[Journal entry for June 17, 2018; Upper Reservoir, Black Rock Forest, Cornwall New York]. I parked at the hiker’s lot on Reservoir Road, after negotiating the narrow tunnel that provides access from Mountain Road. I was pleased that a few parking places were still open, for I was arriving on the late afternoon of a beautiful day. I took the Stillman Trail (blazed in yellow) up and over Whitehorse Mountain. It wanders under surprisingly large trees and past beautiful blooming Mountain Laurel bushes, but commands no great vistas. I passed several large glacial erratic boulders of grey sandstone, brought southward and set on the beige gneiss of these Hudson Highlands by the great glacier of the Ice Age. Arriving at Upper Reservoir, I took an informal trail to a prominent rock ledge on the east shore of this impoundment, which is about a quarter mile across. The view is very pleasant. I then followed an informal trail to the spillway of the dam, past a small wooded island. Canada Geese and a Great Blue Heron worked the shallow, grassy water between island and shore. The dam, which is of an earth-fill design, hosts many different wildflowers, including Daisy and Common Thistle. I then took Bog Meadow Road (a woods road) south, heading for Sphagnum Pond, which is in the central part of the Forest.

I stopped briefly at Aleck Meadow Reservoir to view the Mountain Laurel along its shore. Its blossoms are particularly numerous and beautiful here, with colors that vary from white to deep pink. I connected with White Oak Road and took it to the big White Oak Tree at its intersection with Continental Road (another woods road). I then took the White Oak Trail (blazed in white) west, towards Sphagnum Pond. I made a short detour down to the Paul Faurot Birding Platform, which is a wooded boardwalk that extends out into a wetland along the Sphagnum Pond outlet stream. The water was invisible, covered over by the branches of numerous swamp bushes, but it must have been present, for numerous frog called boisterously from under the vegetation. I continued onward, and soon reached the dam on Sphagnum Pond.

I was surprises to discover that the water level in the reservoir was very low. Hopefully, it signals a plan to repair the dam, which is cracked in several placed and shored up with wooden beams. A twenty-foot wide strip of pebbly beach was exposed on a shore that otherwise would have been made impassible by all the Mountain Laurel. I walked along the shaded western shore, which afforded a good view of the reservoir and the Mountain Laurel blooming on the sunlit eastern shore. At the end, I found an informal trail that took me up to Sutherland Road. I walked the road back to the dam and retraced my path back to the White Oak Tree. I was running low on water, for the afternoon was very hot, and detoured to the Stone House (a hiker’s cabin), where I refilled my bottles from the old hand-cranked well pump by the wood shed. It needed about twenty cranks for the water to start flowing. A large group of people were making dinner on the picnic tables that are outside the House and the vapor from their barbeque smelled really good!

I walked Continental Road to the White Oak Trail, and took it past Arthur’s Pond dam back towards White Oak Road. This pond, too, has beautiful Mountain Laurel booming along its shore. I took the Stillman Trail to the dam at Aleck Meadow Reservoir, seeing some dragonflies and getting a second look at the Mountain Laurel there.

Finally, I took the Honey Hill Trail (blazed in white) up onto Honey Hill. The overlook on its western flank commands a nice view of Black Rock Mountain, and the hillside is full of beautiful Mountain Laurel. It took me back to Reservoir Road, and thence to my car. An overlook near the turn on Reservoir Road provides a nice view to the north and west and is a favorite spot for viewing the sunset. But even though it was now about 8PM, the June sun was still far from setting. We are getting close to the summer solstice. I did not tarry.

I bought a pizza at the Calabria Restaurant (in the King’s Plaza Two in Orangetown New York) on the way home.

About 5 hours of hiking.