Almost Perpendicular

Daters Mountain
Harriman State Park,
Rockland County,
New York
Trails:
Blue Disc Trail: Blue blaze
Kakiat Trail: White blaze
White Bar Trail: White blaze

Total Time: 1 hour
Estimated Distance: 2.2 Miles
Level of Difficulty: Slightly difficult
Level of Recommendation: Highly recommended for a short hike
Points Of Interest: Great hike with great view

Hiking Partners:
Shimmy and Mordy Rosenberg

Google Maps of Parking:

View 2012 Hiking in a larger map

I was short on time, so this was a great hike for an hours worth of time. We have been very lucky with the weather, which has been pretty much consistently in the 60's and 70's for almost the entire month of March. Although it was cloudy for most of the hike, when we were finishing up it got sunny and in the 70's. We parked at the dead-end circle at the Johnsontown Road trailhead parking, and went on the Blue Disc trail, following it to the climb up Dater's Mountain, to the area labelled as "Almost Perpendicular" on the trailhead maps. This is a good climb, and there is an old alternative route that goes closer to the cliff edge and proves a bit more challenging. We took this route up, and the marked trail back down in the same direction we came from. The view here is incredible, as the rock face is exposed with a sheer, near-vertical cliff below. We went back down and at the intersection of the Kakiat Trail, took that trail through a nice evergreen forest and then over the Spring Brook, where we met up with the White Bar Trail. Along this portion the White Bar Trail follows the old route of Johnsontown Road, which became defunct when Seven Lakes Drive was built parallel to the road. We took the White Bar back to its terminus at the trailhead.

Map of the Route

View from Almost Perpendicular, while ascending.
Facing south.

Mordy ascending the rocky surface near the cliff

View from the summit. Facing southeast.

View from the summit, facing east east,
towards the Gas line on the right.

Me at the summit