Hike #988; Harriman Tiorati Loop

Hike #988; Harriman Tiorati Loop

11/19/16 West Harriman Loop with Brad Anesi, Julia Vogelsang, Joe Tag, Haowei Lu, Bruce Duesterhoeft, Marcus Brandon Gray, Digvijay Deswal, Isaac Dan, Galya, and Jenny Wong.

This next hike was an interesting thing, well planned, but for me very spur of the moment as well.
In the past, we’ve given different weekends to different members of the group to take the lead on hikes, coming up with routes that fit into our ever growing system of them. Recently, I had agreed to take one weekend per month off to hike just with Jillane, and someone would fill in with me for those weekends. Brad had posted for that weekend, and done so on a Saturday. Jillane works Saturdays and I didn’t think she’d go Sunday anyway, so having someone else take the lead in such a way gives me the opportunity to just show up or not. I had already done much of the area, and Brad had posted things I had wanted to see for quite some time.

At the first mine

In the morning, I was battling over what I should do. There were two separate Morris Canal work day things going on, both on the trail and to clear the chamber at Inclined Plane #6 West in Port Colden, as well as the hike.
I was feeling very depressed in the morning, and as it approached 8 am I was just sitting on the computer. I thought to stay in and get some stuff done around the house, but if I stayed home I’d have probably just layed back down, and then played on the computer, and accomplish nearly nothing. While Jillane was getting ready for work, I made a spur of the moment decision to go. In a matter of only a few minutes, I put my suit and tie on and headed out the door toward Harriman.

Bradley Mine

I was moving pretty fast and got there in less than an hour and fifteen minutes.
It was cool to see some folks I hadn’t seen in a long time, as well as meet a couple of new ones.
The hike would be a loop starting at the Lake Tiorati parking lot. I had done my first hike from there west to the Appalachian Trail to Fitzgerald Falls area back in 2009, and did another loop hike there once since, but didn’t cover the stuff we’d be covering this time. Brad’s route incorporated several historic iron mines as well as sections of trails within the park that have been on my “to do” list for what seems like an eternity.
From Tiorati Circle, Brad’s plan was to take Tiorati Trail up hill to the Appalachian Trail. This was all familiar to me, and we did just what I did on my last visit, miss the trail and follow through woods until we eventually hit it.

Bradley Mine

We turned right when we got to the AT and followed it only as far as Arden Valley Road. The lightly used road is good for walking, and we followed it a short bit to where the Long Path crosses. From here, we headed up Bradley Mountain.
Bradley Mountain has two summits, and the Bradley Mine is in the southern face. Brad couldn’t remember exactly where it was, and I’d never gone to it at all, so I was at a loss. I didn’t bring my maps or anything, but I think it was Bruce had his, and helped to guide us to places.

Bradley Mine

While everyone else was below, I went to the summit of Bradley Mountain anyway. I skirted the top, which probably once had a view, and then headed down toward the group. I think Julia spotted the mine first, as she disappeared over from sight from my angle.
This route we were following was actually the route of a much older trail known as the Fingerboard-Storm King Trail.
There are a lot of trails that just sort of disappear over time. Most of them went between train stations of bus stops so that people of NY City who made up much of the early NY NJ Trail Conference could get to them. Since the stations have mostly closed, many trails remain open, even if nothing else out of tradition.

Bradley Mine

The Fingerboard-Storm King Trail began off of the Appalachian Trail on Fingerboard Mountain and made it’s way north past the opening to the Bradley Mine. The present day Long Path now follows the route of the old trail as far north as Long Mountain. It had to go through what is now West Point Military Academy property in order to get to Storm King.
The Fingerboard-Storm King Trail was open through this area from 1922 until 1949.

Bradley Mine

The Bradley Mine was far more impressive than I had anticipated it would be. The vein started only a few feet wide, and opened into an impressive room about 150 feet into the mountain. The mine used to continue to a depth of about 200 feet, but it is now filled with water for most of it.
When I descended toward it, the leaves from the trees were so slippery that I fell down several times. I made sure to tell everyone to descend well to the east of where the mine hole was, because one bad slip would mean at least a forty foot fall to jagged rocks. Coming down the mountain from above, one would not see it.
This mine was first opened during the years of the American Revolution by a man named Bradley. He held onto it until 1810 when it was purchased by James Cunningham. A year later Cunningham built the Greenwood Furnace nearby to process the ore. The furnace and all associated mines became the property of Robert Parrot in 1837, and the Bradley Mine was worked until 1874. All of the land was purchased as the estate of Edward Harriman in 1885, and his wife, Mary Averell Harriman deeded the first 10,000 acres with a one million dollar donation to the state of NY specifically for a park, a year after Edward’s passing.

