- Hike #288 6/10/7
I believe this was Irina's first hike with us!
6/10/7 Bearfort Ridge/Wawayanda State Park loop with Jason Itell, "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Fred Hafale, Dave Finton, Sue Bickford-Martin, Jean Fletcher, Irina Kulikovskaya, and Olga Ajida
Taking a break on the AT
This next hike would be back in the isolated and unspoiled lands of western Passaic County and eastern Sussex between Wawayanda State Park and Abrahm S. Hewitt State Forest.
At Bearfort Waters, Wawayanda
Old Coal Trail, Wawayanda
Along Old Coal Trail
Old Coal Trail
Old Coal Trail
Black Bear
Black Bear
Old Coal Trail, Black Bear
Laurel Pond
Along Laurel Pond Trail
Laurel Pond, Wawayanda
At Laurel Pond
Laurel Pond Trail
Laurel Pond
Laurel Pond Trail
Laurel Pond Trail
Laurel Pond
Wawayanda Furnace
At Wawayanda Furnace
Along Double Pond Trail
Blooming...
Rhododendrons along Hoeferlin Trail, Wawayanda SP
Swamp along the AT in Wawayanda
Swamp along the AT in Wawayanda
AT in Wawayanda
AT north from Wawayanda
Along the AT in Wawayanda
Rest stop on the Appalachian Trail ascending Bearfort Ridge
AT in Abram S. Hewitt State Forest
AT on Bearfort Ridge
AT on Bearfort Ridge
Me on the NY/NJ State Line
NY/NJ State Line on the AT
Greenwood Lake from near the state line.
Greenwood Lake from Bearfort Ridge
Along State Line Trail
On Bearfort Ridge
Along Ernest Walter Trail, Bearfort Ridge
Ernest Walter Trail on Bearfort Ridge
Ernest Walter Trail
Ernest Walter Trail
Bearfort Ridge on Ernest Walter Trail
Bearfort ridge view
Bearfort Ridge on Ernest Walter Trail
Greenwood Lake from the Bearfort Ridge, Ernest Walter Trail
Ernest Walter Trail
Greenwood Lake from Ernest Walter Trail
Ernest Walter Trail view
Greenwood Lake from Ernest Walter Trail
Greenwood Lake from Ernest Walter Trail
Greenwood Lake from Ernest Walter Trail. It seems as though Sterling Lake is also in view.
Greenwood Lake from Ernest Walter Trail, Bearfort Ridge
Greenwood Lake from Ernest Walter Trail
Greenwood Lake from Ernest Walter Trail
Greenwood Lake from Ernest Walter Trail
Greenwood Lake from Ernest Walter Trail
Ernest Walter Trail
Ernest Walter Trail
Surprise Lake off Ernest Walter Trail
Surprise Lake
Surprise Lake
Surprise Lake
Amish Paul
Surprise Lake
Surprise Lake
Rhododendron tunnel on Ernest Walter Trail
Ernest Walter Trail
Bearfort Ridge
Bearfort Ridge
Split rock on Bearfort Ridge
Split rock on Bearfort Ridge
Bearfort split rock
Bearfort split rock
Bearfort split rock
Bearfort split rock
Bearfort split rock
Split rock along Bearfort Ridge Trail
Bearfort split rock
View from a rock on Bearfort Ridge Trail
Bearfort Ridge Trail
Looking toward Upper Greenwood Lake from Bearfort Ridge Trail
View on Bearfort Ridge Trail
View east from Bearfort Mountain
Falls near Warwick Turnpike
Falls near Warwick Tpk.
