Hike #418 5/31/9
5/31/9 Bearfort/Bellvale Ridge and Cascade Lake Loop with Shelly Janes, Kyle Zalinsky, Amanda Rosanblatt, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, Chris Kroschinski, Eric Pace, Jean Fletcher, and DJ Ray Cordts.
Along Bearfort Ridge
This was my first taste of what my hikes would be like with Jillane gone. Though she wasn't gone yet, she was leaving the next day. She opted to skip this hike and did one on her own at the Delaware Water Gap. I was trying to keep my mind occupied with everything around me, but it was difficult. I'd found someone I thought would be the perfect match for me, but now she was leaving, heading out west. I was feeling this "here we go again" thing, becuase when I was with Cathy she always would say she wanted to go back west, but I couldn't live out there. Maybe I was too paranoid because I'd opened myself up too fast. Either way I was dreading the Summer at this point.
My next hike would bring us back to the Bearfort Ridge area near Greenwood Lake on the NY/NJ state line once again. I arranged an interesting route that would incorperate some of the best of the past hikes in the region while covering new terrain in addition. Joining me this time would be Shelly Janes, Chris Kroschinski, Joe Tag, Jean Fletcher, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, Kyle Zalinsky, Amanda Rosanblatt, Eric Pace, and DJ Ray Cordts. Eric, Kyle, Amanda, and DJ Ray all joined rather late. Shelly, Joe, Chris, Jean, and I started off at the A&P Supermarket in West Milford and wandered across the Warwick Turnpike to a cul de sac where a ballfield accessed us to San Cap Park (1,2)where we'd come out on our previous trip in the area. I was not quite happy because this was my first of many hikes without my girlfriend Jillane with me, as she was moving to Utah to become a wilderness ranger in the High Uintah Mountains. We followed lots of old woods road trails through the park eventually making our way back to Lakeside Drive (4,5). We walked the road briefly and met up with Kyle and Amanda (5aa) at the boat launch next to the trailhead for State Line Trail. We all began ascending this trail to the top of the Bearfort Ridge where we met up with Eric Pace who started here early to get up the ridge and not hold us up (6-9). Next, we began following the Appalachian Trail north into NY state at the state line, which someone vandalized (10-15aa).
The AT on Bellvale Ridge
We continued from here to Grand View with nice views over Greenwood Lake (16-24). Just above Grand View was the beginning of Cascade Lake Trail, a new trail and former route of the AT at one time leading us down hill to the west into Cascade Lake Park (25,26) where there was a very nice dam (27-31). We walked around and took a long extended break, and Kyle and I swam all the way across the lake and back while everyone else rested along the shore looking at frogs and/or sleeping (32-46). When we were all well rested, we continued on along the western shore of Cascade Lake where it became marshy. There was a grassy woods road we followed (46a). We soon cut to the west on another woods road and then started wandering through the woods looking for the former route of the Appalachian Trail. It was very difficult, but after a while of wandering and a few false assumptions on where to go, Joe found an old painted out AT blazed. We began following the blazes over small hills, sometimes on old woods roads, sometimes just through the woods. They were very difficult to follow. The trail was probably moved sometime no later than the 1980s, and the paint was almost gone completely from most trees. Still, we were able to follow them to some extent. We eventually came to an intersection with an indistinct woods road where we could go left or right. We opted to try to continue straight which led us out to a large field (46b). We would have continued descending through the fields, but there was someone down below working so we opted to continue across the top of the field and into an area of rock outcroppings to the north (46c). We crossed below the outcroppings and made our way to a small ridge to get our bearings. This must have been part of Taylor Mountain. While on the ridge, I decided it would be smart to just descend because we were in the vicinity we wanted to be in anyway, and amazingly I came across more old AT blazes. We continued to follow them out to the next road, which was Brady Road. The plan was to follow the old AT directly across out to the next road, but that looked impossible, so we opted to just walk the road back to the current AT, which sucked, but oh well. When we reached the AT we began following it northbound passing over lots of ATV pathways devastating the land, and then ascending, passing by swamps and such along the way (46d-49). We eventually reached the top of the Bearfort Ridge and then began to descend via the State Line Trail again. Kyle, Amanda, and I missed the turnoff on Ernest Walter Trail and ended up going all the way down to the bottom and had to turn back!!! Sadly, we had to ascend back to the ridge, then take in the lovely views along the ridge on the way to Surprise Lake (50-58). When we reached Surprise Lake, I was ecstatic to get in and swim across. Kyle and Amanda caught up, and they, as well as Chris joined me in the lake (59-62). The water was'nt too cold, and I only became cold when I stepped out because the wind was so strong. It was otherwise great. When we were all ready, Jean headed off early to descend via the Quail Trail to get done faster. Kyle, Amanda, and Eric opted to go back down State Line Trail for an early out, while the rest of us descended further on Ernest Walter Trail through thick Mountain Laurels, then back onto open ridge line on the Bearfort Ridge Trail (62a-64). We made a brief stop along the giant split rock on the Bearfort Ridge Trail to have a look around, as I had on my last trip here (65-69). After climbing around on this freaky rock over marsh land we continued southbound. Along the way we caught up with DJ Ray who parked on Warwick Turnpike and walked back to meet up with us. He had found a turtle along the way and carried it (70). He turned around with us and put it back exactly where he'd found it. We wandered our way back down the trail and to the Warwick Turnpike (71), then made our way down the road back to the A&P to finish the hike. The others went out to dinner for pizza, and I went home to meet Jillane because it would be one of our last nights together before she left for Utah.
Bearfort Ridge Trail
Along Bearfort Ridge
The AT on Bellvale Ridge
Bearfort Ridge Trail
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