Hike #521; Mendham/Randolph Loop

 Hike #521 10/28/10

10/28/10 Mendham/Randolph loop with "Action Adam" Stevens, Chris "Cupcake" Kroschinski, and Jamie Becker

Chimney along India Brook above Buttermilk Falls

My next hike would be another impromptu one; I think I had the day off due to a doctor's appointment or something, and so I first met with Action Adam in Mendham to begin a loop hike.

We parked along a dead end street called Village Circle in Mendham, then walked south on Mountain Ave to the center of Mendham. From here we turned right along the main drag.

A bit out of town, we turned left into Westfield Park with the idea that we would cut through woods into the Schiff Nature Preserve from the north. I guess it looked well used enough and was posted so we stayed out and continued on the main street which became Washington Turnpike.

Goofing off with mirrors in Mendham NJ

We continued into the Ralston historic district and turned left into the little park where we'd met for hikes many times before. We followed the trail from the back of it west to the Patriot's Path, former Rockaway Valley Railroad bed. We then took that to where it used to cross over Burnett Brook and went right on the new extension of Patriot's Path. The south end of this piece still was not blazed, however. Also, the metal thing placed over Burnett Brook I used to cross on my previous visit had been removed or washed away. We managed to cross and continued to Mt. Paul Place, the driveway where more trails were accessed. We turned right following some blazes to a right turn onto a trail in the Burnett Brook Preserve.

Pond in the Burnett Brook Preserve, Ralston

Burnett Brook Preserve, Ralston

We continued along and the trail took us to the edge of a pond. I had been here before, but I'm not sure if we ever circled the pond. New trail work had been done this time which included some bridge things along the pond. We continued along and the trail took

Along the trail in Ralston NJ

The trail returned to the opposite side of the pond and then meandered through the woods a bit to a parking area on the corner of Mt Paul Pl and Washington Tpk. We turned right on Washington Tpk and passed the cider mill on the right before turning left onto the Rockaway Valley Railroad bed, now the blue branch of Patriot's Path.

Rockaway Valley Railroad bed, now Patriot's Path, Ralston

We followed the trail out to a cul de sac, then across Ironia Road. Soon, we turned left off of the rail bed where it crossed the India Brook. We followed India Brook Trail to the left parallel with the brook for a bit.

Along the India Brook Trail in Mendham

We soon came to Mountainside Road where we were joined by Cupcake. Together, we headed along the India Brook Trail

Along India Brook Trail, Mendam Twp.

across the street and into the woods. We soon paralleled some of an old tail race as I recall, then descended a bit to the level of the stream. We crossed the former bridge site where a road once went through, then crossed the stream ourselves on a rock hop where a bridge still had yet to be constructed (and probably never will be as it's really unneeded).

Swimming below Buttermilk Falls, India brook Natural Area

Our next point of interest was Buttermilk Falls; Cupcake and I were both crazy and decided to try to jump in. It was cold, but refreshing.

Buttermilk Falls on India Brook

Swimming in India Brook at buttermilk falls

From here, we headed up stream along the India Brook to the fire place just above the falls. I think there were a couple of kids there until we showed up, and they left. We figured, what better way to warm up after a late October swim than by a fire, so we wet one in the chimney and had a nice little break before moving on.

Trail along India Brook

This time, we didn't stay on the white blazed India Brook Trail which ascended far up the east edge of the gorge; one of the newer trails continued alongside the brook on the west side so we followed that.

We soon came to the old dam site across the India Brook. It was here that the white blazed trail descended back to creek side opposite us, but we continued on along the west side until the white blazed trail crossed itself on the new pedestrian bridge.

Old dam site on India Brook

We then continued north to Combs Hollow Road, turned right, and then immediately left onto the somewhat new Randolph Township Trail which continued north parallel with India Brook and Coleman's Hollow. This took us out to Patriot's Path and the rest of the Randolph Township trails.

We turned right on Patriot's Path to the south end of Dolly Bridge Road, where the trail passed it at a cul de sac. Action Adam wanted to run back from here himself because he had prior obligations, so I directed him on how to take the Patriot's Path down to the blue branch of the trail on the rail bed. I guess he was able to make it back with little or no problems (he did try to call me a couple times, and I missed him, but by the time I called him back he was home and fine).