Bradley Mine in style

Brad and I both went to the end of the mine, which meant climbing past some water. Others climbed up and down the steep rocks at the mine, but I didn’t bother because the black shoes I wore to match my black suit just would not work well for that.
There is reportedly a limestone cavern somewhere on the climb up, but I didn’t get to see it and I’m not sure if anyone else noticed it.
From the mine entrance, we continued back down hill to reach the Long Path again. It was here we met up with Marcus and Galya.
The next bit of the hike would be on a good section of the Long Path from Arden Valley Road across Stockbridge Mountain that I had never done before. I’ve hiked the entire Long Path from it’s southern terminus up into Harriman, near the Old Turnpike area, and I’ve done all of it from Stockbridge/Mennomine north to Schunemunk, then a missing gap, and all of it from Shawangunk Ridge north to Mine Hole Trail, then another gap, then all of it from Peekamoose trailhead to Phoenicia in the Catskills.

View on the Long Path on Stockbridge Mountain

There were some nice little seasonal views on the section. Brad and I were in front of the group most of the time as we ascended the hilly terrain of Stockbridge Mountain.
At a couple of the rock outcrops, we could see across the valley to the Arden House on the other mountain in the distance. That was the former Harriman home.
We continued along the Long Path over part of Stockbridge to the Hippo Rock, an interestingly situated giant rock outcrop that sort of resembles a Hippo. This entire section is supposedly the earlier route of the Fingerboard-Storm King Trail. We continued just a bit further into a col where the Menomine Trail crossed.

Hippo Rock

When we got to the Menomine Trail, we turned right. I had gotten a splinter in my foot that was bothering me, so I decided to take my shoes off and go barefoot for a while. The Menomine Trail, which follows an old road down hill from the Long Path, was reasonably good for this. I wasn’t doing too bad, because I was able to stay caught up and even ahead of everyone for a good while, even barefoot.
In the other direction, the unmarked trail leads down to another old road which can be taken to a cemetery, but we didn’t have time to do all of that this time. I eventually put my shoes back on because they kept falling out of my pack, and I lost one of my socks, which was rather uncomfortable.

Barefoot hiking Harriman in Nov.

The Menomine Trail was only opened in 1994, though it incorporated a few well known but lesser used trails that existed already, including the Bockey Swamp Trail and Dean Trail to the south and the woods roads and Nawahunta Fire Road on the section we were following.
The name comes from a Native American word for wild rice. When Silver Mine Lake was built, it was named Menomine Lake because they tried to cultivate wild rice there, but it failed. It seems appropriate for the trail to take on this name even though the lake no longer bears it. Not quite sure how to pronounce it though!
The trail took us down and past the inlet to Lake Nawahunta. Eventually, we came to where the trail joined the Nawahunta Fire Road, where we made a hard turn to the left. We followed the unmarked Nawahunta Fire Road up hill for a little while, then down very slightly until we came to where the opening to the Lewis Mine was off to the left.
I don’t know much about this old mine, except that the name comes from the former property owned by the Lewis family. “Scobie” Lewis’s grave is along Menomine Trail, and we’d pass it later, but I didn’t see where it was. We also passed the cellar hole from the family farm.

Lewis Mine

We had several choices for what to do after the Lewis Mine. Brad ran several of them by me, but they would end up taking longer to go a shorter distance. It was smarter to keep the group together, so we backtracked Nawahunta Fire Road to the Menomine Trail to continue east.

Abandoned lot

After passing Lake Nawahunta, we crossed over Seven Lakes Drive and then paralleled it past a large abandoned parking area. We then entered a picnic area and continued to Silver Mine Lake.
At this point, we did another little section I had never walked before; an unmarked but mowed down old road trail that led along the shore of the lake to it’s dam.
There was an abandoned comfort station I assume at the base of the dam, and we followed along the edge of the spillway, which had a few scenic little cascades on it, to the bottom where there were safer places to cross on the rocks.
I found a good spot where we could hold onto some trees, which most of the group used.

