Hike #218 5/21/6
At Allamuchy Mountain Overlook on the Highlands Trail
5/21/6
For my next trip I wanted to scout out another new section of trails in Allamuchy Mountain State Park. I still had no vehicle, and no one showed up at the Port Colden Mall in the morning, so I had to run home and wake Cathy up to drive me to the meeting point.
Off trail view near Cranberry Lake area
Off trail view of Cranberry Lake area
Off trail view of Cranberry Lake area
Off trail viewpoint in Allamuchy Mountain SP.
Off trail view of Cranberry Lake area
At an Allamuchy Mountain off trail view
Off trail view of Cranberry Lake
At an off trail Allamuchy Mountain view.
Off trail view of Cranberry Lake vicinity
Off trail view of Cranberry Lake area
Off trail view of Cranberry Lake area
Off trail view of Cranberry Lake
Off trail view of Cranberry Lake
Off trail view in Allamuchy Mountain State Park
Off trail view of Cranberry Lake area
Off trail view of Cranberry Lake area
Rock outcroppings off trail in Allamuchy Mt. SP
Along Waving Willy Trail, Allamuchy Mt.
Along Pebble Trail, Allamuchy Mt.
Vista overlooking Waterloo Valley
Vista overlooking Waterloo Valley
Vista overlooking Waterloo Valley
Vista overlooking Waterloo Valley
Vista overlooking Waterloo Valley from Highlands Trail
Old Sussex Railroad pier in the Musconetcong River.
In Allamuchy Mt. SP along the Musconetcong
Wading through the Musconetcong near Waterloo
Morris Canal towpath near Waterloo
Old lock tender's house at Saxton Lake.
Morris Canal towpath at Saxton Lake
Morris Canal towpath at Saxton Lake
Morris Canal towpath at Saxton Lake
Along the Morris Canal trail at Saxton Lake
Abandoned house at Saxton Lake. Look very closely and you'll see I am being harassed by a large bee!
Abandoned houses at Saxton Falls
Old road at Saxton Falls
When I got there, Fred and one newcomer, Lubica ? from Perth Amboy were waitingthere for me. Lubica was originally from Russia where she told us they never needed a carbecause of how much better public transportation is! No one else showed up, so Lubica was good enough to drive us to the beginning point, aNJ Transit Bus Stop at Cranberry Lake on the Sussex Branch Trail. I ran across the streetfor some junk food as I recall, then we began walking the railbed north to the new WavingWilly Trail. Apparently, this guy Waving Willy used to sit along Rt 206 and wave, so thistrail was named for him. Many of the trails in the state park had been reblazed, so Iwanted to check them out. We began walking the Waving Willy Trail out along the baseof a ridge. I wanted to leave the Waving Willy Trail to look for what was certainly a greatview from atop a rock above Cranberry Lake. We began following an unblazed path whichdisappeared before the base of the ridge. The three of us began climbing to the top, thenwalking east looking for the view. We continued to climb as it began to open up a bit. We eventually came to where therewere lounge chairs set up overlooking the area. There was a nice view of part of the endof Cranberry Lake, and we walked a bit further to where the view was much better. Wecould see in a few different directions, so we hung out here briefly. After getting goodpictures, we descended back down to the Waving Willy Trail and continued to where it hitthe Waterloo/517 Trail. From here, we turned left and headed south. There was one trailthat headed up hill to our right marked with an ice cream cone as I recall. We continued south until we reached part of the Pebble Trail loop. We followed this onepast some lovely little springs, and past a large glacial erratic. When we reached thecrossing with the Highlands Trail, we decided to walk it a short distance to the viewpointover Waterloo Valley for a break. I believe Fred and Lubica ate lunch here, and then we headed back to the Pebble loop. Itrained a bit while we were walking this part. We continued on down to Waterloo Road onpart of the railroad bed, and we went to where the track used to cross the Musconetcong,but it did not look like Fred or Lubica would want to cross there, so we headed out to the1901 cutoff route on International Drive (the original railroad abutments were cappedwith a new concrete road bridge) and walked a short distance to a path cut into the woodsto the west. We followed along what was probably long abandoned fields now overgrownto small forest, then into deeper older woods for quite a ways. When it was evident thatwe were not getting any closer to the railroad bed, we decided to turn back and try towalk closer to the river. We tried cutting off the path on the way back, walking throughthick woods and brush trying to get to the river, but we ended up back on the trail thattook us in! The area really played with my head, as we did a loop without realizing it! Wemade our way back to the road. When we reached the Musconetcong River, we turneddown from the bridge and at first walked clearly on fisherman’s paths. The path gotcontinually thicker as we continued on. I was ahead, and it got to the point where I justdecided to walk in the river. Fred and Lubica decided not to continue