The Hiking Blog

Hiking Harriman State Park

Posted on by ml242

I’ve had more than my share of New York State adventures lately, and with the green light to take a midweek day off, I decided to revisit Harriman State Park.

top of the ridge at Harriman State Park

Harriman is big and beautiful. The park needs to be experienced to appreciate its scale — and it provides a great opportunity to earn views and escape the masses.

One caveat: close to the trailhead, it’s easy to get depressed about the number of visitors in the park and the amount of garbage they leave behind. My hiking partner Stetson is a professional guide with a strong ethic of environmental responsibility, and he and I returned home with a staggering load of trash in our packs.

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Tagged: Downstate NY, Harriman, Hiking7 Comments

The Other Side of Hunter Mountain

Posted on by ml242

For me, summer has become the ski season “of the mind” — going on exploratory missions, trimming brush, and researching deals for the next year. But something happened a few years ago and I actually began to enjoy the summer, and the mountains, for being what they are.

View from Hunter Mountain Firetower
Hunter Mountain Ski Area from Firetower

I can trace the origin of this feeling to a specific camping trip to Mt. Greylock many summers ago. Although I went to the mountain with an ulterior motive — scouting out the legendary Thunderbolt — the trip was far more memorable for everything else that happened.

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Tagged: Catskills, Hiking, Hunter2 Comments

Thirteenth Lake Hike, NY

Posted on by Harvey

I spent the morning stacking wood and getting ready for next ski season. By the early afternoon I was ready for a break and decided to check out the “new” trail that allows you to hike around Thirteenth Lake without bushwacking. It connects Peaked Mountain trail to the Hour Pond trail on the western side of the lake.

View of Thirteenth Lake from NY state campsite

I’ve been thinking a lot about Thirteenth Lake lately — it just seemed appropriate to hike the newest trail in the Siamese Ponds Wilderness and complete a loop around the lake.

There has been so much rain that the trail was being drenched by “streams” that have sprung from the steep slopes of the lake’s western shore. Peaked Brook was raging. I followed the red trail up to the bridge that now crosses the brook and made my way along the new trail.

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Tagged: Hiking, Siamese Ponds Wilderness6 Comments