[Journal entry for November 20, 2012; Stockbridge Mountain, Harriman State Park]. I am hiking today with Estel, my daughter Hannah’s Australian Cattle Dog. We park at the huge lot by Silvermine Lake and take the Menomine Trail (blazed in yellow) westward. We cross Seven Lakes Drive and one of the inlet streams of Lake Narahunta, and then climb up the steep flank of Stockbridge Mountain. This trail is rather rocky and eroded. We pass a high south-facing scarp, one of the many glacially-plucked cliffs in the Hudson Highlands. I have often climbed up to the hiker’s shelter that is on the Long Path just north of the Menemine trail intersection. Today, however, we take the Long Path (blazed in blue) southward, following the north-south ridge of this low hill. We pass a very large precariously-perched boulder. It sits on a rock ledge near the crest of the ridge, is larger than a car, and hangs out over the edge by almost half its length. We encounter two interesting glacial eratic boulders as we walk along the trail, one composed of limestone and the other of meta-conglomerate. The trail passes several more glacially-plucked cliffs and several fields of very large boulders. It also passes a small pond, one of the many that, counter-intuitively, can be found near ridge crests in Harriman Park.

As we descend down the southern flank of Stockbridge Mountain, we encounter a woods road that the map indicates heads northeast to join the Appalachian Trail (AT, blazed in white). I decide to take it, but we find the going slow, owing to numerous recently fallen trees – victims of Hurricane Sandy. We pass a large concrete structure that I suppose is from some old water works. We connect with the AT, which in this area is sub-parallel to the Long Path, and take it back north. It passes through a stand of White Pine, which has not fared well in the Hurricane, as many trees are fallen. We take a short detour to a wetland to view the now-tan marsh grasses. The AT crosses the wetland’s outlet stream, which flows into Lake Narahunta, by a footbridge. I cross it but Estel, who loves water, fords the stream, instead. She finds it deceptively deep and is a bit taken aback. However, she soon gets into the mood for a water frolic and wades around in the water, belly-deep, sniffing the rocks.

The AT intersects Seven Lakes Drive and we take that highway northward, back towards the car. We switch to the trail atop Narahunta Dam when we have the chance, fording the outlet stream just below the spillway. We walk that trail to the north end of the lake and rejoin the Menomine Trail there, taking it back to the parking lot. The afternoon is calm and the surrounding trees are well-reflected in the lake’s glassy surface.

About two and a half hours.