[October 19, 2010; Ramapo Torne] Ramapo Torne is a prominent hill in the southeast corner of Harriman State Park, near the hamlet of Ramapo. It has a peaked and rocky summit, as befits its designation as a Torne (Toren being Dutch for tower).

I parked at the Reeves Meadow visitors center along Seven Lakes Driver in the late afternoon. The day has been sunny and warm, but with lots of clouds. A big one is covering the sun as I arrive, but slowly moves out of the way, allowing the sun to light up the fall folliage. Quite a few maples and other colorful hardwoods grow around the periphery of Reeves Meadow in the immediate vicinity of the Visitors Center. The meadow itself is a small flat area with tan grasses and low bushes, many in red fall folliate, a habitat for turkeys and other small animals. Looking north, I can see the rock face of Pound Mountain. I head south along a short segment of the Pine Meadow trail (blazed in red) and then switch onto the Seven Hills trail (blazed in blue). It is a well-trodden and well-maintained trail that heads through fairly flat and open woods. A sparse layer of leaves is on the forest floor. Most seem to have blown or been worn off the trail, itself. I cross several small streams and pass by one small marsh. It seems to have been taken over by Phragmites. Lots of saplings are growing about the periphery, so I am not able to find a really unobstructed vantage from which to view it. The trail makes a sharp turn to the east and starts to climb up the flank of the Torne. I pass several beautiful meadows, full of blueberry bushes in their dark red fall leaves, and lined by colorful hardwood trees. Seven Hills takes me only partway up the Torne; I need to take a spur trail, Hillburn-Torne-Segago (HTS, blazed in orange) to reach the summit. I do some serious huffing up a steep but easy trail to reach it.

The rocky summit of the Torne commands great views, both of Harriman Park and of the more urbanized regions to the south. The view to the southeast is marred by the now-closed big landfill in Torne Valley, but in other directions is very beautiful. I am at a considerably higher elevation than the summit of Pound Mountain. The sharp cliff seen from the Visitors Center is now revealed as only the southern edge of a broader and smoother hill. Some hills have lines of trees of distinctive folliage. I speculate that they are species selected to grow well along a stream (or alternatively, that they have been planted along a now-vanished woods road).

I spend a half hour or more on the summit, admiring views and waiting for the sunset. A turkey vulture circles overhead an a few crows fly by. The Manhattan skyline, far to the south, begins to sparkle as the setting sun reflects off of all the glass. In my area, the sun has been obscured by a rather large cloud overhead, but finally dips low enough to shine unobstructed. The Torne and neighboring hills are lit up by its red light. Grass, yellow-brown in normal light, now becomes a beautiful orange color.

I start to walk back just as the sun is setting. I want to make as much progress, especially down the steep part of the trail, before darkness sets in. The light gradually dims and (being prepared) I don an LED headlight. The trail is an easy one, straight and mostly smooth, so I have little trouble following it, except in a couple places where it crosses boulder fields. In those places I need to study the ground and walk in the most worn spots. I encounter several groups of whitetail deer along the way. When I am about 100 yards out, I can see the welcoming shine of a night-light outside the Visitors Center. The evening is not quite gone in Reeves Meadow. The sky still emits a little grey light, enough to see my car and its surroundings.

About 3 hours.