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The last time I was there, there wasn't much trash, but hundreds of (empty) liquor bottles lining the walls. We did stay in the cabin after snowshoeing in, the wood stove was nice to have.

I used to do a lot of hiking in the south Taconics, but not for years... is the cabin still standing on Alander Mountain? It's a nice area. Last time I hiked in the area was 25 years ago, with my then 10 year old daughter. Set up camp, then got careless with a knife while getting ready for...

I do a lot of hiking in Harriman, and most of the trails there are very well glazed, to the point if overdoing it... but with all the unprepared people coming up from NYC for walk in the woods it's probably a good thing. There's not only color but symbols...the red dot, white bar, white cross...

Yes, Connecticut is very dry right now. The accident may have happened up on the mountain; 25 years ago, at least, it was possible to drive a Jeep all the way to the top of the ridge.

Most hardware stores stock an assortment of o-rings.

It's a pity, EMS was a great business, but I knew their management had lost their minds when they opened a store right next to Campmor in NJ. People (including me) would browse in EMS, then walk next door and purchase in Campmor. I think the store lasted about a year.

I have an older First Need filter but I can't remember the last time I used it. On long trips at high elevation where I can be reasonably confident there's no human or beaver activity upstream I don't worry about filtering; on shorter trips in more traveled areas I can usually carry enough water...

I hike to get away from people, so I'm solo 90+% of the time, occasionally I'll go out with a close friend or family member. I do a lot of hiking in Harriman and frequently run into large groups, all jabbering away, can hear 'em coming from a long way off. It's one reason I hike off trail a lot.

Yeah, I think that's the NYC mindset to mind your own business and don't make eye contact. I haven't seen many Hasidic hikers, but I generally avoid the Bear Mountain area as it's too crowded (though there are some great views). There's a huge Hasidic community just to the north in Monroe...

As you saw, it can get busy there, and the hike you did is a popular one. I hike a lot in that part of the park because I'm a member of a group camp near there, but I bushwhack a lot (technically not allowed) so that avoids the crowds. There are a lot of Asian hiking groups there, I think...

Late reply, I know... I was hiking in Harriman yesterday. Snow long gone, not much mud. Yesterday was a stellar day, surprisingly not many people where I was (Kanawauke Road to R-D to Nurian to Valley of Boulders, bushwhack to A-SB, back Dunning -WB-Nurian-RD). Kanawauke Road is officially...

Can't help with locations, but... at that age, you might want to do a trial run camping in the back yard or nearby if that's feasible. When my older daughter was around 2 years old we hiked about 1/4 mile into the woods behind the house and camped near a stream. A year later, I took her and...

Right, the relatively short distance to roads and civilization compared to other mountainous areas lulls people into a false sense of security. It's part of why Mt. Washington is often called "the most dangerous small mountain in the world."

Starting a fire in those conditions with dry wood is hard enough; trying to do it with live wood would probably an exercise in futility. I've gone to a Trangia type stove for most hiking ever since my kiwi son in law turned me on to them, but it's been some years since I've done a real winter...

I remember seeing this sign or a version of it when I last skied Killington 45 years ago...

AW, I think so. Bear Mountain for sure, as the inn is open year round.

Also Kanawauke Road (Rt. 106) is generally closed for the winter between Seven Lakes Drive (actually just past the Kanawauke parking lot, which remains open) and Rt. 17.

Those poly tarps are a heavier version of the ubiquitous blue tarps you see everywhere: heavy, crinkly, bulky when folded, etc. I use a roughly rectangular silnylon tarp from Golite. It's slightly shaped, meaning that if you stretched it out with all sides on the ground it'd be like a very...

Dad's old Ka-Bar Boy Scout sheath knife from the 1930s used to sit on a shelf in the basement when I was a kid, but I don't know what happened to it. I carried it on a few hikes in the early 1970s. My current backpacking knife (other than the ubiquitous swiss army knife I carry everyday) is a...

No Sunday hunting in Connecticut, either. Supposedly it's allowed in private hunting preserves with town permission, but I don't know if any such preserves actually exist and they wouldn't be open for hiking during hunting season anyway. Public land shotgun season in CT is only a couple of...