Hike #621; Jenny Jump; Ghost Lake to Pequest Furnace

4/6/12 Jenny Jump; Ghost Lake to Pequest Furnace with Shelly Janes, William "Guillermo" Fabel, Craig Nunn, Joe Tag, Corrin Dylnicki, Sue Bickford Martin, Wayne Meiner, John Spiridon, "Commando Tom" Petrucci, Laura Allen Cunningham, Teun Ott, Jim DeLotto, Michele Valerio, ?, ? (I must refer back to my waiver for names),

This was another one that facebook seems to have lost the journal entry to, unfortunately. As such, I must rewrite it again.
At the time, I just started getting hot on the Warren Highlands Trail plan. I wanted it to be mostly footpath, and some early proposals for the trail across the county called for the use of the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway for the "Warren Trail", which I didn't like.
The Warren Railroad was the original Lackawanna Railroad across Warren County, and I didn't want to create historic confusion, and I wanted the trail to have a better character than just simply a throwaway rail trail thing because it gets from point A to point B. We have something to show people, and I felt that should be the goal. Connection and showcasing.

We met in Pequest Furnace and shuttled with as few cars as possible as I recall to Ghost Lake in Jenny Jump State Forest where we'd begin. The Warren Highlands Trail will piggyback on the existing Jenny Jump Trail from there all the way to Mountain Lake, and then follow a route that I came up with.
We started walking along Ghost Lake, and I'd wanted the trail to go over past the Fairy Hole, a natural cave known to have been used by native Americans. I don't think that'll happen now because they don't want to showcase those areas as much, but it would be a nice spot to bring it.

We walked that way this time. We visited the cave, and then clung onto the rocks heading around the east side of the lake. A short bushwhack up and over rocks from there leads to the light blue blazed Ghost Lake Trail, which is the same color as the Warren Highlands Trail.
We turned right and followed this, which is an old woods road up to the site where a cabin once stood overlooking the lake area. It had been torn down soon after 2002 or so due to recurrent vandalism.
We took in the view from the cabin site, then continued to the intersection with the Summit Trail and turned left. The Warren Highlands will follow that, which has some very nice glacial erratics. There are great views over the Alphano sod farms, and a few north to Delaware Water Gap.
Jenny Jump isn't like the rest of the mountains in the Highlands Geological Province. Technically, it is an island of ridge and valley province within the highlands, but still located within it.
We continued from Summit Trail toward the park office, and I recall getting to the shower buildings and taking a shower in the middle of the hike.
The trail used to be blazed white, but they switched it to blue, and I chose a pretty close matching blue for Warren Highlands because it would be easier than reblazing everything.
The trail from the park office area goes across Farview Road and then follows a large stone wall for a bit. It then continues through woods along the ridge, in some of the most secluded sections of trail in the county.
This area was a big problem because the volunteers planned the trail out so that it would go through outcroppings and such where an ATV could not go, but then maintenance staff from the past came through and created a new trail that bypassed the old one so they could drive it. 
Near an area where there is a little creek crossing, there is a white blazed side trail that leads to a nice view out over the area of Hope and Delaware Water Gap we also checked out.
When we reached Hope-Great Meadows Road, the traild escended on some steps down across, and a guide line over the railing on the other side brings hikers down more steps and onto a lower segment of trail.
The trail is down below the ridge at that point for a while, following the edge of former fields and over a few springs heading to the west. 
After a little ways, there is a super steep section where the trail turns hard to the left and re-climbs the ridge. Once up, it descends slightly to cross Hissum Road.
Some of the properties in this area I surveyed with my grandfather not so many years before this. I was surprised that I was then in my twenties, and he was in his seventies carrying around heavy equipment through the woods. Some of these lands that we worked on then ended up becoming state park land.
We followed the trail through this swath and then down to what I believe is still known there as Buzzard's Glory Road. The trail actually leaves state park land but has access through the property out to Lake Just-It. It then goes out to Lake Just-It Road and turns right.
We cut to the left from the road again and followed a segment of trail that leads back to the old Mountain Lake trail system.
I think we turned left there to follow the trails that had been there for a long time.
The trail meanders along the ridge and then comes down behind some homes leading out to the north shore of Mountain Lake. I seem to recall we made a sort of wrong turn from it this time and I couldn't find where the trail was supposed to go. None of it was marked very well at the time and it had been years since I tried to go through.
We eventually got out to the road, from which point we had to follow them. We took Green Pond Road and I pointed out High Rock, which I want to put the trail over, and then headed out to Beechwood Road.
From that point, we went to a small state wildlife management area lot and headed into Pequest WMA.
This was the first time with a group I went through my proposed route down to the old Lackawanna Railroad bed. The woods was sparse and really perfect for putting trail in.
We reached the rail bed and turned left, crossed Rt 46, and then followed it beyond over the Pequest viaduct and on the slope above the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway.
I believe we must have parked at Pequest Furnace and used the former Furnace Railroad bed to get down there. I don't think there's enough parking in Oxford to use, nor do I think I would have wanted to go that way since we do it on the anniversary hike all of the time.