Andy's West Mountain

Andy's West Mountain, Harriman State Park (11/22/2010)

A week ago I took the day off to go hiking with my friend Andy on a hike I designed that traversed Pingyp Mountain. Today I took another Monday off and Andy and I headed back to Harriman to do a hike that he recently designed. And it was amazing, affording some of the most spectacular views in all of Harriman.

Here's a quick summary of the hike: from the southern lot at Anthony Wayne Recreation Area, head south along the bike/ski trail from the informational kiosk at the southern tip of the parking lot. Turn left on the Ramapo-Dunderberg trail (at 0.7 miles) and take this all the way to Timp Pass Road (at 2.35 miles), making a left on Timp Pass Road and then another left on the Timp-Torne trail (at 2.5 miles). Take the T-T west all the way to the AT, making a left onto the AT (at 3.65 miles) and descend back to the bike/ski trail where a right turn (at 4.4 miles) takes you back to your car. Total distance is 5 miles. (Those with a bit more time can add a 1.2-mile out-and-back to the top of the Timp by making a right on the Timp-Torne trail from Timp Pass Road.)

Amazingly, while the stretch of the R-D from above Cat's Elbow to Timp Pass Road, is one of the most scenic in the entire park, there isn't a single viewpoint star denoted on the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference map for the trails in Northern Harriman! What the? And the segment of the Timp-Torne between Timp Pass Road to the AT has only a single viewpoint star (at the West Mountain shelter) even though there are nearly constant views along this stretch as well.

Total distance hiked today was 5.3 miles in just over 4 hours with lots of climbing.

(Click on the thumbnail to bring up a bigger image in a pop-up window)