Hike #120
Hike 120
Henry and I in his back yard, the beginning of our hike!
1/14/4
For this next hike, I could’nt get Tea Biscuit to join, so I called up my good old friend
Henry (aka Matt Fenimore) who was willing to hike a loop around the Hackettstown area.
In henry's yard
At Henry's house
Below Henry's development
We Miss You Henry! Along Schooley's Mountain Road
On the trail in Cataract Park. This bridge was replaced later
Cataract Park view
Iron mine in Cataract Park
Iron mine in Cataract Park
Iron Mine, Cataract Park
I met Henry at his house in a developement off Allen Road in Mansfield Township. After
he got ready, we headed out directly through his back yard cutting downhill to the next main
road. We walked Allen Road down past the Regal Cinema movie theatre and across Rt 57
to Newburg Road, passing the old house on the right where Moo Moo used to live. I wish I
had taken a picture of it, as it would be ripped down in favor of a Wallgreens in 2005.
We continued up Newburg Road and onto Schooley’s Mountain Road uphill. Soon, we
reached the trailhead to Cataract Park, a small Washingtown Township, Morris County
park with a couple trails. We headed into the woods near a sign with “Henry We Miss
You” written onto a sign, and a little wooden bridge which had fallen into the creek. We
crossed easily and began to ascend the hillside. It began gradual, but got very steep, and the
trail was blazed unprofessionally with teal blazes. The trail followed a carriage road for a
short distance, then continued steeply to a view over Mansfield obscured only by leafless
trees. We continued to the orange blazed trail leading us to an old Iron Mine, which we
were able to go inside! The mine was not very deep, but still interesting. We went inside
for a bit, then continued back downhill onto the Cataract Trail, leading us to Cataract Falls.
Iron mine, Cataract Park
Cataract Falls
Cataract Falls
The split rock at Cataract Park
Split rock at Cataract Park
Split rock at Cataract Park
Cataract Falls
In Cataract Park
Upper Cataract Falls
Cataract Park
Upper Cataract Falls
Along the Cataract Trail to Heath Village
View from Nature Trail, Heath Village
Along the trail
The Knoll above Hackettstown
Old road behind Heath Village
The falls were well frozen over by this time, and particularly beautiful. Though the teal
blazed trail ended at the bottom of the falls, we scrambled up the falls to the right using an
old conifer log and giant boulders. A smaller falls lay before us at the top of the main falls,
and we took a break here. While perched on a rock, I impersonated Golom, from the
currently popular Lord of the Rings movie. At the top, more teal blazes began where I had
left off on a previous hike with Tea Biscuit. We followed the teal blazed Cataract Trail
across a power line and behind Heath Village in Hackettstown. We followed the trail
labeled “Nature Trail” to the yellow blazed “Knoll Trail” to another seasonal overlook
over Hackettstown. We then made our way back uphill following some orange tape, which
we assumed would be new trail sections, to the Patriot’s Path blazes near the top. We
followed these blazes to the next road and the power line. We turned left on the road,
followed by another left, then the first right to a cul de sac where the Patriot’s Path blazes
reenter the woods. We followed these blazes to the end, then made our way along the
woods roads through the private land as we had done previously out to the power line. We
descended to the Patriot’s Path, and walked out to the three way intersection of Mission
Road, Resevoir Road, and Spring Road, stopping at an abandoned swimming pool along
the way.
Abandoned swimming pool along Patriot's Path on Mt. Olive
Abandoned swimming pool along Patriot's Path, Mt. Olive
When we reached the intersection, we turned left onto Resevoir Road downhill. We
watched closely to the left of the road until we spotted tape blazes leading off into the
woods near a post reading “Conservation Easement”. We began following this path, I
walked ahead, and came across a huge hollowed out log which I decided to hide from
Henry in. He soon found me, and I crawled out.
Me in a hollow log on an incompleted section of the Patriot's Path on Schooley's Mountain
Looking at Henry out a hollow log
View over Hackettstown from Mt. Olive area
Abandoned bridge near former Hackettstown Food Basic
The tape blazes ended at another minor
knoll overlooking some apartments, so we cut through the weeds to a path behind the
developement, which led around a retention pond and then around houses. We cut across
the developement with nice views of Hackettstown and the Centenary College dome, then
found an old abandoned road which paralleled Rt 46, taking us across a quaint little
bridge. We emerged in a development behind the former Hackettstown A&P (predescessor
to the Mansfield Store), now a “Food Basic” store, another branch of the A&P.
Highlands Trail in Stephens State Park
Abandoned house, Stephens State Park
We wandered through the store a bit and I think Henry got some junk food. I decided I
would rather have beer from the local liquor store, but I barely had any money. I asked
Henry if I could borrow a dollar or so, and he said “Sure, what for?”. When I told him it
was for beer, he yelled “NO!”. I immediately began scouring the ground around the
vending machines at the front of the store for change. Soon, I found a vendor I had
recognized from A&P, and I still saw regularly at Wal Mart, and asked him to borrow
money, to which he gladly obliged (I paid him back at Wal Mart soon). I went into the store
and got a Molson Ice, though the girls inside were trying to talk me into a cheaper tall can
of beer which they believed to be just as good.
Abandoned house, Stephens State Park
Abandoned house, Stephens State Park
Henry and I continued along Rt 46 to East Avenue, which we walked to the beginning of
the abandoned Mine Hill Road. Though the road was unused, it was still nicely paved, and
we followed it to the Highlands Trail crossing, then followed it to the north.
We continued downhill into Stephens State Park, then walked the Highlands Trail along
the Musconetcong River to Waterloo Valley Road. Here, I spotted a couple abandoned
buildings in the woods to the east. We bushwhacked to them and went inside before making
our way back to Waterloo Valley Road. We followed this road out to Waterloo Road east
to the former Morris and Essex Railroad. We followed the tracks back into Hackettstown,
and eventually Henry’s dad picked us up along the tracks after recieving a call from Henry.
Photos by Mike Helbing and Henry Fenimore
Me in a hollow log on an incompleted section of the Patriot's Path on Schooley's Mountain
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