[Journal entry for April 14, 2018; Split Rock Overlook, Black Rock Forest, Cornwall New York]. I arrived at the main Black Rock Forest main parking lot, on Reservoir Road, a little before 10AM. The morning was sunny, though with some high haze, and with temperatures in the low fifties, Fahrenheit. A few patches of snow remain on the ground, in shaded placed.

I walked Reservoir Road past the Science Center to Upper Reservoir and then took Bog Meadow Road all the way to the Bog Meadow - Continental – Jim’s Pond Roads intersection. I made three short detours en route; to a swamp near the Carpenter Trail intersection, to listen to frogs singing; up the Tower View Trail (blazed in yellow) to the ridge top, to view rock ledges among blueberry bushes and trees; and down to the shore of Bog Meadow Pond, where I could look across the water to the rock ledges on Rattlesnake Hill (which I had visited a couple of weeks ago). Once at the intersection, I took Continental Road down to a point just short of the gate into Academy land, for another great view of this beautiful pond. I found a little flowering patch of Princess Pine (a club moss) under the trees.

I then walked Jim’s Pond Road to Jim’s Pond. I bushwhacked down do its swampy east end, and squeezed between the tall bushes until I could get an unobstructed view down the length of this long and thin pond. It nestles up against a steep ridge, wooded except for occasional rock ledges, with the road running along its flatter south shore. I continued along the road, which traverses a land-filled causeway between the pond, proper, and a small marshy area to its south. I passed a beaver lodge, built in the main pond well out from the shore. I then took the Stropel Trail (blazed in white), past the west end of the pond, and steeply up onto the ridge. I switched to the Rut Trail (blazed in red) at the ridge crest, passing a large glacial erratic boulder of limestone, and took it east to a rounded rocky knob atop a south-facing scarp called Eagle Cliff. This high overlook afford a great view south, towards Wilkins Pond and hills on Academy land. The overlook is a rounded bare knob of tan pegmatite, with a few Pitch Pine Trees. I had some coffee from my thermos, watched the Turkey Vulture fly circles overhead, and chatted with a family who were having lunch there.

I then took the very short Eagle Cliff Trail (blazed in blue) to the Scenic Trail (Blazed in white) and took it back east, connecting with the Spy Rock Trail (also blazed in blue), which I took to Spy Rock. This is a broad clearing in the woods at a high point along the ridge. It offers a fairly good view of Storm King Mountain and Breakneck Ridge, to the northeast. I then backtracked back west along the Scenic Trail to the Ledge Trail (blazed in yellow) and took it northward – the general direction of my car, for I was starting to head back. I connected with the Chatfield Trail (blazed in blue) and took it east to Chatfield Road. This woods road passes the west shore of Tamerack Pond. I took two side trips down to its shore to admire it waters. The first was at the south end; I fought my way through Mountain Laurels to a rock at the water’s edge, across from a small grassy island. The second was at the north end near the earth-fill dam that impounds this reservoir; I took a side road to a broad ledge that ran down to the shore. I then continued on Chatfield Road to its intersection with Sutherland Road.

I took Sutherland Road a few hundred yards east to the swampy, eastern end of Sutherland Pond. A large turtle was sunning itself on a floating log. I then visited a small mine or quarry near the Sutherland – Chatfield Roads intersection. It is a rectangular excavation, perhaps 100 feet across, with a floor level with the road that has been cut into the hillside north of the road, with twenty-foot high walls and a narrow entrance. Slickenslides on some of the quarry faces lead me to think that the mine exploits mineralization along a fault. Some of the rock on the north face is unusually dark in color. This could be the ore that was being mined. However, pieces of it failed to attract the needle of my compass, as iron ore (a common ore in the Highlands) does. I left without a good theory about what was being mined.

I then climbed the Split Rock Trail (blazed in white) up onto the top of Golden Ridge, to the Split Rock Overlook. It is a broad rock ledge that looks out onto Sutherland Pond, to the south. The view includes a stream meandering though grassy wetlands at the pond’s western end, and is especially beautiful. I ate my lunch of Strawberry Pop Tarts coffee laying down in the sun on the rock and enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, which had risen up into the high seventies, Fahrenheit. As I was leaving, I met a group of four women. They had hiked the Stillman Trail (blazed in yellow) out from the main lot and the enquired about a faster route back. I recommended that the walk the road system, for though a bit longer than the trails, it is much easier, being flatter and smoother, and probably faster, too. I estimated that the hike back along the road was a little more than an hour, whereas taking trails could easily take twice that long.

I took the road system, too, successively taking Sutherland, Hulse, White Oak and Bog Meadow Roads. I stopped at a clearing where I could get a good look at the wetland that is downstream of the Sphagnum Pond. Its waters are full of bright green algae. I also visited a small beaver dam at the outflow of the wetland. White Oak Road parallels a stream for much of its length; I made severl short detours down to view small cascades of sparkling water. Finally, I reached Upper Reservoir. The trip from Split Rock Overlook had taken about an hour.

I shooed a small Garter Snake off of the Reservoir Road, macadam, lest it get trampled. I was rewarded by it snapping at my boot with its tiny mouth. In a few minutes I reached my car. The day’s hike had taken me about six hours.