Hike #292 7/8/7
Along I think Duck Pond Trail in Swartzwood State Park
7/8/7 Swartzwood State Park-Crater Lake with "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, David Noble, Skyler Jermyn, Christine "Tall One" Roach
My next trip would take my group and I to Sussex County to explore between Swartzwood State Park and the Kittatinny Ridge. We were planning on hiking to Millbrook Village, but it would'nt work out, as it took us too long to get there.
Swartzwood State Park
Swartzwood State Park
Swartzwood State Park
Swartzwood State Park
Swartzwood NJ
Swartzwood NJ
Pigs just outside of Swartzwood
Just outside of Swartzwood
Lake Kathryn
Off trail up Kittatinny Ridge
Ascending Kittatinny Ridge
Approaching Kittatinny Ridge
Talus slope below Kittatinny Ridge
Off trail ascending Kittatinny Ridge
Ascending Kittatinny Ridge
Ascending Kittatinny Ridge off trail
Climbing talus slope
Off trail view on Kittatinny Ridge
Off trail view on Kittatinny Ridge
Off trail on Kittatinny Ridge
Climbing the ridge through a small cleft
Climbing a cleft in Kittatinny Ridge
Climbing a cleft in Kittatinny Ridge
Climbing the Kittatinny Ridge near Crater Lake
Off trail view on Kittatinny Ridge
Off trail view on Kittatinny Ridge
Off trail view of Lake Kathryn on Kittatinny Ridge
Off trail view on Kittatinny Ridge
Off trail view, Kittatinny Ridge
Off trail view on Kittatinny Ridge
Off trail view of Lake Kathryn on Kittatinny Ridge
Road to Crater Lake
Crater Lake
Bar Be Cue after the hike
After hike Bar B Cue
Still, we met in Millbrook and shuttled cars to Swartzwood. Joining me were "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Skyler Jermyn, David Noble (who had trouble with my directions and almost missed us), and Christine "The Tall One" Roach (who met us at Swartzwood.). We began walking from the parking area near the western side of the park, along Dove Island Road. We headed out on the Spring Pond trail, turning right and passing by Spring Lake, then paralleling East Shore Drive and Frog Pond to the end of the trail at a campside area. We walked toward the campsites, but a guy told us we could not go through, and that there was no trail along this side of Duck Pond, a longer pond nearby. We turned back heading out on Spring Lake Trail, and turned right on the last trail that broke off we'd passed. As we walked, the blazes had been painted out with black over them, and we went right by the campsite we were kicked out of before! We bushwhacked a bit and soon found the main trail heading out to the south end of Duck Pond. We turned to reach the paved Duck Pond Trail, probably an old road, but headd up hill on an unimproved surface footpath parallel with the Duck Pond Trail, coming out at the same place as Duck Pond trail. We crossed East Shore Drive from here and walked across a grassy field to the Swartzwood Lake beach. We took an extended break here to swim for a while, and Skyler demonstrated his great swimming abilities. There was some sort of aerator under the water, and Wyatt joked that it was the Kraken. We swam for a while, then went to the shower house where I sang for a bit while showering. One guy did'nt seem to like it that much, but I was told an indian family rather enjoyed it. We continued from here up a hill and mistakenly on the maintenance road, and a guy kicked us out. We headed from here to the park office where we got some info maps of the region that really helped us out later. We continued on along East Shore Drive and turned left on Rt 622 heading north, and Amish Paul and the Tall One turned around to cut out early. Amish Paul had slipped and fallen a bit earlier, and a nice motorist stopped to see if he was okay. He of course was. Skyler, David, Wyatt, and I continued on to the village of Swartzwood. There was a little mini mart and an eatery, a fire department, and a little community park (Stillwater Township Park), but that was it. We ran into the playground of the park, slid on the slides, and messed with the equipment a bit, acting like idiots, and we went into the store but did'nt buy anything. That was pretty much all that happened in the little town of Swartzwood. We turned right on West Shore Drive briefly, then turned left on Mt. Benevolence Road because there was a sign saying there was some sort of a bar up there, and we thought we could get a drink (we never found it). We continued up the hill on the road, and passed by a farm with some huge pigs, and reached Stillwater Road where we turned left. We continued a bit to a right turn on Twin Oaks Road to Possum Hill Road and turned right. The road made a ninety degree turn left and came to a fork where Partridge