Hike #997; Point Mountain/Penwell to Imlaydale

Hike #997; Mountain/Penwell to Imlaydale

12/24/16 Point Mountain North to Imlaydale with Justin Gurbisz, Kenneth Lidman, Alyssa Lidman, Jennifer Berndt, Neil Washington, and Dan Asnis.

This next hike is another traditional holiday thing, although this particular year it was sort of overshadowed and out of whack by a lot of other stuff going on. I had enough on my mind already with work and such. Apart from that, I changed around the Holiday NY City hike, which usually is a week or so before Christmas, to the previous week, and made the North Hunterdon one later. The fact that it was Christmas eve certainly pulled a lot of people away, and the fact that the Holiday NYC hike had already happened made a lot, including me, feel like Christmas was already over. To top it off, it was pouring rain.

Field at Point Mountain North

Still, a few managed to show, and Neil would just meet up with us a little late.
We met at our end point, the McDonalds in Washington, where we could leave our cars at the former A&P supermarket that had recently closed. It was already pouring when we got there. Fortunately we all had either ponchos or umbrellas.
We spotted Jen’s car at Miquin Woods, along the way, and the hike started at Point Mountain North, at a parking area I helped to install with Hunterdon County Parks several years ago, off of Old Turnpike Road. I put in scouted out the entire trail system there with Rangers and planners for the parks, and eventually marked most of it myself.
We hiked from the parking area first into the fields to the east side. I had actually never brought a group through on this trail, which was blazed with orange plastic markers. I never got around to putting in posts or doing any paint blazes. It’s actually horribly marked. When we got to the field, there was nothing to say to turn left or right. We went left past a giant hay bale pile, then got to woods on the other side where we found an orange blaze.
The white blazed trail, the main route that parallels the abandoned portion of Hermit’s Lane (a road that used to go on through to Penwell Road but was truncated), is now almost completely grown in, but my paint blazes are still visible. Just another of the trails the county simply let go.
We got to the walkable section of the white trail and followed it to the south, to the top of the southern Point Mountain area, and then I brought everyone to the right on a trail that we never finished marking. We did cutting and such on it, and it was almost ready to be marked, but then never opened.
We managed to follow the route to the other part of the white trail, then followed that down hill to Penwell Road. We crossed to the left, and then followed it to Beatty’s Brook.

Frozen up Beattys Brook

It was in this area that there used to be a mill at one time. The foundation area has some junk in it, and it looks as though someone had been digging bottles out of it recently. We headed to where the trail crosses over Beatty’s Brook on a rock hop spot, but it was pretty tough because of the rain and the snow and ice on the ground.
Most everywhere the snow was gone, but in this area it was still pretty bad. It seemed only to be on the north face of the mountain. It was much better as we moved on.
We managed to get across the brook, but several of us, myself included, got our feet pretty wet. Justin looked uncharacteristically miserable. He said that his rain poncho was just a gutter to his shoes!

Beattys Brook crossing

We headed up hill through woods on the other side of the brook, and eventually came to the orange blazed Ridge Trail in the central section of Point Mountain. It follows a woods road up hill from the junction, and then turns to the right over a rocky stream, and climbs to the ridge of Point Mountain.
We had a very nice walk along the top, and save for a tiny bit of drizzle the rain pretty much stopped while we were walking this section. It was a beautiful stretch as the sky started to clear, thankfully in time to catch some of the views to the north.
We paused for a little break at the highest point on Point Mountain, 934 feet above sea level.

Very top of Point Mountain

We continued on the ridge from this point, and soon reached the saddle in the mountain where we descend to the terminus of the yellow blazed trail, which provides access to the main overlook from pull off parking on Point Mountain Road.

Point Mountain

Neil met us at this point, and took to the yellow trail to get to the overlook.
We stopped here for a bit again, and enjoyed the overlook. It was still pretty cloudy, but at least we could see all the way out to the Port Murray light, and down the Musconetcong Valley toward Changewater.
The accursed graffiti that had been all over the rocks in recent years at least had been covered over with a sort of greyish spray paint. Not perfect, but at least it’s not as messy as it used to look. The one good thing about this new cover over paint is that it allows us to better read the 1920 inscription by someone named “Arthur Armstrong” on the rock.

Arthur Armstrong 1920 inscription

We left the overlook and made our way onto the yellow blazed trail, back down past Neil’s car, and across Point Mountain Road toward Point Mountain South. The trail passes through nice woods and follows an old farm road for a while, as well as goes past a nice old spring house ruin.
The trail was growing in in some areas because no one has been taking care of it. At one point, Alyssa went off trail when she was behind and had to cut a corner to get back to us.

