BOTHERATION POND & BROOK xc skiing
April 8, 2024 - SKICLIPSE!!! Started out from Barton Mines Rd (2100'), lunch at Botheration Pond, got past Botheration Brook bridge & returned, totality at The Vly. 8-12" firm snow (skis sunk in 1-2"), very light breakable crust before noon but the sun... Temp mid-40s to low 50s, mostly sunny. 7.3 miles, 512' el gain/loss, 4.7 hours. Elevations between 2000' & 2200'. Very good skiing. The parking area was not plowed. There were some old ski tracks on the Raymond Brook Trail, the Halfway Brook Trail was untracked - the latter was the better choice for eclipse viewing. The bridge next to the road had caved in but it was easy to bypass it. Some wet spots were also easy to get past. At a half-mile, Halfway Brook was crossed on a beaver dam - it is good that skis don't get iced up when temps are well above freezing. Short side-trip to The Vly - decided that was where we wanted to be at ~3 pm. Climb up to the junction of the BP Trail (always a fun run back down). The BP Trail had quite a few exposed rocks (I missed most) & some new blowdown. Mostly downhill to the pond. Stopped for lunch at the edge of the pond. Checked out the campsite. Crossed the bridge over Botheration Brook & soon reached our turn-around time. Back at The Vly. Stayed quite bright during most of the eclipse. Got dark (sort of like it was after sunset but before night) for only about a minute - the temp dropped ~10 degrees - I particularly liked the diamond ring effect. Easy ski out. Saw no one. NY 28 traffic was not too heavy while driving in the morning but was backed up a bit ~5 pm thanks to the traffic light in Wevertown.
Feb 18, 2024 (Presidents Day) - We intended to ski to Puffer Pond from the Old Farm trailhead. The Puffer Pond trail leaves the E Br Sac trail & is often wet & messy, especially early & late season, so we continued S for 0.2 miles to check out a newly flagged route that avoids the mess. The new route goes mostly thru hardwoods & was was excellent skiing - it is longer than the direct route by 0.2 miles. Headed W on the PP trail which showed little to no recent use. We had to detour at times to find good places to cross several brooklets. Crossed the inlet to 13th Lake on a good bridge then checked out the waterfall on HOUR POND BROOK. The trail then climbed, steeply at first*, alongside the brook, gaining 200' in 0.7 miles. Just past the junction with the Hour Pond trail, the PP trail crosses the brook but there is no bridge & it did not look safe to cross, so we stopped for lunch there in sight of the scenic brook. Headed back down & avoided the steep section* by going off-trail to the S - the skiing there thru open hardwoods was fun. The often wet section of the trail was mostly well-frozen & not really an issue. Still lots of time left, so we decided to ski the BOTHERATION POND loop. Looked like quite a few skiers had done it recently. The lower crossing of the brook was no problem. Thus began a long 460' climb over the next 2.8 miles - there were some short downhills too. L on the Halfway Brook trail & mostly downhill the rest of the way. Ice on the 2 ponds was good. Mostly very good skiing on 4-6" of powder on top of a good base, some rocks still showing on the BP loop. 11.5 miles, 1056' el gain/loss, 6 hours.
Jan 12, 2024 - BOTHERATION BROOK aka E Br SACANDAGA RIVER & WILLIAM BLAKE POND ski from the Old Farm trailhead. Siamese Ponds Wilderness. 12" of snow, sometimes-breakable crust topped with 0.5" of fresh powder. The 1.2-mile old road to OF Clearing had recently been skied - tracks were hard & a bit too skinny for my wide skis. We turned L on the trail to Botheration, now breaking trail. There were some wet spots as we skied thru the spruces. Mostly hardwoods the rest of the way. The brook was nice to look at but we would not risk crossing - there was a fair amount of ice but also a lot of rushing water. Turned back - skiing was better in our tracks. Back at the register kiosk, we turned R on the Halfway Brook trail & soon stopped for a lunch break. Continued up, now breaking trail again. Saw snowshoe tracks heading to Balm of Gilead Mtn & skiing improved. R turn & up to Wm Blake Pond - 1 set of ski tracks. Enjoyed soaking in the sun & blue skies from the edge of the pond - not comfortable with pond/lake travel yet with the kind of weather we have had this winter. The 1.5-mile, mostly downhill run back to the kiosk (loss of 340') was quite nice. Temp around freezing. 7.2 miles, 4.2 hours. My 12th ski of the season.
Aug. 2022 - The 35ft bridge over the Botheration Pond outlet on the Botheration Pond Loop Trail has been replaced with a brand new bridge.
Jan 22, 2022 - trail well-broken out, soft powder. Sign on bridge over Botheration Outlet says closed but skiers are using it anyway. I would definitely not recommend crossing this bridge, it's not an overcautios closing - there are 2 beaver dams people are using that are a better choice. No slush on the pond. E Branch is totally frozen up & easy to cross.
November 2021 - A bridge closure on the Botheration Pond Trail will prevent users from completing the Botheration Loop. The bridge has been roped off, please do not attempt to use it. - DEC. It is the bridge just downstream from Botheration Pond. Two of the stringers are cracked and dangerous. The bridge will not be replaced until at least the spring, so skiing the loop will not be possible this winter - as you can see, the stream has open water in mid-winter & getting across is not possible without the bridge.
Jan 22, 2021 - Botheration Pond loop clockwise + spur to The Vly, Siamese Ponds Wilderness - snowing lightly half the time, mostly on broken-out trails with ~2" fresh powder - at least a couple of us found things sticky (fresh powder + temp ~30F) - there was a little slush crossing Wm Blake Pond but skis did not ice up - no longer a bridge over the W inlet to the Vly so had to cross the stream slightly downstream then on to the nearby campsite - short lunch break at the pond (the others would not let me take a nap) + another stop for a pole break - lots of fun downhill runs. 8.9 miles, 1,100' gross el., 6.2 hours.
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