#HarrimanStatePark

[minister-erik]

POLLINATOR (an animal that moves pollen to help fertilization of the flower) - Composition Sunday

© Erik McGregor - erikrivas@hotmail.com - 917-225-8963

[pandemicperipatetics]

Elk Pen Loop Trail in Harriman State Park (NY)

We decided to explore some hiking just outside of NYC and had a few friends recommend Harriman State Park. We picked the Elk Pen Loop Trail because it seemed long enough (7.5 miles) to justify the ~1.5 hour each way drive from Brooklyn and was highly rated on Alltrails.

Is it worth it?

As you’ll see from the photos in this post, this trail takes you through a fairly standard-looking forest vs. the spectacular landscapes from our recent hiking destinations. It felt like a moderate hike with a few challenging ascents at the start, but it was a bit more technical than usual for us because the trail isn’t well-groomed. That said, it met our need for getting out into nature for a couple hours! I’m not sure I’d put in the effort to drive all the way out there from Brooklyn again, but I probably would go if I lived closer, like on the Upper West Side.

One of the more green areas along the trail in late March

How to do it?

The #1 thing to know about this trail is that there are no markings posted to tell you which way to go. We couldn’t have done it without periodically checking the Alltrails map, which worked for a while on my T-Mobile network and then we had to switch over to using S’s Verizon network when I lost connection. As moderate to fast hikers (for the U.S.), this hike took us 4.5 hours, so be sure your phone has a charged battery.

In some areas we couldn’t find a well-defined trail, and in others there were deep piles of leaves that hid uneven ground that was easy to trip on. There were lots of spiky plants jutting onto the “trail” as well. We were glad to have worn long pants and to have each brought a hiking stick.

We traversed a couple streams that didn’t have a real bridge and required some balance to cross, like this pile of logs

We used Google Maps to head to the Elk Pen Parking Lot in Tuxedo, NY. The highway exit that Google suggested was unexpectedly closed off, so we continued on the Palisades Parkway for a couple miles to Exit 18 and drove to Tiorati Circle in the state park. There a barricade blocked us from continuing on Arden Valley Road, but when we called the Harriman State Park/Tiorati office they told us it was okay to drive past the barricade. We had read that the lot has 25 parking spots, and on a chilly Friday morning around 10am, there were maybe 5-7 cars and plenty of available spots. It was the same when we returned to the lot in the mid-afternoon.

A guide to the hike 

The trail starts out rather boring but becomes more interesting. We started on the Appalachian trail, which is marked by white blazes. 

We got some nice views of a lake along the way.

Perhaps 25% into the hike, we encountered the Lemon Squeezer, a very narrow path hemmed in by rock. We continued to follow the Appalachian Trail (white blazers) through the Lemon Squeezer and then perhaps for ~20 mins beyond that.

Approaching the Lemon Squeezer

In the Lemon Squeezer

Trying to exit the Lemon Squeezer!

We hit an intersection where there was a wooden post naming many trails. We turned right to pick up the Long Path, a trail marked by turquoise blazes.

Following the turquoise blazes

Proceeding along this path, we passed a swamp with tall grass.

At some point we picked up the “L” path, and later we reached a clearing where we transferred onto the “red dot in a white circle” path.

We got lost a couple times and used Alltrails to backtrack and find the right trail. After the red dot with white circle, at some point we shifted onto the Dunning Trail, marked by yellow blazes.

Getting a bit tired of constantly checking the map and looking for the right blazes

This yellow blazes trail seemed to intersect with the Appalachian Trail (white blazes) for a while.

Last, we got onto the Arden-Surebridge trail, marked by a red triangle on a white blaze. These markings appeared to be stapled onto the trees, while all the previous markings we followed had been painted onto the trees or rocks. 

We wrapped up the walk in a forest that led us, at the very end, back to a flat grassy area by the parking lot.

We stopped for a late lunch in Nyack, which has a cute downtown that reminded us a bit of Missoula, Montana. We really liked the acai smoothie at Bari, a healthy foods restaurant. Be sure to download the Parkmobile app to pay for parking ($1/hr + Parkmobile’s $0.30 fee).

[rocklandhistoryblog]

#FBF News From Yesteryear; 90YEARS AGO

January 18, 1934 
Excerpt from Pearl River News

TO ERECT BRONZE TABLET TO “UNCLE BENNY” HYDE IN PALISADES INTERSTATE PARK
[Images: (1) Benjamin Talbot Babbitt Hyde (a.k.a. “Uncle Benny”) with unidentified children, undated; (2) Hyde Memorial Tablet. Images courtesy of the Regional Museums–Harriman State Park.]

