Hike #336 3/29/8
Yet another fun hike to look back on. On this hike we met a few new friends, Al, Craig, and Haobu!
Group shot in Newark/Bellville vicinity
3/29/8 Little Falls-Newark with "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Haobu Lai, Connecticut Joe Bukowski, Bernie Lieberman, Mary Tomsia, Alyssa Capo, Fred Hafale, "Naaron" Young, "DJ Ray" Cordts, Fran Gervasi, Jean Fletcher, Al Mac Lennan, Ira Gardner, Shelly Janes, Jim Delotto, Eric Pace, "Action Adam" Stevens, and Craig Nunn.
Heading out from the Shop Rite in Little Falls
Along former Morris Canal in Little Falls
Former Morris Canal in Little Falls
Morris Canal looking west from Aqueduct crossing in Little Falls
Former Caldwell Branch of the Erie Railroad near Little Falls
Caldwell Branch of the Erie Railroad
Cedar Grove Reservoir from Lenape Trail
Lenape Trail near Cedar Grove Reservoir
Cedar Grove Reservoir from Lenape Trail
Lenape Trail in Mills Reservation
View of New York City from the Lenape Trail in Mills Reservation
Amish Paul
NYC view in Mills Reservation
NYC view in Mills Reservation
NYC view
NYC view
View in Mills Reservation
Viewpoint in Mills Reservation on the Watchung Ridge
View from the Watchung Ridge in Mills Reservation
Mills Reservation
View in Mills Reservation from the Lenape Trail
Mills Reservation
View in Mills Reservation
Mills Reservation
Mills Reservation
Mills Reservation
Lenape Trail view from the Watchung Mountain in Mills Reservation
Mills Reservation climbing
Former water tower site in Mills Reservation
Mills reservation
Below the Watchung ridge in Mills Reservation
Garden below the Mills Reservation on
Garden along Lenape Trail in Montclair area
Lenape Trail in Montclair
Garden along the Lenape Trail
Lenape Trail in a garden near Montclair
Lenape Trail, garden near Montclair
Montclair Station
Montclair Station
Rail crossing along Lenape Trail in Montclair
Montclair along Lenape Trail
Lenape Trail in Yantacaw Brook Park
Lenape Trail
Lenape Trail
Lenape Trail
Lenape Trail
A pay phone rang as we walked by on the Lenape Trail so I answered it
Along Lenape Trail
Along Lenape Trail
Along Lenape Trail
Jumping in leaves along Lenape Trail
Jumping in leaves along Lenape Trail
Jumping in leaves along Lenape Trail
Leaf jumping along Lenape Trail
Leaf jumping on Lenape Trail in Brookdale Park
Brookdale Park leaf pile
Brookdale Park leaf pile
Brookdale Park leaf pile
SHELLY!
Brookdale Park free style walkin
Brookdale Park
Brookdale Park
Lunch break in Brookdale Park
Lunch break in Brookdale Park
Lunch break in Brookdale Park
Lunch break in Brookdale Park
Lunch break in Brookdale Park
Lunch break in Brookdale Park
Lunch break in Brookdale Park
Lunch break in Brookdale Park
In Brookdale Park
In Brookdale Park
In Brookdale Park
In Brookdale Park
Along Lenape Trail
Lenape Trail near Garden State Parkway
Lenape Trail pedestrian bridge over Garden State Parkway
Lenape Trail bridge over Garden State Parkway
Action Adam joining us for the hike
Wyatt and Action Motor Adam
Lenape Trail in Nutley area
Lenape Trail in Nutley area
Nutley area
Crossing a pedestrian bridge in Belleville Park
Side trip to an old industry turned to apartments
Tower of the building
Former industry
Former industry
Former industry
Former industry
Building in Belleville
Group shot
Group shot
Group shot
Group shot
former industry
Pathway in belleville
Old church in Belleville
Heading through Belleville
Passaic River
Passaic River
On the Passaic River bridge entering Kearney
Revolutionary war cemetery in Belleville
Nice old cannon in a Belleville cemetery
Heading toward Branch Brook Park on Lenape Trail
Branch Brook Park, Lenape Trail
Branch Brook Park, Lenape Trail
Branch Brook Park, Lenape Trail
Branch Brook Park, Lenape Trail
Nice tree
Branch Brook park
Branch Brook Park
Entering Branch Brook Park
Station built on former Morris Canal site
Art at the Branch Brook Park Station
Art at the Branch Brook Park Station
Art at the Branch Brook Park Station
Art at the Branch Brook Park Station
Art at the Branch Brook Park Station
Art at the Branch Brook Park Station
On the Newark Light Rail, which rides in the former Morris Canal prism
Waiting for the bus back the remainder of the way
Waiting for the bus
Waiting for the bus
Waiting for the bus
Bus ride back
Waiting for the bus
Bus ride back
Bus ride back
Bus ride back
Bus ride back...we left Pink Soldiers, an anti war protest thing, to help our friend Randy out on the train as well as other spots
Fowl
Goofing off in the Shop Rite parking lot, Little Falls
Goofing off in the Shop Rite parking lot, Little Falls
Dinner after the hike
Dinner after the hike
Dinner after the hike
Dinner after the hike
Dinner after the hike
