Morrell’s:  With little doubt this run on the Rondout Creek, immediately upstream of the UC 42 bridge over the headwater brook near the former Morrell Field, is one of this angler’s favorite piscatorial settings.  History can be seen in the remains of old stone abutments while the brook runs as clear today as it ever did.  Plus, not far from here the iconic Catskill flyfisher, Edward Ringwood Hewitt, noted the difficulties associated with catching wild brook trout in the legendary Blue Hole when he shared his angling secrets in Telling on the Trout.

Morrell’s, 8x10:

This landscape was painted before from a different photograph and titled:

Above Morrell Field, 11x14:

Shangri-La:  Deep in the very heart of the Charmed Circle, lost in a dead-end valley along Denning Road surrounded by the Catskill Divide--- Red Hill, Woodhull, Van Wyck, and Table Mountains--- plus Wildcat lays a place lost in time, known as Shangri-La.  Days slowly fall off the Gregorian calendar like autumn leafs tumble from Catskill hardwoods; time stands still.  Hemlock and birch line the banks of the East Branch of the Neversink and the sky is uncluttered except for the occasional red-tailed hawk that patrols the airwaves.  Whitetail deer, red fox, and black bear saunter through the forest as your only angling partners.  This headwater stream is cold and clear, with highly polished cobble underfoot, and so transparent that dry flies cast upon it appear to be floating on thin air.  Wild brook trout with bluish-olive wormlike vermiculation on their backs, sagging melon-color bellies, and fins edged in chalky white--- natives of the Catskills--- still abound.

The landscape below was done from a pre-Irene photography; sadly the setting of the Abutments’ Pool has changed.  However, wild trout still prosper here in the East Branch of the Neversink, as do young swimmers from Frost Valley’s YMCA summer camp staying at the farm.

Abutments’ Pool, Shangri-La, 11x14:

Budapest Hotel:  Portrayed below are purple lythrum along the upper Esopus Creek at the site of the old Budapest Hotel waters, still home to wild trout.

Many a trout fisher erroneously referred to this location as the “Budapest Lodge”, but a review of historical records indicates such was never the case.  The grounds and building--- currently known as the Baptist Camp--- are now owned by the Missions Board and operated as a summer camp.  However, this old hotel has an interesting and rich history; it was once a premier Big Indian guesthouse

Originally built in 1872 by the Donahue family it was first called the Forest Home.  Then in 1921 it was sold to Eugene Grossman who operated it as Grossman’s Forest House until repossessed by a bank.   Eventually other owners reopened the old landmark hotel.

The June 5^th, 1949 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle ran a full page add sponsored by the Big Indian Valley Business Men’s Association highlighting lodging in the immediate area.  At the time Louis Green was the proprietor of Hotel Budapest which featured Hungarian cuisine and gypsy music.  Andrew Rohaly, another owner, would call the building and grounds Rohaly’s Budapest Rest.  The guesthouse had at least one other owner, Mr. Feynes, but apparently was never known as the Budapest Lodge.

The particular scene below also once housed a bridge over the Esopus that the Town of Shandaken closed to traffic in 1967.  This angler remembers tangling his leader on that bridge with errant casts over feeding trout during the early 1970s.  And, today if the astute angler looks carefully, he/she will still see the stone remains of old bridge abutments as well as the old historic hotel.

Budapest Hotel waters and purple lythrum, 11x14:

This landscape was originally painted on a 16x20 canvas and called, 

Budapest Lodge, Esopus Creek (Sold):