Reeves Meadow to Chipmunk Mountain

Harriman State Park,
Rockland Co,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Pine Meadow Trail: Red blaze
Stony Brook Trail: Yellow Trail
Kakiat Trail: White blaze
Hillburn Torne Sebago (HTS) Trail: Orange blaze
7 Hills Trail:

Total Time: 2:15 hours
Estimated Distance: 3.4 Miles
Level of Difficulty: Moderate
Level of Recommendation: Recommended
Points of Interest: Pretty brook, good climb
Cons: Lots of people on this trail

Hiking Partner:
Shimmy Rosenberg

This was a very hot day and was in the 90's. This is a mostly shady hike in a deep and narrow valley, so figured it was good for the day. We parked in the Reeves Meadow parking area, and took the Pine Meadow Trail. There were some artists we encountered at the beginning of the trail painting some pretty brook scenes. I took plenty of pictures, but only noticed afterwards that I had left the SD in my computer and therefore none of the pictures came out.

We took the Pine Meadow Trail to the Stony Brook Trail, to the Kakiat Trail and then the HTS Trail. We crossed the brook on the new HTS Trail bridge and continued up the mountain to the 7 Hills Trail. At this intersection there is a beautiful and prolific blueberry bush that for some reason this year was licked dry. I don't know if the bush is past its prime or if someone picked it clean. We headed down the 7 Hills Trail, and went down the Pine Meadow Trail all the way back to our car.

The pictures below are taken from my cell phone camera after I realized all the pictures taken earlier were not saved.

Map of the Route.
Harriman/Bear Mountain State Park Southern Map

Rocks on a Fallen Tree along Stony Brook

Interesting Tree Along the Pine Meadow Trail

North Point at Storm King Mountain

Storm King State Park,
Orange Co,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Howell Trail: Blue blaze
Stillman Spring Trail: White blaze

Total Time: 2:20 hours
Estimated Distance: 3.2 Miles
Level of Difficulty: Difficult
Level of Recommendation: Highly recommended
Points of Interest: Good climb, excellent views, blueberries

Hiking Partner:
Shimmy Rosenberg

This is a great hike. I had been here years ago prior to the closure of the area due to unexploded ordnance, and had not been here since. This hike offers exceptional views throughout the hike. Storm King is a steep mountain jutting over one thousand feet up straight from the Hudson River, with sharp cliffs and dramatic scenery.

We parked on Route 218 at the trailhead parking, and took the Howell Trail up. There are many views along the cliff faces along the ascent, and lots of blueberries once the trail starts evening out. The trail crests at a location called North Point, which is devoid of trees and has sweeping views from all sides. There are also more blueberries here then I have ever seen in one place. We continued down from the peak at North Point, went around the bend through the Clove, and then took the Stillman Spring. We took the Stillman Spring Trail down the mountain back to our car.

Map of the Route.
West Hudson Trails Eastern Map

View from the First View.
Facing Across the Hudson River to Bull Hill and Cold Spring

Looking Across the River to Bill Hill (Mt. Taurus)

Looking Across the River to Bull Hill and Breakneck Ridge to the Right

Breakneck Ridge

Village of Cold Spring Across the Hudson River

Me at the View Overlooking Cold Spring

Me Looking at the Gap on the Hudson Between Breakneck and Storm King

Ditto

Bannerman Island in the Hudson River

View of Storm King Mountain with Butter Hill to the Left

Another View of Cold Spring

Zoom into Cold Spring Village

Beautiful Flower Along the Trail

Dense Patch of Delicious Blueberries

The Tree-Barren Area at North Point

Looking at Butter Hill from North Point

Me at North Point

Me at North Point

View from North Point Looking Towards Storm King Highway

Kakiat Bushwack

Kakiat Bushwack
Kakiat County Park,
Rockland Co,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Old Mill Trail: Blue blaze
Kakiat Trail: White blaze
Mountain Trail: Orange blaze

Total Time: 1:15 hours
Estimated Distance: 1.8 Miles
Level of Difficulty: Moderate
Level of Recommendation: Highly recommended for a good bushwack
Points of Interest: Scramble and good view

Hiking Partners:
Shimmy Rosenberg
Morty Rosenberg

It had been a very rainy week, and I had not had the opportunity to go hiking the prior Sunday. So after work one day when it wasn't raining, Shimmy called me to get together for a quick hike up Kakiat. When I was a teenager I would frequent Kakiat, and I had a specific bushwack route to the summit. I had not done this route in years and figured with our time constraint that this this would be a good hike.

We parked in the Kakiat parking area, crossed the Mahwah River bridge, and took the Old Mill Trail for a very short distance to the Kakiat Trail. We then proceeded up the mountain, and where the trail crosses the stream we veered off the trail and continued along the side of the stream bushwacking up my former route. There is a nice seasonal waterfall here. Prior to the Power Lines, we veered south and took the steep scramble up to the top by the Kakiat viewpoint.

At this point we noticed there were dark storm clouds rolling in, and checking the radar map on our phones we realized the storm was imminent. We quickly scurried down the mountain in the Mountain Trail, and the rain started as we were about halfway down. Thankfully it was still light at first and we were under tree cover, so although we did get pretty wet, we didn't get thoroughly soaked.

Map of the Route.
Harriman/Bear Mountain Trails Southern Map

I Always See Interesting Things While Hiking.
Maybe they are Long Lost Brothers.

Shimmy and Morty on the Kakiat Summit

Kakiat Summit. Note the Haze and Cloud Cover

Zoomed in to a Large Mansion at the Foot of the Mountain

The Same Mountain on Regular Zoom

The Summit of Kakiat Facing Northeast

Me at the Rock at the Summit

Me at the Rock at the Summit

Me at the Rock at the Summit