Stahahe High Peak

Stahahe High Peak & Island Pond, Harriman State Park (10/26/2008)

This is Hike 13 ("Island Pond Ranger Cabin") from the book Hiking the Road to Ruins with the addition of a one-mile out-and-back spur to Stahahe High Peak, which overlooks Lake Stahahe. A good part of this hike is on unmarked trails, albeit ones that are very easy to follow (there are small portions of the spur to Stahahe High Peak, however, that require a good woods sense). The highlight of the hike is the ruins of the ranger cabin at the southern tip of Island Pond, presumably "built for the park rangers to party and entertain". It was burnt down in 1963 by vandals. While the first half of the hike is on sparsely used trails, the second half is on very popular trails, where we saw dozens of hikers on this beautiful afternoon. Total distance covered was about 6.8 miles.

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