Early Fall Color – Ramapo Reservation, NJ

It’s late September and the leaves are just starting to change here in north New Jersey and the lower Hudson Valley in New York State. Fall officially began on Monday, September 22, 2008, at 11:44:16 EDT (15:44:16 UCT) and in a matter of weeks going forward, the foliage in our part of the country will peak to its show of brilliant Autumn colors everywhere, before the Winter fallow period begins shortly afterward. A little like people on Saturday night! ;)

Notice how the bright Fall colors are still mixed with the remaining lush Summer greenery. Interesting time of year, no?

This post also serves to highlight the fact that while Harriman Hikers most frequently hikes its namesake, Harriman State Park, NY, we also hike in other wilderness parks and reserves / preserves in the area, such as Ramapo Reservation, a Bergen County Park, located a short distance from our weekly meetup at Ramapo College of New Jersey in Mahwah, NJ.

···

···

L1030825b-early-fall-color-RRMNJ
Early Fall color at Ramapo Reservation, Mahwah, NJ

The photo above (and the cropped version, used for our website header) were made at Ramapo Reservation.

···




Harriman Hikers
A New York – New Jersey Singles Hiking Club, Established 1974
www.harrimanhikers.org
···

Wild Blueberries in Harriman State Park, NY

It’s a sure sign that summer is here when the blueberries are ripe! Ask any Harriman Hiker and they will tell you the joys of many July / August summer hikes include wild blueberries! Right now, end of July 2008, seems to be peak season this year.

wild blueberries in Harriman State Park, NY
Click the image for a better view :-)

Blueberries / Wikipedia

Blueberries are flowering plants in the genus Vaccinium, section Cyanococcus. The species are native only to North America. They are shrubs varying in size from 10 cm tall to 4 m tall; the smaller species are known as “lowbush blueberries”, and the larger species as “highbush blueberries”. The leaves can be either deciduous or evergreen, ovate to lanceolate, and from 1–8 cm long and 0.5–3.5 cm broad. The flowers are bell-shaped, white, pale pink or red, sometimes tinged greenish.”

read more

The image above has been featured on the Harriman Hikers Home Page Header. Go here for other Home Page Header posts.


Harriman Hikers
A New York – New Jersey Singles Hiking Club
Established 1974
www.harrimanhikers.org

Island Pond Summer

Harriman Hikers spends a significant amount of time in the Summer hiking to and at Island Pond in Harriman State Park, NY. The photo below is from the south end of the “pond” near Island Pond Road.

The name “Island Pond” sometimes seems both appropriate and inappropriate – the island in the “pond” is descriptive enough, however, it often seems like a mighty big pond, no?

Unlike many of the lakes and reservoirs in Harriman State Park, Island Pond is a naturally made, glacially formed body of water. It’s also one of Harriman State Park’s deepest bodies of water, about 100ft at its deepest point.

Harriman Hikers - Island Pond Summer - Photo by Greg Paret

Photo by Greg Paret

Click the photo for a better view :-)

The photo above has been featured on our home page. Chk this page for other photos featured in the Harriman Hikers website home page header.

Green Pond

Green Pond is a pristine mountain pond in the northern part of Harriman State Park, about a 45 minute hike in from the Elk Pens. Note the beaver lodge on the right. The top photo was taken in the Winter and featured on our homepage; the lower photo was taken in the Summer.

Green Pond is just one of the many beautiful natural settings Harriman Hikers encounters during the course of our regular Sunday hiking year. Come join us and enjoy for yourself!

Green Pond, Harriman State Park, NY in Winter - L1010267sm

Click the photo for a better view :-)

Green Pond, Harriman State Park, NY in Summer - normal_IMG_0964a.JPG

Click the photo for a better view :-)

The beavers must have just recently moved in! – no beaver lodge visible in the summer photo from 2007.

For past photos from our home page header chk this page