September 2013 Hikes and More!

Great stuff in store for September~ Here is our schedule followed by details!
9/15 Sussex Rail Triangle with Gregg
9/22 Warren County Hike with Common Sense For Animals Benefit
9/29 Jersey Perimeter Beach Hike; Stone Harbor and Cape May
Read on!
9/15: Everyone please welcome Gregg Hudis, Metrotrails core group member, and prominent hike leader in other NJ groups as well, who has graciously offered to substitute lead this week's hike while MT President M'ke Helbing and VP Matt Davis are both on backpacking vacations!
The hike will be a 13 mile loop (with a couple of side trips that will probably bring it to the usual fifteen mile mark) in Sussex County NJEveryone will meet at Warbasse Junction, where there is parking on Rt 663, Warbasse Junction Road, at 9 am. Since the hike is a loop, no car shuttles are required.
Gregg will then lead the group along the Paulins Kill Valley Trail, formerly the New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railroad bed constructed in 1881. This hike is one of the few loops that can be done solely on railroad beds, and it is through some of the most beautiful topography in NJ. The first leg includes a deep rock cut pictured above.At Swartswood Junction, a right turn is taken on the abandoned Lehigh and New England Railroad bed. This is a much lesser used but equally as beautiful rail trail (pictured above) that is a more recent acquisition by NJ State Park Service. The right of way is a little more overgrown in places, but it has been cleared further even since the above picture was taken.
The Lehigh and New England line was constructed in 1886, and abandoned in October 1962. A gas line utilizes the right of way and has saved it from developmental encroachment. This section of right of way offers superb views of the Paulins Kill River unseen from even from Paulins Kill Valley Trail.At Augusta, the trail reaches the Sussex Branch Trail, which is more prominently used. The hike then leads along the Sussex Branch Trail south to Lafayette through beautiful countryside. Food is available there.It is up to Gregg what side trips might be taken along the way. The area is ripe with fantastic places to explore!
For those wishing to follow along with trail mileages, the official Metrotrails guides to them are available on our website, www.metrotrails.org
Here is the Paulins Kill Valley Trail guide: http://metrotrails.org/Metrotrails/Paulins_Kill_Rail_Trail.html
The portion traveled will be between 21.50 and 27.10
Here is the Lehigh and New England guide: http://metrotrails.org/Metrotrails/Lehigh_and_New_England_Railbed.html
Go to the Swartswood North section and use mile 0.00 to 4.97.
Here is the guide to Sussex Branch Trail: http://metrotrails.org/Metrotrails/Sussex_Branch.html
Use miles 18.10 back to mile 13.92
Again, thank you GREGG HUDIS for taking the reigns for this week's hike!
Everyone please watch this page for additions or further details from Gregg regarding the hike!

Coming up the following week, the 22nd...join us for a great Warren County hike that will focus on the Morris Canal, area trails, rail beds, back roads, and more! The hike is also part of a benefit to help Common Sense For Animals! A $25 donation gets participants a tee shirt and food, and goes to a worthy cause! The walkathon route is part of the hike, and we'll continue beyond that point!
Check here for more details on that one: http://www.meetup.com/Metrotrails/events/138661232/