Hike #178
Yet another hike who's journal entry was lost to the fire...again, maybe someone will have it and e mail it to me...but I'll share what I remember.
The group on the Highlands Spur Trail viewpoint
7/3/5
Highlands Trail; Mt Inlet-Waterloo with Fred Hafale, Brian Rapp, Bob Moss, Bill Jacobsen, Ira Rubenstein, Russel Rapp, Brittany Pica, Kelly Bock, Cam Macauley
Here's all the pictures from this hike:
http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q13/sneezehorse/hike178%207-3-5/
Beginning at Roland May Eve's Mountain Inlet Sanctuary
Beginning at Roland May Eve's Mountain Inlet Sanctuary
Highlands Trail, Roland May Eve's Mountain Inlet Sanctuary
On Highlands spur trail
Highlands Trail spur near Mt Inlet
Highlands Trail spur near Mt. Inlet
Highlands Trail spur near Mt Inlet
Salamander
View toward High Point from the HT spur
High Point view along the HT
Along an HT spur near Mt Inlet
This one only had two newcomer's Brian and Russ's girlfriends at the time. I met them in the morning at the Mansfield Wal Mart and we shuttled up to Allamuchy Mountain State Park at Waterloo Village. We then spotted Bob Moss's vehicle in Byram before heading to Roland May Eve's Mountain Inlet Sanctuary on Lake Hopatcong to begin. I'd done this hike before, only this time we were doing it backwards and more of the Highlands Trail had been completed.
The beginning of the hike was a bit different than our previous trip. We headed through the Inlet Sanctuary to the preserve, but then took a new spur of the Highlands Trail, an alternative route which still took us to the same place, over a hillside overlooking High Point and through an area devastated by Gypsy Moths. It rejoined the regular Highlands Trail southbound before reaching Bear Pond.
Group shot
Bob along the Highlands Trail
Glacial erratic on the Highlands Trail
Glacial Erratic on the Highlands Trail
Glacial Erratic along the Highlands Trail
Pump near Bear Pond on the Highlands Trail
Bear Pond water pump
Bear Pond from the Highlands Trail
Bear Pond on the Highlands Trail before it was complete
Bear Pond from the Highlands Trail
Bear Pond on the Highlands Trail before it was opened
Bear Pond along the Highlands Trail
Bear Pond along the Highlands Trail
Bear Pond area of the Highlands Trail
Bear Pond
Bear Pond vicinity of the Highlands Trail where people were illegally camping
View from south Sparta Mountain on the HT
Along the Highlands Trail, South Sparta Mt.
View on the Highlands Trail, South Sparta Mountain
Highlands Trail with ATV damage
Power line crossing on the HT
Lake Lackawanna from a viewpoint above
Lake Lackawanna view point
Lake Lackawanna view point
Lake Lackawanna viewpoint
Lake Lackawanna Viewpoint
Descending from south sparta mountain
Descending near Lake Lackawanna
Along the Lackawanna Cutoff
Lackawanna Cutoff near it's namesake lake
Lackawanna Cutoff
Lackawanna Cutoff near Lake Lackawanna
Highlands Trail in a now closed section near Lake Lackawanna
Stretching near a bench at Mansfield Drive
On our Previous trip, the section at Bear Pond was not yet built, it was just a scouting trip, but now much of it was blazed and the parts that were'nt were flagged off and graded. We continued around the edge of Bear Pond and we came across some tents set up on the trail. Bob was mad about it because they were camping illegally, so he stole all of the tent poles and later left them on the porch of the landowner, Peter Kellogg which was along the way. The HT descended from Bear Pond and led to Kellog's driveway and then did a road walk north on Rt 605.
The trail turned into the woods and began to ascend on what Bob called "South Sparta Mountain" and continued out toward the Lackawanna Cutoff near Lake Lackawanna. Instead of walking the roads, we turned off the official Highlands Trail route to the viewpoint over the lake, and then bushwhacked down to the rail bed. We walked the railroad of the Lackawanna Cutoff to the next section of the HT just above Lake Drive. This section took us through the woods paralel with the cutoff all the way out to a school in Byram, mostly on foot path but some of it on old woods road. Unfortunitely, this would be I believe the last time I'd hike this section because in the next couple years it was closed to public by the town and the trail had to be rerouted....wait nevermind, I'd walk it one more time following this. I'll get to that.
Byram Central School HT trail head
View from Allamuchy Mountain
View from Allamuchy Mountain
View from Allamuchy Mountain
View from Allamuchy Mountain
View from Allamuchy Mountain
View from Allamuchy Mountain
View from Allamuchy Mountain
View from Allamuchy Mountain
View from Allamuchy Mountain
When we reached Mansfield Drive by the school I think it was, a bunch of people cut out, leaving only I think Fred, Bill, Ira, and I think Cam to complete the trip. We walked the road to Rt 607 and then out to Rt 206 at the Byram Shop Rite. I can't remember what or if I bought anything here for our break, but I probably did...we then walked across 206 where the next section was on a cul de sac off of High Glen Drive. We continued along the narrow little used footpath up over a hill and past some mining pits to the former Sussex Railroad, then across on the original mine railroad bed, then up onto Allamuchy Mountain. This section seemed to go on forever, but eventually we got to the view point over the Waterloo Valley which was fantastic this time of day, with the sun shining just right ad casting slight shadows.
Allamuchy Mountain view
We continued down from here with no problem to reach our cars before dark.
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