Cascades

On the other side, we headed up to the Silver Mine Road.
We regrouped there so I could give everyone a little history lesson on it.
The road was built in 1934 by TERA, or Temporary Emergency Relief Administration. This was a sort of precursor to the Civilian Conservation Corps and other programs also implemented by Roosevelt during the New Deal years, but this started in New York state. The road was intended to be a sort of wildlife drive. Some maps call it a ski trail, but it is not and never was designated as a ski route. The road goes up hill and reaches the Black Mountain area of the Appalachian Trail, and down hill to an abandoned comfort station along Seven Lakes Drive.

Cranberry Mine

The plan was to follow the Silvermine Trail to the east a bit, then do a bushwhack to the Cranberry Mine. The usual access to the Cranberry Mine is by way of a woods road near another comfort station down the road. I had thought to explore it on a past hike, but we passed it by for some reason, not knowing if we’d be able to get in. Since the theme this time was iron mines, we of course had to take the time out to explore it. The Silver Mine Trail led us out through a weaving section along side the brook before the comfort station, with some old stone grill things and fireplaces all overgrown.
This was in fact once a pull in camping area that was developed and used for a time in 1926. Apparently the Silver Mine Road was developed through it later.

Rails in Cranberry Mine

We headed directly across the paved road, then up through woods parallel with a dry creek bed. This would take us very near to the Cranberry Mine. There was an old woods road we were able to pick up that led to the mine from the west, not shown on any of the maps. We were able to get there pretty easily, and we knew we were in the right place when we could see the tailings piles in front of it.
I know very little about the history of this mine. I’m rather certain it’s in the iron mine trails book I have, but I currently cannot find it to check.
When the state park was opened, the mine was used to store dynamite for a good while. That’s probably why the front of it was blocked off by a stone facing.

Cranberry Mine

There was a steel door on it, but it was wide open. We were able to walk right in and have a look around easily. I was surprised to see old rail still on the floor inside the mine, though not attached to any ties or anything.

In the mine

We walked in straight, and there was a side tunnel going off to the right. I figured we’d go straight at first, because we didn’t know how extensive it would be.
Strangely, this mine went straight and then up hill into a slope. I’d have imagined it would have come out as a shaft, but it did not. We climbed up to a point when it simply ended. It was still one of the cooler mines in the area I’d been in.
We headed back down the slope, and into the side tunnel to the left. This one was even shorter, but still very cool to see. Brad, Julia, Dijvijay and I all went into it to have a closer look. Many of the others in the group didn’t bother coming far in at all.

In Cranberry Mine

We headed back out of the mine, then discussed what we could do next. The easiest thing to do would probably have been to head down the main trail from the mine to the east, then take the Major Welch Trail to the 1779 Trail. Everyone seemed to agree that this route was very boring, and everyone wanted to see the view from Black Mountain. It was a nice and clear day, so we would have to backtrack sort of the way we came, climb up on Silver Mine Trail, then take the Appalachian Trail over Black Mountain and figure things out from there. I didn’t really care much, I’d done most of that anyway, and I knew Black Mountain had an outstanding view.

Cranberry Mine

I think it was Julia that convinced everyone that Black Mountain was the best way to go, so we headed away from the mine, at first following the old woods road we had followed before. We stayed on it further than we did previously, and then descended to cross a power line trail clearing. We descended further from there to cross Seven Lakes Drive at the abandoned comfort station.
I cut directly through weeds from here to pick up the old Silver Mine Road. The rest followed other routes, but we all ended up on the same route. We continued on the Silver Mine from here and gradually ascended along the brook to some really nice views of Silver Mine Lake.

Cranberry Mine

I waited up for Joe for a little bit, and we admired the very interesting stoe work that went into the construction of the Silver Mine Road (there is no silver mine, by the way).
It was surprising to us both that we reached the Appalachian Trail so soon. I thought I remembered the road being much longer between Seven Lakes Drive and the AT.
Once there, we turned left to ascend the remainder of Black Mountain on the combined Appalachian Trail and Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail. The group that went ahead were all waiting for a break at the near top, with a good view down to Silver Mine Lake with perfect lighting.

We had a very nice break at the overlook. Everything looked quite clear. I was sweating pretty heavily after the climb. It did not at all feel like late November.
Once we had all had a good break, we made our way a bit further up hill to the summit of Black Mountain.
From the top, we could see all the way down the Hudson River to the tops of the buildings in NY City. Most prominent in the view were the Palisades formation, especially High Tor and Little Tor, with the town of Haverstraw in front of it. The Palisades bent at Hook Mountain, beyond which most of it was obscured.

