Hike #626; Southern Ridge and Valley NJ

 Hike #626; Southern Ridge and Valley Hike

5/13/12 Lower Ridge and Valley Area; Whittingham WMA to White Lake with Teun Ott, Michele Valerio, Greg ?, "Naaron"  Young, John and Deb Esposito, and John Spiridon.

The group in Frelinghuysen Forest Preserve

My next hike would be another point to point ending at White Lake in Warren County. Because I don't have much time left a this place, I feel that I need to get as much time out of it as possible. Most of the hikes through June I decided would end by my place. There is still so much more to see, and even trail sections I have not yet hiked myself. Then again there is not enough time in a life time to do everything I want to do.

We met this time at the White Lake parking lot and shuttled to Whittingham Wildlife Management Area near Newton, dropping cars along the way at the Gnome Hollow Preserve for the two Johns and Deb who needed an early out.We started walking from a parking lot on the southwest side of Whittingham, along Shotwell Road.We walked into the old fields there, through openings which would make a great trail system. It was easy at first, heading from field to field. I pointed out invasive species like Autumn Olive/Russian Olive, Multi Flora Rose, and Japanese Barberry.We eventually came to a former field so badly overgrown with Barberry that we had to bushwhack toward a more dense canopy to get through. We then tried to follow a slope, but ended up in a big swamp area. While we walked, we could hear the sound of a mower with hydrostatic drive moving around. Of course, we were heading across a crazy swamp, and soon were ankle deep at least in black swamp much and skunk cabbage. The guy got off the mower to watch us trudging through in disbelief. He told us we were better off going back. John S. replied "We never go back!".In the swamp, Michele spotted a lady slipper, a pretty flower.On the other side of the swamp, we found better terrain to cross. The undergrowth wasn't as bad, and at times it was actually really nice. I followed my GPS on my phone to head to more fields further to the south. We crossed a farm dump and continued on the slope with some fantastic rock outcroppings, something that always defines the routes within the Ridge and Valley geographical province, though they were much smaller in this area than the ones further north.We soon came out into a narrow swath of field and continued through.We passed through several fields and used cleared connections between them to head southwest. We finally found our way to an old farm access road in a section of woods. We crossed a stream on a nice foot bridge, which was a surprise, with lovely swamp to our right. The farm lane took us out to Wolf's Corner Road where we turned right toward Greendell.While walking the road, Naaron pulled up in his car. He was running late because he thought the hike began at 9 PM, not 9 AM.This kind of thing must have come as a shock to some people, but those who knew me knew that this was not out of the question for me. Naaron had to turn around to find someplace to park in Greendell.I continued on Wolfs Corner Road to Greendell with the group, and we took a break near the old Greendell General Store which was now closed. I thought back at my first time I could remember going there, in 2001 with Tea Biscuit, Peeps, Alf, and Bode on a Lackawanna Cutoff hike.The cutoff was still cleared by ATVs, but it had big chain link fences and foreboding signs. The Greendell Station, once in reasonable shape with all the trees around it cleared, was now a horrible  mess with Ailanthus growing all around it.I went down to the corner at Kennedy Road and Henry Road and could see Naaron at the bridge overpass ahead on the Cutoff, so he waited there for us.I got the group together and we began walking the rail bed after seeing a line of quads cross the road ahead of us.The cutoff was still clear enough to walk, but it was strange to see so many trees growing overhead to the point where we had to duck to go through. My first times hiking this in the eighties with my grandfather, it really didn't look like it'd been abandoned for long. And it hadn't the tracks were only torn up in the early eighties. I remember sections still being in place.I remember well, in Warren County that my grandfather and I met guys riding ATVs, and they told us that there was a tunnel ahead. We had no clue this existed. I was probably only seven or so, and so we set out in his Volkswagon Diesel driving the right of way to see if we could find it, after walking just seemed like it would be too far.A couple weeks we spent doing hikes out and back on the cutoff hoping to get to the tunnel, and just didn't find it. We finally decided to just drive it in the VW until we got to it, and it turned out to be Roseville Tunnel out in Andover. It was a lot further than what the guys had told us it was. I remember them saying a couple miles, and my grandfather said it was more like ten or so.My group stopped to wait under the Henry Road bridge, now almost obscured by vegetation, and Naaron climbed down to meet up with us, falling along the way. He was fine, but got stuff in his new fila shoes, with those toe separator things. Jason Itell had gotten a pair, and they were getting pretty popular.We continued on the cutoff ahead, as it skirted fields and then passed through lovely woods. As the right of way entered a very deep cut, I decided we would cut off to the right and follow the top, because we were going to be heading into the Dark Moon Preserve, one I had never hiked.At the top of the rocky cut, there were concrete posts from an old fence and what appeared to be an old farm lane that must have kept going before the cutoff was completed around 1910. We continued to bushwhack to the north, over typical little ridges and valleys, which was very pretty. We came to one that was incredible deep, and found the signs for Dark Moon Preserve, with both Ridge and Valley Conservancy and Nature Conservancy written on it.