Henry Adickes mail box

We came out from the woods into the Wattles Fields, old farm lands where the trail passes through and leads to Mountaintop Road. It looked so much different than when I worked for Hunterdon County. It was so badly overgrown. The first field, which was always brush hogged, was now overgrown to the point that it’s likely been lost to succession. The second field is partially overgrown, and full of young birch trees. This will likely never be put back in agriculture either. I recall it being farmed fields through a lease program, but not any more. There was a wetland restoration project in there also, and it’s now barely visible from the trail. We followed the trail out to the road and turned left. Only my last trail marker post I installed on this trail still stands.

My Uncle Ed's duck

We followed Mountaintop Road to my grandfather’s house, past the Jay Garish Farm. My grandfather was good friends with Mr. Garish and spent a lot of time at his place.
We soon reached my grandfather’s half cabin house near the end of the road. His neighbor, Henry Adicks old house at the front of the orchard next to his house has almost completely collapsed. I remember it still being in rather good shape, but there’s really only one wall remaining. The decay of a building, and the growth of a tree, or a field, really shows me the passage of time. In front of my grandfather’s house is the carving of a duck my Uncle Edgar Allen had made out of the old Cherry Tree that was there. He had another he cut into a guy doing a head stand, but that one fell over. We stopped in and spent some time with my grandfather which is always a really nice time.
I always want everyone to meet him and kind of see how everything I do with these hikes is directly related with the kind of life he has showed me. We had lots of cheese and crackers while sitting around drying off.

Miquin Woods sign

From there, we walked on along Mountaintop Road to Hollow Road, and went right across Simons Lane. I pointed out to everyone that this was where I first started my hiking. My first long walk at the age of three was in part the section of Mountaintop Road we walked, and I also used to walk Simons Lane picking raspberries with my grandmother growing up.
We followed Simons Lane, which was originally called Cat Rocks Road because of the Bobcats that used to live there years ago, to Hollow Road which soon became Anthony Road. We followed it shortly to a right turn on Newport Road. This took us to Miquin Woods.

Old Camp Watchung building in Miquin Woods

An old house that was along the road to the left is now completely gone, demolished with the foundation plowed in.
When we got to the entrance to Miquin Woods, we found the sign still laying partially over. It has been that way for over two years. I suppose that is what happens though when a county lays off all but one of it’s maintenance guys when there used to be like twelve to cover forty parks. It’s pretty disgraceful.
Jen left us at Miquin Woods to go and do stuff with her family for Christmas eve, and the rest of us continued onto the trail system through the woods from the main entrance.
Miquin Woods is named for the Lenni Lenape word meaning “feather”. It was a named associated with the scout camp, and the “order of the arrow” activity.

Old footbridge at Miquin Woods, now beaver dammed!

The park trails are in pretty good shape because they’re taken care of by a guy that lives right there. We followed them to the left, a route I do not believe I have ever used for one of my hikes before. This led us to a section of trail that used to be part of the old camp that seems to have been rehabilitated since the last time I was up there.
It was the trail that went down to the footbridge, which went across Spruce Run to the Arrowhead Lake, a small pond.

The old bridge

The path that led down to where the foot bridge used to be was always overgrown in the past when I went to it. When I was working for Hunterdon County, it was discussed that we should try to rehabilitate the bridge because we could never get permits to build another there in the future, but as is typical of Hunterdon, they argued against it and it never happened. The bridge continued to deteriorate.

The bridge in 2008

Matthew Davis recalled on our past hikes that when he was a scout he would run across the old bridge. By the time we started doing the hikes, the bridge was in horrible shape, but still somewhat passable. The creek, Spruce Run, was not inundated and had a very rocky base. We could easily cross it with care.
Spruce Run finds it’s headwaters in Miquin Woods with a major confluence and swamp area at the east end of the property. It’s really an interesting area.
In the past few years the bridge had become more and more mangled, but this time the bridge had been completely covered over by beavers damming the creek. All of the beams of the bridge were now incorporated into the dam, and a huge wetland overtook where the rocky stream had been to the east. I at first thought that there would be no way for us to use this as a crossing and we’d certainly have to backtrack. Neil and Justin and I took to it first, stepping out over the dam to the little island in the middle.

The bridge as it appeared in 2008.

I was able to get over along the top of the dam, then stepped down onto rocks just below it to make my way past a tough spot. After that I got back onto the top of the dam where it was more reinforced with old bridge parts which got me to the other side with no problem.

Beaver activity

Everyone else had a little bit of a tougher time getting across it. While waiting, I took a walk up the hill to check out the old pond. The entire area was full of evidence of beaver activity. There were trees cut everywhere, and some very big ones that they were obviously still working on.
To my surprise, the big pond was now probably a foot or two higher than normal level. I at first figured that the beavers must have dammed over the spillway, but I didn’t see any sign of anything they might have done. The easy chair next to the big tree was now under water, and more water ran over the edge of the spillway.
I didn’t think about it much until getting home to check out past pictures of it.

