Hike #68
On the old CNJ rail bridge in Long Valley
Here's another hike that is really fun to look back on. It was on this hike that I met a man who would six years later or so become my boss, director of Hunterdon County Parks, John Trontis. I'd only seen him around briefly at Hunterdon's Summer Concert series events, but this time we had a good conversation for the first time, and this eventually led to my job with the parks.
Hike 68
9/7/2
Tea Biscuit at Mountain Farm, Teetertown Preserve
Me at Mountain Farm, Teetertown, Hunterdon County
Mountain Farm on a mowed trail
Along Orchard Trail at Mountain Farm
Pond at Mountain Farm
Along Pond Trail, Mountain Farm
Goats in Teetertown NJ
Goat in Teetertown
A cow along Trimmer Road, Lebanon Twp.
Inside what would later become Raritan Inn
Looking off the upper porch of the future Raritan Inn. This was removed during the remodeling.
Another abandoned house that would be refurbished in the next couple years.
For my next new hike, I had an interesting section planned beginning in Teetertown
Preserve’s Mountain Farm section in Hunterdon County, just up the hill from Crestmoore,
walking all the way to Hackettstown. The plan was to finish in Stephens State Park on the
Highlands Trail. I had recently checked out some of the trails on my own, trying to plan
my new route.
Tea Biscuit and I were dropped off by my grandmother at Mountain Farm. Bob “Bode”
Bodenstein was going to join us in Long Valley.
We bagan walking the trails through the preserve, beginning with the unmarked field trail
which passes around the western side of the preserve and out to the old Orchard Trail. We
continued back to the Visitor’s Center where we met John Trontis, Director of the
Hunterdon County Parks Department who lives at Mountain Farm. I remembered seeing
him before as the Master of Ceremonies at the Summer Concerts Hunterdon County
hosts. We chatted for some time, John traded our old Teetertown maps for more current
ones, and we were on our way, passing by two ponds.
We continued on the trail, passing through a field, and then entering the woods above
Teetertown Ravine. We continued on the Red and White Trail to the Blue Trail which
makes it’s way through woods and downhill along a stone row to Teetertown. From here,
we walked roads, passing a house that was once the home of Merv Griffin, and then
passing a few farms. I spotted one goat out in a fenced area, and decided to make a goat
noise, when all of a sudden goats began appearing out of nowhere, hidden behind every
obstruction of view, and the all came to the side of the fence. We soon turned onto
Trimmer Road, passing more farms with horses and cows, and came out onto Rt 513 near
Crestmoore. We crossed the South Branch of the Rariton River and soon came to an old
house, a beautiful mansion in terrible condition. We went inside to explore. The upstairs
was infested with bees which we steered clear of. Tea Biscuit went inside a second house
next door before we moved on. Within the next few years, both houses were completely
restored, amazingly, and the mansion was opened as a Bed and Breakfast.
Abandoned house that was later to become Raritan Inn
Columbia Trail South Branch of the Raritan Bridge in Middle Valley
Columbia Trail in Middle Valley
When we reached Crestmoore and the Colombia Trail/Highlands Trail/former High
Bridge Branch of the CNJ Railroad, we began walking it east.
We crossed the South Branch again, thenpassed through Middle Valley, scanning the area
for remnants of the Middle Valley Railroad juntion, then continued on towards Long
Valley. This was probably the most boring section of this railroad bed, mostly an improved
crushed stone surface and save for a couple of fields, it’s all just woods. When we reached
Long Valley, we could see Bode ahead waiting for us. We greeted him with big hugs, and
stopped into a little deli down at the main intersection, along the river.
Columbia Trail in Long Valley, undecked bridge
I'm climbing the abandoned Welch Farms structures, now gone.
Former Welch Farms place, abandoned in Long Valley
We were soon on our way, crossing an unimproved bridge on ties, and then into the old
Welch Farms property. We stopped to climb old water tanks, and then made our way
around the buildings which had been built on the rail bed.
Continueing on, we made our way into another industrial site, where there were two old
bridges over the Electric Brook. One of the bridges had an improved metal surface, while
the other one was only I-beam framework. Somewhere before here, we passed the site of
the former junction with the Chester Branch of the Central Railroad of NJ. I had wanted
to see where the line crossed the South Branch of the Rariton, so we crossed the river on
a concrete gas pipeline bridge, then headed down stream to the Chester Branch Right of
Way.
