[Journal entry for October 20, 2014; Hessian Lake, Harriman State Park, New York]. Hessian Lake is a small impoundment built at the foot of Bear Mountain, a prominent hill overlooking the Hudson River. Its proximity to Bear Mountain Inn and the surrounding picnic and recreational area and its dramatic view of Bear Mountain ensures its popularity. The east shore of the lake is fairly open, with picnic tables set among sparse trees. The west side abuts the steep flank of the mountain. A pedestrian walkway encircles the lake.

Hessian is the first of the lakes of Harriman State Park that I visited. I still remember my mother taking me as a five year old child to fish at the lake. We took the the Hudson Day Liner, a tour boat that left from Manhattan and dropped us off at Hudson Dock, located on the river just below the lake. I remember walking the steep path up to lake level and spending the afternoon fishing on the lakeshore. Though I tried mightily, I caught no fish that day, though I could see them swimming in the shallows. My mother, anxious not to miss the boat at the end of the day, had to drag me away when its departure time neared. She called the fish trout and so I believed them to be until today. Now, walking around the lake and gazing into its waters, I realize that they were more likely sunnies (Pumpkinseed Sunfish), a small fish often seen in the shallows of Harriman Park lakes.

The sun was low in the sky when I arrived. The morning was cold, with some sun breaking through long stringers of clouds. I parked in the main lot and walked past the Inn to the lake shore. The sun was illuminating Bear Mountain and the western lake shore, making the fall foliage along the lakeshore glow. I took the pedestrian path counterclockwise around the lakeshore, stopping every few minutes as I passed nice viewpoints. The trees along the water’s edge were in their peak. The trees further up the steep side of the mountain had already lost most of their leaves. A prominent rock ledge, shining white in the morning sun, occupies one section of lakeshore. Looking higher up, I could see that the mountainside had several substantial scarps where large sections of granite had fallen off.

I walked down to a little beach at the northern end of the lake, so I could look down its axis. Red Maples were overhanging the sane. The water level in the lake looked a bit low.

The trail on the west side rises above the lake shore, reaching its maximum height at the rock ledge I could see from the other side. I poked around this ledge for a few minutes. It offers a nice view of the east shore of the lake. I then continued along the path, passing a section strewn with of very large angular boulders, relicts of landslides off of Bear Mountain. From here, I had a nice view of the hill called Anthony’s Nose, on the opposite side of the Hudson River, and of the towers of the Bear Mountain Bridge. I passed the rental boat dock, the bright blue color of the paddleboats seemed a bit out of place in a landscape dominated by yellows, oranges and reds of fall leaves. A few minutes later, I had completed my loop and was back at the Inn. The sun was lighting up its signature stone façade very beautifully.

About an hour.