Hike #459; Port Murray to Newport

 Hike #459 12/20/9

12/20/9 Port Murray to Newport with Kyle Zalinsky, Matt Davis, and Rich Pace

Point Mountain South

Unfortunately the original journal entry for this hike was lost to the fire. If anyone has a copy please let me know!

It was time again for my annual North Hunterdon hike. I was recently asked to be a Commissioner on the Warren County Board of Recreation, to which I gladly accepted membership. This position would go on to bring me wonderful things.

Through the board I learned of a new easement, a future trail route to the Musconetcong River from the Morris canal. One piece was missing, but it already connected with the Mansfield Township Recreation Park. I'd gone out to scout the Mansfield Park one night with Jillane, and I had yet to include it in one of my hikes, so it was time.

It had just snowed pretty badly and so everyone seemed scared to get out. Surprisingly, only Kyle and Matt showed up to go. We spotted a car at my Aunt Pam and Uncle Ken Hoy's house on Newport Road, Lebanon Twp, then shuttled to Mansfield. The three of us took the perimeter trail of the place out to a wooded area on the east end and found the signs that said "Warren County Natural Resource Area" I think on them. We then turned right following the easement barely below Colombia 2 Junkyard. The stream below us in the woods to the left was amazing looking.

I was "Yes Bombing" (commenting "Yes" on everything on facebook, texting it, etc) David "Captain Soup" Campbell quite a lot at the beginning of this hike, and we got it to where my phone went off with "Yes" notifications non stop for over five minutes. I finally called him and told him to stop since it would certainly ruin my battery, and I'd need my phone! While I was busy trying to retaliate with more "Yeses" Matt rolled a giant truck tire down the hillside at me, narrowly missing me! Matt's deadly with tires.

We soon reached Rt 57 right next to the Colombia 2 entrance. We had to jump a fence to get onto the highway, and of course as we were doing so we were stopped by two Mansfield Township police officers wondering what we were doing. I explained to them I was doing a hike through from Mansfield to Point Mountain North, and used Warren County's easement that was clearly signed. The one officer looked at the other and said "Is that true" to which the other officer shrugged his shoulders!

After they left us we walked Rt 57 east to Old Turnpike Road. We crossed the historic old stone bridge and then passed the Baer Farm on the right before reaching the somewhat new parking lot for Point Mountain North. It was here that we picked up the trailhead for the new system that came about because of me.

Along the trail at Point Mountain North

 At one of Hunterdon's Trails Committee meetings, I proposed one of the potential Trails Day events for Hunterdon be the creation of a new trail system in Point Mountain North, and to connect it to existing trails. Everyone seemed to like the idea, and so I was also allowed to go out with Park Planner Bill Clother, Assistant Planner Doug Kiovsky, as well as Principal Ranger Tom Lizzi and Naturalists Amy Manning and Laura Kroon to help pick out the routes. We flagged off the trails, then it became an SCA project to construct the trails over the Summer. After they were complete rangers put up trail tags and I added paint blazes. Now I help to maintain these trails, as well as lead hikes on them which is particularly special for me.

The white trail took us through a successional young woods, then into older woods all parallel with the old road that used to be the continueation of Hermit's Lane from Penwell Road. We didn't put the trail on the road because it was far too overgrown. The succession field was much easier.

The trail began to ascend the steep hillside on an old woods road. We continued to the first side trail to the left and followed it on another more obscure woods road. This led us to some nice seasonal views over the Musconetcong Valley. We then headed around a hard right turn, then turned left on another trail which took us to one of the most impressive stone rows I've ever seen; a mess of rubble on one side but nicesly stacked as a vertical wall on the other, though you couldn't tell on this date, it was half covered in snow.

This trail took us to another part of the white trail which we took left and descended toward Penwell Road. Once we reached the road, the trail now continues across (it was completed in Summer of 2010), but at the time it was only flagged off and a boy scout was working on a project to put huge boulders at critical points in the stream to make for a safe crossing. Also at this site was the Gruin house; by no means historic but still a nice building that was scheduled to be demolished. Ranger Tom Lizzi once lived there. Since I knew it was going to be demolished, I knew we could get in through the basement and so we climbed in and looked around. The place was empty and the only things worth taking would be huge, like the hot water heater.

After wandering through the house, a comfortable nice break, we made our way out the window and back to the future trail.

He came out through the basement window...

We followed the flagging out to the orange trail at Point Mountain, and then I guess we followed the ridge or something, but I can't remember. I just remember making a lot of dolphin noises.

Anyway, we did visit the view point, I think we just followed the ridge, and then we crossed Point Mountain Road on the yellow trail. This took us to the White Trail which we followed out to the Wattles Field as it was called, at Point Mountain South. Here, we met up with Rich Pace, but I think he drove back to my grandfather's house to have lunch with us. We walked Mountain Top Road from there to the house and had some Celeste Pizzas as I recall. We then sat and chatted for a bit, as we always do, and then we moved on following Symond's Lane across Hollow Road, then Anthony Road to Newport Road which took us to Miquin Woods. We entered the trails here next to the old spring house, then headed down to the trail along Spruce Run Creek. We followed this trail up stream and then turned off of it where it went left. We headed down to the wrecked old Camp Watchung bridge across the creek, which was in even worse shape than it had been the year before, and crossed somehow.

Ruined Miquin Woods Bridge

Once on the other side, we came to the pond that was once part of the camp followed by the old stone farm house. We turned left here to reach the end of one of the yellow trails (as of this writing the trails at Miquin Woods are all still yellow...because the parks are run by idiots). We followed that yellow trail as it looped us around and back to the scout camp road, a dirt road, near the intersection to an access road from Newport Road. To the left, we followed the old camp road that went out past the old mill next to my Aunt and Uncle's house. We stopped and chatted with them for a while in my Uncle Ken's garage before heading home.