Super high pond

I pulled up my old photos of the pond to find that there was in fact a spillway, but it wasn’t at the dam. It was one of the concrete box spillways that sits a bit out into the body of water. Now, that box is completely invisible. Beavers have covered over where the water went out to make the pond even deeper. In doing so, they have created a huge liability as well that I’m certain the county has not acknowledged. Soon, the earthen spillway to the pond will let loose. The earthen spillway is not designed to have water flowing over the top of it the way it has, so it will weaken and give. It will then send an inundation of water down stream. The first thing I think of is my Aunt Pam and Uncle Ken who live right on the Spruce Run down stream. They’ll certainly get a deluge.

The spillway in 2008, which is now covered over.

Once everyone was across, we turned to the left, which looked to be the only way we could walk without getting our feet more wet. We passed by a small out building along the pond, and found that the beaver lodge was set up rigth along the berm of the pond. I’d not seem one so close to shore before.

Beaver Lodge

The area all around the east side of the pond was saplings, all cut down by beavers. They stuck up everywhere like punky sticks.
We walked through here, and bushwhacked a little bit to the old main road to the camp.

Beaver activity in Miquin Woods

I’d have followed the old scout road out to my Aunt Pam’s place, but the guy who lives along the right side of it at the end is sort of an ass hat. He called me up and hollered at me for posting photos of the historic Newport Mill, which is on his land, but my Aunt and Uncle own the road to the center of the bridge that goes to it.

Old bridge site on Red Mill Road

The next leg of the hike was another thing I had been planning to do for some time: follow Red Mill Road from the intersection of Newport Road to Glen Gardner. It would sort of take us along the Spruce Run the entire time. It’s a beautiful road and well worth walking, but I’d just never gotten around to it.
We walked the camp road to the intersection with another road, which goes up hill to the main park access after crossing over the Spruce Run. We turned to the left on Newport Road and passed my Aunt Pam and Uncle Ken’s (I tried calling them, but they were out on errends when we went by). A dog came out from a neighbor’s house to greet us on the way.

We turned right on Red Mill Road after crossing a couple of beautiful bridges. The little stone arch bridges of which Hunterdon County has more of than anywhere else in North America are always a nice addition to a walk.
The road was small and had very little traffic. In some areas, it was narrower than many of the trails we hike.
We passed many historic homes which probably date back to the 1700s. There was a house on the left with a former mill building to the right where we crossed over the Spruce Run.

Old Mill Race

There was also an old bridge site, with substantial old masonry abutments. There were “no trespassing” signs all over the area, but I understand it to be pulbic land of some sort. It’s supposed to be the Hendra Property.
On the other side of the bridge, there were no trespassing signs that read “Hendra”, but also a Green Acres sign right between it. I’m not sure of the final status of the property as of yet. We continued walking from here on Red Mill Road, and climbed up high above the creek. Below us, there was a cool old mill race I had never noticed before. Very substantial, built into the hillside. I did not see evidence of the associated dam.

Old barn ruin

Soon, we saw an old barn ruin to the right, as well as possibly an old spring kitchen ruin next to someone’s occupied house. There was a vacant house on the left which is for sale, and which consequently my friend Dr. Jenn Redmond mentioned I should buy just earlier in the week.
Sadly, the house is in bad shape and thought not to be salvageable.
It really is an awesome post though, the old frame house, and behind it the ruins of the old mill for which the previous mill race we saw served. The house was probably the miller’s house back in the day. It has a lot of acreage on it, but just would be a fortune to save.

We continued down the road past the intersection with Mt. Airy Road. We continued to the end of Red Mill at the intersection with Forge Hill Road, and turned left. This road became Bell Avenue heading to Glen Gardner. The lovely farm scene at the intersection remains unchanged from how I remember it growing up.
We headed down hill on Bell Ave, and then crossed over the Spruce Run on a beautiful historic Pony Truss Bridge built in 1896 by the Croton Bridge Company. We regrouped at this point and enjoyed the scene of the creek below.

Bell Ave bridge

I had originally thought we might head into Glen Gardner for some food, but Ken I’m sure wanted to get finished sooner than later, and this would have likely added another mile or two at least to the entire trip.
We could see to the right of the bridge the old Central Railroad of New Jersey culvert which carried the Spruce Run beneath the tracks on a high fill. We would soon climb from the valley a little bit to Bell’s Crossing, and turn right onto the old CNJ line to follow it to the north.

