Ramapo Mountain Hike and More!

 Hello all!
Good stuff coming up! This week there will be the regular Sunday hike in the Ramapos, and I might do one on Thursday afternoon near Swartswood. Please refer to our meetup group www.meetup.com/metrotrails for more details on that one. The regular Sunday trip will be a loop described below:
Join us for an outstanding loop hike in the southern Ramapo Region, starting in Pompton Lakes at the A&P Supermarket, 63 Wanaque Ave, Pompton Lakes NJ at 9 am. The route will loop us around the area for about fifteen miles with the option of continuing on for another smaller loop.This hike features many outstanding points including the ruins of Foxcroft, a long burned out mansion that is known by hikers as the Van Slyke Castle. We will also pass beautiful views and other historic sites, as well as a few other surprises.
Apart from the A&P at the beginning, we will not be passing other food and drink stops, so everyone should have plenty of water and a lunch or snack. The first leg of the hike will include a little bit of side street walking in order to reach the trail head. I plan to use a lakeside park route. We will then follow a portion of the historic Cannonball Road route, now Cannonball Trail which has an interesting pedestrian overpass above Rt 287.We'll follow foot paths through Ramapo Mountain State Forest with more overlooks, and continue to the ruins of Foxcroft which also offer some lovely views. We'll continue from here to the west to the newer trail along the edge of Wanaque Ridge, with more spectacular views including the Wanaque Reservoir and dam.From here, we'll entrust the route to our co leader Justin, avid urban explorer and mastermind behind a popular UE website! Some of the route might be rougher at times, and there will be optional side trips to interesting points. Those not wishing to do the side trips may take a break.We will return once again to the A&P supermarket where there will be the possibility of extending the hike a bit further, depending on what time we get finished, heading west to follow a bit of the old Greenwood Lake Railroad, and then heading up onto the Federal Hill property. There are no formal trails there, but it is possible to continue about two miles from one end of the preserve to the other, and it has some historic ruin features.
This hike will include some very steep sections and would not be considered suitable for beginners.

Looking ahead, the following Sunday will be a Delaware Water Gap and Stroudsburg area trip ending at a party at our friend Michele Valerio's house in celebration of her birthday! Beyond, we'll have another hike in the Jersey Perimeter series, this time between Cape May and ares on the Delaware Bayshore northbound. After that we close out the month with two versions of a Sterling Forest hike. One very difficult and fast, 25 miles led by Brad and myself, then another fifteen miles and more like our normal hikes led my Michele.

Additionally, in late November I am looking at doing fifty miles in one day between Albany and Kingston, Please let me know in advance if you'd like to try.

Stone Harbor and Cape May Beach Hike!

Sun 9/29: Join us for another point to point, part of an effort to hike the entire perimeter of NJ! This time we will cover a section of beach and a few connective roads to reach Cold Spring.
Meet at Stone  Harbor Hobie Beach, which is at the end of 2nd Avenue in Stone Harbor. It's a large parking lot with plenty of room and no charge. Excellent meeting spot.
The hike should be between 15 and 16 miles. Most of it will be on the beach, though we may use some of the boardwalks from time to time. There will also be little bits of road walking just on the bridges to get between the barrier islands.

From here, we'll shuttle south to begin the hike a few blocks from the waterfront.
Along the way, we will pass through Stone Harbor, Angelsea, Wildwood, and Diamond Beach. Hopefully we can work out some carpools for the beginning!
Finish off the Summer with one last great beach hike with the crowds having gone!

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/

Sunday 9/8 Promised Land Hike!

Join us for a long hike in what was known as the "Promised Lands" of the Poconos. When originally settled, these properties were sold off to hopeful farmers in search of a successful life in the new world. Unfortunately, they found the area to be harsh and no good for farming at all.When farmers attempted to plant their fields, the freezing and thawing made the rocks come to the surface, which are today referred to as "Pocono Potatoes".
For this hike, we will be meeting at 9 am at the main entrance to Promised Land State Park on Rt 390, Promised Land Road. Google Maps also shows this as Fairview Lake Road. A map of the park can be found here: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_003250.pdf
From the meeting point, we will shuttle with as few cars as possible south to our beginning, near the northern end of Thunder Swamp Trail.
DO NOT  go solely by GPS!!!
 GPS units are not good for finding trail heads. If you're looking for a store or whatever, they're find, but with trails you should always read my trip description first with meeting point and then adjust accordingly. GPS units often send people to the middle of nowhere in the Poconos. Directions are also on the brochure at the park website for which I posted the map. I don't want anyone to get lost! I often have people calling me and asking how to get to the meeting point, and often I am not familiar with the roads in the area either. Sometimes we have to do a little homework before blindly driving! This time everybody should be ready because I may not have any cell phone reception for much of the day!
The hike will be about 18 miles, but shouldn't be so tough because so much of it is plateaued areas with only gently rolling hills. Much of what we will be following are dirt, gravel, or otherwise unpaved woods roads interspersed with trails and a utility right of way.The route is at first within Delaware State Forest. We ill follow the Burnt Mills Swamp Trail, really a woods road, and continue to Pine Flats Fireline Trail, another woods road. We take this to a dirt road known as High Line Road. We'll follow this, then pick up a utility right of way with an ATV path along it. This is the only serious climb on the hike, as we ascend High Knob, with views from the top.Beyond High Knob, we'll follow the utility right of way to a series of dirt roads from which we'll pick up Big Inlet Trail. This will lead us into Promised Land State Park. We'll utilize the state park trails to reach our end point along the lake.
Because of the distance, this hike is not for beginners. While the woods roads will often make for a relaxing route, there will be a couple of difficult sections.
Contact me for further details:908 343 8374