Hike #235 9/3/6
The group on the rail bed, Hamburg Mt. WMA
Hike 235; 9/3/6
My next hike would cover the next section north on the Highlands Trail, as well as finishing more of the New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railroad, and other trails in Sussex County. We met on the corner of NJ Rt 23 and Canistear Road, a parking area used for the Highlands Trail in addition to commuters.
NYS&W Hanford Branch at Beaver Lake
NYS&W Hanford Branch at Beaver Lake
Along the former Hanford Branch near Ogdensburg
Hanford Branch near Ogdensburg
Hanford Branch new Ogdensburg
Major Tom discusses brain surgery with Amish Paul
Former Hanford Branch near Ogdensburg
Former Hanford Branch, Hamburg Mountain Wildlife Management Area
Former Hanford Branch, Hamburg Mountain Wildlife Management Area
Ogdensburg NJ
View in Ogdensburg NJ
Ogdensburg NJ
View toward Stirling Hill Mine, Ogdensburg
Lake above Ogdensburg
Lake off of Edison Ave
Edison Ave
View along Edison Ave
View along Edison Ave, Ogdensburg
View along Edison Ave
Along Edison Ave
Along Edison Ave
Along Edison AVe
Along Edison Ave
Along Edison Ave
Old tramway rail line at Edison Mines
Historic marker
Edison Mine area ruins
Edison Bog Preserve
Old edison mines
At Edison Mines
Edison mines
Edison monument
At Edison mines
At Edison mines
At Edison mines
At Edison mines
At Edison mines
At Edison mines
At Edison mines
At Edison mines
Old mine tramway right of way
Edison Bog Preserve
Edison Bog Preserve
Edison Bog Preserve
Edison Bog Preserve
Edison Bog Preserve
Edison Bog Preserve
Edison Bog Preserve
Ryker Lake
Near Ryker Lake
Ryker Lake
Ryker Lake
Ryker Lake
Highlands Trail near Oak Ridge
Along Highlands Trail
Tea Biscuit fell in the mud!
Highlands Trail near Oak Ridge Reservoir
Highlands Trail near Oak Ridge Reservoir
Highlands Trail near Oak Ridge Reservoir
Highlands Trail near Oak Ridge Reservoir
Nearing Rt 23 on Highlands Trail
Nearing Rt 23 on Highlands Trail. yes I have a burger thing on.
Joining me here would be past participants Fred Hafale, Major Tom Conroy, and Sue Bickfordf-Martin. There were two newcomers here, Paul Hassler, who we would come to call "Amish Paul" due to the Amish last name in his heritage, and Art Sisco. I thought it would be funny to wear my "In N Out Burger" shirt and my In N Out Burger hat, with matching loud shorts to be an oddball. All six of us piled into the Oldsmobile and headed north on Rt 23 to the beginning point, Beaver Lake Junction, where there was a parking area in Hamburg Mountain Wildlife Management Area along Rt 23 with access to the NYS&W Railroad's abandoned Hanford Branch. We began walking into the woods on a path up to the railroad's fill, then turned right, or southwest. The right of way was nice and clear, easy walking. I had not followed this particular part of it; my previous time on it took us near here, but we cut up to the active NYS&W main line before Beaver Lake. We walked the right of way out through cuts and on a shelf. Amish Paul talked to me for a long time about his life and the interesting things he'd been through. It's interesting that he has Amish blood yet he is an Atheist. He eventually got talking with Major Tom more as I walked farther ahead with Fred and Sue. Major Tom spent a great deal of time making up some story that he was a Plastic Surgeon making 130K a year! He kept going with this story for a while before finally telling Amish Paul he'd made it up, and then they pretty much stopped talking! Rather funny! Also, Major Tom was wearing my Burger King crown from the last hike for much of the hike! Tea Biscuit called me while we walked the Hanford Branch toward Ogdensburg, and he went to pick up Bill "Guillermo" Fabel to come out on the hike. Also, Julie Satmari called me, having gotten lost getting to the meeting place, and she planned on joining as well. Soon, we reached the cul de sac at the end of Ogden Way, and continued on the right of way through a line of trees out to Rt 517. I went into a mini mart there and bought a bottle of coca cola to mix the rest of my bacardi with. I also bought a candy bar because the cashier told me it would be going up in price the next day. I of course had to indulge. We walked along Rt 517 looking for the next road to take us up to the top of the Hamburg Mountains. As it turned out, we walked too far on Rt 517. We stopped at a school along the way and took in the view of the Stirling Hill Mines, then walked a bit further where we talked to a guy who told us we'd gone too far. We headed back until we got to Edison Avenue, the road we needed to find. We waited here for Julie Satmari to show up, and she parked at a municipal park lot where we had come out on the Hanford Branch earlier. We all then walked up Edison Ave, first through residential area, then across the former NYS&W main line's active tracks (which had a much steeper downward grade