We climbed down, and back up the other side, and found that the trails on the map I'd brought were all unmarked. The first one was difficult to find, but the southernmost loop was at least a visible trail. We followed it to the right, and I could see where the dead end trail we were looking for broke off. The trail took us down hill and along a woods lane, then left along an outcrop and the property line. The trail then cut left near a visible field, and along a line of Eastern Red Cedars.Teun spotted a trail going off into the cedars, but we kept ahead to soon skirt a field in a lovely spot with a slight amount of more elevation so that there was a pastoral view.We followed the field perimeter, part of the trail system, to the right at the end of the property, then crossed a tiny creek at a beautiful spot over a bridge, then turned right to follow the creek. We continued to a connecting farm lane to the left, and followed it to the other side of the northernmost field and turned left again, out to the parking area for the preserve. There were some Ridge and Valley Trail blazes at the lot, but nowhere else.We took a break and checked out the signs in the lot. I thought of my high school friend Dale Stone when I saw an archeological native american site located within the preserve. I would have to tag him in the photo.We turned right on Hibler Road, known as Dark Moon Road to the left in Warren County, and then turned left on Wintermute Road. This was a pretty road with a could ponds along it. We continued to Yellow Frame Road and turned left, then soon reached the trail head for Johnsonburg Swamp Preserve of The Nature Conservancy. Trail maintenance there is terrible, as is with many small organization trails, but The Nature Conservancy is not a small organization.I just can't stomach how they could be hired for land stewardship at White Lake knowing how poorly maintained their own preserves are.From the road, if you didn't know where to go to follow the trail, you wouldn't find it. We kept to the left of the field, and their stupid arrow markers were on an occasional post to point us into woods. We went through one section of woods on an old farm lane, then continued straight along another field. When it entered the next section of woods it was nice, standard blazed yellow trail, though this area really requires no maintenance, with no undergrowth whatsoever.I actually found the next side trail, a whiteish blazed one, to the left, that led to the High Rock overlook of Mud Pond. This was the loveliest part of the hike, and we took a good break here. The view was fantastic, and we continued from here along the same trail which led down hill to the right on a section of ridge. However, the trail abruptly ended without warning. No more blazes, no triple blaze for end of trail. I cursed The Nature Conservancy and bushwhacked with everyone back to the yellow blazed trail.We followed the yellow blazes and abruptly came a triple blue blaze. One could not see where the yellow blazes went until I noticed a post at ankle height with a broken arrow marker on the ground next to it. Again I cursed The Nature Conservancy and continued ahead on the blue blazed trail. One map I had had showed there was a loop to be done here, which I hadn't done yet, so we continued.This trail continued to a triple paint blaze in the middle of nowhere. The oldest blazes in the preserve were paint, but most were covered over with new diamond TNC blazes. The trail obviously continued, so we followed it to a farm road. To the left, we continued to the edge of Mud Pond and two row boats. I flipped one over and only found one paddle, as well as a mouse. I picked him up and told everyone I'd found lunch. I put him down when he reached up and tried to bite me.We continued on the woods road heading in the opposite direction, which took us to some abandoned farm buildings, some with equipment still stored inside. The road continued, but we didn't want to try to follow it really. It was probably private land.We turned back to the blue trail and followed it back to the yellow trail, and I cursed TNC. We continued as we passed nice rock outcroppings, and I took everyone down a blue side trail that dead ended at an old lime kiln. This one should be a loop trail because it nears the fields that more of the trail goes to. But I don't expect TNC to ever do that, or anything else for that matter.We continued on the overgrown yellow blazed trail along a hillside, and eventually up to fields. A post with an arrow far off pointed us up through woods and to the next field, but then there were no markers. There was no way for anyone to know how to get to the trail head, which is across from the Frelinghuysen Twp. school. We couldn't even do it quite right with the GPS. We came out at an entrance road spot, where a development or something almost happened but was halted.We headed to the left on Rt 94 from here, taking a little break at the school along the way.We then continued along Rt 94, and turned when we reached the Frelinghuysen Forest Preserve. It was really neat for me to hike through this, because I served on the Municipal and Charitable Trust Fund Grant Committee for Warren County that helped to preserve this piece of property