Road continued straight into Trout Brook Wildlife Management Area, and Possum Hill turned right heading down hill. We opted to save time and just stay on the main road out to Owassa Road and turned left. We continued along the road to Lake Kathryn, a private lake community where David and Skyler tried to get water refilled, but could'nt find a spigot. We crossed the road and began bushwhacking up the Kittatinny Ridge from here. It was'nt steep at first, but we soon reached a talus slope that was quite tough to go up. We managed to climb up with some great views of the sorrounding area, but we soon reached vertical rock faces and could not safely climb it. We made our way along the vertical dropoff point for a ways, and I tried to climb up a bit, but was a bit too enebriated to continue, so I carefully made my way back down. It was also far too difficult to remain at the base of the vertical rocks so we all headed back down to the talus slope and continued along the bottom of the ridge for a ways to look for a more suitable spot to climb. Soon, there was a cleft in the rocks that was very open and interesting, so we climbed through and made our way up the ridge a bit more. It still looked too dangerous, but Wyatt and I both managed to climb here. David continued on a short distance and climbed another section of rock face while Skyler continued beyond that to yet another. We all made it to the top safely but were very tired and at this point sharing our water, as we were almost out. We bushwhacked through the undergrowth until we reached an old woods road in a bit of a cut in the ridge, and turned left. The road took us to a small fork where to the left led us to an open area with a fantastic view of Sussex County and beyond, and to the right we continued over a knoll and down hill to the dirt road to Crater Lake. It was quite a welcome site, and when we reached the lake went for a much needed swim. As all of us were out on the water, Amish Paul walked up and we all rejoiced! It was decided we went far enough and suffered enough hardships, not needing to continue on. We swam to the middle of the lake feeling great, and after we were well cooled off we jumped in Amish Paul's car and he took us back to my car in Millbrook, from where we all headed to the Tall One's mom's house where we all were generously served burgers, hot dogs, and beer. A great ending for a tough but fun hike! I drove the Tall One back to the railroad station so she could get home to Brooklyn. I got a bit lost trying to find my way to Dover, and fortunitely found our way to Denville where we had about ten minutes remaining before the train came! Photography by Mike Helbing and Mrs. Roach (the last two shots)
1.) The group on Spring Lake Trail, Swartzwood State Park2.) Crossing the lawn at Swartzwood State Park near the lake...note David's terrific shirt3.) Entrance to the beach area on Swartzwood Lake4.) The group taking a swim in Swartzwood Lake5.) Beautiful swamp along Rt 622...though we made fun of it because the only thing it was missing was a frog sitting on a lily pad!6.) The Swartzwood Church7.) Nice little pond view along Benevolence Road8.) Pigs along Benevolence Road9.) Here's all the badasses on Benevolence Road...but it may have been Owassa Road.10.) Skyler and Wyatt at the Lake Kathryn facility11.) Wyatt climbing a deer stand near the base of the Kittatinny Ridge12.) Making our way up the ridge13.) The Kittatinny Ridge looking up as we climbed14.) David on the talus slope at the base of the ridge15.) Great view of the talus slope16.) First view we got as we climbed17.) David climbing the talus slope18.) A great view over Sussex County19.) More of David climbing the talus slope20.) Lovely framed view toward Lake Kathryn facility we were at earlier21.) View of Lake Kathryn22.) The group working their way along the base of the ridge23.) Awesome cleft in the ridge where Wyatt and I climbed up24.) Skyler climbing up through the cleft25.) David in the cleft26.) Wyatt reaching the top fo the ridge27.) View of the Kittatinny Ridge to the north28.) More views of the Kittatinny Ridge to the north29.) Another view of Lake Kathryn30.) View to the north with part of Lake Owassa in view31.) Wyatt on the ridge32.) Skyler and David on the ridge top33.) A framed view of Lake Kathryn34.) Skyler and David on the dirt road heading to Crater Lake35.) Amish Paul at Crater Lake! Done walking!36.) Amish Paul, Skyler, and I at Mrs. Roach's house at Kittatinny Lake after the hike37.) Wyatt stacked these cans at dinner...and everyone was worried about today's youth as a result
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