Walking the Line

I had been walking this section of the rail line my entire life. Some of my earliest hikes with my grandfather were tracing this route. The section was taken out of service around 1986 when Interstate 78 severed the right of way. I remember clipping from the paper when I was little the article about the last train running through Hampton.
When I first started running the hikes in 1997, the second route that I introduced to my friends was walking this line, and other CNJ lines in northern Hunterdon to the old Lackawanna main into Washington.
We followed the tracks, which are in the process of being refurbished for some reason, potentially a reconnection of commuter service out of the Lehigh Valley, with connection in Bloomsbury, over the Spruce Run and then to the Route 31 underpass which was rebuilt just in the past couple of years.
The bridge there today looks far different than the one that used to be there, and it’s much more boring than the original one.

Rt 31 underpass today

The new bridge has solid concrete walls on the sides of it, but the old one was open underneath. To the west side, the rocks under the bridge were a lot of fun to climb, and we always used to stop to traipse around on the rocks.

The old Rt 31 bridge in 2008

The new bridge has nothing interesting to climb on at all. It was already covered in graffiti, and typically odd stuff, like one that said “Eat French Fries”.
This was where the former junction with the Lackawanna Railroad main line used to join. The ties were still still in place on this, and one little spot had a bit of rail left.

Rt 31 overpass in early 2002

The junction site and former trackage site were more obvious with the old bridge.
We continued along the tracks past the junction and where the station used to stand.

Rt 31 overpass today

The station is now long gone, and even a foundation really isn’t even visible. The Lackawanna main is just an overgrown mess heading past some tractor trailers that say “Bass” on them. We continued past the station site, and I pointed out where old Station Road used to head down hill. I also told everyone the story of how Hampton got it’s name from the town of New Hampton, because the name “Junction” became too generic.

As we approached the main street bridge, there were lights on the tracks again, but it was not a train. We all scurried down the slope to the right to get to Station Road, which becomes Lackawanna Avenue today since the station road section is abandoned ahead.

Hampton Junction

Justin said that it was an ATV outfitted to run on the tracks that went by, interestingly enough.
We followed the street down hill and I gave everyone the history of the church and the Presbyterian Congregation that has met between two churches since the 1800s. We passed by the old farm that had belonged to a great Uncle, where my Great Grandfather went to work when he was disowned by his father in Delaware NJ.

My relative's farm in Hampton

We turned left at Valley Road, then right into Hampton Park, another place that I’d never incorporated into any hikes even though it had had so many great memories for me.
I remembered the first time I ever really learned that I loved Chicken Fingers was in that park, when my mom ordered some from Dicola’s which at the time was called Spaghetti House.
I’d spent my youth playing in the river in the park, and when I was sixteen, I camped there with my boy scout troop helping my friend Pete Jackson with his Eagle Scout project, a bat house at the far end of the park.
That night we camped, a few friends and I tried to sneak away and crossed the Rt 31 bridge. Someone woke up, and we hurriedly tried to get back to the park. In my haste, I jumped the railing too early and fell over twenty feet from the top of the bridge, and landed on my back.
I had a concussion and was at first unable to stand. I remember after I finally could stand, I was unable to sit down due to the pain in my back. I spent the evening pacing around the pavilion in the park.
The next day, I could barely function, and passed out after I got home. I was told by my mother that I woke up at around 7 or 8 PM dressed for school with my backpack, and that my eyes were dilated. She accused me of being on drugs and told me to go lay down.
I remember waking up on the couch, unsure of how I got there and with a lapse of memory. My Science teacher Mr. Strout made fun of me for for the incident for a while after.
The group and I all walked to the river and turned right beneath the current Rt 31 bridge. A bit beyond, the old highway bridge still stands over the Musconetcong.

Historic postcard image of the old bridge

The area of the bridge is known as Imlaydale, a little hamlet along the river. Rt 31 used to be Rt 30, then Rt 69, but theft of signs forced them to change it to 31.

Bridge at Imlaydale today

I had always wanted to do a hike across this old bridge, but again it was something I’d never gotten around to. It was the perfect last thing for the hike.
We followed a good path which led right up to the old highway, and turned left to cross the bridge.

Old Rt 31 bridge

The bridge appeared to be in relatively good shape. When the current Rt 31 bridge was constructed, this one was opened for traffic again briefly. We crossed, and I pointed out where there was an old dam up stream, now purged. There was once a stone arch across the river as well, but when I was little only one arch from it remained. I have not seen it since, and I’m unsure if any of it is still there.

Old Rt 31

There was a sign stating not to go on the bridge on the Warren County side. There was nothing at all on the Hunterdon side where we got on. We followed the old paved roadway up to the turn off at historic Imlaydale, and then started following Rt 31 north toward the old A&P.
We managed to get back to the cars well before dark, which was nice. I had started this hike earlier than most of them specifically so that I could be done earlier. I ended up not doing anything anway, but it was still nice to get a little break.

Historic Imlaydale

Because Christmas was on Sunday, I had this traditional hike Saturday, and then the next 911 Trail series hike on Monday. By having these couple of extra as well as a night hike Thursday, our 1000th hike would be New Years Day. We would be ready.