Journal entry for Jan 24-25, 2011, Overnight hike to the Stone Memorial Shelter, Harriman State Park, New York. I arrive at the Reeves Meadow Visitor's Center, off of Seven Lakes Drive near Sloatsburg NY, in the late afternoon. The day is clear and cold, with my car thermometer reading 18F upon my arrival. I head along the Pine Meadow Trail, which follows Reeves Brook upstream. The brook is flowing faster than I would have guessed, given the below-freezing temperatures that have persisted for at least the last week. Numerous people pass by, returning from day hikes. I take at least an hour to arrive at the bridge across Pine Meadow Brook. My showshoes and pack are slowing me down. I can usually reach it in only forty-five minutes. Shortly beyond it is Ga-Nus-Quah Rock, one of the larger glacial boulders in the Park. The trail crosses Pine Meadow Brook once more, near the outflow from the small earthfill dam that impounds the lake.

Pine Meadow Lake is astonishingly beautiful in the late afternnon sun. Its surface is snow-covered and the rocks along its shore, and especially the large rocks in its northwestern corner, are glowing tan and draped with shining white snow. Previous hikers have cut several trails across the snow in the lake. None lead to holes in the ice, so I judge the surface safe enough for transit. The view is a different one than from the shore-side trail. I can see the glacier-plucked rocky cliffs of the north side particularly well. I also come across both deer and coyote tracks, in addition to the ubiqutous Homo sapiens.

I come ashore near the junction of the Pine Meadow Trail with Conklins Crossing, and take the latter uphill towards the ridgeline of the Ramapo Mountains. It is a rather jagged ridge, and, as it typical of the geography of Harriman State Park, each little peak has a name. In this vicinity its called Horse Stable Mountain. I take a left turn when I reach the Suffern-Bear Mt trail. It passes a bare, rounded knob of rock, perhaps fifteen feet tall, called the Egg. The view to the south, of the lowlands called the Newark Basin, is pretty good from this spot. A short distance, and one ravine later, I reach the rocky knob on which the Edgar D. Stone Memorial Shelter is built. No one has been to the shelter lately. Last week's snow is unmarred by human footprints. The shelter is a three-sided lean-to, made of boulders, with a sleeping platform and fireplace that is built into a central column that supports the roof on the lean-to's open side. I drop of my pack, and spend a few minutes gathering firewood. I walk a few hundred yards down Pine Meadow Road, a woods road that crosses the Suffern-Bear Mt trail near the shelter, and find a fallen tree with branches that can be snapped off easily. I gather only a single bundle, about equally divided between twigs and branches an inch or so in diameter. I have a fire only for decoration and need it to burn only for a half-hour or so.

Back at the shelter, I sort the wood into piles of like diameters, and build a little tee-pee of the smallest twigs in the fireplace (on top of a scrap can filled with gasoline-doused straw, as ususal). I then switch into my down suit and prepare dinner. I'm trying out couscous as a camping food, as an alternative to rice or macaroni. I have a bit of trouble with my ancient MSR stove. The plastic housing of the air pump that pressurizes the fuel bottle has cracked. Fortunately, it still works if I hold it together with my fingers as I pump. Time to invest in a new one! I've hauled up an eight-inch aluminum frying pan (minus the handle; I sawed that off). I use it to fry onions and cubes of beef. It is much superior to ad hoc pans made from pot lids, and well worth the extra weight. The beef and onions work well with the couscous. I eat a relaxed dinner, drink some instant coffee, and then clean up, saving the left-over couscous for the morning. It's now completely dark and I am operating by headlight. I set out my sleeping bag, start my fire, and lie down to watch the flames. The draft of this fireplace is especially good, and I have no problem maintaining a robust fire.

The evening is gradually becomming more-and-more overcast, as clouds move in from the south. The temperature has dropped to 10 Fahrenheit. The night passes uneventfully; I am plenty warm in my Mountain Hardware sleeping bag - so much so that I take off the down suit. City lights from the inhabited areas in the lowland regions to my south light up the clouds a little, so that the night never truly gets dark.

I awaken at about 7:30AM to find that an inch or two of new snow has fallen and that light snow is falling still. The temperature has warmed to 15F. I have more trouble with the MSR stove, and this delays by breakfast. This time it's the orifice, which has clogged. I replace it with a spare part, which fortinately works fine. I use my frying pan to cook an omlet, using eggs that I carefully kept in my sleeping bag during the night, to ensure that they didn't freezed. I also reheated the frozen and rock-hard couscous.

The walk out is peaceful and uneventful. Pine Meadow Lake looks entirely different than yesterday afternoon - all shades of grey, with none of the vibrancy created by the sun's rays. I pass a few day hikers, starting out their day, as I approach the Visitors Center.

The hike from the Visitors Center to Stone Memorial Shelter is about 4.5 miles (one way) and took me about two hours, wearing snowshoes and carrying a pack. Overall, the trip lasted about 20 hours.