Beaver vly

The following is the second part of a report on the fifth and final day of a bushwhacking trip through the interior of the southern portion of the Pepperbox Wilderness. The majority of the trip follows along streams and beaver vlys with the exit from the area following a marked herd path from the wild interior of this wilderness area. Highlights along the trip included the Threemile Beaver Meadow, Bear Pond, Moshier Creek and Moshier Reservoir. The second part of the fifth day consisted of climbing down to the beaver vly and searching around its old dam for a marked hunter’s trail.

Date: September 4, 2010
Length: 0.61 miles (1.30 miles cumulative)
Difficulty: Moderate

Now that I reached the highest point along the shoulder of a broad hill separating Moshier Reservoir from the beaver vly I had to figure out how to navigate through the many rock cliffs located on the western side of the hill. As I was searching about for an adequate place to put down my backpack for a short rest (point #60) I flushed up a ruffed grouse. The explosion of feathers, leaves and air shocked me and I watched the grouse disappear a short distance further into the forest ahead of me.

The wind picked up and I spent more time staring up apprehensively into the canopy, expecting a large branch to come crashing down on my head. The sky appeared mostly clear but it remained cooler and less humid than the previous four days of my trip.

At this point I was looking at a series of bare rock cliffs between me and the beaver vly to the northwest. The frequent rocks cliffs and glacial erratics in this area required me to pick my way cautiously through the terrain to find a relatively safe way down to the beaver vly. The wet forest floor made this process even more difficult and I relied on my lightweight hiking poles to prevent me from taking a nasty spill down the hill. I found myself using natural switchbacks frequently and this required much slower progress than normal.

To make matters worse the forest here seemed to have been heavily impacted by wind and/or ice as many more tree limbs were scattered about on the ground. In addition, the trees canopy had a mangy look from the apparent loss of limbs. The downed limbs could have been the legacy of the 1995 microburst, 1998 ice storm or any some other event over the years.

After working my way down through the steepest section of the descent I encountered an old yellow paint slash on a young red maple (point #61). At first I thought it might be an old property marker but the young age of the maple tree suggested another explanation. Upon scanning through the forest I detected two other yellow slashes in the same direction I was heading. Since they were positioned in the same direction as the beaver vly I imagined they might just be an old hunter’s path and I started to follow what appeared to be a very old path between them. As I followed the old trail I also noticed some cut spruce branches along the way but when the trail crossed a small stream I could not find the next yellow slash or the path.

Forest climbing down to beaver vly

Abandoning the old path I continued toward the beaver meadow and soon it appeared through the trees ahead of me. I arrived at a point at the southeast corner of the beaver meadow (point #62) almost exactly where I planned when figuring out the bearing with my compass back at the shore of the Moshier Reservoir.

A common yellowthroat sang from a hidden perch embedded somewhere in the middle of the shrubbery within the vly. I scanned the meadow with my binoculars but failed to spot anything of great interest other than a few scattered stumps mingled within the vegetation. The wind blew the shrubbery through the meadow like a wave on the surface of a lake. Dark, threatening clouds had moved in but frequent gaps in the cloud cover allowed the sun to illuminate parts of the beaver meadow.

The wind continued to blow as I fought my way through the dense shrubbery westward through the meadow vly toward its old broken dam. The stiff breeze quickly dried off my pack rain cover and myself above the knees as I searched for the old hunter’s path. The location of the path was uncertain as it was many years since I last passed through this area last (on the way to Bear Pond) and I failed to consult (or ascertain the location of) my notes from that trip.

Beaver vly

After searching around the dam and doubling back to the east I explored a small clearing to the south of the dam and quickly found a well-worn path along the edge of the tall, thick vegetation (point #63). With much relief I briefly stopped for a snack and some water before setting off to the south along the trail at a little after 10 AM.

This hunter’s path would lead me all the way back to the edge of the Pepperbox Wilderness along the power line right of way I passed through five days before.