Hike #270 2/25/7
2/25/7
Mt Olive; Hackettstown-Waterloo area with "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Dave "Captain Soup" Campbell, Fred Hafale, and Eric Gavin
Abandoned house, Waterloo
My next hike would take my group and I over Mt Olive from Hackettstown to Waterloo NJ. It has never been generally accepted that Mt Olive was any geological place, but moreso a municipality, and that is all. I knew otherwise, having hiked on Mt Olive before, and I wanted to see the remainder of it, specifically a long stretch of undeveloped land stretching from Hackettstown to Waterloo.
Hackettstown NJ, East Ave
Old Mine Hill Road, above Hackettstown
Heading up Mt. Olive on Mine Hill Road
Stephens Park Road, Mt. Olive
Along Stephens Park Road
Stephens Park road
Stephens Park Road abandonment
Old Stephens Park Road
Stephens Park Road
Stephens State Park
Stephens State Park
Stephens State Park
Stephens State Park
In Stephens State Park restroom
Stephens State Park
Stephens State Park
Stephens State Park
Stephens State Park
Morris Canal
Highlands Trail to Morris Canal
Morris Canal near Saxton Falls
Saxton Falls
Saxton Falls lock
Saxton Falls lock area
Morris Canal at Saxton Falls
Saxton Falls dam
Saxton Falls dam
Saxton Lake
Saxton Lake
Saxton Lake
Saxton Lake
Saxton Lake and Morris Canal towpath
Morris Canal towpath
Morris Canal towpath purched on Saxton Lake
Morris Canal towpath
Ditmar House on the Highlands Trail
Saxton Lake
Morris Canal
Morris Canal
Woods road trail heading up Mt. Olive
Budd Lake (76 Mile Tree) Fire Tower
View of Budd Lake from fire tower
View from Budd Lake tower
View from the budd lake tower
View from Budd Lake tower
View from Budd Lake Tower
View from Budd Lake tower
View from Budd Lake Tower
We met at 9 am at the Sussex Branch Trail head on Waterloo Road across from Continental Drive. Joining me here were Dave "Captain Soup" Campbell, Fred Hafale, "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, and one newcomer, Eric Gavin of Philidelphia. Captain Soup was first to arrive, and he began doing pushups to keep himself warm which had become his usual routine. Fred was next to show up, followed by Paul and Wyatt. When we were all ready to pile into the Helbing Mobile to Hackettstown, a big white delivery style van came to a screatching halt and whipped into the parking area. It caught out attention, but we knew there was no way this could be part of our group. We were all suprised when we found that this was Eric, our only newcomer for this trip. I knew he would fit in with our unconventional group from the beginning based on his great entrance. We piled into my car and headed to the former A & P/Food Basic store in Hackettstown where we'd start walking. We started heading along Rt 46 west, then walked across the parking lot of the Stardust Diner and up East Ave toward Mt Olive. We continued on the road until we reached the abandoned Mine Hill Road, the route I'd followed on previous hikes. While on the public road just past the Stardust Diner, a black cat crossed our path, which we joked would mean an unlucky trip for us. This was brought up several times during the course of the day as everyone fell on the ice! There was a great deal of ice all over the old road, making it very difficult to walk up. We took the road to where it was still open to traffic, then turned left on Stephens Park Road, following it to where it was abandoned heading down into the state park. This was the most slippery spot yet, as we all began falling on the ice. Wyatt was going with it and trying to slide all the way down the hill. Fred slid for quite a ways as well. When we got to the park office and parking area, there were some of the Highlands Recreation Calendars in a box. The Appalachian Mountain Club began putting these out, and this particular hike was posted in it. I proudly showed everyone that the trip we were taking was included. I went to use the restroom in the park, then we continued along the Highlands Trail for a bit, as well as some of the other different trails in the State Park heading east. We followed blazed trails at first, but then began following an old woods road, unblazed, away from the more developed part of the park. We followed the old carriageway to a fork, and I asked everyone if we should attempt to go up here, or continue along at lower elevation. Captain Soup immediately chimed in showing his support of going up. As we began up the hill, Fred decided this was going to be too tough, and he turned back to walk the Highlands Trail and Morris Canal towpath along the flatter lower part of Musconetcong Valley. The rest of us began climbing the hillside with great difficulty. Only Eric and I were able to keep our footing as we headed up hill. Wyatt kept slipping and slid quite a distance off the old road. Eric and I helped Captain Soup make his way up the hill, with me behind him helping him balance and Eric in front. I was wearing my cheap soccar cleats which were able to dig well into the icy top layer of the snow that covered the ground, giving me good traction. Soon, some motorcyclists came barreling by us, ripping up the snow on the trail, and making it significantly easier to walk. From here, we were able to make our way to the level ground atop Mt Olive. We were sweating pretty heavily and were glad to be done with the up hill. Captain Soup, who was in great shape and not at all used to having such trouble with inclines, was very disheartened by how hard the hill was for him. I was wearing one of my 49 cent pairs of soccar cleats from K Mart, and Eric had some nice trail showes that had a good grip in the bottom. While his shoes were good, they were not good enough to grip the ice. Once on the top of Mt Olive, we made our way to a junction with another old woods road, where we had the choice of going right or left. We turned left as it was more in the direction we needed, and fortunitely where the ATV tracks led as well. This trail led us out to another old woods road, this time a more clear and open one. We turned right on this road and followed it out to a power line, which I thought was the first of two power lines I was looking for based on an arial photography search I did the night before (I later found it was not). We stood on the power line for a while looking at