[Journal entry for April 22, 2013; Black Mountain, Harriman State Park, NY] In the early evening, Dallas and I hiked up Black Mountain, in Harriman State Park. It’s fine and clear spring weather, with temperatures in the fifties, Fahrenheit. We parked at the south end of the lot at Anthony Wayne Recreation Area. We took the ‘ski trail’, which is marked by an informational sign. This woods road parallels Beechy Bottom Brook. We walked over to the brook at a spot near the trail head. It’s flowing, but not especially vigorously. We continued along the trail through a stand of tall White Pine. The undergrowth is leafed out now – a vivid green. We passed several different kinds of wildflowers, including a Trout Lily, with its delicate yellow flower. We crossed several tributaries of the brook. One rivulet flows over the remains of a low stone dam; perhaps it once impounded a farmyard pond. We also crossed the brook, itself, on a wooden footbridge.

We connected with the Appalachian Trail (AT, blazed in white) and took it westward, crossing Beechy Bottom Brook again via another wooden footbridge. We then ascended up a terrace and picked up the Ramapo-Dunderburg Trail (RD blazed in Red) at its top. RD and the AT are concurrent at this point, and remained so on the rest of our outward hike. We signed the guest register as we crossed the Palisades Interstate Parkway; the station is on the island between the north and southbound lanes. We passed a Pussy Willow bush as we re-entered the woods. We then began to shallow ascent through generally rising country, but dipping down several times to cross streams. We passed the intersection with the 1777 Trail (blazed in blue).

We then began a steep ascent of the east flank of Black Mountain. Most of the trail is dirt, but the last bit is a very steep section on rock. The trail levels off abruptly and then follows the ridgeline. This section of the AT has some of the best views in the Park. Bear Mountain is to the northeast, West Mountain is to the east, the Hudson River and Hook Mountain (including High Tor) is to the southeast, and Big Bog Mountain and Owl Swamp are to the south. The swamp was flooded. I suspect that beaver, which are becoming increasingly common in the Park, have built a dam that impounds it. The marsh was green on a previous viewing in Fall 2009.

The trees of the Park are visibly behind those near my house in southern Rockland, yet most are budded and a few are leafed out. Looking down onto the southern flank of the mountain, I see several that have white blossoms. We walk westward, enjoying the view, and then descend a moderately difficult spot where the trail drops down through a gulley that cuts a ten-foot high cliff. After going a little further and descending still lower over some steep and rocky sections of trail, we come to an overlook, a broad ledge with a few solitary pine trees. It commands a spectacular view of Silvermine Lake. We sit there for a while. Dallas hears what she describes as an interesting bird call, but I miss it. I would like to have stayed till sunset, but it is at least a half hour off and we are not really prepared to make the return hike in the dark, anyway (though I do have a flashlight with me, just in case).

As we start our return trip, we detour a bit north, and examine one of the many south-facing scarps that dot the Hudson Highlands and which I believe were formed by glacial plucking during the Ice Age, twenty thousand years ago. This one is on the north side of a narrow valley that dips down to the west. We speculate on whether the valley predated the glaciations, or whether it was carved by some sort of sub-glacial stream. We then rejoin the AT and retrace our path.

We take the final descent off the mountain slowly, for the way is steep and potentially dangerous in the evening shadows. The top half of West Mountain is still in sun, but the woods through which we are walking are growing dim. Frogs are calling in the wetlands around Beechy Bottom Brook. By the time we reached the car, the sunlight had faded from the top of West Mountain, too.

About two and a half hours.