Bearfort Ridge view from Terrace Pond North Trail
View, Terrace Pond North Trail
View, Terrace Pond North Trail
Terrace Pond North Trail
Terrace Pond North Trail
Terrace Pond North Trail
Terrace Pond North Trail
Terrace Pond North Trail
Terrace Pond North Trail
Terrace Pond North Trail
View, Terrace Pond North Trail
West Milford area from Terrace Pond North Trail, Beafort Ridge
Along Bearfort Ridge
Terrace Pond North Trail, Beafort Ridge
Terrace Pond North Trail, Beafort Ridge
View, Terrace Pond North Trail
View; Terrace Pond North Trail, Beafort Ridge
West Milford view, Terrace Pond North Trail, Beafort Ridge
View from Terrace Pond North Trail, Beafort Ridge
Greenwood Lake distant view from Bearfort
View northeast on Bearfort Ridge
Terrace Pond North Trail
Terrace Pond North Trail on the utility line
Power line trail section
Terrace Pond North Trail, Beafort Ridge
Terrace Pond North Trail, Beafort Ridge
TPN trail on utility line
Terrace Pond North Trail, Beafort Ridge on the utility line
Terrace Pond North Trail, Beafort Ridge
Terrace Pond North Trail on utility line
Power line trail section
Power line trail section
View from Terrace Pond North Trail
Terrace Pond
At Terrace Pond
View on Terrace Pond Trail
View descending to Bearfort Waters from Terrace Pond
I had planned a loop that would connect my previous trips in the region with areas a bit further north and east. We met the group on Clinton Road, near West Milford, at a parking area at the ends of Old Coal Trail and Terrace Pond North Trail near the Wildcat Center. This was a very isolated area and difficult to reach for many people; still, I managed to muster up a group of 9! We began walking the Old Coal Trail heading north.Olga Joining me this time were past participants "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Fred Hafale, Jean Fletcher, Dave Finton, Jason Itell, and newcomers Irina Kulikuvskaya and Olga Ajida. The path took us along an old woods road with a pond to our right known as Bearfort Waters. It actually looked more like a swamp. As we walked on, Amish Paul had forgotten something in his car, so he ran back. We soon reached a fork in the trail, where Bearfort Waters-Clinton Trail went left and Old Coal trail went up hill to the right. We left an arrow with sticks and stones pointing up hill so Paul would know where to go. We then continued up hill. As we walked, we continued to make our way up hill leaving signs for Paul along the way pointing the correct direction. The rest of the group got far ahead while Wyatt and I waited behind, and Paul had thought we might have pointed him in the wrong direction! Fortunitely, his better judgement led him to follow the route we pointed out and we soon caught up with the rest of the group. "Action Adam" Stevens had planned on meeting us, but was late showing up. I told him the directions to meet up with us, but he was not able to get to us. We continued on Old Coal Trail to Cherry Ridge Trail, an old woods road. We turned left heading into a dip, then turned right on Laurel Pond Trail. We followed this passing some interesting rocky outcroppings before reaching Laurel Pond where we descended to a nice swimming spot we'd used the previous summer. Unfortunitely, it was not nearly as nice for swimming this time around, as it was'nt as deep. There were a great deal of plants reaching near to the surface, and as I swam in it they brushed up against my stomach and chest which was rather unconfortable. I swam out a ways but soon decided to turn back. We took a break for a while, then headed north along the Laurel Pond Trail to the old Wawayanda Furnace. From here, we followed Double Pond Trail, another old woods road heading sort of eastbound across a wet swampy area. There was a puncheon placed over the worst wet area, which was fortunitely not under water. Fred had told me that it was sometimes impassable in this area because of the water. We continued on Double Pond Trail until a left turn on Hoeferlin Trail, which we followed north to the Wawayanda State Park office. We went inside and I had a look at the new park maps that had just come out before we moved on. We also had the opportunity to refill our water bottles. We continued north on Hoeferlin Trail to the Appalachian Trail which we followed parallel with the NY/NJ state line northbound (though the trail heads more southeast in this section).
