Recent watercolors:  Below are several recent watercolors, of several places forever changed in 2011 by Hurricane Irene.  Some of these images are now only burnt into the fabric of one’s mind, a digital Jpeg file, or perhaps the brushstrokes of an artist’s painting.

The Haunted House Pool is located on the West Branch of the Neversink at Frost Valley.  The logging bridge serves as a gateway to the Western Model Forest.  Sadly this pool is only a shadow of itself these days.

Haunted House Pool:

This U&D 30 bridge was built in the early 1900s, and at one time crossed the Esopus Creek downstream of NYC’s Five Arch Bridge and upstream of the Ashokan Reservoir and Chimney Hole.  Not only was it a favorite spot for anglers, but local high school students might sometimes be found jumping from it, into the cool waters of the Esopus Creek below.

Trestle (Sold):

White Pond dates back to c1990 and is located at Frost Valley YMCA.  It was dug out by the Ulster County Highway Department, in need of gravel to repair UC 47.  Its construction was a win-win for all involved as it soon became one of the finest wild brook trout ponds in all of the Catskills.  Hurricane Irene forever changed that.

White Pond summer:

Most of the upper reaches of the Neversink are heavily posted, however there is a very small parcel of NYS Forest Preserve to be found on the East Branch of the Neversink.  The landscape of the East Branch below was the outcome of a “plein air - date day”, where one individual painted while the other flyfished for trout.

Date day: