[Journal entry for November 4, 2013; Green Swamp, Harriman State Park, NY] The afternoon is beautifully sunny but rather chilly. I begin my hike at 1:30 PM, parking at the Diltz Road hiker’s lot at the Tuxedo-Mount Ivy Trailhead (TMI, blazed in red) in Ladentown NY. My hiking map omits the name of Mountain Road, which connects Diltz and Ladentown Roads, causing me to have to drive around a bit, searching for Diltz. I am hiking on the southeastern edge of the park, in the Ramapo Mountains, the front range of Hudson Highlands, a line of hills that mark the northwest side of the Ramapo fault.

The woods near the trailhead have a stand of pretty red-leafed bushes growing beneath the trees. I hike up TMI, which first follows a power line right-of-way. I am not overly fond of right-of-ways, but the bushy vegetation growing along this one is quite attractive. I do not recognize one shrub, which has small leaves along the full length of long, straight, narrow stems. It’s still green, but most of the other vegetation is amber-brown. Tall tasseled Phragmites grass is growing in some of the damp spots; it’s everywhere these days.

The trail soon leaves the right-of-way and follows a woods road steeply up into the hills. Almost every little hill in the Hudson Highlands – and there are hundreds - has a name. I am ascending a valley between Eagle Rock my left and Limekiln Mountain on my right. The valley is full of boulders. Many have been moved to make room for the woods road and now form a low wall on its southwest side. I cross a small stream; it is not named on my map. I pass several intersections with other woods roads. The park is riddled with such tracks, many built hundreds of years ago. They are usually quite easy to follow on steep terrain, though (like this one) usually severely eroded. They tend to fade out on flat terrain, though they can be discerned by the rough line of boulders that were moved out of their roadbed when they were built. I pass many stands of pretty red-leafed bushes, like the ones growing near the trailhead. I sight a group White Tailed Deer, including a couple of bucks with well-developed racks.

TMI climbs steadily uphill, through open woods that are extremely rocky. Except for the woods roads, I spot few signs of former habitation. This land is far too rocky to have made attractive farm or pasture land. Viewpoints are pretty limited along the trail, though I do pass one spot where I have a nice view of the summit of Limekiln Mountain and, way beyond it, the Hudson River. TMI intersects the Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail (SBM, blazed in yellow) close to a little stream. I climb down to the bottom-land along the stream to view grass and yet more red bushes. The weather has been very dry during the last month and little water is flowing in the stream. I then continue on TMI, which descends a bit.

This flatter area contains several swamps. I bushwhack through the bushes to Squirrel Swamp, a small treeless patch that creates an opening in the canopy like that of a lake or pond. It is a maze of six-foot high bushes, now mostly bare of leaves, with occasional mossy patches between. The moss is rather dried out – not enough rain. I then continue along TMI, crossing Woodtown Road, a major woods road that looks to be sufficiently maintained to allow passage of, say, a jeep. This section of the trail cuts through stands of Mountain Laurel, six-foot high bushes with evergreen, olive-green leaves. They form walls on the sides of the trail seem, making it feel extremely narrow.

I soon reached Green Swamp, which is similar to Squirrel Swamp but two or three times as large. I had quite a bit of trouble finding an unobstructed view. A rock ledge, just off TMI, offers a fairly good view of its east end. A little further along the trail, I sighted a very large, steep-sided boulder at its edge. I bushwhacked over to it and spent rather too long climbing up on top. The spot was picturesque, yet still partially obscured by the branches of saplings growing nearby. I bushwhacked over to another boulder, still further down the trail, and found it to be more satisfactory. It was lower than the previous one, but the view was unobstructed. I could see that the swamp contained the same sort of bushes as did Squirrel, but they seemed to be packed together more densely. The western end of the swamp has a large stand of Phragmites grass, but I could not find an unobstructed view of it, having to satisfy myself with a view through the trees.

I resumed my hike along TMI, which climbed up onto the western flank of Breakneck Mountain, a southwest-northeast oriented ridge. I connected with the Breakneck Mountain Trail (BM, blazed in white) and took it northeastward along the ridge. This trail is very picturesque. I passed several large boulders – glacial boulder, I guess, strewn there by glaciers during the Ice Age. One is balanced on several smaller boulders, creating a small cave beneath into which I could (and did) crawl. The trail crosses many broad rock ledges. They are mostly surrounded by trees, and so lack distant views, but they are very beautiful, nonetheless. Fall-red blueberry bushes carpet patches between the exposed ledge and small gnarled oak trees, with reddish-brown fall leaves, grow along their edges.

Looking down through the tree trunks to the northwest of the trail, I can see Breakneck Pond. It is an impoundment created by a dam on its northeast end, and hosts Camp Lanowa, one of Harriman State Park’s many summer camps, also at its northeastern end. I climb down a very rocky ravine and stand at on its shore, just opposite a small island. Quite a lot of colorful fall foliage persists along the shore. Several large, picturesque rocks protrude from the pond near me. The water of the pond is very still. A few wispy cirrus clouds have moved in as the afternoon progressed. They and the fall foliage are beautifully reflected in the water. A sun dog (a bright spot in the sky caused by the sun’s rays reflecting off ice crystals) has formed in the sky and is also reflected in the pond.

The sun is getting pretty close to setting and I am only now at my halfway point, though the return trip is mostly downhill, so I leave Breakneck Pond and resume my hike on BM. I connect with the SBM and take it south. The trail descends down to the western shore of Third Reservoir, another impoundment about half the size of Breakneck Pond. Its water level is rather low and a strip of brown rocks are showing all along its shore. I suppose that it’s being drained to maintain flow in Horse Chock Brook, its outlet. The sun is now very low in the sky and much of the lakeshore is in shadow. The light is red, giving the trees along the still-lit parts an interesting color. I spend only a few minutes viewing Third Reservoir, and then continue aling SBM. I cross Ladentown Mountain (just a low hill) and Woodtown Road and connect with the Red Arrow Trail (blazed with a red arrow). It takes me back to TMI. I pass a flat, boggy area with a nearby stone wall. I suppose that it was once a pasture. I soon connect with TMI and take it back to the trailhead. Negotiating the rocky sections along the woods road is tricky in the failing light. The trailhead is in deep shadow when I reach it at 4:50PM. Even in shade, the nearby red bushes are pretty.

About three hours and forty minutes.