[Journal entry for October 16-17, 2011; Overnight hike to the Dutch Doctor and Claudius Smith Den, Harriman State Park]. Being a member, I was able to park at the American Canoe Association camp on Lake Sebago. The afternoon was rather cloudy and a bit cool, in the fifties Fahrenheit. I donned my backpack and headed west along the Tuxedo-Mount Ivy (TMI) trail. It ascends the southern flank of the little wooded hill lat overlooks the lake called the Dutch Doctor. I stopped at the lean-to on the west side of the hill, for I have planned to stay the night there. It is a three-sided structure, with stone walls and a wooden roof and is built against a low cliff, so that its roof is about even with the top of the cliff. Unlike many of the other shelters in the park, this one does not command much of a view. However, it has a good supply of water, as several little streams flow nearby, and water tends to be scarce at the shelters on ridge lines. I then pushed west along TMI towards Claudius Smith Den. The fall foliage is more advanced than at my home twenty miles to the south, with many golden beech trees and some brilliant orange maples, the latter mostly in wetlands. I stopped to view the wetland near the shelter. It is mostly full of phragmites, now beige with white sunlit tassels and is surrounded by colorful trees. I crossed a couple small streams and several open glades carpeted with blueberry, now deep red. I soon reached the top of the cliff that hosts Claudius Smith Den. Remarkably, the sky cleared almost completely, and I was treated to a wonderful view of the hills to the south and west. From this vantage, one sees very little evidence of civilization, even though the view is clear for several miles. I then walked down to the base of the cliff. It is a south facing scarp, one of the taller of the many in the park, perhaps a hundred feet high. It was formed by glacial plucking during the Ice Age. Its base is littered with enormous blocks of stone, angular in shape, some ten feet high. The Den is a small cave created by an overhang in the cliff. It is said to have been the hideout of a notorious criminal during the Revolutionary War era. I sat in the cave for a few minutes, admiring the fall foliage that I could see outside of it. I then hiked back up to the top of the cliff and spent a few minutes exploring a series of trails, most of them dead ends, that headed north among very picturesque fields of blueberries and birch trees. I came upon the White Cross (WC) trail and took it north for a mile or so. The sun was shining brightly in the south, so all the northward vistas we lit up wonderfully and the air was crisp and energizing. I made several side trips to visit picturesque spots: blueberry fields, streams, a marvelously scarlet tree, and wetlands. WC gradually drops in elevation, until it reaches the flank of a large phragmites marsh called Black Ash Swamp. The edges of the swamp were particularly beautiful, on account of the trees being species, such as maple, that have bright orange and red fall leaves. I then connected with the White Bar (WB) trail and headed south again. The trail crosses Blauvelt Mountain. I took a final detour up to what might be its summit, a tall rocky know partially covered with blueberries. The sun was now low on the horizon and behind some clouds, but a beautiful fan of sunbeams was peeking out. The blueberry bushes were a deep red in the dim light. I then hurried back to the Dutch Doctor Shelter, completing the loop, and reaching it while there was still a little light. I opted to stay near the shelter in a tent, as I wanted to try out a new winter tent, a Marmot Alpinist, that I had recently purchased. After setting it up, I cooked dinner, couscous with steak and mushroom, washed down with instant coffee. I sat for a while in the shelter, listening to the sounds of evening. I may have heard some owls, but if so, they were far away and their calls were indistinct. Insects chirped nearby, with cricket-like calls and counter-calls. After a while, I went to bed in the tent. A little rain fell during the night and the morning was damp and cloudy. I ate a breakfast of bread and coffee, again sitting in the shelter. But then, remarkably, the sky cleared completely. I packed up, stowed my pack in the shelter, and did a short hike, visiting two nearby spots, an open blueberry glade and a wetland south of it. I had fun poking about a little stream that flowed through the wetland. I watched the sunlight creep down the trees as the sun rose higher in the sky. I then retrieved my pack and hiked back to the ACA camp. I spent a few minutes standing on the dock, admiring the view of Lake Sebago and the hills surrounding it. I also stopped to view the Ramapo River on my drive back through Sloatsburg. The trees along its bank are in their fall foliage, too. About 20 hours, of which about five were hiking.