From the Torne to Pine Meadow Lake

2/9/12 Run:  Ramapo Torne, Pine Meadow Lake, Stony Brook

The Stony Brook trailhead on seven lakes drive near Sloatsburg, NY is one of the most popular hiking spots in Harriman. The trails that parallel the scenic Stony Brook are unique and fairly easy relaxing hikes, but once you climb the ridges and get away from the main trails, you can be out on your own for the most part. On this winter weekday I didn’t see a single person for the entire run.

After moving to this area 6 months ago, I’ve finally gotten more used to running on the very rocky trails, and I’ve been doing weekly runs in this area of the park for several months. Now with my planned long runs increasing in duration, I can plan runs that venture farther out into the park and can do much longer loops. Loops are always much more fun than out-and-back runs.  This day the weather cooperated nicely with sunny skys, scant wind, and temps in the low to mid forties all afternoon.

(A) Start: Over and up Ramapo Torne (blue to orange trail)  39:50 HR 139

I tried this section of trail about 6 weeks ago on my birthday, and it’s a nice way to begin a run, as the trail is soft at first and rises gently up the escarpment before getting somewhat more rocky in the middle, then traversing a watershed before turning sharply left and straight up a steep hill rising up to the technical rocky outcroppings that make up Ramapo Torn. I felt good warming up on this section, but made it clear to myself that I was going to go out easy in anticipation of being out there a few hours. Still this was my best time so far on this section, showing perhaps that my fitness is improving, with plenty of room for improvement as I shed some more weight later this spring.

On such a beautiful day I stopped to take in the view for 10 minutes up at the top of Ramapo Torn. Despite the easy running, I had really smoked up at the top of that hill! My mind started to relax and let go of other things there, and I was enjoying that feeling of being out there in nature again. I was excited to soon be heading out on a new trail for me, but first time to drink some water and contemplate my last few days. While I like to keep moving on these runs, I don’t hesitate to stop and soak in a view or sit still for a few minutes to see what the locality is telling me.

(B) Over Russian Bear (orange to black trail)  41:17 HR 148  [1:21:07]

Running from Ramapo Torn towards Pine Meadow Lake is a series of scenic vistas at first, then descending and ascending steep smaller hills with increasing technical footing because of the rocks in the trail, to where the trail is on rocks and there is often no discernable trail at all but for the paint blazes on trees. With snow cover these sections of trail would be difficult even having run them several times before. When you come up the cascading rock formations of the Russian Bear, you find long sections of stone steps laid into the steep hillside, one section going down, another going up, put there by trail maintenance volunteers. When I first saw these I was amazed because they’re out in the middle of nowhere, and they must have taken some serious work to put in place.

Once you turn right onto the black trail here, the terrain is very up and down, with nice views south here and there before you cross the buried pipeline and finally begin descending into a watershed valley that feeds Torne brook to the south and Pine Meadow Lake to the north. I was feeling pretty good in here, but knew that my bad night’s sleep would catch up with me at some point. Still, I was looking forward to the new trail ahead, yet wondering slightly if this longer loop course would take much longer than I had planned.

(C) Traverse to Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail (white trail)  27:33 HR 147  [1:48:40]

Now into the unknown!  I was excited to be heading out onto what was a new trail for me, but I quickly found out it would be a challenging one. Here the rock slabs and rocky outcroppings jut out of the landscape and mix up the terrain as much as I have seen. Because the trail is almost all on rock with very little ground to form a trail to follow, it was difficult to follow and find the next trail marker in many places. At night it would be impossible, but there I was in still-strong afternoon winter sunlight, and I was having to stop to search where the trail went many times, even becoming disoriented. This is why I always bring my compass, but I didn’t quite have to fetch it out of my pack.

On top of the trail-following difficulties, I was getting tired and somewhat frustrated because the day was wearing on, and I didn’t want to be out this far in the park much later in the day. This section of trail is marked, but could be better marked. It’s one of those connector trails far out where not many people use it. I’d encountered these in the Catskills, farther away from the more popular trails, and some of them can be difficult to follow, little more than blaze marks on trees through the woods, which can be hard if those blaze marks are far apart, as on this white trail I was on. It was a difficult section, but one I didn’t want to retrace, so I did my best to read the map and I finally got my bearings concentrating on the map contours and my elapsed time on the section to make progress. Luckily I had seen the next trail junction before, having mounted the ridge on a short run from the southeast, so I knew what to look for, and finally finding it was welcome relief.

(D) Stint on Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail (yellow trail)  20:32 HR 151  [2:09:13]

At least this more famous park trail was well-worn and easier to follow, so I was relieved at that, but was then getting more tired, and there was a steep descent followed by a climb back up the ridge. The ups and downs were wearing on me a bit, but I was still running strong, and pushed harder in this section, happy to have no navigational challenges, and wanting to ‘turn for home’ at the white trail ahead. When I’d gotten up the ridge again, I came to a spectacular view east, and, a bit weary, I stopped and ate the last of my food and drank most of my second liter of water as well. I knew right where I was, at the * on the map, though it seemed at first I should have been further along, I knew it had to be that spot.

After my pause, I pushed hard over the rocky undulations on the ridge. I was now  following the map very closely because I had to find that next trail junction, the left turn onto the white trail. After my difficulties on the previous white trail, and knowing how hard new trail junctions were to spot sometimes out here, especially when running, I didn’t want to blow right by it. The backstop was a shelter a few clicks past the trail junction, but I didn’t want to have to backtrack, so I kept my focus. I was weary at that point, still feeling good running, but just wanting to get onto the turn home.

(E) Pine Meadow Lake , down Stony Brook (white to Red trail)  49:27 HR 147  [2:58:39]

Luckily the white trail was about where I thought it would be, and it was really well marked, so I felt relief and relaxation crossing over to the lake, where I was soon surprised by a serene setting in the later afternoon winter sunshine. What a great mild winter for outdoor adventuring. I found a spot to pause and finish my water, and take in the beautiful scenery at the lake. Got to get up here for a picnic or camping, I thought.

Once I was on the red trail I could follow it all the way back, so my mind could relax and enjoy the lake views, but my body was getting weary, and I was looking forward to the longer sections of slight downhill I knew awaited me farther down the trail. This was the easiest part of the run, still technical in places, but generally more run-able than the severe rock jumbles behind me. Thoughts of mounting the yellow to orange trail section passed and I continued on the red trail, finally hitting the most familiar sections and then running on the sections of rocks to the side of the trail despite weary legs, enjoying those as always. This was one of those runs I’ll remember, on such a vivid day, over so much complicated terrain. Not just training for bigger runs later, but a mini adventure, just the way I like it.

Summary:  Mixture of very rocky technical up-and-down terrain and somewhat more run-able but still rocky trails. Only about 11 miles, but mostly very tough miles. I ran the flats, downs and less steep uphills, hiking the steep parts hard, while trying to keep my overall effort moderate enough to finish still running somewhat strongly. With lunch and scenic stops, overall time was about 3:25, with stopwatch time of 2:58, though I have to subtract some from that for *lots* of pauses to find the trail, so call it 2:53 running time. An overall average heart rate for the run of 145 means I had to work, and that was a little harder than I would have liked for this run. I was aiming for something under 140, but the run required more effort just to keep up a running motion over the technical rocky terrain. It's very difficult to total the vertical climb on a run like this with so many smaller ups and downs, so I just used my experience and put it at about 2300 feet of climb and descent.