Hike #222 618/6
6/18/6
For this next hike, I wanted to do the Pequest hike through the fish hatchery property andacross County House Mountain again. On hike #65 on 8/2/2, Tea Biscuit and I attemptedto hike across County House Mountain but got very lost, ending up back near Oxford.This time, I wanted to give it another go.
Jost Drive, formerly the route of the Warren Railroad in 1856
rock cleft on County House Mountain off trail
Pequest Furnace site
Abandoned section
Pequest Trout Hatchery
Along abandoned Warren road through Sykes Gap
Rock outcropping on County House Mountain
Former site of the 1856 Warren Railroad on Jost Drive
Jost Drive, former 1856 Warren Railroad
Jost Drive, former 1856 Warren RR
Warren Railroad culvert for Pohatcong Creek in Washington Twp
Pequest Trout Hatchery
Only two met me at Port Colden Mall in the morning, Jude Shabrach and newcomerLaurie Ellicott. Laurie had read about my hikes in a Hackettstown local paper andcontacted me via e mail. I found her particularly interesting, being a Vegan who only eatsraw food. I still did not have a car yet, but fortunitely Jude and Laurie were able to do thecar shuttle to make the hike work. We began at Pequest Wildlife Management Area’sparking area just off Rt 31 in Buttsville. We headed across old overgrown farmers fields and past foundations of old barns, then down to the Warren Railroad right of way. We followed the right of way out through thePequest Cut and made our way to the giant refuse piles at the site of Pequest Furnace. Wemade our way past the giant boulder in the middle of an open area, then headed over tothe former L&HR Railroad, using it’s through style girder bridge to get to cross the riverto Pequest. We headed up the road and along the Pequest River until the road crossedover. We continued straight on what might have been the right of way of the PequestFurnace Railroad. We continued to the L&HR right of way, then bushwhacked down tothe river. We waded across, and Laurie went in her sneakers while Jude took hers off. Iwas surprised that someone other than me was willing to cross water in such a way. We headed through the woods until we came out in an abandoned part of the fishhatchery. In the past I had always walked on the center of a concrete flume thing there,but it was too overgrown to get on by now. We continued on the old dirt road out to thehatchery and walked along the north side of the facility. There were several Vulturessitting about. We continued around the building and went into the Visitor’s Center for abreak and to have a look around. This time, the area where the fish were raised was openfor the first time we’d hiked through here, so we had to check it out. It was amazing,countless little fish in long troughs on top of the facilty. We continued out of the facilty and crossed Pequest Road to the trails system. We headedup hill on the blazed trails to the power line where the southernmost trail began it’s returnroute. We headed through somewhat thick weeds down toward the dirt road as we had inthe past, but the fence with the horses behind it had been extended much further. We hadto fight through weeds up through a line of trees before we could head out to thecross-mountain dirt road. Rather than crossing the road, we walked uphill on the dirt roadinto Stewart’s Gap. As we walked up, the plants grew in very closely to the road. We eventually got toPequest WMA signs and cut into the woods.
I had a compass with me this time which Iplanned on using to get across the ridge. As we made our way up higher, there were some nice rocky outcroppings, one of whichhad a neat cleft in it we walked through. We continued up hill and through all sorts ofweeds. I felt very directionally challenged the entire way. It always seemed that we shouldbe turning right or left when it was actually the opposite way. The weeds were’nt toothick, but it was still challenging because of direction. My compass kept giving me thewrong directions, spinning incoherantly at times. This may have been due to the iron ore inthe ground. Still, the compass worked well enough to point us sort of in the rightdirection. The biggest problem we faced was going around a piece of posted private land.We soon descended into Syke’s Gap and made our way along the edge of a ridgedescending gradually. Below us was a paved road, which I thought might be Tunnel HillRoad, but also might be the private driveway, Jost Drive. We continued on the ridgebefore finally opting to follow the driveway. Soon, a car came by and pulled over. I askedthem where we were, and the man told us we were on Jost Drive. He said he did’nt mindif we walked on out that way, fortunitely. Another car came by as well, and I told themwhat we were doing, so things were alright. I was actually happy to be walking Jost Drive, as part of it is built on the originaly 1856right of way of the Warren Railroad. We walked off the driveway passing signs boldlystating “No Trespassing” and “Private Driveway”. It was visible where the railroad brokeaway from the current driveway, and we walked the driveway/railbed back out to TunnelHill Road, which was also built on the railbed for a short distance. We descended from theroad across Rt 31 to the Warren Railroad at Oxford Tunnel. We continued south on the railbed, stopping along the way at Pohatcong Creek’sunderpass where I submerged myself in the water next to an old stone culvert. It was quitehumid and I needed it! We crossed Jackson Valley Road and easily followed the right of way back to PortColden Mall.
1.) Giant block of slag at the site of Pequest Furnace
2.) Laurie and Jude at an abandoned part of the Pequest Trout Hatchery
3.) Vultures perched at the Pequest Trout Hatchery
4.) Pequest Hatchery
5.) Laurie and Jude on the old Warren Road in Stewarts Gap
6.) A cleft in a rock formation on County House Mountain
7.) Me in the rock cleft on County House Mountain
8.) Remains of the former Warren Railroad trackage from 1856 to 1862 off Jost Drive
9.) Jude and Laurie on Jost Driver, formerly the Warren Railroad track
10.) Jude and Laurie coming out of the "No Trespassing" part of Jost Drive
11.) Stone underpass for the Pohatcong Creek in Washington Twp., DL&W railroad
Jost Drive, formerly the route of the Warren Railroad in 1856
rock cleft on County House Mountain off trail
Pequest Furnace site
Abandoned section
Pequest Trout Hatchery
Along abandoned Warren road through Sykes Gap
Rock outcropping on County House Mountain
Former site of the 1856 Warren Railroad on Jost Drive
Jost Drive, former 1856 Warren Railroad
Jost Drive, former 1856 Warren RR
Warren Railroad culvert for Pohatcong Creek in Washington Twp
Pequest Trout Hatchery
No comments:
Post a Comment