Captain Soups compass as well as Amish Paul's GPS to try to get our bearings. Directly across from us were new homes while woods lay in the direction we came from. We opted to follow the power line left, to the west. It was clear for a while, a sort of ATV path, but it ended where someone had a fences pasture over the power line right of way. We turned back and cut into the woods to the north to avoid this piece of land. Still, we had to enter property heavily posted, but fortunitely far enough away from homes. There was no trail on the route we took, yet the trees were far enough apart with little undergrown as to make walking less difficult. We passed by a few small ponds in pools possibly left behind from glaciation, occasionally seeing the power line to our right. Soon, we saw another house ahead, and we decided to cut through the woods more to the north. We walked across one of the little ponds which was fortunitely frozen over, and soon reached another power line. I immediately realized this was the power line I had intended to reach first. My planned route was to take this power line right of way south to the east west one we were on before, utilizing it to reach Fire Tower Road near Budd Lake. We turned right and followed the power line to the southeast. It was clear to walk and more low key as the power lines were smaller with wooden poles (the east west one was large with metal truss style poles.). We got to where we could see the other power line, then turned left into the woods on an old woods to cut a corner to the other power line. In this vicinity we started seeing State Park signs once again. There were a few other frozen water pools as well. Soon, we reached another old woods road, which I decided we should follow for a bit. There were taped blazes along the woods road as it led us to an intersection of two woods roads. I decided we should turn right and follow the route toward the east-west bound power line. Just as we neared the power line, another blazed trail, while not apparently done by any park service, was recognizeable to the east. We decided to follow it, leading us down a hill and back up another, then over the uneven land leading out to another woods road, this one much more clear and pronounced than the others we'd seen. Looking to the south we could see the power line, and to the north the road made a curve around a hillside. My plan was to find the 76 Mile Tree Fire Tower (AKA Budd Lake Tower) and check out the 360 degree views. I figured if we did not find the tower along this road we would have to give up and begin finding our way back toward Waterloo, as we had some off trail scouting to do which would take some serious time. Fortunitely, as we made the corner Wyatt spotted the tower on a hill ahead. We continued on the road up to the tower which afforded us incredible views.
Fire tower, Budd Lake
View from Budd Lake Tower
View from Budd Lake Tower
View from Budd Lake Tower
View from Budd Lake Tower
View from Budd Lake Tower
Budd Lake Tower
Frozen falls on Mt. Olive
Old woods road on mt. olive
On old abandoned former Waterloo Valley Road
Abandoned house outside of Waterloo Village
Abandoned house
Abandoned house
To the east, we were able to just barely see the NYC skyline, as well as some of the Highlands between here and there; we could see the International Trade Center area, as well as a wonderful view of Budd Lake to the south, more of Mt Olive to the west, Allamuchy, Jenny Jump, and the Kittatinny Mountains to the north and northeast. We stayed here for a nice lunch break. Cathy had made me some sandwiches which I really felt I needed after all of the struggle to get where we were. We were very cold after our break, so we continued on, heading back down the access road and taking another trail to the north. This trail got me pretty confused as to which direction we were heading, and if not for Captain Soup's keen sense of directions I would have led us very far out of the way! We decided to follow yet another old woods road for a bit which began leading dowh hill to the north into the Waterloo Valley of the Musconetcong. When the road began to turn we opted to follow a stream gorge down the mountain. This was very rough, as we were slipping and sliding badly once again. Fortunitely, this time we were falling into the direction we were heading! At one point, Wyatt nearly slid off the edge of a small falls, which could have been disastrous. The woods road we had begun following before soon returned, apparently on it's way back from a switchback heading down hill. We continued down the mountain reaching the bottom near the former Morris and Essex Railroad tracks, now NJ Transit. I was a bit unhappy that we did not emerge on the tracks further to the east, but we made the best of it and walked the tracks east. We soon reached where the tracks closely paralleled Waterloo Valley Road with the abandoned right of way below us to the north, so we decided to walk there. Just as we neared Rt 80, we turned off of the right of way onto the route of former Waterloo Valley Road before the construction of Rt 80. This led us to the highway fill where we turned left along a draingage area. We came to a hole in the chain link fence to Rt 80 where I gave everyone the option of either dashing across the Interstate Highway or making our way down to the Musconetcong River underpass and continueing back to the rail bed from there. Captain Soup and I walked up to the highway to eye the choices, and we decided we would be able to cross. We dashed across the easbound lane and stopped in the median, waiting for Eric, Paul, and Wyatt. When they were all in the median, we dashed across in our first window of opportunity. However, the last vehicle in the line of cars to pass us was a state trooper! As we dashed across, the cop car at the tail end of the traffic turned his light bar on. I panicked and told everyone to hurry off the road. I had not considered that on this side of 80 there would be another chain link fence. We climbed across as quickly as possible and began running, and as a stroke of luck there was an abandoned house only a few yards away! We ran to it and went inside, peering out the window to see if the policeman were looking for us. We waited for maybe 15 minutes inside before leaving.