Silver Mine Road

The last mine we would visit would be the Spanish Mine on top. Brad had planned to visit one more, but it was going to get too dark to see really anything more. We would have to make a more direct route back pretty soon.
I had looked for the Spanish Mine in the past and for some reason never found it. I don’t know how, because this was the easiest thing in the world to find.
In truth, there are supposed to be two openings, but I only spotted one, just barely off the Appalachian Trail at the top of the mountain. It was nothing more than a disappointing pit.
The story behind the mine is much more colorful; it was said a Frenchman and his slave made periodic trips up Black Mountain to a “Lettered Rock” (for which Letterock Mountain nearby takes it’s name) where there was a hoard of silver.

Silver Mine Lake from Black Mountain

He was said to have come back down the mountain with sacks of silver coins that had been hidden there by Spaniards. The Silver Mine Road and lake were then named such due to this local legend.

View to High Tor, Hook Mountain, and NY City from Black Mountain

Satisfied that I’d finally seen the “Spanish Mine”, we stopped for a group photo at the epic outlook on top of the mountain, then began to descend on the Appalachian Trail on the east side through stands of Striped Maples.

The group on Black Mountain

I was surprised to see that on this trip, the Appalachian Trail had been very well reworked with some very nice stone steps. It made it much easier to go down hill on this section.

New AT steps on Black Mountain

We descended further through a little saddle, then up to the 1779 Trail, where we turned right.
This was another section of trail I had never done before, so I was happy to explore more of it.
The 1779 Trail was intended to follow the route General Anthony Wayne used to drive the British south in the year of it’s name. To the north, the trail follows much of this historic route, but in the area where we were walking, much of that historic route was destroyed in the 1950s through the construction of the Palisades Interstate Parkway. Instead, the 1779 Trail utilized another park trail to the west of the parkway, originally known as “The Leisure Trail”. It is in fact quite easy, following more gentle terrain.

1779 Trail

We continued on the 1779 Trail south until we got to the Owl Swamp Road.
Owl Swamp Road has different sections and I believe this bit we followed was part of the 1933 highway. It took us past the Owl Swamp, which was intended to be another lake. The lake was left unfinished when the Civilian Conservation Corps were pulled out in 1935. We continued past the westlands and then continued to the Red Cross Trail. We turned right to follow the Red Cross Trail to the east, to the site of the Burnt House.
The “Burnt House” is now just a foundation of a house that at some point had burned down. I don’t know much about it, except that it was supposedly lived in by a wood cutter named Jonas Lewis.

Letterock Mountain Trail

We followed this trail to the Menomine Trail, another section of it I believe, and turned right. Some of it had been rerouted since the last time I was there, off of the woods road that was badly washed out to land right next to it. We continued on this trail up hill for a bit to the unmarked Letterock Mountain Trail.
This whole last portion of the hike was similar to a section I had done with Jillane back in early 2010. Actually, much of the hike was similar, but covered a lot of new stuff to me.
Letterock Mountain Trail is unofficial, unmarked except for the occasional cairn, and leads through a saddle between the two peaks of Letterock Mountain. Joe and I hung back and enjoyed the sun setting as we walked the section, and turned right to reach the Appalachian Trail where it and Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail split.
We turned left to follow Ramapot Dunderberg Trail over the top of Goshen Mountain.

Sunset on Lake Tiorati

The trail eventually turns to the right, but we continued down hill to Lake Tiorati more quickly.
The sun was going down when we reached the road along the east shore of the lake, and it was quite beautiful.
Joe and I had a very nice conversation about politics (something I take a lot of pride in during the hikes, because there has never in nearly twenty years been a bad argument or even animosity with regard to politics on any Metrotrails related hikes), which turned to youth and all sorts of other stuff. The rest of the group had waited for us at the AT, and again when we got to Tiorati Lake, and we didn’t finish too far behind those that went ahead faster.

Sunset on Lake Tiorati

I was quite glad I’d come out on this hike, and thankful that Brad and Julia had put together a route with so much stuff on my “to do” list.
I started the day trying to talk myself out of doing the hike or anything else, and it’s quite an accomplishment for me to actually show up to something where no one is depending on me to be there, but I made a positive contribution here and there, so it was all good.
After the hike, I feel more inspired to do some more stuff up in Harriman again. There is a lifetime worth of stuff to do up there, and I’ll probably never get to it all, but can try.