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: