Hike #271 3/4/7
3/4/7
Newfoundland-Dover NJ with Dave "Captain Soup" Campbell, Jason Itell, Larry Butler, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, Shelly Janes, "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Jim Delotto, Heather ?
Picitinny Arsenal
Abandoned old cemetery in Newfoundland
Old cemetery in Newfoundland
Old cemetery in Newfoundland
Old cemetery in Newfoundland
Old cemetery in Newfoundland
Old grave in Newfoundland
Old cemetery in Newfoundland
Old cemetery in Newfoundland
Tracks in Newfoundland
NYS&W tracks in Newfoundland
NYS&W tracks in Newfoundland area
Swamp near Newfoundland
Swamp near Newfoundland
Swamp near Newfoundland
Swamp near Newfoundland
Tracks east of Newfoundland
NYS&W railroad near Green Pond Junction
Mountain view from the tracks
Former Wharton and Northern railroad just south of "new Green Pond Junction"
Charlottesburg Reservoir
Charlottesburg Reservoir
Charlottesburg Reservoir
Old car along the W&N rail bed
Wrecked truck in a creek below the Wharton and Northern line near Charlottesburg
Busted old truck near Charlottesburg NJ
Creek passing below the rail bed
Along the old Wharton and Northern railroad bed south of Charlottesburg Reservoir
This is a stick. Yes.
Abandoned Wharton and Northern Railroad bed south of Charlottesburg Reservoir
Old culvert along W&N railroad bed
Lake along the W&N railroad bed
Timberbrook Lake
Timberbrook Lake from the W&N rail bed
Timberbrook Lake
At Timberbrook Lake
At Timberbrook Lake
Timberbrook Lake
Former W&N railroad bed
Timberbrook Lake
Timberbrook lake
Along the W&N rail bed
Amish Paul in his normal rested position along the W&N rail bed north of Marcella
Timberbrook Lake
Timberbrook Lake
Timberbrook Lake
Old Wharton and Northern rail bed near Green Pond NJ
Old Wharton and Northern railroad bed along Timberbrook Lake
Crossing Timberbrook Road I think on the rail bed
Wharton and Northern RR right of way near Green Pond
Old mining or industry area along the W&N rail bed
W&N railroad bed near Green Pond
Wharton and Northern RR bed near Green Pond
W&N rail bed near Green Pond
Rail bed near Kitchel NJ
Rail bed near Kitchel
Egbert Lake
This hike would take my group and I along abandoned railroads and back roads in the Farney Highlands area of Morris County. I met my group at the Shop Rite on Rt 15 in Dover where Peeps and I had begun walking on his last visit. Joining me this time were Jason Itell, Larry Butler, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, "Amish Paul" Hassler, Wyatt Hassler, Shelly Janes, and one newcomer, Heather. We shuttled cars to a commuter lot in Newfoundland, Passaic County on Old Rt 23. I drove up in my Oldsmobile, and Shelly took her Mini Cooper, stopping by her house along the way for other shoes I think it was. While driving, I made a crazy Jesus comment, after which it began snowing something terrible! Jason quipped that I should'nt have made that Jesus joke, which we all thought was hilarious. It snowed hard for about ten minutes before letting up. While gathering together in the parking area, a West Milford Police officer pulled up to us. There was another patrol car to our left, and I immediately thought we were going to have a problem. To our suprise, he looked at Wyatt, who was wearing a crazy hat he had gotten at a Bar Mitzva, and shouted out "When I see a hat like that I know it's time to leave West Milford!". That was a relief! He went on to ask us what we were up to, and we told him we were going hiking. He told us we had a great day for it and moved on. We began walking out along Old Rt 23 and across to a mini mall where we checked out a small store, but I don't think anyone bought anything. We walked along the back of the parking area along the Pequannock River, then crossed on a road bridge and cut through an old yard with some sort of building on it out to Rt 513/Green Pond Road. We turned left out to the former NYS&W (New York, Susquehanna, and Western) Railroad tracks at the Newfoundland Station (used in the movie "The Station Agent") and began walking east. I was pretty worried, and tried to keep everyone off the tracks and out of sight as much as possible. We tried walking along an ATV path parallel to the tracks for a bit, but there were huge puddles frozen over thinly, which we would fall through when trying to walk on them, so we had to cut back up to the tracks. We soon reached the old 18th century cemetary along the tracks and the Pequannock River which everyone was really impressed with. We hung out here for a bit, then moved on. I had previously been here with Cathy, and was glad I had the opportunity to share it with a bigger group. We continued along the tracks, passing a great view of Copperas Mountain over a beaver swamp, then turned a corner heading to the site of Green Pond Junction where the former Wharton and Northern Railroad broke off heading south. Originally, the Green Pond junction was a bit further southeast, however it was moved when Charlottesburg Resevoir was constructed (Charlottesburg was named for the wife of King George III of England). We began following the right of way along the shore of the resevoir with some nice views. There were a lot of potholes, but we made due and it was rather easy to walk. Before we reached the end of the resevoir, a guy driving a jeep came by and we were amazed he was able to navigate the ice and potholes without getting stuck. I applauded for him as he went by. We continued on, passing an abandoned car sitting upside down on the left. We continued on, and as we neared the end of the resevoir we crossed Timber Brook which had an abandoned truck parked in the middle of it. I was talking to my dad on the phone at the time, and told him about it. We were discussing Mr. Buckett's classic cars and trying to see if my dad would want to buy them. We soon passed by where the original rail line went north, much of which is now under water. Some of the right of way ahead of us had been eaten away terribly by flooding, and the middle of where the tracks sat was now a creekbed, which was amazing considering this was a fill, not a cut. To one side of us, there was an incredibly beautiful swampland with dead trees protruding everywhere. There was a lovely solitary boulder protruding from the middle of the body of water. We admired the view before moving on. We continued on, and the right of way became obliterated, so we had to make our way around, then up to Timberbrook Road above us. We walked the road to the site of the railroad crossing. A house had been built in the way, which inhibited us from keeping to the right of way. On the other side of the road, the right of way was not immediately evident, but I soon found it and we were on our way. We continued into the woods and checked out some old mining areas. We made our way up a bit of a hill to see if there was a road or mines, but saw nothing so continued back down to the right of way. There were several secondary rights of way along the entire trip, formerly spur lines. We soon came to where there were some homes who's yards were entering the rail bed, so we thought it best to avoid them and go around. We all cut into the woods to the left, making our way around some boulders and such before continueing back to the grade. A driveway was utilizing the rail bed from here for a bit, then it was obliterated to where an underpass apparently used to be under Rt 513 I suppose it was. We crossed and came to Egbert Lake, a Rockaway Township preserve.
At Egbert Lake
Egbert Lake sign
Wetlands near Egbert Lake
Wetlands near Egbert Lake
Busted ice
Egbert Lake area
W&N railroad bed in Marcella NJ
Wetlands from the W&N rail bed
snap
Wharton and Northern rail bed
Former Wharton and Northern Railroad along Lake Denmark
W&N rail bed near Lake Denmark
W&N rail bed
Hazard?
Hazard?
Hazard?
Hazard?
The signs are getting eaten up by trees!
The signs are getting eaten up by trees!
Lake Denmark Road
Along Lake Denmark Road
Taking a break along Lake Denmark Road
Nice Picitinny Group Shot
Rest stop
Lake Denmark Road
Along Lake Denmark Road
Another sign getting eaten
Along Lake Denmark Road
Lake Denmark Road
Stuff in the woods
Oh well this looks interesting.
Yep, good place to go.
Hmmm...
This is actually county Rt 666. Uh oh.
Hmm...
Building at Mt Hope Lakes park
Mt Hope Lakes Park
Cabin at Mt. Hope Lakes Park
Mt. Hope Lakes Park
At Mount Hope Lake Park
Out house!
Hanging at the cabin at Mt Hope Lake
Rest stop at the cabin
At Mt. Hope Lakes Park
Walking the shore of Mt. Hope Lake
Taking a spill off trail at Mt. Hope Lake
Mt Hope Lake Park
??? Mt. Hope Lake Park
Mt Hope Lake
Nice knoll overlooking Mt. Hope Lake Park
Interesting bench between trees.
Mt Hope Lake Park
bowwowowooowoowow
Delotto found his self a bottle
In Mt. Hope Historical Park
Ruins along former Mt. Hope Mineral Railroad
Along former Mt. Hope Mineral Railroad
Mt Hope Mineral Railroad
Nearing Wharton
Graffiti at the Rt 15 and 80 underpasses
Graffiti under the highway
Graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti
Rt 80 underpass
Graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti
Rt 80 underpass
Goofing off, playing sled with a mattress we found under the Rt 80 underpass in Wharton area
Power lines
Old Mount Hope Mineral Railraod right of way entering Wharton
Wharton NJ
Wharton Shop Rite
At the Wharton Shop Rite
lol
Wharton Shop Rite
Shop Rite in Wharton
We continued on the rail bed southbound through the park. Soon, we came to a crossing woods road where signs forbade trespassing on the right of way ahead, and new homes had been built closely to their vicinity. I opted to go to the right around the house, but we had to turn back because there was another house further out. We came back across the rail bed and opted to take the woods road to the left, which led us closely around one of the houses and to the end of the dead end road, called Valley Road on my map. We followed the road, from which we could see the rail bed, for a short time until there was another accesss to the right of way. From here, we continued on the abandoned railroad within Morris County Parks land, with signs designating this parkland. Much of the group kept walking the road while I stayed on the rail bed. Soon, everyone joined me as the road began to move away. We soon began passing some wetlands which were quite lovely. Soon, I was able to see Lake Denmark to our right. I now knew we were either inside or close to Picitinny Arsenal, which meant we could have some trouble. I decided we'd take our lunch break at a woods road intersection and make our way to the road now to be on the safe side, as we did'nt want to tangle with feds! We soon reached Lake Denmark Road, which consequently is county Rt 666, though there are no signs designating it so. My maps did show this. We walked along the road, within Picitinny, and had the same Volkswagon pass us several times while here, as well as a cyclist. We were all convinced these were guards keeping tabs on us. As we walked, there was a contaminated area on our left. We made our way past a nice spot where we could see Lake Denmark very well with Copperas Mountain in view, then continued on our way down toward the shore after a bit more woods, near a Picitinny Picnic area. On the way, we managed to grab a private army property sign and shove it into Shelly's pack. I dropped it briefly while a motorcycle went by. We continued on the road, soon passing Snake Hill Road on the left where we took a break. We continued on, passing in close proximity to the Picitinny buildings. One guy wearing camos walked by with his eyes on us the entire time. We continued along until we reached Mt Hope Road where we turned left. A cop drove by us but did'nt give us a hard time.f We continued down Mt Hope Road and turned right along the west shore of Mt Hope Lake, which coincidentally was where Shelly had camped as a child. We walked in on an access road and took a break by a nice old cabin before continueing off trail along the outside of Mt Hope Lake. When we reached what appeared to be the main part of the little recreation area on the lake, we had a look around to see where to go next. I saw a guy walking on a somewhat level grade below, so I asked him if that was the railroad grade, and what we'd need to follow to get to the Mt Hope Historical Park, which supposedly had a connecting trail system. He directed us down the path he was on. I waited for everyone to catch up and we continued. We did'nt stay on the railroad bed, instead following some unblazed trails around the area with a bunch of open pits, probably old mines. The paths eventually took us back down to to the railroad grade which we continued following southwest. The grade was very nice and easy to walk. Captain Soup and I walked ahead of the rest of the group, through the woods and across the same road twice, then near the trails of Mt Hope Historical Park, though we did'nt follow them. We continued on the rail bed parallel to Richard Mine Road, then most of the group made their way onto the road while Captain Soup and I continued on the rail bed. We eventually emerged near an apartment complex with a thick sheet of ice on the yard. I took a spill there, landing flat on my back before continueing on. We met a resident there who was amazed at how far we'd walked. We continued down to Richard Mine Road where the railroad used to cross and rejoined the rest of the group. The right of way across the street was impassable with weeds, but we were able to get back to it soon through a business parking area. The right of way led us under a bridge below Rt 15, then under Rt 80. Wyatt found a mattrice and tried sliding down the slanted side of the underhalf of the bridge, which did'nt work all that well. Captain Soup and I went up to the highway to see if we could find a way to Rt 15 where we could get to the Shop Rite. We instead decided to continue on the rail bed a bit to the south. I climbed through the weeds and over a bit of an old fence to a marsh area to see if I could get to the Shop Rite that way, but decided to turn back when no one was interested in following me. We continued on the rail bed to the next road where the Shop Rite and Rt 15 were in plain view, quite a welcome sight. We made our way back to the cars, and Amish Paul, Wyatt, Mr. Buckett, Shelly, and I hung out at the Shop Rite to eat a bit before Mr. Buckett would take Shelly and I back to our cars. I had forgotten to bring any money, but it was no big deal. We got some pictures with Shelly and her army sign in the store before we left.
End point...pure playaz and little beavers?
Photography by Mike Helbing, Shelly Janes (SJ), and James Delotto (JD) Here's a link to all of them followed by descriptions:
http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj93/sneezehorse1/hike271%203-4-7/
1.) The group in the old cemetary along the Pequannock River, Newfoundland NJ2.) More of the group in the cemetary (SJ)3.) Exploring the cemetary (JD)4.) One of the crude gravestones in the cemetary (JD)5.) Another grave stone (SJ)6.) A gave dating back to 1756! (SJ)7.) Another grave (SJ)8.) Wyatt and I in the cemetary (SJ)9.) The former NYS&W tracks looking west toward Newfoundland Station10.) The tracks looking east from the Newfoundland area (JD)11.) Another view east on the tracks (SJ)12.) View of a beaver dam and Copperas Mountain (SJ)13.) Another view of the Beaver lake and dam (JD)14.) Delotto at the beaver lake (SJ)15.) Shelly at the beaver lake (JD)16.) The group on the tracks near Green Pond Junction (SJ)17.) View east on the former NYS&W main line from the Wharton and Northern's junction18.) View of ridges from the railroad tracks19.) The group on the railroad bed along Charlottesburg Resevoir20.) Charlottesburg Resevoir (JD)21.) The railroad right of way looking south from Charlottesburg Resevoir22.) Charlottesburg Resevoir23.) The group checking out an abandoned car along the right of way24.) An old truck as seen from a creek overpass, in the middle of the creek! (SJ)25.) Another one of the truck in the creek (JD)26.) Water as seen at an overpass (JD)27.) The group at an overpass of a tributary (SJ)28.) Weirdly fallen sticks! (SJ)29.) View along a washed out section of the right of way to the north30.) Mr. Buckett at a nice old bridge over a tributary31.) Lovely marsh meadow from the right of way32.) Another view of the marshland (JD)33.) Yet another view of the marsh (SJ)34.) The marsh again (SJ)35.) Shelly at the marsh (JD)36.) Delotto at the marsh (SJ)37.) View across the marshland from the railroad right of way38.) Captain Soup on the railroad grade along the swamp area39.) Lovely view of the swamp with one large rock in the center40.) View to the north along the swamp41.) The group on the railroad grade near this marsh (SJ)42.) Amish Paul taking a normal break (SJ)43.) Another shot of the swamp (JD)44.) Another swamp view, to the north (JD)45.) Hiking the rail bed (SJ)46.) A nice view of the swamp to the south (SJ)47.) Mr. Buckett on the rail grade (SJ)48.) The group crossing Timberbrook Road I believe49.) The right of way south of Timberbrook Road50.) Checking out a mining area (SJ)51.) The right of way in a cut52.) Continueing on the right of way through a cut53.) Heading south toward Kitchel (SJ)54.) On the right of way near Kitchel55.) The group on part of the Wharton and Northern utilized as a driveway near Kitchel56.) Egbert Lake at Kitchel57.) Mr. Buckett, Wyatt, Heather, and Jason at the lake58.) Egbert Lake sign along the right of way (SJ)59.) Nice marshlands along the right of way (SJ)60.) Another marsh view (JD)61.) Slowly breaking ice (SJ)62.) Another ice shot in Rockaway Township (JD)63.) Shelly on the right of way (JD)64.) More swampland along the right of way south of Picitinny Arsenal (JD)65.) A beaver chewed log along the wetlands (JD)66.) Walking along the right of way67.) Wyatt and Captain Soup along the right of way parallel with Lake Denmark Road68.) Along the rail bed nearing Picitinny Arsenal (SJ)69.) Hiking the railbed near Picitinny70.) Wyatt with a Hazaradous waste area blocking the part that said "Do Not" in Picitinny Lnad along Lake Denmark Road/Rt 66671.) Another one of Wyatt with the sign (SJ)72.) Another shot of that sign (JD)73.) Wyatt climbing into the posted area (SJ)74.) More forbidding signs in Picitinny! (SJ)75.) Lake Denmark with Copperas Mountain in view76.) Walking along Lake Denmark Road (SJ)77.) Lake Denmark Picnic area in Picitinny (SJ)78.) Jason and Heather at one of the signs (SJ)79.) Jason, Captain Soup, Larry, Shelly, Wyatt, Heather, and Delotto in Picitinny!80.) Wyatt, Jason, Heather, and I in Picitinny (SJ)81.) Going over the maps at the corner of Snake Hill Road and Lake Denmark Road/CR666 (SJ)82.) Amish Paul taking a usual break (SJ)83.) The group with the Picitinny Sign (SJ)84.) Another forbidding army sign (JD)85.) Wyatt and I on Lake Denmark Road/CR66686.) Me on Lake Denmark Road/CR66687.) Something, don't know what it is, back in the woods of Picitinny88.) Wyatt with the Pyrotechnic sign in Picitinny89.) Another one of Wyatt with the sign (SJ)90.) Another one of the sign (JD)91.) There we area along Lake Denmark Road (SJ)92.) Yet another scary sign...(SJ)93.) An old cabin near Mt Hope Lake that Shelly used to stay in (SJ)94.) Another one of the cabin (JD)95.) Closeup of the front of the cabin (JD)96.) Path to the outhouse? (JD)97.) The outhouse! (JD)98.) Looking at Mt Hope Lake from the porh of the cabin (SJ)99.) Delotto in front of the cabin100.) Shelly, Larry, Mr. Buckett, and Delotto in front of the old cabin101.) The group making their way along Mt Hope Lake (JD)102.) More of the group alon the lake (JD)103.) Still making our way along west shore (SJ)104.) The sun setting on the ridge above Mt. Hope Lake (SJ)105.) A rock interestingly caked between these two trees (SJ)106.) View of Mt Hope Lake (SJ)107.) The group admiring the lake view (SJ)108.) Another weird rock, like a bench, caked between trees (SJ)109.) Paul taking yet another lay down break (SJ)110.) A dog along the trail! (SJ)111.) Delotto with some sort of bottle he found (SJ)112.) Hiking on the former Mt Hope Mineral Railroad113.) Some sort of ruins114.) Captain Soup on the railbed of Mt Hope Mineral Railroad heading south115.) Sun setting over the rail bed (SJ)116.) Delotto in a wheel barrow! (SJ)117-120.) Detailed graffiti under Rts 80 and 15; 121.) Delotto with some of the graffiti (SJ)122-127.) More views under the bridges (JD)128.) The group under Rt 15, Wyatt is sliding down on a mattice129.) View of the power line from Rt 15 or guitar?130.) View in Dover131.) Shelly took a "Keep Out" sign (JD)132.) The Dover Shop Rite sing...(SJ)133.) The group after reaching the cars! (JD)134.) Delotto and I happy to be finished with the hike (SJ)135.) Shelly with her illegal sign at Shop Rite!136.) Shelly and Delotto with the army property sign!137.) Delotto and Mr. Buckett at Shop Rite in Dover
No comments:
Post a Comment