It seemed much farther than I had remembered it being previously to the state line. We made our way up and down over some rough terrain, and crossed a brook. We eventually reached the Bearfort Ridge and the turnoff to the State Line Trail. Wyatt, Jason, and I decided to take the AT north just a bit farther to visit where the AT passed over into NY state. We took a break here for a bit, then returned to the trail junction where we all continued on. The State Line Trail trail was rather interesting as it made it's way over small ridges though we were on a ridge top already. The trail descended a bit to where there was another trail intersection with the Bearfort Ridge Trail. We made our way up this trail steeply to the first viewpoint over Greenwood Lake, which was breathtaking. I ran back along the trail to check on Dave. He was fine, but does'nt do the up hills very fast. I hiked back with him and showed him a short cut that saved going down hill and back up, as the transition from State Line Trail to Bearfort Ridge Trail makes an unneeded down and up. We made our way up to the next viewpoing, which was even better than the first, and as we walked along the ridge we continued to see fantastic views of Greenwood Lake. The trail eventually broke away from the edge of the ridge a bit, and we came upon the aptly named Surprise Lake. It certainly did seem to appear out of nowhere! It was a great place to stop and swim, and was similar to places such as Crater Lake and Sunfish Pond. I really needed to cool off after the strenueous trail sections, so this was great. After this extended break and swim, we split the group. Sue, Jean, Dave, Amish Paul, and Olga opted to cut out early, at my recommendation taking the Quail Trail which followed a woods road more gently than the route we were to follow. The rest of us continued on the Bearfort Ridge Trail along more rocky outcroppings, continueing with a few viewpoints as we descended to the Green Brook and Warwick Turnpike. There was a bit of a view of Upper Greenwood Lake to our west, and I stopped to jump into a pool below a waterfall on the Green Brook which was refreshing. We crossed Warwick Turnpike, but it was'nt obvious where the next trail section began on the other side of the highway. We soon saw where a trail appeared to go up hill. This was the Terrace Pond North Trail. The trail was rather steep as it headed up hill, and not very well maintained. There were a few places where we broke away from the trail accidently, but were fortunite to find it again. There were some more terrific views along the way, and some great rocky outcroppings. The trail eventually took us to a gas pipeline the trail used to take it steeply up hill on the Bearfort Ridge. Fred had warned us ahead of time that this would be a terribly brutal ascent. He was correct! Wyatt and I went for it as quickly as possible making our way toward the top. There were a lot of false hopes where we thought we were reaching the top, but it was just a dip where the pipeline went back down a bit and up another equally steep slope. Finally we reached where the Terrace Pond North Trail turned left. Jason, Wyatt, and I continued on along the trail, which was suprisingly very narrow and unmaintained. The path was easy to walk off, and rarely wider than a deer path. There were some steep cliff drop offs to the west which meant we had to take care as not to walk too fast. We soon reached a very steep downward section on the trail, leading us out to Terrace Pond. I'd never been here yet, but it was beautiful. We made our way past where Terrace Pond North Trail broke away, and followed the circular trail which follows the lake perimeter breifly to a large sloping rock into the water. We carefully made our way down from here to the water where we took a much needed cool-off swim. There was a couple on one of the rocks to the east watcing us swim, and this was consolation because I thought we'd be stuck out there after dark. It was already dusk, and I did'nt know how long we had. After the swim, we had to make our way back up the rocks to our packs and the trail. It was very tough going up it, as it was slippery without foot holes. The only way it was really feasable was barefoot, which Jason was smart enough to do. I went in with my shoes, which had no grip. I slipped and fell back into the lake a few times. When we were ready to go again, we made our way along Terrace Pond North Trail passing another view point from a rock before beginning to descend. The trail took us back to the gas pipeline, following it again, then turning away once more. From here, it was getting much darker. We were still able to see the blazes enough to move on. It was great to finally hear the sound of a vehicle on Clinton Road nearby, and we soon made it back to the cars. Amish Paul was not there waiting for us yet, and I had a note on my car from Action Adam stating "Action Adam Rules, Mike Sucks" or something. We waited for a bit, and Paul finally pulled in. He had pulled away briefly because a ranger showed up and he'd been drinking Gin. We found that Action Adam had left him a note as well, stating "Action Adam Rules, Wyatt Sucks". We took off from here, and Jason and I stopped at Burger King in Hackettstown on the way back to get dollar double cheeseburgers. I worked my charm with the girl behind the counter and we ended up getting four free large salads and some cookies! We told her we'd been hiking and would be happy to dispose of any food she would otherwise throw out. When she told us all she had were cookies and the salad's I exclaimed "As a matter of fact, Hikers love salad!". Jason could'nt help but laugh. So we had lunch for the next day!