Abandoned house at Waterloo
Abandoned house
Looking across at Waterloo Village
Inclinded Plane #4W, Morris Canal
Just off of the Sussex Railraod bed at Waterloo
Sussex Railroad bed, Waterloo
Sussex Railroad bed, Waterloo
Ruins of Mountain Ice Company building, Waterloo NJ
Ruins of Mountain Ice Company building, Waterloo NJ
Ruins of Mountain Ice Company building, Waterloo NJ
Ruins of Mountain Ice Company building, Waterloo NJ
Ruins of Mountain Ice Company building, Waterloo NJ
Ruins of Mountain Ice Company building, Waterloo NJ
Ruins of Mountain Ice Company building, Waterloo NJ
Ruins of Mountain Ice Company building, Waterloo NJ
Ruins of Mountain Ice Company building, Waterloo NJ
Ruins of Mountain Ice Company building, Waterloo NJ
Former Musconetcong Trestle site along Sussex Railroad
Musconetcong Trestle site for Sussex Railroad
Musconetcong trestle site
1901 cutoff to Netcong trestle site. Continental Drive was built on the old abutments
In Allamuchy Mountain State Park bushwhacking
Looking toward an old bridge over the Musconetcong
Continental Drive, formerly the 1901 Sussex Branch.
The house was part of old Waterloo Village, where the police could easily drive to the opposite side of the lake to where we were. Fortunitely, the bridge over Waterloo Lake, a pedestrian only structure, was badly damaged and could not be crossed easily. The house was not in terrible shape, but was certainly well into the woods along what must have been the continueation of Waterloo Valley Road. We continued to the base of Morris Canal's inclined plane #3 I believe it was at Waterloo, then onto an old railroad spur to the former Sussex Railroad main line. I had never walked this section of it to the Musconetcong crossing site. Along the way, there was the frame of a strange hollow pipe style brick structure to the north of the rail bed. I had no idea what it could have been, as it was a two story structure with windows. I had recieved an e mail from Gail Riker about this building asking me what it was, but I did not have an answer for her. I would later find out from my friend Bob "Bode" Bodenstein this was a worker's quarters for what used to be an incredible ice house comples on Waterloo Lake. We checked out the old building and walked all around it, then continued along the right of way to the site of the bridge over the Musconetcong. Captain Soup took a bad fall on the ice just before the bridge site, smacking his face pretty hard and breaking his sunglasses. Fortunitely, except for his face being a bit red, he was alright. When we reached the bridge site, we turned right and followed along the Musconetcong through thick weeds that were impassable when I attempted it in the opposite direction last Spring. We soon reached the former Sussex Raiload's cutoff to Stanhope, now the route of the International Trade Center's Continental Drive, the road bridge set on the abutments of the former rail bridge. We made our way up to the road and out to the parking area to finish a great trip. I was blown away to find out that Eric did not have a driver's license, and had not had one since 1998! He drove all the way from Philidelphia with no license in an old delivery truck that was unregistered and uninsured! Eric had been working a dangerous job on a fishing boat for some time, and was now getting a new job as an apprentice for welding, and wanted to start coming on more hikes. We talked about how it would be better for him to carpool with someone up to this area. I also decided to have dinner, he would have to ride up with us and we'd bring him back to his car after eating. We had dinner at Chili's in Mt Olive near the trade center, where Chelsea Wood, who I met at Wally Mart years ago, was our server. We had a nice time eating nachos and stuff, talking about our insane day.