Old rail bridge in Long Valley
Former Chester Branch of the CNJ rail bridge site, Long Valley
Tea Biscuit climbs a pier where a trestle once carried the Chester Branch of the Jersey Central Railroad across the South Branch of the Raritan, Long Valley NJ
We found the bridge site, and Tea Biscuit waded to the pier, climbing it using a
rope. We also found an unopened beer, but decided not to drink it. While Bode and I
walked along the river back to the gas line bridge, Tea Biscuit walked up the center.
near the Chester Branch bridge site, Long Valley
Tea Biscuit walking in the South Branch in Long Valley
Concrete gas line bridge, Long Valley
The three of us continued a short distance on the High Bridge Branch to where Morris
County’s Patriot’s Path, a long trail system, crosses. We turned north on the Patriot’s
Path, crossing what appeared to be another rail right of way, maybe used to servide a
quarry along the Electric Brook. The trail took us out to Fairview Road.
View from Schooley's Mountain, Patriot's Path
Continueing across, we followed the Patriot’s Path uphill, steeply at times, through
Schooley’s Mountain Park to a beautiful view over Long Valley. The trail led us further
up Schooley’s Mountain from here, the trail changing from narrow footpath to improved
crushed stone surface. I am particularly fond of the Patriot’s Path system due to it’s
constantly changing character.
On Patriot's Path, Schooley's Mountain Park
The vultures out to get Tea Biscuit, Schooley's Mountain Park
Springtown Road Patriot's Path crossing, Schooley's Mountain
The trail took us near Lake George (spelled right?) and onto a paved access road to the
main part of the park, passing playground equipment. The path led us across the parking
lot, through trees and into fields passing another pond, where vultures seemed to be
circling above us, and we had a laugh.
Next, we crossed Springtown Road, and continued into the woods, once again on a
narrow footpath along the Electric Brook. We crossed the brook twice here, first on
Springtown Road, and a second time on the trail, but there was no bridge. Rock hops
were not tough luckily.
Patriot's Path between Springtown Road and Rock Road, Schooleys Mountain Park
Along Patriot's Path, Schooley's Mountain
Heading north, the trail passed through nice woods, and Electric Brook broke into
headwaters with several springs, with puncheons taking us through wet areas. We soon
reached Rock Road, where trail blazes ended. We crossed the road, still on public land, to
the access road to ball fields. We could see an obvious path along the side of the field, and
through a thin strip of woods between two fields, so we continued on. Next, another path
led to the right through trees to the end of a cul de sac on Falcon Court. We followed this
road out to Flocktown Road.
Along Patriot's Path, Schooley's Mountain
Along Patriot's Path, Schooley's Mountain where it used to follow a power line
Hastings Square on the Morris side of Hackettstown
Hastings Square, Recreation thing at the town houses in Washington Twp. (Morris) near Hackettstown
Originally, the plan was to follow the school yard to the east and up a pedestrian path and
a developement which would take us to Naughright Road andMt Olive, and the next
section of the Highlands Trail. To my surprise, this plan changed when I saw Patriot’s
Path blazes on the west side of the Flocktown-Kossman Schoolyard. We immediately
decided to follow it.
The path took us across the schoolyard and into a narrow strip of woods in the middle of
a developement, then across a little meadow to a power line. The blazes took us along the
powerline to the north, crossing a developement road, then someone’s back yard! Still,
blazes remained on powerline poles, taking us across one more road and downhill.
Somehow, we lost the blazes and just continued on the power line. As we headed down
hill, I was surprised to find a teal blazed trail crossing the line. I decided to follow it east,
the direction we needed to go. I was blown away when another red blazed trail broke off
to the right. We continued downhill, passing a giant blue water tank, then to the trail’s
end. A sign with a tree designated this as an old mine trail. I later found out we were on
Heath Village property, a retirement community.
We continued along a woods road, passing another yellow blazed trail. The woods road
led us out to another access road, and we decided to walk down hill, as we did not know
where we were. This led us out at the development above Hastings Square, another
development on the Morris County side of Hackettstown.
We goofed off a bit on kids playground equipment, and then made our way out to
Schooley’s Mountain Road. My next plan was to try to walk along the Musconetcong
River through a golf course. We walked a bit, but were scowled at by patrons. I walked
up the middle of the river for a bit, until I realized it was a lost cause. Tea Biscuit and
Bode were tired, and stopped at Boston Market for food, while I ran from Hackettstown
to Stephens State Park to retrieve the Camaro. Quite a day of exploring!
Hastings Square, Town houses near Hackettstown off of Schooleys Mt. Road.
No comments:
Post a Comment