Sunday, February 14, 2016

Pine Swamp Mountain 12 degrees

Harriman State Park
Orange Co.,
New York

Hiking Trails:
Arden-Surebridge Trail: Red blaze
Long Path: Green blaze

Total Time: 0:45 Hours
Estimated Distance: 1.1 Miles
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Level of Recommendation: Recommended

Points of Interest: Nice view

Hiking Partner:
Shimmy Rosenberg

This was the coldest day in years. When I woke up and checked the thermometer, it was showing -7 outside. I don't ever recall seeing it that low in recent time. There was also very strong winds making the wind chill in the -20's! Shimmy and I decided to wait until the afternoon to go hiking when it warms up and the wind will die down. By the time we left in the afternoon, it was a balmy 12 degrees, and the winds were diminished. The sun was out strong which helped the mood and atmosphere of the hike.

The trick to going in such weather is to bundle up densely with zero exposure. My clothing included a cotton hat, ski mask, ski goggles, undershirt, fringes, shirt, heavy fleece sweater, heavy down coat, gloves, warming pats inside my gloves, long johns, cotton pants, ski pants, cotton socks, thermal socks, and hiking boots. I felt like an astronaut, but didn't feel cold at all and could have gone like this for several hours. However, due to a busy schedule and the lateness in the hour of the hike, we elected to keep it short. For some reason we didn't meet any fellow hikers out on the trail.

We parked at the parking trailhead at Lake Skanatati, and took the newly routed Arden-Surebridge Trail up along the side of the mountain. We were planning on continuing to the Red Cross Trail to cross the road and continue to the view, but we instead cut it a bit short and went along the old route back to the previous Arden-Surebridge Trail to the Pine Swamp Mountain view. From the view we continued along the old trail route down the mountain back, and veered towards the shore of Lake Skanatati. We then walked along the Long Path for a short period of time back to the car.

Map of the Route
Harriman/Bear Mountain State Parks Northern Map

-7 Degrees in the Morning, with a Low of -8!

At the Beginning of Lake Skanatati

Me Overlooking Lake Askoti

Snowy Scene on Pine Swamp Mountain

Another Snowy Scene

Me Overlooking Lake Skanatati

Me and Shimmy Atop Pine Swamp Mountain

Lake Kanawauke and Lake Skanatati

Lake Skanatati

Lake Kanawauke and Lake Skanatati

Lake Skanatati Shore from the Long Path

Me and Shimmy in our Astronaut Outfits

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