Rules for Harriman State Park state that you have to camp in or near one of the shelters that currently exist in the park. Igor said that it's a bad idea, because there will be a lot of people there. He said to go ahead and camp where you like.

I've been reading a lot of "leave no trace" info lately, and really like the idea of reducing my impact of natural public spaces, since they tend to get trampled and overused. I guess camping around the lake went against that, but there were already camp sites that people had created, so I figured if we stayed in the area that had already been used, we wouldn't be contributing much more of an impact.

I still felt a little guilty.

Anyhow, we were pretty tired, and hungry, and the last mile and a half hike to the shelter didn't sound like fun, so we found a spot to camp on the other side of the lake from the trail.

In reading about backpacking (as I'm wont to do) I've been turned on to the freeze-dried food thing. It makes sense, since it's light-weight, and every ounce counts when you're carrying it on your back.

It also doesn't take much time to make a meal. Just boil water and add powdery food stuff.

The lake was very nice, and it was pretty quiet. We saw only two other groups camping on the lake.

Not wanting to be too obvious, we pitched the tent up the hill and about 100 feet from the lake-shore.

The next morning.

We both woke up feeling like crap. It was then that we decided to cut the trip short and head back to Tuxedo that day. Bummer.

We started to feel a little better after having some breakfast and coffee, and decided to make the most of it.

This is on the north side of Claudius's Den on a trail we hadn't hiked on yet. Great rock slabs.

Lisa heading down the slab.

There were some nice water features, as well.

On one of the additional trails we chose to hike, I promised Lisa it wouldn't be too hilly. Whoops! I was wrong. She was a trooper, though, and slogged on.

The pack is starting to get heavy. I'm realizing the need for more lighter-weight gear. Of course this means a new tent and stove. Lisa thinks three tents are enough. I think she's nuts.

Back on the road to the train station, Lisa shows her tiredness with a display of "chimp arms."

As a premonition of things to come, I scratch my head. When we got back home to Brooklyn we gave each other a tick-check, and found three on each of us, with their suckers already embedded in our skin. Yuck!

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