Somehow I found a weekend where I could skip out and get in the woods for a short trip. My brother and I chose a oldie but goodie in Harriman State Park in New York state. We chose a completely different place to go versus the other time's we've been to the park. It was a cold, windy and brisk day, much to our surprise it was jammed with people. It's an easy get away from the nearby metropolis and people flock there on just about every weekend possible. I'm glad it gets used but at the same time it's a little hard to find parking and it's rare that you're not sharing the trail with dozens of people. There's tons to see and places to go, trails everywhere, along with views and natural wonders.
We hiked from the visitor center to Pine Meadow Lake and then to the Stone Memorial Shelter. The lake was frozen over and the sun reflecting off of it was nice and warming. Eventually we made our way to the shelter, which was built in 1935 and is sadly showing it's age. Most of the shelters in the area are in need of some attention. Being as accessible as they are, and as popular of an area as it is, they tend to get used a lot. They are stone shelters, with wooden floors and built in fireplaces. They are a great respite from the rain or soaking snow, but we opted to sleep in our tent just behind the shelter.
The day was cold, clear and windy. As the sun dropped below the horizon the temps were going with it. The weather forecast in the local town was stated to be in the lower 20's, I'm pretty sure that we got down to the low teens. Any water in our bottle or cups was freezing up before our eyes. We made our dinners, had a solid fire (after some work to get it there) and chatted for a bit. I was in a hurry to get into my sleeping bag since it was a new bag and I really wanted to try it out. Soaked up the last of the heat, packed up for the night and headed to the tent. With the exception of some wandering soul in the eight o'clock hour, the night was uneventful.
I was warm and toasty for the first hour or so, minus my toes (which only thawed out after using a heat pack). I didn't feel like I slept much, although my brother swears I was snoring like mad so I guess I was out at some point. Woke up for the usual and cold bathroom break around 3am and back in bed.
Woke up around seven or eight, Chris was determined to get a fire going again and we had some breakfast, packed up and hit the trail. Someone went by our site while we were packing up, he'd already put in eight miles, doing this is a feat in itself, let alone by ten am.
We retraced our steps back to the car the way we came in. It always amazes me how different things can look when you see them from the opposite direction. Out of the twenty plus people on the trail we saw, only three were kind enough to return the enthusiastic hello my brother throws out there.
It was much warmer when we arrived at the car versus when we left the day before. Still crowded, parking lot over flowing with cars. Packed up quickly and headed to lunch in town.
We sat behind the most rude people ever, I feel bad if this couple represented the state of New York or even any part of it as I've never heard someone complain and be as rude as those people. Our waitress was great and I'm sure they were terrible tippers. Outside of that experience, the weekend was exactly what I wanted/needed, I'm always ready to go again.
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