[Journal entry for August 9, 2014; Route 106 west of Kanawauke Circle, Harriman State Park, New York]. Dallas dropped me off at Kanawauke Circle, where Seven Lakes Drive intersects Route 106, on a beautiful late afternoon. I walked Route 106 west, aiming primarily for Lake Stahahe, but spending time viewing the other beautiful lakes along the road, too.

I walked by the south arm of Lake Kanawauke, south of the road. It was backlit by the late afternoon sun and had a metallic gleam. A potpourri of boats, including canoes, kayaks, paddleboards, were out on the water.

The north arm of the lake, north of the road, was brightly-illuminated. I could see the delta of alluvial fan on the far side of the lake, yellow gravel still only lightly vegetated. I remember examining it shortly after it formed, when flood waters from Hurricane Lee overtopped the Lake Skanatati Dam and tore a six foot deep gulley through the isthmus separating the two lakes. Water lily and Pickerelweed were blooming along the lakeshore. Queen Anne’s lace, Common Mullein and other wildflowers were blooming along its shore.

I continued along Route 106, across the bridge spanning the channel that connects Little Long Pond from Lake Kanawauke. I took a narrow and disused woods road up the steep side of Black Rock Mountain, up to a broad rock ledge up on its southern flank. This overlook offers a great view of Little Long Pond, and especially the little island at its eastern end, which sports just a single tree. I explored the rock ledge of the overlook as I worked myself west and downhill, back to Route 106 and the lakeshore. The swim area at Camp K-20, across Little Long Pond from me, was packed with kids having fun. I admired the blueberry marsh at the extreme western end of the pond, below Tom Jones Mountain.

Route 106 winds through the hills, mostly heading downhill. After a mile or so I came to a beaver pond in a wetland on the north side of the road. I admired the dam, a curving arc of sticks that raised the water level a foot or two. The eastern end of the marsh is very beautiful, especially since its still waters were reflecting clouds that floated above. The eastern end of the wetland is a phragmites marsh and is much less interesting.

After another mile or so, again mostly downhill, I came to the steeply walled valley, north of the road, which hosts Lake Stahahe. The lake is a hundred yards of so from the road. I made four short trips to its shore as I walked past it.

Site 1. I bushwhacked down to the southeast corner of the lakeshore at a point just past the an access road that leads to camps along the east side of the lake. This corner is a cove, overgrown with water lilies and hosting with several small rocky and sparsely vegetated islands. The nearest, like the island in Little Long Pond, sported only one solitary tree. I encountered a disused woods road on the way back that climbed back to the road. It may have been a loop of an earlier version of Route 106, for it seemed wider than the usual Harriman Park woods road.

Site 2. I bushwhacked down to a little peninsula that jutted out from the south shore if the lake. I tried to stay on rock ledges, for they are easy to traverse, but had to scramble though a tangle of Mountain Laurel, too. I encountered a beaver lodge along the lake shore. The view across the lake, and especially to the hill called Stahahe High Peak, was very beautiful. I also had a nice view of the island with the solitary tree.

Site 3. When I encountered a “Swimming Note Permitted” sign along Route 106, I suspected that I was near a particularly nice section of lakeshore. A foot trail led me down over a succession of pretty rock ledges to a little beach in front of a small island – this one with several trees. I could see down the long axis of the lake from this vantage, past the swim dock of a camp, to stands of tall evergreens at the far end of the lake. Stahahe is an anthropogenic impoundment, created by a dam at its north end, but I was too far away so see the straight edge of that end of the lake.

Site 4. I tried bushwhacking to the end of another small peninsula, but it was too overgrown with thorn bushes. Instead, I climbed down a scree slope next to it. This site provided a nice view of the long axis of the lake, too.

I then continued west on Route 106, under the New York State Thruway, across the bridge over Ramapo River, towards Route 17 in Tuxedo NY. I stopped at Ramapo River Boat Access, a small park with a few benches and a couple of gravel ramps down to the river. The Ramapo was flowing only sluggishly and its surface was glassy. Trees on the far side of the river were reflected in it perfectly. After viewing the river for a few minutes, I walked up to the Route 17 overpass, where Dallas picked me up.

About three and a half hours.