Hike #497; Mid Hunterdon Loop

 Hike #497 7/8/10

7/8/10 Mid Hunterdon Loop; Arboretum, Deer Path, South Branch with Amanda Rosenblatt and "Action Adam" Stevens.

Along Readington Connector trail south of Deer Path Park

My next hike would be yet another Mid Hunterdon loop focused around visiting the Summer Concert Series in Deer Path Park, but this time we'd utilize some different trails than the previous time.

I can't remember how and where we started for this one really...

Since I have a picture at the end of crossing Rt 31 I assume we dropped a car off at the mini mall on the corner of Rt 31 and Payne Road.

I think this must have been the one where Amanda was in Washington thinking we were meeting somewhere else...but maybe not. I really don't remember.

Either way we started this hike wandering around the Hunterdon Arboretum again, and I think it was just Action Adam and I at first.

Vincent Aubrytis Wetland Study Area, Hunterdon Arboretum

The three of us eventually exited the back of the Arboretum and headed south on Rt 629 to Foothill Road and the north side of Round Mountain.

Foothill Road

We followed the trail up for a bit, but then instead of continueing over the Peter Buelle Trail over to Deer Path Park, we followed the new Readington Township trail to the left. This took us down hill and out on 629 again by the Stanton General Store. It followed the road briefly and then turned north through some fields. This led us to the Bowman Stickney Farm eventually.

Near the Bowman Stickney Farm, Readington Twp NJ

It was cool to see such a good trail system in place since I'd walked the system long before it was ever blazed. We looped around past the buildings at Bowman Stickney and headed back south again, dipping below the fields through a line of trees and then ascending again to Rt 629. We turned briefly right, then left again on that trail heading up part of Round Mountain. When this trail hit another one, we turned left heading down to Woodschurch Road. The trail followed the dirt road to another farmstead on the right. Here, we found to my great surprise, a real "Brick Shit House". The outhouse was actually built of brick, and I'd never given thought to the term "Built like a Brick Shit House" till now, and we had a laugh.

OMG! A real Brick Shit house!

From here, we continued through open fields following the markers which took us across a foot bridge heading west.

Readington Township Trail near Woodschurch Road

The trail took us out to a power line and then gradually up hill to join the Peter Buell Trail under the power line. We turned left here and began to descend toward Deer Path Park. This time, we followed the right fork of the trail heading around the fields, then down across West Woodschurch Road where we goofed off on the exercise stations.

Goofing off on the excercise stations at Deer Path Park

The concert that was on for this evening was the Hunterdon Harmonizers Barbershop Chorus. My grandfather used to sing with them for over twenty years, and I attended many of the shows, and so when they sang at Deer Path I tried to make a showing. We didn't stay for the entire thing this time, but we saw them do a few songs. Jack wasn't working this show, he sent one of his employees, who I talked to for a bit. I'd met him in late 2008 at the Strikesound holiday party.

The Hunterdon Harmonizers on stage at Deer Path Park

After watching some of the concert, we wandered around and chatted with some of the people we knew around the area including the Hunterdon interns.

The Hunterdon Interns manning the county table at the concert

We were a little restless and really didn't feel like siting through the entire show so we eventually moved on.

Watching the Harmonizers at Deer Path Park

We walked out of Deer Path Park through the fields and onto the Readington connector trail into the Wings Section of the South Branch Reservation and headed north. I believe we must have backtracked in the way we did the previous hike in the area but I really can't remember much. My pictures clearly show me we went thorugh fields on the way to Wings. I think we headed up the connector trail into the Stanton Station section again, and maybe took the same road walk as the previous time, though I can hardly believe I'd do that terrible walk at night again. I really can't remember what we did, but the last picture shows us crossing Rt 31 next to On The Run. I though we parked Action Adam's car at the mini mall in the area, but I really can't remember...

Crossing Rt 31 at On the Run and Exxon I assume.