Despite the morning drizzle, I enjoyed the walk through Harriman State Park.
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Nearing the summit of Fingerboard Mountain.
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I took the short 350 foot side trail to the Fingerboard Shelter
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I came to a trail intersection with the New York Long Path. The Long Path is a 330 mile hiking trail that currently runs from New York City to just west of Albany. Hmmmm? Maybe someday.
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I'm looking forward to the Lemon Squeezer coming up.
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What beautiful colors in the fall!
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As I neared the Lemon Squeezer, there was a sign for an easier route.
I never did like doing things the easy way . . .
. . . and neither does Madison.
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Here's the Lemon Squeezer. Madison, to the back right, helps give it some scale.
It's not just tough because it is narrow, but the angle also makes it difficult.
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Next up was Island Pond. As the name implies, it does have a small island. I double checked my map later to find that there was even a larger island on this pond.
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To break up my day, Lynn parked at Arden Valley Road and came in to meet me.
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Looks like the weather is finally starting to break.
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The trail follows Arden Valley Road . . .
. . . before going over busy I-87.
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I left Harriman State Park and entered Sterling Forest State Park.
Time to begin the climb up Arden Mountain.
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The trail was quite steep.
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What a view!!
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I really enjoyed the fall colors.
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Over a bridge near Little Dam Lake.
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View from Buchanan Mountain
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Bog bridging
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I passed a small unnamed pond.
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How's this for a 'rooty' section of trail?
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I went up and over Mombasha High Point which had a limited view before dropping down to the Lakes Road. Lynn came in to meet me and took a picture of Madison and me by this small bridge.
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One last big climb of the day as I headed up Bellvale Mountain.
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I bypassed Wildcat Shelter before heading across Cat Rocks.
Madison thought instead of being Cat Rocks, it should be Dogs Rock.
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View from Cat Rocks
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Climbing up to Eastern Pinnacles
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View from Eastern Pinnacles
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Lynn came to meet me for the last time today.
The sign shows some of the places I'd been today.
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As Lynn, Madison, and I neared Route 17A, we decided to take one last short side trip.
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Observation Deck
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Lynn found a spot with her name on it.
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Last view of the day
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A couple minutes later we reached the trailhead on Route 17A. We had been here a year and a half ago. Lynn had dropped me off here, and I walked south into New Jersey. It's good to finally add on to this completed section of trail.
