Hike #657; Natirar to Hacklebarney

 Hike #657; Natirar to Hacklebarney

10/14/12 Natirar to Hacklebarney with Matt Davis, Shelly Janes, Bobbi Landrock, Paula Scheyer, Corrin Dylnicki, Anne ?, Teun Ott, Joe Tag, Veena Sonwalkar, Michele Valerio, Eric Pace, Susie Duncan (and Zip Line), and Chris Metaxas.

The group at a mirror shot in Peapack

Our next hike would be another point to point, and a great success in my opinion of what we can do working as a team, keeping with the model the hikes have always followed, exploring new areas, showcasing the character and events associated with them, and embracing the unexpected joys that come our way. The hike would be a completely collaborative effort between myself and long time friend and now Metrotrails Vice President Matthew Davis.A few weeks in advance, Matt contacted me with an exciting proposition. Through his job, he had made many connections with different interest groups. As a professional photographer, he was asked to do some work for groups in the Bedminster area, in an enclave of predominantly British transplants who's unique sense of community not only encompasses aspects of UK style rambler's rights, but has been instrumental in sustaining the rural character of the area, right down to keeping the narrow unpaved roads the way they have always been. The Upper Raritan Watershed group was having their "old country fair", an event with local interest groups and entertainment as it would have been in the days before rides, and Matt thought it would be good to incorporate this event into the middle of a hike.I found a route that would end in Hacklebarney State Park easily, but struggled with the beginning. Matt said he would like to see the hike begin in Natirar, a park in Somerset County that was once part of the state owned by the King of Morocco. I'd not utilized this park for a hike yet, so that was a very attractive beginning point. It was decided then that the first half of the hike to the Old Country Fair would be arranged by Matt, while the latter to Hacklebarney would be mine.

After meeting in Hacklebarney, and dealing with typical drama of trying to get people together, we shuttled to Natirar. Veena got lost, but ended up meeting us there, and even passes us while talking to me on the cell phone along the trail! Matt took the lead as we followed the wide loop trail around Natirar, and along the North Branch of the Raritan. The park was full of very unfriendly people, and Matt joked that whenever he arranged a hike it would be in the unfriendliest of areas (he did one while I was out one time in the upper Lackawanna River valley near Carbondale PA, and was met by awful frowning people). We joked at how no one even said hello as we walked by.A group of three ladies laughing and talking while they came toward us I thought would be nice, because every single person we saw prior to them did not acknowledge our friendly hellos, but when I greeted them, their smiles turned to confused scowls, and they became silent. We just laughed at their pitiful and sad existence.

Matt had planned on staying on the public land out to take Main Street into Peapack, or to take an old road out below a famous mansion called Blairsden, but neither were an option.  Plan A was Blairsden, but a ranger who walked several hundred feet behind us the entire time said we couldn't do that. Then, when we were leaving, "no trespassing" signs marked the park land out to Main Street into Peapack. We cut across fields after the signs ended. Eric went out and around the long way from here.We took the narrow Main Street into town, and stopped at the main gate to Blairsden to have a look, with it's old fountains and pretty designs. We then made another stop at a giant lime kiln along the road. I had once done a hike in this area with Cathy maybe five or so years prior, following some of the same road. I remembered the large kilns well.We continued up the road past the lovely Brigid Church, and then turned left into Liberty Park, a small park with a paved trail going around the outside of a small pond. We went around the pond and out to the next street. We carried around a lot of Osage Oranges which were prevalent along many of the back roads. We headed up the road a bit more from here into town where we stopped for an early lunch or breakfast at Cesar's Corner Deli. I had a good breakfast sandwich, and they also had great Empanadas. It was a nice little stop. We could have been on more trail, had we turned left out of Liberty Park, but everyone wanted to get food, and the warm welcome we got when we went to Cesar's further justified that decision. The employees were very nice to us, and they took photos of us both in and outside of the store. They get a lot of cyclists we were told, but apparently we were the first hiking group.