than I had remembered) heading up hill. There was a nice waterfall on the right on the creek parallel to the road. Next, we reached Heater's Pond, a beautiful lake where the creek let out. The road paralleled it for a while, and we passed a war memorial. The road crossed a bridge over a narrow part of the lake, and I asked an old couple parked in a car how much further it would be before reaching Edison. We continued up, passing under a power line and steeply switchbacking up Hamburg Mountain. Soon, Tea Biscuit and Guillermo came quickly driving up the road behind us. Amish Paul and I jumped into the bed of the truck and they drove us up to the rest of the group. I got out and Amish Paul rode up to the next parking area with them. We walked a bit further, passing a rail right of way, once a spur from the Ogden Mine Railroad, then reached the Edison Memorial at a park area. The trailhead to the Edison Bog Trail also was before us. It began following the right of way of the Ogden Mine Railroad, though it was not recognizeable. We got out some beers that Guillermo brought, and started walking the trail. There was a mine pit to our right almost immediately, and foundations sprawled about all around us. The trail began to ascend to the left as we neared an open pit mining area with fences all around it. There was a good break in the fence, so we decided to wander on in. It was incredible, as the area was quite huge. I concluded that we needed to come back here and we continued onward. We came out onto what was probably another piece of a rail right of way, and continued on. The trail exited the right of way and took us over varied terrain, soon parallel with a giant wet marshland. There was a rock at the northern end of the Edison Bog, as it is called, with a great view of the swampland. We stopped for a break here, then continued on around the edge of the bog. It took us along a nice trail up and down over rolling hills. While we walked, Amish Paul had dropped his car key out of his pocket without noticing it, and fortunitely Tea Biscuit found it and picked it up! We continued on, soon passing by a couple house up the hill from us on the right, and then along the edge of Ryker Lake to the left. At times, the trail was tough to follow as the turns were not clearly marked, but we soon found it. When we reached the parking area for Ryker Lake Wildlife Management Area, Major Tom decided to wait here for us to finish the hike. Tea Biscuit, Guillermo, and I continued across the little bridge over the outlet of Ryker Lake, and then down the Audubon Society Trail to the Highlands Trail where we decided to wait for the others. I called Art Sisco's cell phone to try to get in touch with them, and it turned out they were back on the road nearby. This area was called Hopewell according to some of my maps. There was also a camp here called Camp Mogiska. I figured it might take Fred and the others to join us as the Highlands Trail has no bridge crossing over the Russia Brook, however an Audubon Society trail just south did. I ran to see if that bridge was still in place, and it was. After a while, they still did'nt show up so we continued onward. As it turned out, they took a shortcut across another trail to the HT ahead of us! We made our way uphill again to the side of Ryker Lake along a woods road, then continued on where the HT was used by ATVs. Tea Biscuit took quite a fall into the mud along the way, covering his back side!
We continued north on the HT, taking us onto a dead end road, then to a main road which we had to walk briefly to the next section. We passed through the woods somewhere near the community of Holland, though we could see no houses, and headed into the Pequannock Watershed. We made our way across Holland Mountain through woods nearing the Oak Ridge Resevoir. We could see the resevoir at some points, though it was mostly obscured by trees. Tea Biscuit brought up some weird conversation, something on the lines of bartering McDonalds Dollar Menu items for female Field Hockey Players (you'll have to ask him to elaborate if you want to know more...). I was not feeling well at all at some points, probably due to the Bacardi. We continued descending gradually, and Rt 23 became audible. We crossed an old road bridge to get to the highway and turned left. Sue turned right to be sure we were going the right way, but we were. We followed the highway and crossed near the light at Canistear Road, the end point. Sue drove Tea Biscuit, Guillermo, Julie and I back to Beaver Lake, and then brought Julie back to her car, and I brought Tea Biscuit back to Edison. On the way back, we picked up a cabinet we had found along Edison Ave earlier in the day, as well as a ladder. It is nice to have a pickup truck some times!
Photos by Mike Helbing and Fred Hafale (FH).
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