Members of the staff of the regional nature museums in the Palisades Interstate Park, and others who knew the work and the fine character of the late B. T. B. (“Uncle Benny”) Hyde, are joining in a permanent tribute to his memory, in the form of a bronze tablet to be placed in a suitable location in the Harriman Section of the Palisades Interstate Park, in the Highlands of the Hudson, for which subscriptions are now being collected.
       Contributions from any interested persons will be received by Miss Ruby M. Jolliffe, Superintendent of the Camping Department of the Palisades Interstate Park, at Room 794, State Office Building, 141 Worth Street, New York City. It is hoped to raise enough to make an appropriate memorial which will be dedicated next June during the summer camping season.
       “Uncle Benny” is lovingly remembered by many who were inspired and encouraged by him in the study of nature when he was chief of this work from 1918 to 1925, at the camps of the Boy Scouts of the Greater New York Council, at Kanawauke Lakes in the Park; but his work was extended to all the others of the eighty camp grounds in the Harriman Section. He was the first to lay out nature trails about the Kanawauke camps and to establish an indoor museum there, and he stimulated the establishment of similar features at other camping lakes…

Read more at link below.

_____

Flashback Friday appears every Friday. To receive it in your email inbox, enter your email address at the bottom of the HSRC’s website landing page, or call the HSRC office to register your email at 845-634-9629.

This week’s full report can be found at link below

#RocklandCountyNY #RocklandCounty #RocklandHistory #LocalHistory #NYSHistory #HudsonRiverValley #HudsonValley #LowerHudsonValley #HSRC #HistoricalSocietyofRocklandCounty #HistoricalSociety #HistoryMuseum #HistoryMatters #HistoryHappens #UncleBenny

#UncleBennie #HarrimanStatePark #NYSHistory

#pipc

[coffeeandpine]

day hike

[thingspeopledrive]

Hand-painted merkur-maid. So lovely and so sad that this picture doesn't do it justice #Scorpio #merkur #harrimanstatepark #thingspeopledrive https://www.instagram.com/p/BzWnjVkFt9k/?igshid=4v7dlu1vhejo

[sandygola]

Catching the last days at the lake for the season! Beautiful weather. #harrimanstatepark #americancanoeassociation #lakesebago #kayaking #paddlesports (at Lake Sebago) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjapDKRLAgo/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[photoartteach]

#lastcampingtrip #2018 #breakneckpond #harrimanstatepark #myhappyplace #tlwheatman (at The Stephen & Betsy Corman AMC Harriman Outdoor Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/BniY-ralY90/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1vaoxhifjoq5f

[lynnepeterson-blog1]

Lynne’s 365 Project ~ Day 243 ~ Old farm equipment #harrimanstatepark #idaho #idaho_lovers @idaho_lovers #travel #travelphotography #farm #iphoneonly #iphonephoto #iphoneography #iphonephotography #iphonephotoacademy #photooftheday #instadaily #365project travel ~ food ~ photography (at Harriman State Park (Idaho))

[earthchildddd]

1000ft!! today was one for the books🌻🍃🌲 kicking off the summer right ! ~ @m00nstricken #harrimanstatepark #hiking #summer

[ylemstudio]

⛰ #hikingfamily #harrimanstatepark (at Harriman State Park-Off Road) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNimF3uhaiX/?igshid=1tockzxm7lj7z

[tragicintrepid]

[minister-erik]

AMERICAN BLACK VULTURE (also known as zopilote, urubu or gallinazo) - Composition Saturday

© Erik McGregor - erikrivas@hotmail.com - 917-225-8963

[runningultra007]

#harrimanstatepark #hiking #rain #nobody #tough #fun #bestdayofmylife #friends #ny #top #luxury #gratitude

[billymerrell]

Less than a week until I get this #castoff, but couldn’t stop #liloleme from #hikingtheappalachiantrail (if only for 3.5 hours) #catselbow #harrimanstatepark #unstoppable #horribleform (at Harriman State Park)

[willvaultzphotography]

#summerlake #sevenlakesdrive #harrimanstatepark #fridaythe13th #stilllake #countrylakelife @townandcountrymag @countrylivingmag @countryandtownhouse #lakereflection #blueskies #glassylake #jasonvoorhees #campcrystallake (at Harriman State Park-Off Road)

[atleta-combate]

#sterlingforeststatepark #harrimanstatepark #vancortlandtpark (at Norwood) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDMfwnwJntnsvqSnq0c46ptJN4ficifI7XL1Tk0/?igshid=vuvj7zb5efjh