We followed Dolly Bridge/Old Morris Turnpike  north across Calais Road, then turned right onto I think Leslie Road. This was a dead end at Tucker, another road, and even though the map didn't show it, the trail continued on at the abandoned part of Tucker out to Sussex Turnpike.

New bridge over India Brook

We entered Brundage Park across the way and continued north to a fork, where we went left. We reached Carrell Road, then followed Fairview to Longview to Melanie, at the end of which the trail went into woods and joined with another trail near a field. We turned right. I had done this section before on my first hike with Shelly years before. That time we went south, but at the next trail junction we turned left and headed out to Schoolhouse Road.

Cupcake on the Randolph Trails

We crossed over the road and the trail sort of took us around the outside of the Elementary School. We couldn't figure out exactly where to go so we went to the right, which ended up being wrong. We looked in the woods to the east of the school but didn't find any trail, so we went back behind the school and picked it back up again. This took us through a narrow swath of woods. Here, we came across a climbing wall behind the school which we couldn't resist. We then followed the trail to the back of the high school beyond.

Climbing wall at

We soon crossed over Millbrook Ave out to the east side of the school and reentered the woods on yet another Randolph Trail. This led to a trail intersection and we went up hill to the left a bit until the parking area at the police station beyond was in plain sight. I think i was drinking a Four Loco so I didn't want to be seen out there with it. It was here that Jamie joined up with us for the rest of the hike.

We descended back to the previous trail connection and went left. This took us across a little bridge and then over a power line to skirt the edge of Freedom Park. The trail passed through the developed area of Freedom Park and then crossed over Millbrook Ave. The crossing was really weird, like none I'd ever seen. There was a button to press in order to turn on the light so hikers could cross the road. Never seen anything that fancy on a trail system before, but it was neat. The trail turned right parallel with the road a bit, then left to a junction. We turned left; I had done this section before, again on the hike I did when I met Shelly from Dover to Morristown.

We passed another trail junction, crossed Carrell Road again, and then paralleled Church Road back out to Sussex Turnpike. We crossed and headed south through a narrow swath of woods, then onto a hillside as it started getting pretty dark.

By the time we got to where the Patriot's Path turned off of the more developed Randolph Trails on it's main route east, it was totally dark. Somehow, I was still able to see the turnoff in the dark. The Patriot's Path descended via a utility line, but switched back a lot back and forth across the line. We opted to stay right on the line this time due to visibility until we reached near the bottom. We came out onto Woodland Road and paralleled the edge of Clyde Potts Reservoir. This time, unlike previous times the trail was finally blazed along the road. We headed down to the intersection with Cold Hill Road, but continued on Woodland. This was the perfect time to hike Woodland because it was close to traffic ahead; a bridge was out.

Patriot's Path along Woodland Road and Clyde Potts Reservoir

It was really great walking down this road knowing we wouldn't see any traffic. We ignored the Patriot's Path turnoff into Dismal Harmony natural area. It would have been far too dark and longer to go that way, and it was the perfect night to be on Woodland Road. We turned off of Woodland onto Summit Road, which was steep at first, but descended nicely for quite a while to West Main Street.

There was no easy way to get onto the blue blazed Patriot's Path just to the south of us from here, so we just walked the road west to Cold Hill Road left, and picked it up at the crossing there. There was an abandoned house near the crossing, but we didn't try to get in this time, although we had a look around.

The Patriot's Path continued away from the Rockaway Valley Railroad bed ahead into a stretch of woods south of a development, which was wide and easy walking for night time. I could see well enough even to walk across the bridges with no guard rails, which I think freaked Cupcake and Jamie out a bit.

Patriot's Path

Once the trail regained the abandoned railroad bed, I decided to run ahead as fast as I could to get my car and come back for them, while they walked. I dashed down the path all the way back to Mountain Avenue next to a pond, then turned left. It seemed like it took forever to run back to Village Circle up the hill. It was further than I had thought it was, but oh well.

Once I had my car, I headed back down to the trail crossing to pick up Cupcake and Jamie, and then took them both back to their cars to close another awesome late day hike. Jamie was insecure about night hiking before this, but she tried it and had done great.