A photobucket link to all of these pictures is at the bottom:
1.) Beginning along Old Coal Trail at the Wildcat Center on Clinton Road (FH)2.) Taking a break on Old Coal Trail (FH)3.) Sue and Jean along Old Coal Trail (FH)4.) A huge Black Bear making it's way into the woods along Laurel Pond Trail I think5.) Another shot of the Black Bear making it's way through the woods6.) Fred's shot of the bear (FH)7.) Here we are taking a break at Laurel Pond (FH)8.) Blurry shot of some of us along Laurel Pond (FH)9.) Taking a break at Laurel Pond (FH)10.) Sue, Jean, and Amish Paul at Laurel Pond (FH)11.) Irina and Olga along the shore of Laurel Pond12.) Wawayanda Furnace on Double Pond Trail (FH)13.) The group near Wawayanda Furnace (FH)14.) On the puncheon on Double Pond Trail15.) Mountain Laurels along Double Pond Trail16.) Jean along Double Pond Trail I guess heading north (FH)17.) Wyatt crossing a log to this rock along Double Pond Trail I think18.) Another shot of the marsh and rock19.) Pretty sure this is on the AT northbound in Wawayanda State Park20.) A stream crossing on the AT in Wawayanda21-22.) Rock outcropping rest spot along the AT (FH)23.) More of the group on the rocky outcropping24.) Amish Paul with a stylish new hat Wyatt made him at the outcropping25.) Steep section as the AT ascends the Bearfort Ridge26.) Me on the AT at NY/NJ state line! (WH)27.) Jason and Wyatt at the NY/NJ state line28.) View of Greenwood Lake from Ernest Walter Trail near the State Line29.) Another view of Greenwood Lake (FH)30.) Me climbing down rocks after running back to find Dave F (WH)31.) Me with Dave F at the first viewpoint on Ernest Walter Trail (WH)32.) The group at the viewpoint resting (FH)33-34.) Making our way up along Ernest Walter Trail (FH)35.) On Ernest Walter Trail, Abrahm S. Hewitt State Forest36.) View of Greenwood Lake from Bearfort Ridge37.) The group on Bearfort Ridge Trail heading south with a view north38.) Greenwood Lake from the ridge (FH)39-44.) Closeups of Greenwood Lake (FH)45.) More of Greenwood Lake looking southward46.) Looking across Greenwood Lake with part of what is probably Monksville Resevoir beyond47.) Closeup of Greenwood Lake48.) Another view toward the south from Bearfort Ridge49.) The group on the ridge (FH)50.) More of the group on the ridge51-52.) At Surprise Lake on Bearfort Ridge Trail (FH)53.) At Surprise Lake54.) Taking a dip in Surprise Lake (FH)55.) Amish Paul sleeping on a rock at Surprise Lake (FH)56.) Wyatt and Jason in Suprise Lake (FH)57.) Me out in the middle of the lake (FH)58.) Irina along Bearfort Ridge Trail in thick Rhododendrons59.) Jason in the thick undergrowth60.) On the Bearfort Ridge Trail61.) Me at a viewpoint on Bearfort Ridge Trail (FH)62.) At an interesting clefted rock outcrop on Bearfort Ridge Trail63.) Wyatt on the split rock (FH)64.) Wyatt out on the end of the rock65.) Another view of the clefted rock66.) Me out on the rock (FH)67.) Me on the rock (WH)68.) Wyatt and Jason at the rock (FH)69.) View from the end of the rock70.) Another view from Bearfort Ridge Trail71.) At another rock outcropping (FH)72.) A partial view of Upper Greenwood Lake from Bearfort Ridge Trail73.) Looking across the gap in Bearfort Ridge on the other side of Green Brook74.) Another view more eastbound75.) A small waterfall along Green Brook on Bearfort Ridge Trail76.) Another little falls on Green Brook77.) Another view from Bearfort Ridge, this time from Terrace Pond North (TPN) Trail78.) Another view from TPN Trail (FH)79.) More views80.) Me on TPN Trail (FH)81.) Irina and Jason on TPN Trail (FH)82-83.) Terrace Pond North Trail views (FH)84.) Greenwood Lake view from TPN Trail85.) Along TPN Trail86-87.) West Milford NJ area views from Bearfort Ridge on TPN Trail (FH)88-89.) West Milford area90-92.) Views from the Bearfort Ridge of West Milford and Greenwood Lake (FH)93.) Here we are on the TPN Trail heading south (FH)94.) Ascending TPN Trail where it follows the gas pipeline right of way95.) View up the gas pipeline (FH)96.) Another view up the steep pipeline right of way97.) Wyatt reaching the top with Greenwood Lake in view98.) Continueing up along the trail/pipeline99.) View of one of the minor ridges on Bearfort Ridge from TPN Trail100.) Terrace Pond from Terrace Pond Circular Trail101.) Me at Terrace Pond after a good swim102.) One of our last views from TPN Trail103.) Last shot of the night, taken from where the TPN Trail briefly returns to the gas pipeline
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