7/29-7/30/10 Mansfield to Chester with Chris "Cupcake" Kroschinski, "Action Adam" Stevens, and Jillane Becker
Electric Brook Falls swimming
Unfortunately all of my photos from this hike were lost to the fire in August of 2010, not long after this hike. Fortunately Cupcake took a few with his cell phone so at least a little of it is recorded!
After meeting Action Adam in Chester, we shuttled in my car to Mansfield Township next to the Clearview Cinemas Movie Theatre. Cupcake met us here.
We walked across Rt 57 and onto Newburg Road heading sort of south. We then ascended a bit on Schooleys Mountain Road and turned left into Cataract Park. It was late in the day, about 5 pm when we started walking because it was a work day. We were able to ascend the blue blazed trail in Cataract Park to the old iron mine, then descend into the valley of Cataract Falls. Cupcake told us he had been in that gorge before looking for another old iron mine which still existed, but he couldn't quite get his bearings as to where it exactly it was.
We climbed to the top of Cataract Falls and then turned onto the Cataract Trail that started behind Heath Village. We turned off of this onto the unmarked side path that led to the power line. We then followed the power line to Patriot's Path and the Highlands Trail up onto Schooley's Mountain. We crossed over Quail Run and followed the power line acros Hunter Drive. The trail then took us to the right from the power line and through the narrow swath of woods out to the yard of the Flocktown Kossman School. We continued on the trail across Flocktown Road, then came out at the Harrington Fields. We turned left on the trail down the drive to it, then across Rock Road into Schooley's Mountain Park along the head waters of the Electric Brook. We soon crossed Springtown Road and headed through the park. We turned off of the Patriot's Path here to descend through the gorge of the Electric Brook, and to the waterfalls.
I'd already had a bit to drink and was feeling silly, and we all took a dip in the brook below the lower falls. We even tried jumping off the top into the pool below which was much too shallow, but we didn't think much about it.
We continued from the trail along the water back up to the overlook along Patriot's Path. The sun was going down and it was quite pretty.
Schooley's Mountain lookout
Schooleys Mountain lookout
We managed to descend from the mountain pretty easily, and continued across Fairview Ave and onto the Columbia Trail. We continued across on the Patriot's Path, and I think we might have gone over to the gas line bridge but I really can't remember.
We came out in Long Valley on Rt 513 and 24. We decided to take a pit stop at a local pizza place and stop in the liquor store as well. I think I just missed the cut off for the liquor store. Or maybe I didn't...I can't remember.
When we were done we continued along 513, where now the Patriot's Path was blazed on the left side. We turned left following the trail route along Bartley Road to the Ort Farm and turned right. We were now following the trail along the odl Chester Branch of the Central Railroad of NJ. We had no problem following this easy section despite the fact that it was totally dark.
This section took us out to Coleman Road. The rail bed through Coleman's Cut ahead was still not yet a trail, but since previous visits there was a new developement parallel to the left. We followed the new road through "The Estates at Long Valley" up hill. Jillane met up with us here; she had gotten out of work and showed up with a bottle of wine, which was quite good.
We walked the road to a point between homes (many were vacant anyway), with gravel surface that led down hill to some sort of trailers and such. We passed by them and came out on a cul de sac of another part of the developement that did not connect, a side road from Tanner's Brook Road.
We followed this road south a bit to the brook crossing itself and sat down in the road drinking wine. We walked a little bit further and soon came to the next section of the Patriot's Path and turned left.
I believe this is in Chester Twp.
We went through some evergreens and then a field before reaching the old rail bed again and turned left. The rail bed took us across the Black River and then turned left past the site of Chester Furnace. In the woods here we found some really weard glowing tree bark laying on the grounds. Sadly, we don't have any pictures of it.
We soon came out to Furnace Road and crossed. The trail was somehow rerouted since my last visit, though I didn't know how yet. We stayed on the trail until it came back to the old CNJ line again, then turned left on it up hill. When we reached the power line we somehow couldn't see where the tracks went ahead and turned right on the power line. This was indeed a paved trail section, but I totally lost my bearings as to where we were. We ended up walking left off the power line and on woods roads close to homes. I used my phone gps to point us in the direction we needed to go off trail to get into Chubb Park. We found it and made our way out toward Rt 513. Jillane had called her sister Jamie to come and pick us up in the middle of the night. When we had almost reached the road we turned left and came out by the Chester library where Jamie picked us up.
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