SE Warren Mountain and "West Carmens Notch" Mountain(Catskills)

Headed out to the serene western Catskills of Delaware County to hit a pair of lesser known peaks with my buddy Jim again.  Our first stop was 3020 foot SE Warren Mountain, a Catskill hundred highest peak, but also a private peak.  We first secured permission at the Highlanders Bed and Breakfast, which sits high up Crescent Valley, where the views from the road are truly remarkable.

With permission secured, we began our hike on a woods road at a lofty 2450 foot elevation, with the landowners dogs accompanying us.

Within just a few minutes, we began to encounter snow, but only an inch or so...enough to cover the rock walls lining the woods road.

A blanket of white on the stark November landscape.

Heading NW towards the pricker infested summit ridge.

Arriving at the wooded(pricker filled actually)summit.  My 98th Catskill Hundred Highest peak.

Continuing west past the summit, we dropped a couple hundred feet to the power line crossing.  The views north from here are very, very good.

Contrast of seasons.  A one thousand foot difference in elevation means quite a variation.

Farmland down below in the Rose Brook valley.

Jim and our canine companions, checking out the views.

2891 foot Mount Warren sits just to the NW from the power line cut, with the pastoral landscape of Stamford and Kortright lying beyond.

A great view to the north of Lyon Mountain(L) to Cowan Mountain(R).

Looking down the STEEP north slopes of SE Warren!

Continuing up the snow covered power line corridor to the south.

The south facing power lines are also impressive, but not quite as far reaching.  The view is directly SW into the Bovina hills.

West Warren Peak rises just to the right of the power line cut.

To the left of the power lines, and slightly more south are the peaks leading down towards Mount Pisgah.

After enjoying the views, we began to head back towards the cars, passing this ravine, where again the contrast of seasons could be felt, this time simply due to sun angle.

Following a woods road back out on our descent to the car, friendly dogs still in tow.

Arriving back at the Highlanders View Bed and Breakfast, with the west slopes of Plattekill rising dramatically above.  A quick 3.5 mile hike with 700 feet of ascent.

Once back at the cars, we grabbed a quick bite to eat, before continuing on down the road a short distance to the 19th century Nichols Cemetery at the corner of Beaver and Cape Horn Roads, in a place known as Carmens Notch.

The cemetery is remarkably well kept, and surrounded by rock walls.

The view south from the start of our hike, at the high headwaters of the Little Delaware River, provides a great look over nearby farmland towards Mount Pisgah.  Elevation in the notch here is quite high, at just over 2200 feet.  Our goal was to to hike up to an unnamed 2860 foot summit on DEP land, which we dubbed "West Carmens Notch Mountain", due to its close proximity to Carmens Notch.

Beaver Road, or as some maps call it, Sawkill Road, an abandoned highway was our route up through Carmens Notch.

A large beaver wetland has fully submerged the road, meaning we had to circum-navigate our way around it.  This wetland is actually part of the headwaters of the Little DelawareRiver.

We found, as always, plenty of rock walls in these quiet woods, some as high as 2475 feet.

On our ascent, we crossed back over remnants of Beaver Road, which is more than likely used by locals as a walking trail.

After a couple of small, steep pushes, we arrived at a snowmobile trail, which helped us avoid the worst of the pricker canes.

As we gained elevation, we began to encounter some very nice views east towards SE Warren(L) and Plattekill Mountains(R)over the encroaching prickers.

The snowmobile trail provided a nice look back east towards our earlier hike from Crescent Valley.

From the snowmobile trail, we bushwhacked up through more prickers to a nice SW facing ledge, where Bovina farmland and "Pink Street School" summit.

Directly south, West Warren Peak can be seen rising above,

 

One final steep push up towards the summit area.

Arriving at the 2860 foot, flat summit of "Carmens Notch West Peak", with a dusting to an inch of snow.

We descended via, the steep south slopes below the summit, with the nearby peaks visible through the bare November trees.

Once back at the abandoned section of Beaver Road, we followed it east to where DEP land meets the driveable section of town road,  A nice 2.5 mile RT hike with 750 feet of ascent on this peak. Total for the day was 6 miles RT and about 1450 feet of elevation gain.

I certainly do love this quiet little corner of the Catskills, where the hustle and bustle of the rat race is left far behind.  You are more likely to encounter old one room schoolhouses, such as this beauty, than you are a shopping mall.  The Maynard School ran from 1849-1959.

The beautiful Little Delware River tumbles down out of these peaks, winding its way to the Delaware River and eventually all the way down to Cape May, NJ.

The "X" denotes "West Carmens Notch" and the red circle indicates SE Warren on the map below.