[Journal entry for June 1, 2014; Outlet stream of Lake Wanoksink, Harriman State Park, NY] It’s another gorgeous spring day. In the mid-afternoon, Dallas and I hike from the Reeves Meadow Visitors Center, off of Seven Lakes Drive, to the outlet stream of Lake Wanoksink.

We take the Pine Meadow Trail (blazed in red). Initially, it parallels the Stony Brook, but after the confluence with Pine Meadow Brook, follows that tributary up to Pine Meadow Lake. Both brooks have many cataracts and small waterfalls. We visit one small waterfall, near the beginning of the trail and by a large boulder, which flows into a wide sparkling pool. The trail gradually ascends up into the highlands. It crosses Pine Meadow Brook by footbridge and then skirts the flank of Pine Meadow Mountain.

We stop at Ga-Nus-Quah Rock, an extremely large, potato-shaped boulder located near the bank of the creek. It sports a cave, where another boulder leans up against it. Behind the Rock, a small waterfall pours into a pool carved into a wide rock ledge.

We soon reached Pine Meadow Lake, a small reservoir impounded behind an earth-filled dam. The lake is close to a mile in its longest dimension, with a mostly wooded shore. The lake shore near the dam is a favorite picnic spot, for sparse trees grow between wide rock ledges, allowing a great view. We sit there, chatting with other hikers, enjoying the afternoon sun and gazing across the lake. I play stick with a small dog, a companion to one of the other hikers. Though only of medium size, it jumps like a gazelle. One section of the lake’s shoreline is especially dramatic. It abuts a low cliff, and as a pile of huge angular boulders at its base. I walked over to it clambered down to some of the more easily reached boulders, just above the water.

We then walked down Pine Meadow Road, an unpaved woods road, in the direction of Lake Wanoksink, another impoundment that is a bit smaller than Pine Meadow Lake. Before arriving at this second lake, we detoured down an overgrown side road to the hidden valley through which the outlet stream flows. It meanders through a surprisingly large wetland, full of grass hummocks. An informal trail leads from the road to a broad and high rock ledge that overlooks the wetland. A line of blueberry bushes crosses the ledge, growing from a wide crack. Northern Hemlock trees, sadly dying from the aphid infestation that has killed so many of their kin, decorate the edges of the ledge.

We spend a few minutes on the ledge, enjoying the sun and looking for water birds (though seeing none). We then retrace our path back to the Pine Meadow Trail and start our journey back. Just as we started, we met two women from Queens New York who has lost their way. They, too, needed to get back to the Visitors Center, so we walked with them, showing them the way and talking. One is a vocalist with wide knowledge of the New York music scene and reviewed for some of the recent events for us.

Over the years, I have helped many such lost hikers. Harriman State Park is a much larger place than many visitors realize, and its trail system is complex and convoluted. Even I, who have walked every trail several times over, would not venture into it without a map and compass, except perhaps for those few trails I know exceedingly well.

About three and a half hours.