Hike #137
The group at the beginning, Mountain Farm
6/13/4
This hike would be the next important step with the Appalachian Mountain Club.
At the leadership training, each potential leader was assigned a “Mentor” through the
club, and I was lucky enough to get the Chapter Chairman, Chris Rapacki. I felt that I got
along quite well with Chris during the training weekend, and was looking forward to
hiking with him. At first, I was a bit apprehensive about co leading a hike with the Chapter
Chair, but Chris did very well to make me feel comfortable about it. I felt I did not need
much in regards to leadership since I had already been leading group hikes for such a long
time anyway.
Turkey
John Trontis discussing the future trail development of the area
John gives us a lecture on the park
Pond Trail at Mountain Farm
Blue Trail at Teetertown Nature preserve
Coming down the Blue Trail at Teetertown Nature Preserve
Blue Trail, Teetertown Nature Preserve
Goats in Teetertown
Goats in Teetertown
Goats in Teetertown
Goats in Teetertown
Goats in Teetertown
Along Trimmer Road headed toward Crestmoore
Raritan Inn, newly refurbished
Columbia Trail and a trestle over the South Branch of the Raritan, Middle Valley
Old bridge in Long Valley
Old bridge in Long Valley
Taking a break in Long Valley
Bridge before redecking in Long Valley
Former High Bridge Branch railroad in Long Valley
I was uncertain which hike would be appropriate to post for the AMC, as so many of
them involved trespassing or dangerous situations. I thought over my options, and realized
my Mid Skylands area hike was the perfect hike to submit. It was about 15 miles, making
it long enough for me to recognize it, and it involved viewpoints, waterfalls, an old mine,
railroad beds, and more. I knew I had picked the right trip. I contacted Chris, and he
posted the trip on the hotline. He was a bit concerned that I would not be able to bring in
enough participants through the hotline, but to his surprise, 11 others besides us showed
up!
In addition to all of the diversity offered on this hike, I contacted John Trontis, Director
of the Hunterdon County Parks Department who I had communicated with in the past,
and asked him if he would like to give a talk at the beginning of the hike. He agreed
immediately; it was convenient for John as he lived right on the Mountain Farm at the
Teetertown Preserve.
I had everyone meet at the State fishing access site across from the Hackettstown State
Fish Hatchery on Rt 57, near Mansfield Village. I knew this would be a good end point
with enough parking. I was blown away when everyone showed up! This time, Skyler
Jermyn and Rich Pace both joined, as well as Atsuko Lin, who had been on the recent first
AMC hike. Also along for this one were Jason Kumpas, who I had met at the leadership
training. Jason impressed me in that he was another young guy who had done more
mileage in one day than I had.
I was also quite surprised at the distance each person would travel to reach my hikes;
Jason came all the way from King of Prussia, PA. There were also a few from the
Philidelphia area. Also joining this one were Mary Toomey, Sue Weigand, Hsin Chien Tai,
Felisa Kulba, Phil Wingert, Jim Mathews, Terry Berntsen, and Cindy Kuhn. Many of these
participants would go on to hike with me in the future as well.
We shuttled as few cars as possible to the beginning at Mountain Farm, and John Trontis
showed us where we could park should we get stuck walking after dark. Chris greeted
everyone in the circle talk, then turned it over to me. I told everyone what the plan was,
and turned it over to John to gave us an excellent talk on the Hunterdon County Parks
Department.
We began by heading out along the Pond Trail into the fields which would later become
the parks recreation fields. We continued along the ridge above Teetertown Ravine, then
descended via the Blue Trail where we walked the roads to Crestmoore as we did in the
past. When we reached the road, Phil Wingert decided to cut out and turn back.
For a road walk, it was particularly scenic, as we stopped to pet the goats along the way.
It looked really interesting, seeing fifteen people walking down the road.
When we reached Rt 513, I was surprized to see the old house Tea Biscuit and I had
gone inside on hike #68, as well as the house next door, had been completely refurbished.
The larger house was later named the Rariton Inn and opened as a Bed and Breakfast.
We soon reached the Colombia Trail, former CNJ Railroad bed, and walked it through
Middle Valley to Long Valley where we stopped for some food at a little deli along the
South Branch of the Rariton. A few waited along the railbed as they did’nt want to walk
further. I jumped in the river to get a good picture of the bridge, and everyone looked at
me as though I were crazy (it’s a big no-no to get your feet wet to the regular hiking
community).
When we got back on the right of way, the first old railroad bridge had had it’s decking
removed, and was now only steel I-Beams across a brook. Fortunitely, it was not a narrow
set of I-Beams and we crossed easily.
Gas line bridge in Long Valley
Going over the maps in Long Valley
Going over the map in Long Valley
Going over the map in Long Valley
Overlook along Patriot's Path, Schooley's Mountain Park
Overlook on Schooley's Mountain
Car show in Schooley's Mountain Park
Car show in Schooley's Mountain Park
Patriot's Path, Schooley's Mountain Park
Patriot's Path north of Springtown Road
Hiking along Falcon Ct, Schooley's Mountain
Patriot's Path north of Flocktown School
Patriot's Path north of Flocktown
Patriot's Path on the north side of Schooley's Mountain
Patriot's Path along a power line, northern Schooley's Mountain
Next, we walked through the old Welch Farms facility, and through the lumber yard. I led
some of the group across the gas line bridge over the South Branch to see the river. We
soon reached the Patriot’s Path and followed it to Fairview Road, then uphill to the view
over Long Valley. When we reached the main part of Schooley’s Mountain County Park,
there was some sort of car show going on. We continued across Springtown Road to
Rock Road, and then across to the ballfields out to Falcon Ct.and Flocktown Road. As we
had done before, we followed the Patriot’s Path past Flocktown Kossman School, and out
to the power line path beginning downhill.
The group on the power line overlooking Mansfield...not Mr. Buckett's famous bucket!
Cataract Park
In Cataract Park
Descending in Cataract Park
Descending in Cataract Park
At Cataract Falls
In Cataract Park
Mine in Cataract Park
Along Newburg Road, Mansfield
Old bridge near Hackettstown Fish Hatchery
This time, when we reached the end of the Patriot’s Path blazes, we turned right
following the tape blazes downhill to the top of Heath Village’s Knoll Trail. Somewhere in
this section, Jim Mathews found a large sized old paint bucket and excitedly proclaimed he
could use this for work. Some of the other hikers decided to pick up garbage they found
along the way and put it in the bucket as he carried it. I decided from this point on I would
address Jim Mathews as Mr. Bucket. He would later add an extra “T” to make it different,
and he became known as “Mr. Buckett”!
From the Knoll Trail, we headed downhill to the Cataract Trail, following it out to the top
of Cataract Falls. This was really the only point Chris had any critisism for my leadership,
as I should have waited to help everyone down the slope where there is no trail.
We took a brief trip up to the old Iron Mine, then headed down to Schooley’s Mountain
Road, following it to Newburg Road, then Rt 57 out to an abandoned road through State
Fish and Game land, across a beautiful old stone arch bridge. This old road led us directly
back to the parking area where we met in the morning.
Chris seemed pretty happy with the trip I had put together, and he told me he recieved a
lot of complimentary e mails about it. In fact, I was flattered when Chris told me “You’re
gonna be the shit”. I had a really good time on this trip, and it marked my second co-lead,
meaning I could begin to post my own AMC trips!
My Camaro in Hackettstown, our end point
Photography by Mike Helbing, Rich Pace.
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