My next hike would lead my group and I on the next connecting section east on the Liberty-Water Gap Trail and Lenape Trail in Essex County. We would retrace a bit of what we'd done on a previous trip as well as a great deal of new stuff. We met in the morning at Shop Rite of Little Falls NJ. Joining me this time were Fred Hafale, "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, "Connecticut Joe" Bukowski, Bernie Lieberman, Mary Tomsia, Alyssa Capo, "Naaron" Young, "DJ Ray" Cordts, Jean Fletcher, Shelly Janes, Jim Delotto, Ira Gardner, and newcomers Al Mac Lennan, Fran G?, and Haobu Lai. We were also joined for part of the hike by Eric Pace, "Action Adam" Stevens and Craig Nunn later on. We began walking from the Shop Rite. It took a while to get people together. Ira had gotten off the bus from New York and not made it to the Shop Rite yet, so Delotto went to pick him up. We hung out for a bit and I mixed some gin into a bottle of coka cola I had left over from the party the previous week. When we were all in order, we continued on for about a half block up to the former Morris Canal towpath, now with a sewer line under it and a paved walking path. We continued on the canal to some sort of somewhat buried aqueduct thing. We could see the former canal prism on the other side, but did'nt follow it this time. We turned left following the aqueduct (Fred knew the route, as he lives in Little Falls) out to the next street, then made our way a short distance to the Caldwell Rail Trail, former Caldwell Branch of the Erie Railroad, heading southbound. It was very nice and clear, and we followed it to the Lenape/Liberty-Water Gap Trail heading to the left. I was drinking my gin and coke and was very tipsy within the first half hour of the hike. We followed the Lenape Trail up hill through the woods, following the same route we'd followed a couple months earlier (only it was'nt dark this time). It was very nice through this part, with some vernal pools below us to the right in an area filled with little ridges. When we got to the trail junction where we'd turned right, this time we continued on the Lenape Trail left parallel with Ridge Road. We soon came out to the road and crossed, following it on the east side before soon cutting into the woods on more footpath to the north of Cedar Grove Resevoir. We could actually see some of the resevoir as we went by. We continued on a gently rolling area of trails and eventually came out on Normal Road, crossing into the Mills Reservation. The time went by quick, and the trail was great. Wyatt even commented on how nice it was; I suppose he was suspecting a stereotypical urban walk. Everyone seemed to miss it, so I pointed out that we soon had a nice view of the New York City skyline. We paused as Fred and a few others went ahead. After a few pictures were taken, we moved on to a really nice viewpoint on a rocky outcropping. THe way the stones layed in the surface of the outcrop natually almost looked as if they had been layed there. We regrouped and took a bit of a break there, then began descending below the cliffs. We began to enter some sort of garden area near a church out to Valley Road. From here, we had to follow some streets for a bit through some little neighborhoods. We passed by a railroad station and followed streets, and I think we ended up in Yantacaw Brook Park. The scenery was continueously changing and interesting. We continued, sometimes on some roads, but usually on some sort of greenway, into Brookdale Park. We were looking around for restrooms for the women, which were tough to find, but we finally found some. There was a large rock wall along a road that makes a loop around Brookdale Park, and we decided to take our lunch break there. Eric Pace had called me up trying to find us, and sure enough he found us there. He parked his car along the road there an joined us. Amish Paul and Wyatt were climbing around on a tree nearby, and some of us, including myself were jump flipping into piles of raked leaves. We soon continued onward heading through different parks and along some streets reaching a pedestrian bridge over the Garden State Parkway. We crossed and reached I think it was East Passaic Avenue. We walked for a bit to I think it was Pilch Road or somethin when "Action Adam" Stevens showed up in his car to join us. He parked on street, and then we all began walking. We wandered through his home town of Nutley and actually were a "Stone's Throw" as he put it from his house. Some of the trail followed a gas pipeline of some sort through town, and led us along streets and such until we reached Belleville Park. Craig Nunn met up with us along the way and we altered the route from the trail through north Newark and Belleville passing by some really interesting old industrial buildings that had been converted into apartment complexes. We walked through Belleville and crossed over a bridge over the Passaic River which had recently been replaced from an historic draw bridge. The new bridge was still interesting with a good view of the river. We crossed over and back into Belleville, then Craig headed out to walk home while the rest of us headed back across the bridge. We walked up the street passing one of the largest revolutionary war cemetaries in the United States, then continued on to the greenway along the Branch Brook through Branch Brook Park heading south into Newark. We stopped walking at the Branch Brook Park station on the Newark Light Rail, also known as the Newark Subway, which is built in the Morris Canal. We bought our train tickets and rode to another part of Newark where we walked a bit to a bus stop. We waited for a while for the bus, and rode it back to Little Falls. We goofed around on the bus a bit on the way. We also left a pink army soldier on the bus seat which I got from Randy Melick, who was setting them out all over as a form of war protest. We got back on the Morris Canal and walked back to the Shop Rite where Delotto and Wyatt screwed around with a cart for a while before we headed across to a diner in Little Falls for dinner. This was a high energy day hike!
