[Journal entry for May 15, 2013; Horse Chock Brook and its Reservoirs, Harriman State Park, NY]. It’s the early evening of a sunny but rather humid day. I park on Call Hallow Road (County Road 75) in Willow Grove, near the gate of a woods road. I have heard this woods road referred to as both Camp Winaki Rd and Woodtown Road. Perhaps it is both at that point, for the woods road system in the park is complicated, with many forks and dead ends, and with very few road signs. Anyway, it heads westward through the park, first following the valley of Horse Chock Brook and then leading to the general vicinity of Breakneck Pond. The brook has been dammed in three places, creating three reservoirs, First, Second and Third (numbers and size both increasing in the upstream direction). They are part of the Letchworth Village Development Corporation’s (LVDC’s) water supply and are restricted; fishing and swimming are not permitted.

I first walk over to the Long Path (blazed in blue) which crosses Call Hallow Road near this intersection. A new footbridge has been built across the brook, replacing one that washed out in last year’s floods. I then walk the woods road westward, past a brick waterworks building and to the dam on First Reservoir. It is mostly an earth-fill dam, but with some concrete on the spillway and on the inner surface. A small concrete building is next to the spillway. The reservoir is small and oval in shape. The western part is surrounded with trees and looks quite wild. I sight a turtle along the shore.

I then continue westward along the woods road. The brook is to my right and twenty feet or so below me, as the road is cut into a hillside. Its valley is wooded, but the valley floor is very rocky and the brook has many small cataracts. The sun is backlighting the valley and the leaves of the trees are glowing green. It’s a pretty effect.

After about a mile, I come to the dam of Second Reservoir, earth fill with a small concrete spillway. Second Reservoir is larger than First and is more irregular in outline, with several coves and promontories. Rock ledges by the water edge are rimmed by blooming blueberry bushes and are quite pretty. The road swings around to the north side of the Reservoir and crosses another spillway – this one has little drop and is more of a placid outlet stream. A pile of rusty pipes suggest that some effort – half-hearted, perhaps – is being put into maintenance.

After about a half mile, I come to the first of the two dams that impound Third Reservoir. This one is concrete, with a large spillway. The road follows the north side of the reservoir, passing many open rock ledges surrounded with blueberries. One peninsula provides a nice view of a small island, overgrown with blueberry bushes. I find a large rock that still preserves glacial polish – these are very rare in the park. Its surface has been fluted and striated by the Ice Age glaciations. I soon come to the second dam. This one is earth fill. I see a whitetail deer grazing beneath it. I soon reach the western end of the lake, where the road seems to end. I sight a beaver swimming a little offshore and spend several minutes watching it. The sun is getting close to the horizon and the shadows are lengthening. The water is reflecting a pretty orange-gold color.

I connect with the Suffern – Bear Mountain Trail (SBT blazed in yellow), which passes the extreme western end of the reservoir and take it eastward. It ascends up to a ridge that it a few hundred feet above the lake. Another trail intersects at the top of the ridge and I mistakenly take if a few hundred yards, turning back when I realize that it is unblazed. The SBT wanders through open woods carpeted with low-bush blueberry, nicely lit up by the now-setting sun. I soon arrive at the hikers shelter on Big Hill. It is empty tonight. I rest there a few minutes enjoying the open view to the south. The valley of Horse Chock Brook is below me, though I cannot see the brook or reservoirs. The peak of High Tor pokes above the hills on the south side of the valley. I hear a loud noise below me in the nearby woods but see nothing – an animal, I suppose.

I connect with the Long Path (blazed in blue) and take it back to the car. It passes a small blueberry swamp, one of the few marshy areas that I’ve encountered recently that is not infested with Phragmites grass. I also cross Old Turnpike (another woods road). A stream nearby the intersection has a small waterfall. After a rather long downhill grade, I cross Horse Chock Brook via the footbridge and am back to my car. Daylight has been dwindling, though it is not yet completely dark.

I am really sweated up! The air has not felt particularly warm but is humid and the hike was quite strenuous.

About two and a half hours.