[Journal entry for October 20, 2012; Rockland Lake State Park, NY]. The day has begun with fog, which has slowly lifted to reveal another gorgeous fall day. The hardwoods in Rockland County are now near their peak of fall color. I arrive at Rockland Lake at about 9AM. Some mist is still clinging to the lake’s surface, but bright sun and a clear blue sky is showing through in places. The lake is nestled against the west side of Hook Mountain, part of the Hudson Palisades Cliffs. The cliff itself is on the east side and is not visible from the lake. The west side of this hogback has a gentler slope and is well-forested with now colorful trees. The lake is roughly circular in shape and is about a mile across. I take the pedestrian walkway, which is about three miles long, starting from the parking lot on the south side, and rounding it three times during the course of the morning. The path follows the lakeshore. The trees and bushes along the lake shore are brilliant reds, oranges and yellows. Many waterfowl are swimming in the lake, including Mallard Ducks, a big flock of American Coots (a small duck with a black body and a white bill), Canada Geese and Mute Swans. Most of the lake’s circumference has but a single path, but the northern end has several. I take a different one each time around. The one path nearest the lake shore affords a nice view of the marshy area at the north end of the lake. The other paths are in more-open picnic area, and afford nice view of solitary trees in their fall foliage. I pass a small garden, complete with a Halloween scarecrow, and cross a footbridge over the lake’s outlet stream. I pass a small snake, brown in color, a foot long and the thickness of the pencil, on the path. It’s a juvenile; I can’t make out its species, but it coils and snaps at me as I pass, so I don’t approach. I also spot a turtle, sitting on a log amid spatterdock in the shallows near the lakeshore. On my first loop, I rest for a few minutes on the floating dock near the boat launch on the northwest corner of the lake. The sun is warm and the view of the lake and Hook Mountain are great. The lake surface is marbled with green algae. I’m not sure that I’d want to do much boating in it! I continue around the lake for my second and third loop. The fog has now completely cleared away. From the east side of the lake, I can see the scar of Tilcon Haverstraw Quarry and the summit of High Tor, a high point on part of the Hudson Palisades Cliffs, which wrap around to the west north of the lake. About four hours.