Hike #507; Ralston to Chester

 Hike #507 8/29/10

8/29/10 Ralston to Chester with Carol and Rob Creamer

Along the newer segment of Patriot's Path near Ralston NJ

For this next hike I put together a route mostly of which I'd covered in the past, but wanted to go back to to see if new trail work had been done. Not much had been done, and old trail sections were growing in badly.

It was convenient to do something so close like this because Jillane and I were now living with my grandfather on Mountain Top Road, Lebanon Twp.

We started on Washington Turnpike in Ralston, at the ball fields, then walked along the mowed path out to the blue section of Patriot's Path along the former Rockaway Valley Railroad. When we reached the site where the railroad used to cross the Burnett Brook, we turned right. This section of trail now had a little bridge over it at the beginning, but it was not blazed here yet. We followed the flagging north along Burnett Brook, and I believe there was a big piece of aluminum walkway placed across the brook where a bridge would need to be built. We then came along the side of a fence where a few bridges had already been in place and out to Mt Paul Place near the Burnett Brook Preserve. We turned left on the road and then right onto I think a yellow blazed trail which went into a loop to the north near Mt Paul. A little ways onto the trail we turned left and bushwhacked parallel with an open area with a house to the left. I think this was like a park or a non profit or something. I'm not sure. We came out on a mowed path around the fields and headed south. There was a guy on the other side of an electrified fence to the right cutting logs with a chain saw. Carol let Bruce off the leash for just a little bit here, and there must have been a deer, and Bruce went running. He didn't come back when she called him. He'd never done this before, and when he had been like fifteen minutes we were worried. All three of us fanned out looking for him. I walked to the left and met some people who didn't know where they were and wandered along more of the paths in the area. I eventually ended up on the other side of the Burnett Brook from where the railroad trestle was. I didn't realize it, but the main path we were on in this area was the former Rockaway Valley Railroad.

There was still no sign of Bruce for a while, and I went back out to the Burnett Brook for probably the third time where Roxiticus Road was above me straight. I soon saw Bruce just downstream from me in the water. I called to him, and he came at first, but then ran right by me. I kept on him close by and called Carol and Rob to come to me. Bruce would let me get close once more but then take off. Fortunately, they were able to catch him as soon as they arrived and we were on our way across the stream and up to Roxiticus Road.

Along Burnett Brook

The Patriot's Path didn't continue yet through where I thought it might, so we had to walk Roxiticus Road for quite some time past the giant McMansions. It eventually turned off to the right after Fox Chase Road down hill through a swath of woods parallel with fields, then up hill through terrible brush to more fields. This section hadn't been at all maintained in a long time. We took a break in the shade at the top by the fields. It was a pretty hot day, so we needed it.

We followed the trail through the fields and it descended into some woods, I think onto the Rockaway Valley Railroad bed again, but it was pretty obscured. We then crossed a creek where there was no bridge and paralleled it heading to the south. Just before reaching St. Bernards Road I saw what I thought was probably the rail bed to the left of us, which I hadn't seen before. I think we were on a piece of it. We then turned right on the trail parallel with the road along the edge of a high quarry. We then came out along the road between sets of hedges out to Old Chester-Gladstone Road. Ahead, I remembered seeing a trail marker into the woods in a line of trees and assumed it was the new connection for Patriot's Path to continue. It might have been, but it was totally obscured now. I still found the trail marker sign in the mess of weeds, but there was certainly no going through now. We turned right and had to walk the road instead.

We had a long, incredibly boring walk along the road heading north until we reached Rt 206, then we headed left on Pottersville Road to get to the next section of the Patriot's Path. Once there, we turned right into Elizabeth D. Kay Environmental Education Center. We turned down hill on Patriot's Path, the Black River Trail section, to the Black River and I recall I took a dip in the refreshing water.

We continued north on the trail as it picked up the Langdon Mine Railroad bed where it used to cross the river, and then came to the old Hacklebarney Mine site and railroad. Here, the dam over Kay's Pond was apparently being replaced. The pond was completely empty with the river finding it's course through the dry bottom. There was a giant trench where the trail was supposed to go through, which we had to climb down and around to continue. On the other side, we followed the trail, in a large part the Hacklebarney Mine Railroad, until we reached the Cooper Grist Mill.

We walked under Rt 24 to view the dam on the other side, then returned to get to the cars. I think Rob drove me back to my car or something, or vise versa. Probably vice versa, and he'd come back for Carol.