from development. The trail was actually a roadway that would have been a cul de sac for a development.We hiked down the old roadway, past a swamp, and through a small meadow before reaching it's end out at a circle among Eastern Red Cedar trees. We then bushwhacked south toward Lincoln Laurel Road. We had to cross one small wet area in the woods, but it wasn't too bad crossing on dead fallen trees.It didn't take us too long to reach Lincoln Laurel Road, and we turned left. This was a pleasant road to walk. We were all getting really thirsty because we ran out of water a while back.We turned right on Stillwater Road with a bit of a view of the Kittatinny Ridge, and then reached Gnome Hollow preserve. I noticed that I had forgotten about a Capri Sun drink that Carol Creamer  had put in my bag two weeks earlier, so I hurriedly drank that up and felt a bit better. John S. and John and Deb Esposito cut out at Gnome Hollow where John's car was. They wanted to be done by 4, but it was about twenty minutes later. Fortunately they weren't mad!The rest of us followed the Gnome Hollow trail along the edge of a former Christmas Tree farm, and Michele spotted a box turtle basking.We continued from here into woods on an old farm lane, and we were going to do the loop within Gnome Hollow, but we had already gotten lost a couple times, so we cut the corner and bushwhacked out to another spot on Stillwater Road. I also opted to cut one more corner, and bushwhack down to the Paulins Kill Valley Trail from here.We turned left on Paulins Kill Valley Trail and headed out to cross the river on the very nice through style truss bridge that I love. I ran down to the river on a side path and took a dip in the water, which was needed. It was a really hot day and I was sweating like mad.We continued out to Marksboro, and I texted our friend Crystal Yates. Her and her boyfriend Corey Stracco both lived in a house right off of the rail bed, and so we went over and hung out with them on their porch for a bit. I got to meet Corey's mom who was visiting for mothers day, and they gave us lots of much needed water. Life savers!After hanging out a bit, we continued up Spring Valley Road along the old rail spur, but then opted to continue on the road to Squier's Corners and picked up the red blazed trail I worked on with the land steward. We followed it to the blue blazed White Lake Trail, and I pointed out the area where I worked with TNC to kill invasive Ailanthus trees. I was also annoyed that the largest of the Ailanthus were not cut down yet at all. The land steward just gave a presentation on the removal of these trees and said it was almost finished, but I hadn't seen a single difference in it since the last time I helped him, and the largest specimens were still standing. I hate to think of what little is going to be done without me breathing down his neck (In fact, as I write this on a Monday morning, I already drove around the lake, and he hasn't shown up. Last week I took off two week day, and neither time was he here.).I noticed some broken beer bottles out there as I walked, and once again cursed TNC. We followed the trail on out to the White Lake parking lot, and the insignificant little things like seeing the carsonite posts I donated for trail markers painted the wrong shade of blue, and a bat house that had been laying collapsed for six months that was never fixed.Whenever I think of TNC, I don't thing about "protecting nature", I think of despotism, personal agendas, and inept workers. Further, I think of our experience at TNC's place at Sam's Point NY...they told us there that the Long Path through their preserve was closed, when in fact a re-route had just opened. These people don't know what they're talking about. Even worse, these "experts" have on many occasions wrongly identified different species (ok, enough ranting).We finished the hike before there was any rain, though clouds were building. I remembered how horribly overgrown the Ridge and Valley Trail was my first time hiking it, and how it still was outside of the county land...and how that would probably be it's fate again. My glimmer of hope was that Youth Corps had been working at the site the previous week, and they did a fantastic job in just a few hours. Warren has a land preservation director, Corey Tierney, who seems to be very well on top of things, and everyone I've spoken with is very optimistic of what is to come with him in the department.It might take some time, but I'm confident that all of my concerns will be addressed, though it might take more time than it should for them to become apparent without my pointing them out. My complaints will just seem like sour grapes coming from me, but in time I think they will be realized.I invited Corey and Crystal over for a few drinks, and to chat for a while. They too would be moving about the same time as me; it seemed like the end of an era. Not even these friends would be left behind to look after the place. It was time for us to bow out, like parents leaving their grown children off to the unforgiving world. Maybe one day I might be called on for help again, as parents often are. And like any good parent, I will be there, saw in  hand, to clear the way as I did when I moved in.