On the train back!
0a.) Heading out from the Shop Rite of Little Falls (FH)1.) On the Morris Canal in Little Falls2.) Along the Morris Canal3.) The Morris Canal looking westbound from the aqueduct crossing in Little Falls area4.) On the former Caldwell Branch of the Erie Railroad4a.) On the rail trail (FH)5.) View from the trail of Cedar Grove Resevoir6.) On the Patriot's Path north of Cedar Grove Resevoir7.) View of Cedar Grove Resevoir8.) View of NYC Skyline from Lenape Trail in Mills Reservation.9.) Another NYC view10.) View of the Verrazanno Narrows Bridge from the Mills Reservation11.) Wyatt at a viewpoint in Mills Reservation11a.) View in Mills Reservation (FH)11b.) At the viewpoint (FH)11c.) NYC view (FH)11d.) The group at the viewpoint (FH)11e.) A plane passing over us in Mills Reservation (FH)12.) Wyatt climbing in Mills Reservation13.) View in Mills Reservation14.) Wyatt climbing in Mill Reservation15.) The group at a former water tower site, probably, in Mills Reservation15a.) Along Lenape Trail (FH)16.) Below the cliffs in Mills Reservation17.) Fred heading down to the garden area on the trail near Valley Rd18.) The group heading through the garden nearing Valley Road19.) Railroad station in Montclair20.) Lenape Trail along streets in Montclair I think21.) Along the trail22.) Passing through a little park, somewhere near Yantacaw Brook Park I think23.) The rest of the group passing through the park24.) Wyatt picked up this hula hoop along the way25.) The group taking a lunch break in Brookdale Park26.) Shelly and Fran at lunch27.) A break in Brookdale Park27a-27c.) Pictures from our lunch stop (by Fred Hafale)27d.) Alyssa and DJ Ray (IG)27e.) Shelly and Fran (IG)28-29.) Amish Paul and Wyatt, father and son in a tree in Brookdale Park29a.) Amish Paul and Wyatt in a tree (by Fred Hafale)29b.) Me laying on the ground taking the previous picture (FH)29c.) On a rock (FH)30.) Mary and Delotto running along Lenape Trail31.) Alyssa and Naaron on the trail bridge over the Garden State Parkway32.) Wyatt riding on Action Adam's car33.) Wyatt riding around on Action Adam's car34.) Delotto and Mary, Special Young Adults35.) Crossing another pedestrian bridge in Belleville/Newark area36.) An apartment complex built out of an old industrial structure37.) Tower in the building37a.) The building (FH)38-39.) Group shots in front of the old building39a.) Another shot of the building (FH)40.) The trail under the bridge in Branch Brook Park I think41.) Old church41a.) Group walking (FH)42.) View of the Passaic River42a.) Passaic River (FH)43.) Me on the Passaic River Bridge44.) Old revolutionary war era cemetary in Belleville45.) Cannon in the old cemetary46.) Heading into Branch Brook Park47.) Heading south through Branch Brook Park48.) Heading south in the park49.) Eric on the trail50.) Action Adam where he cut out from the group to head back for his car51.) Cobblestone streets at Branch Brook Park light rail station52.) At the light rail station along former Morris Canal53.) The group on the light rail train in Newark54-55.) Me laying on the ground in Newark waiting for the bus56-57.) I was joined laying on the ground waiting for the bus by some of the others!58.) DJ Ray and Fred on the bus59.) More of the group on the bus60.) Ct Joe and DJ Ray on the bus61.) Alyssa brushing her hair62.) DJ Ray with a pink soldier we left on the bus63.) Video of Wyatt and Delotto screwing around with a cart64.) Wyatt pushing Delotto around65.) Wyatt pushing Delotto66.) Dinner time in Little Falls67.) Dinner break68.) Dinner break69.) More dinner break70.) DJ Ray at dinner
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