Sapphire Trail, Sterling Forest

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
3/20/2021	6 miles	3 hours 37 minutes	1,043'	1.8	28.9

Map: NYNJTC Sterling Forest Trails, Map 100
Parking: We parked at the Harriman Train Station, which has free parking on weekends. We had to run across route 17 due to fast moving cars. It sort of looks like you could park a couple of cars right at the trailhead (avoiding having to run across route 17), but it wasn't marked as a parking area on the map.

Directions: Hike south on the blue blazed Sapphire Trail. Turn right onto the AT. Turn left onto the Sapphire Trail again. Hike until it reaches the yellow blazed Indian Hill trail at a stone wall. Return the same way.

I was thinking this hike might have a lot of auto noise, but we only heard it during the very beginning of the hike. Today is the first day of spring, and we were so lucky that we heard peepers for the first time this year. I adore that sound. It's full of hope for spring. This hike started out easy, following a woods road. Pretty good terrain, no steep climbs. Later on, we did have to climb a rock slab. Normally this would be easy, but I'm much more hesitant/careful at this point. I think as my fitness improves, I'll be able to trust my knee more. Then there was a steepish descent, and my pace slowed down to a crawl. At this point, I let Krummholz offleash, because I'm afraid of him pulling and me falling. I am very, very slow going downhill with loose rocks and leaves. Painfully slow. We only saw one other hiker on this trail, so it was a good place to let him run. We did parallel a stream for a while, and had some water crossings, so Krummholz was a happy boy. Climbing back up that hill, I was slow too, just because I've lost my prior level of fitness. Taking a year off from hiking is not recommended!!! This hike didn't have much in the way of views.

Taking a break at the intersection of the Sapphire Trail and the AT.