[June 25. 2106] I parked at the Ramapo River Boat Launch in Tuxedo NY. The morning was clear and hot. Little rain had fallen over the last two weeks, so the level of the Ramapo River was low. I took the Triangle Trail (blazed with a yellow triangle) northward to Deep Hollow and switched to the bed of the stream that flows in that valley. It, too, has but a little water, so walking among the stones, gravel and puddles is easy. I passed several deep pools, full of fish and frogs, formed by gneiss ledges acting as dams. The valley itself is set between ridges of gneiss. The hogback ridge to the east of the stream has low overhanging cliffs. I examine some of the larger cliff faces, finding the contact between granite and gneiss, the two main lithologies in the park. The stream winds its way north beneath green trees and shrubs. Their leaves glow brightly from the sun, above. The Mountain Laurel has passed its peak bloom, but an occasional bush still has pink-white flowers. A grouse started me, fluttering out from behind a rock when disturbed by my approach. The stream valley opened up into a grassy and damp meadow and then faded away. I may have missed the main course as it turned to the east, for I found myself at the base of a small hill amid Mountain Laurel. I bushwhacked to the top, finding a set of meadows and overlooks that were new to me. I was surprised, for I thought that I have been everywhere in the Park. I ate lunch while sitting on a rock ledge, set among Blueberry bushes and sparse trees, on a west-facing overlook with a fine view of the hills west of the NYS Thruway. I bushwhacked across the summit of the hill, disturbing a group of White Tailed Deer, and found another rock ledge with a fine north-facing view. It was at the top of a wide fern meadow that rolled down to the valley of Parker Cabin Hollow. I bushwhacked down through the fern and, after heading east for a bit, picked up the White Bar Trail (blazed in white). I took it north, as far as the footbridge in Parker Cabin Hollow. The stream there was low, too, but the vegetation in the Hollow was lushly green. I bushwhacked around the marsh and picked up an old woods road – one that Dallas and I had found last year – that runs along the east flank of Hemlock Hill. I passed several rock scarps, with large angular boulders scattered around their bases, and on one found the granite-gneiss contact again. Fist-sized xenoliths of gneiss were embedded in the granite. I took the woods road to its intersection with Route 106, opposite the south shore of Lake Stahahe. I walked the highway east and picked up the Victory Trail (blazed with a blue “V”) in about a mile. I took it a short distance to the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail (blazed in red) intersection, and then took that trail through laurel groves up onto Tom Jones Mounatin. I prowled around the summit area for a while, walking across large expanses of gneiss ledge and admiring the views of Lake Sebago and the distant hills. I encountered a large group of backpackers camping near Tom Jones Shelter. The shelter, itself, a large three sided stone lean-to made, was empty. I walked inside for a moment, thinking that it hadn’t changed since I camped there in February 2006. I then took the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trails outh, following beautiful ridge crests full of blueberry glades. I passed two overlooks, one looking east towards Lake Sebago and the other looking south across Black Ash Swamp. From the first, I could see a smoke plume from a fire to the southeast. I later learned that it was from a burning electrical substation in Torne Valley, set alight when a transformer exploded. I descended down into a valley and I paused to examine a natural dam, formed by a rock ledge, along the swamp’s exit stream. The pond upstream is completely silted up and grown over, making a broad grassy meadow. The stream below has a very rock bed but not much water at the moment. I had run out of water while atop Tom Jones Mountain and was now wishing that I had begun the hike with three liters, not the two that, in the morning, I had supposed would suffice. Being a bit thirsty, I took the shorted route, which followed a woods road downhill beside the stream and connected with the Triangle trail, which took me back to my car (and the liter of Gatorade that I kept there). The complete hike took about seven and quarter hours. I bought an anchovy and green pepper pizza from Posa Posa in Orangeburg NY on my way home. 7:15.