Scenes from the Trail: Tuxedo-Lake Sebago via Tuxedo-Mt. Ivy Trail

Date: June 18, 2011

Location: Harriman State Park, NY

Hike Rating (Scenic views and/or interesting terrain/vegetation): A
(Note: The rating is somewhat biased towards the lower side since I had only recently hiked through some of this area, and this reduced the impression it made.)

Difficulty: Moderate-to-strenuous

I took the Port Jervis line to Tuxedo, where I crossed the tracks on level-crossing just north of station, followed East Village Road through underpass, turned left and walked a couple of minutes to get to the trailhead. The Tuxedo-Mt. Ivy Trail (TMI) is initially merged with the Ramapo-Dunderberg (RD) trail. Followed RD till TMI split off and continued to follow that. I skirted Claudius Smith's Den (which I had been to two weeks ago) somewhat inadvertently, and headed beyond. Finally, around 2hours after I started the hike, and after several ups-and-downs, the trail descended towards Lake Sebago. TMI runs along Lake Sebago for a while amidst thick vegetation including lots of flowers, and there are a couple of nice spots to stop and rest or have lunch here. There is a side detour to a spot where there is a fairly wide exposed rock shelf at the lake edge which I initially missed and walked past; however a short walk later, the TMI actually veers right to the lake's edge; this is a nice shaded and quiet spot in a corner of the lake...there is only a single small stone available to sit on, but a fair expanse of the lake is visible. Stopped here for lunch, taking the opportunity to wade in the water a bit. Then headed back, stopping at the afore-mentioned exposed rock shelf to take photographs. On the return trip, stopped awhile at Claudius Smith's Den and also got a closer look at the base portion of the Den than in my prior hike via the Blue Disc (the TMI passes right along the base). Was back at Tuxedo station in slightly under 6 hours from when I started.

Relevant Map: NY-NJTC Trail Map 118