hucks have a sparkle to the underside of the leaves while the the Blues lack this.