Hike #316 11/13/7
11/13/7
Cathy along the Whippany River, Morristown
This next hike was a spur of the moment trip with only Cathy and I once again. I was planning on going to Morristown to apply for a job at the Morris County Park commission.
Patriot's Path north of Frelinghuysen Arboretum
Along Patriot's Path north of Morristown
Old road, now part of Patriot's Path north of Morristown
In Swankie Frankie's in Whippany
At Swankie Frankie's in Whippany
Patriot's Path in Whippany
Patriot's Path in Whippany
Old bridge on Patriot's Path in Whippany
Whippany NJ
Historic marker in Whippany
Historic house in Whippany
Old Whippany Cemetery
Just east of Whippany
New construction in East Hanover
Old rail spur in Whippany
Old rail spur in Whippany
Railroad tracks in Whippany area
Railroad just east of Whippany
Former rail spur in East Hanover
Morristown and Erie line east of Whippany
East Hanover/Whippany area from Morristown and Erie line
Whippany Railroad Museum
Whippany Railroad Museum
Whippany Railroad Museum
Whippany Railroad Museum
In Whippany Railroad museum
Whippany Railroad Museum
Whippany Railroad Museum
Morristown and Erie bridge over the Whippany River
Whippany Railroad Museum
Morristown and Erie tracks just outside of Whippany
Morristown and Erie tracks just outside of Whippany
Patriot's Path out of Morristown
Cathy and I parked at the supermarket near the corner of Hanover Ave on Ridgedale Ave and I ran down Hanover across Rt 287 on the bridge to the Hunterdon Arboretum and park headquarters where I filled out an application and then ran back to Ridgedale Ave to get Cathy. I figure I had ran maybe two miles around the area before this. We began walking back up Hanover Ave to the Patriot's Path, and began following it north a bit from Hanover on a section I had not yet scouted out. At first we were on a little access road that went by a community garden, then the blazed trail led us along a wide path, most likely a former road, along a tributary to the Whippany River. The fall foliage was beautiful as we walked through, and we soon turned away from the tributary to the right and across a new looking pedestrian bridge to some sort of corperate area. There was a rail spur that broke off the Morristown and Erie railroad nearby with some sort of rail car parked on it. The trail took us through a small mowed area along the edge of a parking area, then turned right following an access road out to the Whippany River with a nice little concrete wall we could look over. The only thing messing up the view was Rt 287 on the opposite side of the river. We turned left along the next section of the Patriot's Path (which also runs concurrently with the Liberty-Water Gap Trail which travels between these two namesake places) heading north along the Whippany River on a footpath. My maps showed the Patriot's Path ending here, and I had asked at the park headquarters if it continued through yet, but they said no. They were obviously wrong, as we continued along the path much farther. The path stayed pretty close to the Whippany River, and followed an old paved road, much of which was covered over with moss and foliage. There were some abandoned building foundations behind a fence to our left for a bit, with the river and Rt 287 to the right. The path soon led us to a road I don't remember the name of...across Rt 287 we went and then turned left on South Jefferson Road passing some corperate centers. There were these office buildings on both sides of the road. My maps showed the proposed Patriot's Path continueing on the other side of Rt 287 and not cutting to the east at all until further up. Perhaps this would be a temporary routing of the trail for now. We followed the road and soon the trail turned right into Central Park, on a paved trail just south of the Whippany River. We continued on, and the trail led out to Eden Lane near a bridge over the Whippany. We did not cross the bridge, instead turning more to the east. The trail followed Eden Lane out to a traffic light on Whippany Road. We followed the west side of Whippany Road, and then noticed blazed on the opposite side of the street, so crossed over, then again noticed more on the other side so crossed back at the crest of a hill. As we descended we passed the entrance to Alcatel-Lucent where my friend Rich Pace works, then soon turned left as the trail led us down what I think was Parsippany Road. The road took us down hill and across the Whippany River alongside a preserve (with apparently no current trails in it, but this is the future route of the trail on my maps), then into the village of Whippany. Cathy and I were getting hungry, and there was a little place on the left called Frank's Diner, or "Swankie Frankie and Frau" I think. It looked good to us, so we went in. When we asked Frank if he had good burgers, he replied that he'd been there since the 80s I think it was, so we agreed to stay and eat. We ended up having some good burgers for lunch before moving on. The blazes took us to the left at the next intersection, and then sort of dead ended where there was a double cul de sac, where a road left the cul de sac circle to the left. There was no blaze to the left on the road. The apparent trail route led us ahead. We had to cross a ditch with water in it to an exit from a Path Mark store at Rt 10 with a traffic light. I could'nt see any sign of the trail from here so we turned around and made our way back down the road to Whippany and then walked along Rt 10 heading east. My map showed a proposed piece of Patriot's path heading through here along Whippany River. Unfortunitely, we saw no sign of any trail construction. Still, we continued on passing by some historic old buildings, as well as the old Whippany Cemetary which we walked through. We continued on as the road walking got continually more boring. We walked almost as far as Ridgedale Ave in East Hanover, and when I did'nt see any sign of any trails we decided to make our way back. We cut through some disturbed areas where there was apparently some new buildings going up, then past some new buildings under construction. We continued on to a spur from the Morristown and Erie Railroad and walked it past some old railroad cars to the main line. We turned left, or west following the tracks. We continued and soon reached the Whippany Railway museum where there were a lot of awesome vintage rail cars and locomotives on display. I checked them all out, walking between each one of them. We soon walked out to cross Rt 10 and visited the Dunkin Donuts nearby for a pit stop. We then returned to the Morristown and Erie railroad and followed the tracks across a bridge over the Whippany River. We paralleled the river for a bit, and there was an abandoned rail spur and bridge over the river to the left of us. We soon crossed over Parsippany Road at grade and headed further away from Whippany. There was a big water tower along the way, which I'd have loved to climb but it was getting dark. We continued on, passing under Rt 287 where there was some sort of makeshift home built out of junk. As we walked on we passed what appeared to be the homeless guy probably living in there. We continued along the tracks, which did'nt have a perfectly level grade, back to Hanover Ave in Morristown and back to the car. We decided to finish off our day by wandering around in Wal Mart looking for deals. Don't remember finding any though.
PICS!
1.) Patriot's Path north of Hanover Ave, Morristown2.) Nice stream side section of Patriot's path3.) Cathy along the Whippany River and Patriot's Path heading north from Morristown4.) Patriot's Path along Whippany River north of Morristown5-6.) Cathy in "Swankie Frankie's", Frank's Diner in Whippany NJ7.) The Patriot's Path in Whippany NJ8.) Patriot's Path approaching Rt 10, Whippany NJ9.) Nice stone bridge in Whippany NJ10.) A house along Rt 10 in WHippany11.) Historic Marker in Whippany12.) Historic house in Whippany13.) Gravestone in Whippany Cemetary14.) Cathy in a disturbed area where there's apparently going to be a building constructed15.) At a new building near Whippany16.) Rail spur from the Morristown and Erie railroad near Rt 1017.) Where the spur joined the main line18.) View east I think on the tracks19.) Cathy on the spur heading into the main line20.) Looking west on the railroad21.) View toward Whippany railway museum22.) Buildings in Whippany from the tracks23-29.) Historic rail cars and engines at the Whippany Railway museum30.) Trestle over the Whippany River31.) Abandoned spur line over the Whippany River32.) View along the tracks westbound33.) Water tower along the tracks heading toward Morristown
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