We continued from here to a left turn on Pottersville Road out of Gladstone. I pointed out to everyone the probable former route of the Rockaway Valley Railroad, which we would walk a section of later. We then crossed 206.Here is a link that should work to show the former Rockaway Valley Railroad alignment near Gladstone, as well as Vliettetown to Pottersville in the other section we hiked later:

http://historical.mytopo.com/getImage.asp?fname=smrv98nw.jpg&state=NJ

Once across 206, we turned left onto Fowler Road, the first of the dirt roads retaining the rural character of the area. This road was beautiful to walk, down into a small valley with farms and such. Matt pointed out a farm on the right that used to have trails open to public, but were now a private use only system.Matt had arranged for permission to cross a section of private land owned by clients and friends, and then soon led us through lovely woods near to farms, but respectfully staying away from homes. We picked up a good trail when led us on through to the Hyde Tract, a piece of public land off of Spook Hollow Road. When we got to the road, another nice dirt one, a stately man with a British accent rode up on a beautiful, large white horse, and he demonstrated a jump for us next to the road. Matt explained to us after this the difference between riding horses Western Style and British Style. The man we saw was friendlier than the others we saw. Matt went on to explain that what he wanted us to see is that these folks, who have a lot of money, are not so different than the middle and lower class, doing what they can in their own way for preservation.

We followed Spook  Hollow Road up hill, and then reached the rustic dirt road intersection with Long Lane and Larger Cross Road. We turned right here on the way to the fair. When we reached the two ninety degree bends in the road, a gentleman in an expensive car stopped to inquire what we were doing, and apparently asked if we needed anything. Joe engaged him in conversation, and the man invited us to his home for some beers!Out of respect for his privacy, we will leave him unnamed here unless we get his blessing to post anything.We had a very nice time, lounging with a beautiful view at his stately home, and laughed at silly jokes he told us. This friendly hospitality was a far cry from out experiences at Natirar, and it was a clear illustration of what Matt wanted us to see of the people here. Real, down to earth people, friendly and generous, with a strong sense of community.We left his home and continued to the event as planned.There, we wandered around, planning on taking about 45 minutes. Paula painted a chicken at one place, and we got some snacks and such. Our new friend got in his car and joined us for some wandering around. Shelly, Bobbi, and I tried to cram into a bear box, a demonstration of what a bear could fit into. Shelly was the only one of us who could cram all the way in.

When we left the fair, we were joined by our old buddy Chris Metaxas, who parked his car at our friends house and then joined us for the walk down aptly named Long Lane.Long Lane, another dirt road, was just as beautiful as the others we had walked. It led on to intersect with Black River Road, where we paused and I gave a brief history of the Rockaway Valley Railroad. It was built mainly to haul peaches in 1888, but the blight killed them in 1890 so the railroad struggled until it was finally abandoned for the last time in 1916. You may read an article I wrote on the line at the following link:http://www.njskylands.com/odhikerailrock.htmThe rail bed paralleled the right side of Black River Road for a bit, so we walked the paved road north, to where it crossed. We then entered fields along the right of way. On my last visit, these fields were only recently taken out of agriculture, and were easy to walk through. They were now very overgrown and had Autumn Olive, and there were mowed trails leading all over the place, but not necessarily on the rail bed. We headed into woods trying to trace the rail route, but it was tough to ascertain where exactly it was. We eventually ended up back on the right of way, on a low fill next to the Black River. We walked it down and around a former bridge, site, then along the river for a ways. It was clear enough here, and a newly marked trail was cleared and led with arrows from the right of way back to Black River Road when we reached the private land.

We continued to walk Black River Road from here north to Pottersville. I pointed out where the rail line once again crossed the road.My plan from here was originally to follow Pottersville Road up to the undeveloped section of Hacklebarney, then follow informal trails to and across the Black River, but it was getting too dark. I opted to cut through wood when we passed the homes and cut to the formal trail system. There were some sort of fishing club trails we used on the way out there.Only a few of us continued on through the dark, while the rest of the group was out on the road moving along. We would send others back to get us at the end.We fought through the weeds and such, then got to somewhat groomed trails and emerged on the red blazed Rhinehardt Brook Trail at Hacklebarney and turned right, which led to the white blazed Main Trail back to the parking lot. This trail was almost like a road, so it was easy to walk in the dark.We got back to the cars and fortunately had no problems with the parking here or back at Natirar, and we were on our way home.I wish we hadn't finished so far after dark, but overall the hike was greater than even anticipated, and we succeeded in showcasing a little piece of NJ we had not yet included in our hikes. I am very proud of Matt for having the idea and seeing it through to fruition with me, and I see this as a definite future model for hikes, which promise to only get better as time goes by.