Ashokan High Point

[billandjudy]

This hike started on Saturday night about 11;30 PM--Me at work
Judy calls--"Sweetie, my Mom wants to take the kids to 6 Flags tomorrow"
Me--Great, tell them to have fun
Judy--I thought we should go w/ them
Me--What??!! I thought we were doing Rocky tomorrow??
Me--(Thinking) Father of the Bride wants Overtime--ETA Home 3:00 AM--Sleep, 3 Hours--Hmmm
Judy---I'll make it up to you
Me-- OK
Anyway I digress--Decided to go solo and do Ashokan HP, a repeat from just about a year ago---It was hot, hot, hotter today. Left the TH at 9:30 and just kept walkin--stopped alot to cool down--drank lots of water--made it to the top--Got some nice shots at the summit and just beyond--started the loop down and put on the cruise control--dunked my head in the Kanape Brook--got back to the car at 2:00 (4-1/2 hrs)--9.4 miles 2360 vertical-done deal. Now to collect my "make up"
pics http://community.webshots.com/myphot...ecurity=cORDEI

[rockysummit]

Great hike, one of my favorites! Wondering about any signs of bears, I've seen them a few times up there. A couple summers ago I was resting and having lunch in the open meadow when after about 20 minutes a bear stood up from the low brush on his hind legs, about 60 feet from me, took a look and then took off. He must have been sleeping there the whole time and neither of us was aware of each others presence!...Pretty cool.

[billandjudy]

I didn't see any signs but there were a couple mentions in the Trail Register about an aggressive bear and a note from the Ranger saying to "hang your food"
It is a nice hike--just a tad rocky coming back around the loop as it follows the dry stream bed. Lots of blueberries up top make it bear heaven.
I took a pic of Hunter Mt's Trail Register on Tues.--it has an interesting entry form a group who encountered an aggressive bear

[Mark Schaefer]

Bill, were there notes about aggressive bears in the trail registers at both the Ashokan High Point and Spruceton trails?

I have seen 4 bears over the years on Ashokan HP and one more on Mombaccus. It is definitely bear territory with the blueberries, acorns, beechnuts, and the grassy areas. Bears eat a lot of grass and just about any tender young growth. The largest was a 300 lb male bear in the col between AHP and Little AHP (the eastern knob). There is an open meadow with prime blueberry and huckleberry patches on the knob.

There have been many reports of problem bears near small towns in the Catskills, but I have heard of only one before in the Catskill back-country. But it is bound to happen sooner or later, and the normal precautions are necessary when camping. I have seen over 20 bears while hiking the Catskills in the last two years. It is always a treat. Normally they turn tail and scamper away. Occasionally they hang around a bit, but I have never seen any kind of threatening or aggressive behavior.

The only bad Catskill bear/hiker story I ever heard was of a problem bear that set up residency in Becker Hollow during one season in the late 1990s. The DEC admitted he was a problem Adirondack bear that had been captured, undergone rehab with a human, and was later released in Becker Hollow. Because of his prior human contact he would approach hikers in a playful yet annoying manner. He ended up scratching a couple of hikers. Because the bear could not be caught for testing, the hikers were about to undergo rabies shots. That was just before the start of hunting season. Predictably the bear was soon shot by a hunter. Fortunately the bear was not rabid, but it was a bad ending for the bear. Since that time I have not heard of any Catskill hikers being harmed by a bear. I have also seen two bears in recent years in Becker Hollow, both of who were the normal shy Catskill bears.

[billandjudy]

Hey Mark---Yes both Trail Registers had notes written about bear contact. I took a picture http://community.webshots.com/photo/...82736937QpNeqZ
of the Hunter Register.
It was a little strange to see bear warnings 2 days in a row.

[Rik]

I saw lots of bear signs when I climbed Ashokan last year. Tons of scat, some of which looked pretty fresh. That blueberry patch that Mark mentions on the knob looked like prime territory. We almost expected to see one but didn't.

[Dick]

Originally Posted by billandjudy

I didn't see any signs but there were a couple mentions in the Trail Register about an aggressive bear and a note from the Ranger saying to "hang your food"
It is a nice hike--just a tad rocky coming back around the loop as it follows the dry stream bed. Lots of blueberries up top make it bear heaven.
I took a pic of Hunter Mt's Trail Register on Tues.--it has an interesting entry form a group who encountered an aggressive bear

We were just there, and saw that the ranger's note, which was dated sometime in June.

Dick