Pine Meadow Loop

Date: May 12, 2012

Location: Harriman State Park, NY

Rating: A

Description: It was a sunny Saturday morning in May when I hurried to Hoboken Terminal to catch the 9:21 a.m. Port Jervis line train.  My destination was Sloatsburg, NY, where I walked 2 miles along Seven Lakes Drive to reach Reeves Meadow Visitor Center.  Pine Meadow Lake is a popular area hike and the large number of cars parked near the visitor center amply demonstrated that. From here, I headed along the red-blazed Pine Meadow trail as it made its way along the edge of Stony Brook.

Sunlight filters through the trees on to Stony Brook

After a while, the Pine Meadow trail leaves the brook edge, but I stayed on the yellow-blazed Stony Brook trail to enjoy the pleasant stroll along the gushing waters for a while more, and then I switched to the black-blazed Raccoon Brook Hills trail planning to visit the marked viewpoint on my map before taking the short spur to Pine Meadow Lake's SW perimeter. So far, my hike had been rather sedate and I had mentally resolved to give this hike a B rating since it seemed pleasant but unspectacular.  However, I was soon to realize my error in underestimating the potential for surprises and interesting experiences when out in the woods!  The Raccoon Brook Hills trail made a quick ascent, and then I got to a clearing with rock ledges and what seemed like a bit of a view.

The "false" viewpoint along Raccoon Brook Hills trail

Mistaking it for the marked viewpoint, I looked around for the spur to the lake, and not finding it, decided to bushwhack my way to it. As I realized later, I had been hasty, and that would have been further along the trail. As it turned out, after several minutes of bushwhacking and realizing I was on the wrong track, I found myself at the edge of Pine Meadow Brook and seeing another hiker pass by from a distance, realized that a trail was just a little way off on the other side. Locating a suitable stretch to cross the brook, I climbed up through the vegetation to get on to the red-blazed Pine Meadow trail again. A little further along on the trail was a charming spot where the brook gushes through a narrow passage in rocks. I wished to linger, but being eager to get to Pine Meadow Lake, I promised myself to stop on the way back, which I did (but only briefly since it was rather crowded at the time).

Pine Meadow Brook gushes through a narrow passage
(taken on the way back)

The trail soon crossed the brook and made its way to Pine Meadow Lake.  Though not as big as Lake Sebago, this is definitely a more picturesque lake. There are rocky ledges along a segment of the perimeter that afford a great view. It is hard to imagine that this (along with many other Harriman lakes), is a man-made lake and not a natural one!

Pine Meadow Lake

A pine tree stands at the edge of Pine Meadow Lake

The Pine Meadow Trail makes its way along the northern perimeter of the lake
(near here I spotted an adult rattlesnake for the first time in my Harriman hikes)

The lake's water is quite clear and it was fun to sit by the water's edge and observe the numerous fish swimming around.

Fish in the lake

I walked along stretches of the perimeter, stopping at several spots to take photographs and then found a perch on the rocks to have lunch and enjoy the view.

A parting look at the lake

Around 2:50 p.m., I headed back along the Pine Meadow trail, part of which was a stretch I was re-traversing, but the rest was new to me given my onward route.  It had struck me numerous times during the day that the trails here were quintessential Harriman (though the grades were a lot milder here) in terms of terrain and vegetation, but it was a bit early for the profusion of flowers I had seen last June (and on the bright side, also for bugs...there weren't as many of them as I had to deal with during my hikes in June last year). There were tiny yellow blossoms starting to peep out at several places though.

A tiny wildflower peeps out
(also seen are some fern, which were already quite plentiful)

I also stopped at the Cascade of Slid (at the intersection with the orange-blazed HTS trail) for a moment, but found it disappointing (it is difficult to reconcile the trickle in the photo below with this video I found on Youtube).

Upper end of the Cascade of Slid

Finally, I was at the visitor center again, and walked back on Seven Lakes Drive towards the train station. By this time, my feet were in pain as a result of my blunder in attempting to break in a new pair of hiking shoes on the trail, and I welcomed the opportunity to sit aimlessly for over an hour at the Sloatsburg platform in the lovely weather, listening to the birds chirping loudly in the trees, and contemplating the experiences of the day, while I awaited the 6:45 back to Hoboken.

Relevant Map: NY-NJTC Trail Map 118