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View Full Version : New trail at Bear Mtn NY



Raul Perez
06-07-2010, 12:30
Went down the new trail at bear mountain on Fri 6/4. Very pretty trail but the stairs kills your knees and the balls of your feet on the decent with a pack on weighing 18lbs. Overall I really don't like it. Too many man made steps.

I was finishing up my section hike from NY 17A.

mykl
06-07-2010, 13:05
Some people understandably don't like the staircase. I feel it is unnecessary and ugly, doesn't feel like nature. I don't know why it was done, but the rumor is that the maintainers, nynjtc, are using it to attract new members and donations. Its only a matter of time before a unofficial trail will be running next to or close to the stairs.
I would like to hear some other opinions on this staircase section.
The nynjtc board has a thread about it:
http://www.nynjtc.org/forum/trail-conditions#comment-948

Strategic
06-07-2010, 17:28
I haven't had a chance to hike the new steps yet, but I sectioned that part two years ago when they had the work in full swing. I must say that almost anything would be better than the trail that was there before; rutted, severely washed out, covered in loose scree, and as ugly as any section of the AT I've seen that's not on actual blacktop. It was a nasty hike down the upper parts, relieved only by the pieces of road-walk. The stairs may seem more artificial, but if they keep you from slip-sliding away down Bear Mountain, they've got my vote of approval.

Feral Bill
06-07-2010, 17:46
There sre at least two alternative routes form the Weat Mountain vicinity. The Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail goes over a different part of Bear Mountain. An old road goes from the Timp -Torne Trail through the abandoned village of Doodletown. Take your pick. There are other routes across Harriman SP as well.

Appalachian Tater
06-07-2010, 21:50
The new steps are unfortunately absolutely necessary because about 0.5 million people a year walk on that section of trail. A soft surface just cannot stand up to that kind of traffic.

http://www.nynjtc.org/bmp/bear-mountain-trails-project

Trail Bug
06-08-2010, 06:16
Went through there a few weeks ago. They let us take the new trail, though it was not officially open. My hiking partner said it was a time saver and so much better than the old trail.

General Fireball
06-08-2010, 07:53
Anybody who complains about the stairs without knowing what was there before should seriously reconsider their opinion. The old trail was just what some others have said: a nightmare. It wasn't even a trail, it was more of a wide, rutted, eroded, de-vegetated scramble up the mountain. And it was easy to lose the trail. It was awful for hikers, and awful for the environment. Given that this was the first place a section of AT was blazed, it needed to be fixed in a serious way. Yes, while they're new the stairs will look raw and unnatural, but with a few years of weather and re-growth of vegetation, they will look fine. The AT "stairs" up Wawayanda Mountain were the same way.

Raul Perez
06-08-2010, 09:10
My complaint about the stairs was the impact on the knees and feet on the decent. Since I actually hiked it. A thru hiker from georgia also complained about the same thing.

I've hiked the old path plenty of times and agree it was eroded. However why not blaze a new path without the steps? Appears more form over function.

Strategic
06-08-2010, 10:06
I hear you Raul, but I had the same problem with the old trail too (i.e., tough on the knees) and can't imagine that the steps are any worse. I've done long, steep downhills with steps and never found them worse than other downhills for that. Believe me, I wasn't belittling your pain nor suggesting that this wasn't still a fairly tough downhill (though Agony Grind is still much harder, just to point to another one relatively close by.) But there are a lot of considerations beyond just comfort the trail planners needed to consider for this section.

I think Appalachian Tater has hit the core reason for the steps beyond just replacing the old, worn-out treadway: traffic. This is one of the busiest bits of the AT, with an incredible number of people hiking up Bear Mountain by the AT from the north side. Remember that this is a major "playground" area for New Yorkers coming out to the country for a day. That's really why they didn't just blaze new trail rather than find a fix for the old one. The new trail (given the traffic and steepness of Bear Mountain on that side) would have ended up like the old one in a very short period of time, and then we'd have two sets of eroding ruts down Bear Mountain instead of one. From what Trail Bug's picture shows (thanks Trail Bug!) they've gone to great lengths to make the treadway durable well beyond what we usually see on the AT (and beyond what's usually needed on most sections that aren't so heavily traveled.