[Bill Menke’s Journal Entry for January 30, 2006] Dallas and I walked from Lamont to State Line Lookout, via the section of Old Highway that was once part of Route 9W. The lowlands of Rockland County had dense fog, but as we drove up to the Oceanography building we began to rise above it, so that the fog became very bright, and with the face of the sun visible through it. We walked first to Lamont’s main gate, and then up the Old Highway. We had descended into fog again, so the road was pretty somber and dim, with the overhanging trees dripping moisture. The small stream that parallels the roadway was flowing briskly. As we ascended toward the cliff face of the Hudson Palisades, the fog again brightened, until, finally, we poked above it. The interface was not distinct, but rather the fog became patchy on the last, upper stretch of roadway. State Line Lookout itself was mostly above the fog. Lookout Inn, the old stonework refreshment stand, was completely clear of it. The view outward from the cliff was very strange, indeed. Fog completely filled the Hudson Valley, and partially covered the low hills of Westchester County, to the east. The tops of a few buildings and water towers protruded in places, as did the tops of the highest ridges. They made long islands in the fog that I found reminiscent of those along the Maine Coast. The sky above us was completely clear and very bright blue. We stood at the lookout for a few minutes, trying to find particular places. It was hard to do, for the completely transformed landscape was very disorienting. I could not find the Tappan Zee Bridge, for instance (though from that vantage point I probably could only have seen its eastern end, which has low elevation). We again reentered the fog on the way back, but it was thinner now. About an hour, round trip.