Hike #364 8/16/8
Group shot at the hawk watch, just off of the Appalachian Trail on Bellvale Ridge, NY
8/16/8 NY 5A/Fitzgerald Falls area to West Milford NJ with Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, Jason Itell, Shelly Janes, "Commando Tom" Petrucci, Larry Butler, Bernie Lieberman, Jade ?, and Andrea ?
Starting off
Starting off, Appalachian Trail road access near Fitzgerald Falls
Fitzgerald Falls area
Fitzgerald Falls area
AT near Fitzgerald Falls. This looks to be some sort of old foundation.
AT ascending Bellvale Ridge, NY
Shelter on Bellvale Ridge
Shelter on Bellvale Ridge
Cat Rocks along the AT
View from Cat Rocks
Cat Rocks
Cat Rocks
Cat Rocks
Cat Rocks on the Appalachian Trail, Bellvale Ridge
Cat Rocks
Cat Rocks
Cat Rocks
Cat Rocks
Cat Rocks
Cat Rocks
Cat Rocks
Cat Rocks
Cat Rocks
Cat Rocks, Bellvale Ridge
Cat Rocks
View along Bellvale Ridge
View on Bellvale Ridge
View on Bellvale Ridge
View on Bellvale Ridge
View on Bellvale Ridge
Pipeline over the AT at Bellvale Ridge
Pipe line across the AT
Hawk watch along AT on Bellvale Ridge
The plane boss
Resting by the hawk watch
view from the hawk watch
View from the Hawk Watch
View from the hawk watch
View from the hawk watch
Utility line view on Bellvale Ridge
Greenwood Lake from Bellvale Ridge
Greenwood Lake from Bellvale Ridge
Greenwood Lake from Bellvale Ridge
AT on Bellvale Ridge
A saddle in the ridge
AT on Bellvale Ridge
Along the AT
On the AT, Bellvale Mountain NY
Bellvale Mountain NY
Bellvale Mountain NY
AT on Bellvale Ridge
Bellvale Ridge
Bellvale Ridge
Bellvale Ridge
Bellvale Ridge
Bellvale Ridge
Bellvale Ridge
Bellvale Ridge
Bellvale Ridge
Bellvale Ridge on the AT
Bellvale Ridge
Bellvale Ridge
Grand View on the AT, Bellvale Ridge
Grand View on the AT, Bellvale Ridge
Grand View on the AT, Bellvale Ridge
Grand View on the AT, Bellvale Ridge
Grand View on the AT, Bellvale Ridge
Grand View on the AT, Bellvale Ridge
Grand View on the AT, Bellvale Ridge
At Grand View
Group shot on the Bellvale Ridge
Group shot on the Bellvale Ridge
Group shot on the Bellvale Ridge
Grand View on Bellvale Ridge
AT on Bellvale Ridge
A ladder helps to descend on a section of the AT on Bellvale Ridge over the NY line.
State Line Lookout
AT near the state line
Sterling Ridge view from the Bellvale/Bearfort Ridge, with the Empire State Building and NYC in view in the distance.
Along the Bearfort Ridge, on Ernest Walter Trail
Along Ernest Walter Trail on Bearfort Mountain
Greenwood Lake view
On Bearfort Mountain
Surprise Lake
Surprise Lake
Surprise Lake
At Surprise Lake
At Surprise Lake
Surprise Lake
Surprise Lake
Surprise Lake
Surprise Lake
Surprise Lake
At Surprise Lake
At Surprise Lake
At Surprise Lake
at Surprise Lake
At Surprise Lake
West Milford laying on the cool pavement.
Enjoying the cool pavement in West Milford
Finally done, West Milford NJ
Lost the original journal to this one in the fire as well....here's what I remember.
It had been a long time since I'd done this section of the AT, many years, and so I knew it was definitely time to bring a group on it. My last time was in 1997!
The route I planned was to West Milford starting in NY near Fitzgerald Falls. We took as few cars as we could up into NY and parked at the pull off near Fitzgerald Falls. I wanted to visit the falls themselves, even though they were a mile out of the way or so and back. It was'nt well worth it because they were really dry. We backtracked and then took the Appalachian Trail (then also the Highlands Trail route for a bit) up to the top of Bellvale Ridge. We turned left along the ridge top where the Highlands Trail went right. The first section was very nice and easy through woods. We took a side trip to an AT shelter. I always like to check them out. After leaving we encountered a through hikers and David happily yelled "MY GOD MAN, YOU REEK!!!". I felt bad for the guy for getting verbally pummelled but he did stink.
We continued on and our first real "wow" spot was the Cat Rocks, a great outcropping. The views were'nt amazing here, but the hiking was awesome. It even involves a little scrambling.
From here, we continued south and crossed a pipeline construction site. I sang "RICOLA" into the thing. The ridge top was a lot of up and down, and so people were getting fatigued. We took the side trail to the Hawk Watch platform a short distance further south and had a nice break with a view to the west.
Next, we crossed our only other highway crossing of the day and ascended the next part of Bellvale Ridge. We took a couple short breaks at views. I had a bit of wine with me, and I was trying to hide it from David who I knew would drink it all if he found that I had it. When we all got close together at a view point I hid my bottle behind a tree. He smelled it on my breath but in close proximity had no way of knowing it was me. Still, he proclaimed "WHO HAS BOOZE???" and even checked people's packs! Jason Itell and I had a laugh once we were underway again, and I grabbed my wine from behind the tree.
The next part of the Bellvale Ridge was the best with views like Grand View. Awesome view of Greenwood Lake with one of the islands in prominant view. Just past that is one of my favorite spots, where a wooden step ladder was placed on the rocks so the ascent could be done more easily. We had to descend over this spot.
After this descent, I believe out next view was State Line Lookout, shortly after which we entered NJ. Once there, we continued on the AT to the right leaving the east section of the ridge, now known as Bearfort Ridge. We continued until we got to Earnest Walter Trail and turned left. I figured this part of the EW Trail would be easier than the one going down State Line Trail and back up.
Commando Tom and I opted to run ahead to make sure this section was as fit a route as I thought it was. In retrospect it was a rather difficult trail with some hand holds. I can't believe that Tom and I were actually running it about as hard as we could. It was great fun though, we both got such a charge from it.
The trail took us into a gully and then steeply up the other side. We also found a rock with a giant jagged crack in it that was pretty cool. We passed by a pond barely in sight, then hit Bearfort Ridge Trail and followed it to Surprise Lake. We did'nt hesitate to jump right into the refreshing water. It took a good 45 minutes for the others to catch Tom and I, and I swam all the way across the lake. I think Tom probably did as well. The others mostly went swimming too when they arrived.
I decided the best route down, though not as scenic, was the Quail Trail. Though I'd never followed it, I knew it mostly followed an old woods road. At some points it did'nt seem like that was the case because it got rather tricky. The group went ahead and David stayed in the back with Bernie. I stayed between the two of them and the group because my eyes work better in the dark without lights.
When we got toward the bottom we somehow lost which way the Quail Trail turned from the woods road. We ended up wandering through woods on old roads trying to find our way into West Milford. We were in a small municipal park with no clear way of knowing how to get out. We crossed a stream which took a little doing, and then ended up in a clearing with a lot of ATV trails. We followed some of these and eventually we were able to find our way to the back side of a ball field. A police officer was there and we asked him for directions back to the A&P where we were parked. It was only a short distance and we got out okay, though it must have been around 10 pm. We layed in the parking area and rested a bit.
This was a tough hike, but no one complained really. It was a special day and a lot of fun.
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