on, and to turn back.I walked in the river to see what lie ahead, thinking it might be feasable, but it would havebeen too tough with all the weeds I saw ahead. We made our way back out to Waterloo Road and walked in to Waterloo Village on theaccess road as we had on the last trip to the area. While in Waterloo Village, it beganraining pretty hard. We took refuge and talked to some people in the building for the canalsociety and had a nice conversation about the Morris Canal. We continued on throughWaterloo along the road. I used a woods road to cut through that was clear while Fredand Lubica kept to the paved road. When we reached Fred’s car, we said goodbye and hedrove her back to her car in Cranberry Lake. I decided to continue on. Ironically, after they left and I walked on, clouds all broke off and it became a beautifulbright day! I walked along the Morris Canal as closely as possible on the trail, then out through thelittle village area where most of the houses were abandoned. I passed the Ditmar House(as it is called in spray paint all over it) and regained the towpath along Saxton Lake.Along the towpath, I noticed another one of the old buildings was opened enough to getin, so I checked it out and got attatcked by a bee, though I avoided getting stung. I took abreak when I got out to the canal at Saxton Falls and chatted with Chrissy Carney, a newfriend I had given the Camaro to, on the phone a bit (consequently, she and a friend hadgotten the Camaro road worthy again, but then breaks blew out again, so it was onceagain sitting.). Cathy soon called me up and said she would be out in the area to pick meup soon. I then continued on the towpath west. I crossed Waterloo Road and followed the towpathout to where a fence blocked the way. On my previous visit, I could not walk throughbecause it had not been clear cut this far. I was able to turn down hill along the fence backto Waterloo Road, which I walked a short distance before heading up the next little roadto check out more of the canal. It did’nt appear that any more of it was clear so I headedback to Waterloo Road once again across the NJ Transit tracks and turned left onWaterloo Valley Road to the Stephens State Park access. I walked the Highlands Trail out along the river when I saw a guy parallel to the riversidetrail doing blazing. I immediately knew I would want to talk to this guy, and he turned outto be Glenn Oleksak, who was Bob Moss’s successor as Highlands Trail supervisor! I gotalong great with him and we had a nice conversation about the trail. I even gave my inputon where I thought blazes should go on trees as he was moving the HT off the wideriverside trail and onto a smaller state park trail. I backtracked my steps with him and toldhim a few things he could do with the trail, moving it off road sections and onto theMorris Canal towpath in more places. We walked back out to Waterloo Road at thecorner of Waterloo Valley Road, then headed back to the parking area where we chattedsome more. Glenn gave me a Highlands Trail marker to hang on my wall, as well as asticker, and then Cathy showed up at the park to pick me up.
Glenn Oleksak where we first met on the Highlands Trail, Stephens State Park.
Pictures by Mike Helbing and Fred Hafale (FH), and here's a link to all of them, followed by descriptions...
http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q13/sneezehorse/hike218%205-21-6/
1.) View beginning to show up on east Allamuchy Mountain above Waving Willy Trail
2-3.) View of Cranberry Lake and vicinity from a part of Allamuchy Mountain State Park
4.) Lubica and I at a little overlook with a bench off-trail in AMSP (FH)
5.) View over Cranberry Lake area (FH)
6.) Lubica and I at the viewpoint (FH)
7.) Cranberry Lake (FH)
8-9.) Lubica and I at the viewpoint (FH)
10-12.) Views of Cranberry Lake vicinity (FH)
13-16.) Views in all directions I took from this off-trail viewpoint
17.) Fred at the lesser known viewpoint
18.) Lubica and I, I believe on the Waving Willie Trail (FH)
19.) Hiking by a giant glacial erratic on the Pebble Trail, AMSP
20-23.) Views of Waterloo Valley, International Trade Center, and the Musconetcong (FH)
24.) Waterloo Lakes in view
25.) Fred, Lubica, and I at the viewpoint over Waterloo Valley from the Highlands Trail
26.) Former Sussex Railroad Bridge site over the Musconetcong (FH)
27.) Lubica and Fred making their way through weeds in State Park land south of the Muscy
28.) Me walking through the Musconetcong River looking for a way through the weeds (FH)
29.) The Morris Canal Towpath in Allamuchy Mt State Park
30.) Abandoned building along Saxton Lake
31-33.) Morris Canal Towpath along Saxton Lake
34.) The "Ditmar House" along the Morris Canal and Highlands Trail
35.) Me in an abandoned house along Saxton Lake and the Morris Canal towpath; note the bee flying around off left of center near the bottom...it was after me!
36.) Abandoned houses at Saxton Falls
37.) Another abandoned house at Saxton Falls38.) Glenn Oleksak, the new Highlands Trail head maintainer in Stephens State Park on the HT
No comments:
Post a Comment