Chipmunk Mountain

Chipmunk Mountain, Harriman State Park (4/18/2013)

The last time I hiked in Harriman was in May of last year. So today was the first time back since Hurricane Sandy. My friend Andy and I were surprised to see very little evidence of any damage from the hurricane on the trails we took today, mostly on and around Chipmunk Mountain. There were a couple of places where we could see that fallen trees had been chain-sawed and cleared off to the side of the trail, but for the most part what we hiked today was unscathed by Sandy. It's no wonder the park has been open since the hurricane.

When we arrived before 10 AM, the parking lot at Reeves Visitor's Center was already filled and by the time we started hiking, the overflow lot was also filled. We first headed east on the Pine Meadow trail high above Pine Meadow Brook which we could hear but not see, then SW on Seven Hills trail climbing Chimpunk Mountain. The views along the way were impressive and constant once we reached the ridge. The trail then continued with one of the steepest descents in the entire park. At the bottom we headed south on Reeves Brook trail then east on Raccoon Brook Hills, with a climb at the beginning. Crossing over the Pulpit, we continued north on the Hillburn-Torne-Sebago trail with views almost as impressive as those along the Seven Hills and yet not a single vista star is indicated on the last NYNJTC Southern Harriman Trail Map #118. Back to the Pine Meadow trail we headed west back to the car.

Total distance hiked today was 6 miles in about 4 hours.

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