Photos...here's a link to all of them followed by descriptions...
http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj93/sneezehorse1/hike270%202-25-7/
1.) Walking the roads east from Stardust Diner in Hackettstown (FH)2.) Along abandoned Mine Hill Road heading up Mt Olive from Hackettstown (FH)3.) Continueing along Mine Hill Road, now a trail (FH)4.) Walking Stephens Park Road in Mt Olive NJ (FH)5.) View from Stephens Park Road (FH)6.) Entering the abandoned section of Stephens Park Road (FH)7.) Looking down old Stephens Park Road (FH)8.) Making our way slowly down Stephens Park Road9.) Stephens State Park Office (FH)10.) View of the Musconetcong River in Stephens State Park (FH)11.) Trail heading east in Stephens SP (FH)12.) Some of the group in Stephens Park (FH)13.) Benches on a little island in Stephens Park (FH)14.) That's me taking a picture into a mirror in the restroom at Stephens Park15.) Along the Highlands Trail in Stephens Park (FH)16.) Little bridge crossing onto an island on the Musconetcong (FH)17.) Fred! (FH)18.) Another one of Fred! (FH)19.) The Morris Canal Towpath in Allamuchy Mountain State Park (FH)20.) The Highlands Trail descending from the Morris Canal Towpath west of Saxton Falls (FH)21.) I'm not sure what this is...(FH)22.) The Morris Canal at Saxton Falls (FH)23-25.) The canal lock at Saxton Falls (FH)26-27.) The dam at Saxton Falls (FH)28.) Saxton Lake (FH)29.) A fisherman on Saxton Lake (FH)30.) View of Saxton Lake from the Morris Canal Towpath (FH)31.) Saxton Lake (FH)32.) Morris Canal towpath on Saxton Lake (FH)33.) Morris Canal towpath along Saxton Lake (FH) 34.) Severred Morris Canal towpath on Saxton Lake (FH)35.) Another towpath shot (FH)36.) The Ditmar House along the canal and the Highlands Trail (FH)37.) Musconetcong River (FH)38.) Morris Canal towpath along the Musconetcong River (FH)39.) Canal towpath (FH)40.) My group ascending Mt Olive on an old woods road41.) 95 Mile Tree Fire Tower, Mt Olive42.) View of Budd Lake from the fire tower43.) View from the fire tower toward Stanhope I believe...44.) I think this view is to the north45.) This one is probably toward the Netcong vicinity46.) I think this one is to the northeast47.) View over Mt Olive toward the Kittatinny Ridge48.) I think this one is to the west49.) View to the west with the close part of Mt Olive in view50.) Captain Soup in the fire tower51.) View north into NY state, with possibly the Shawangunk Ridge in view52.) The Delaware Water Gap from the 95 Mile Tree tower53.) View of Wind Gap from the tower54.) NYC skyline barely visible from the tower in thois blurry shot55.) Wyatt on the tower56.) A frozen falls on the way down the north side of Mt Olive57.) A frozen stream at the base of Mt Olive near the railroad tracks58.) Walking along the former route of Waterloo Valley Road near former Waterloo Junction59.) Abandoned house just outside of Waterloo Village on the south side of Waterloo Lake60.) Amish Paul inside the abandoned house61.) Wyatt in the abandoned house62.) Paul upstairs in the old house63.) Amish Paul, Eric, and Wyatt in the old house64.) Me in the old house's upstairs section65.) The bottom of Morris Canal's Inclined Plane #3W at Waterloo66.) View up the canal's inclined plane67.) Abandoned Sussex RR grade spur at Waterloo68.) On the Sussex Railroad bed69.) Sussex Railroad bed70.) Abandoned building, part of an extensive ice house complex near Waterloo Village71.) Another shot of the building ruin72.) Inside the abandoned structure, probably used as a worker's quarters73.) Another one of the inside of the building74.) Wyatt at the abandoned house75.) View of the former upper level of the building76.) Eric at the abandoned building77.) Eric checking out the ouside of the building78.) Amish Paul looking into the abandoned building79.) Me in the old building ruins80.) The group at the site of the Sussex Railroad's former Musconetcong River trestle81.) Musconetcong Trestle site for the Sussex Railroad near Waterloo82.) View of the trestle site along the Musconetcong from the east83.) Continental Drive, utilizing old Sussex Railroad bridge piers from the 1901 Stanhope cutoff line, over the Musconetcong84.) Eric and Wyatt making their way through the woods to Continental Drive85.) The old road bridge to the east from Continental Drive86.) Walking Continental Drive, former rail grade, to the Sussex Branch parking area
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