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Lake Tiorati - Harriman State Park
Monday, August 2, 2004
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| Me and my pal Payaso went on a day hike in Harriman State Park yesterday, thinking it was a nice day to escape the terror being ramped up in NYC prior to the Republican convention. The first thing we saw, as we got near the park, was a military helicopters (Blackhawk?) flying very low over the road ahead of us. Harriman is near West Point military academy. I don’t know if this is related. |
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But once inside the park it was a lot more peaceful. This deer and a nearby buck (his photo came out too blurry to use) seemed hardly concerned by us at all. |
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| She let me get about 15 feet away from her before she calmly strolled on. Here she is just about to eat that mushroom in front of her. |
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That's Lake Tiorati peeking out between the trees. This is the only vista on the loop that begins and ends at the lake. Fairly unimpressive, compared to earlier hikes in the park. The loop is only sometimes free of car noise. The weather was hot and humid, but there were no mosquitoes and only a few blackflies. I came home with no bites or rashes. Part of the loop follows the Appalachian Trail. The only people we encountered were several AT segment hikers, impressively moving at about twice our sightseeing rate. Segment hikers as opposed to "through hikers" can get by with a relatively light pack. Though friendly, encounters with them are brief. Their object seems mostly to put on miles, find water, and get to the shelter before dark. More about the AT |
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A tiny foot long snake. I think it's a garter snake,
but the photo is not detailed enough for me to be sure. We also saw
numerous chipmunks, a toad, a frog, geese and ducks on this hike. 
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| Another deer, this one is close to the lake. |
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| She let me get a bit closer, but then ran away. |
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| Geese in Lake Tiorati a short distance away from the small roped off area where we were allowed to swim. The parking lot costs $7, but there is a changing room with hot showers, and picnic tables. |
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The trail is well marked, but you should at least study the trail map at the visitor's center, or buy it ($9) Otherwise you might find yourself missing the loop and going way further on the AT than you really wanted. There are no arrows or signs along the trail, only blazes. |
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©2004 Gametone
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