[Journal Entry for September 25, 2012; West Mountain, Harriman State Park, NY] In the early evening, I hiked with my daughter Hannah’s Australian Cattle Dog, Estel, on West Mountain in Harriman State Park. The day is beautiful; it’s sunny with a bit of haze in the western sky. I parked at the north end of the Anthony Wayne Recreation Area off of the Palisades Interstate Parkway. The recreation area is now just a picnic area with a huge underutilized parking lot. I guess that the park once sponsored activities there, but no more. It provides convenient access to West Mountain, a large hill on the east side of the parkway. We took the Fawn trail, blazed with the letter F, up onto the northeastern flank of the mountain and then switched to the Timp-Torne trail (TT, blazed in blue) when we reached the ridge. We sighted a Pileated Woodpecker near the intersection. This large bird, the size of a pigeon, has a characteristic thin neck and large crested head. We followed TT south, along the ridge line. This trail offers spectacular views of Bear Mountain, Popolopan Torne and the Hudson River, all to the east, and the lesser rolling hills of the Hudson Highlands to the west. The trees were mostly still green, though we passed one brightly scarlet red maple, and though some of the blueberry bushes and vines were partly changed to red, the woods are at least a month away from their fall colors. We passed many late-summer wildflowers – especially goldenrod. The trail eventually left the ridge crest and headed west. We took a side trip down an informal trail through blueberry and sweet fern bushes, to a north facing overlook that looks up the Hudson River valley to Mt Taurus. It is a particularly beautiful spot, not only for the view, but for the grasses and bushes, too, especially when they are lit up by the late afternoon sun. We then continued onward until we reached the Fire Escape, a south facing overlook. Trees growing from amid the rock ledges were beautifully lit up by the sun. We reached West Mountain Shelter a little later. I’ve slept in this three-walled hikers’ lean-to several times on multi-day hikes. Today we found it unoccupied. Estel and I sat in it for a few minutes, sipping (or in Estel’s case, lapping) water and admiring the view. The shelter looks southeast, past the hill called the Timp, out onto the Hudson River and the lowlands around the village of Haverstraw. Hook Mountain, the northernmost section of the Hudson Palisades Cliffs, was lit by the setting sun. The deep shadows emphasized its hook shape. After our rest, we headed back, retracing our path along TT, but then connecting with the Appalachian Trail (AT, blazed in white) and taking it south. It follows the main West Mountain ridge for a few hundred yards, giving us a view of the setting sun, and then heads steeply downhill off of the mountain into a lowland called the Beechy Bottom. We then connected there with a trail that follows Beechy Bottom Brook back to the south end of the Anthony Wayne parking lot. The evening was growing quite dim as we reached the car. About three hours.