Hike #671; North Hunterdon Back Roads and Trails

 Hike #671; North Hunterdon Back Roads and Trails

12/16/12 High Bridge to Changewater Mountain with Bill "Guillermo" Fabel, Brandan Jermyn, Rich Pace, Eric Pace, Ron Phelps, Jane Merryman, Gabriel Franklin, Michele Valerio, Gregg Hudis, Frank Meloi, Stephanie Koles, Jonathan Wilson, Jesse Bilger, Kam Minhas, Karen ?, Adrienne ?, and Bill Honachefsky.

The group in the Nassau Tract

My next hike would be a point to point trip in northern Hunterdon County, something that has become a tradition since at least 2004ish. I'd been doing hikes through this area every year around Christmas, and as more and more trails get developed, we eliminate more road walk sections and add new trail stuff. This year would be very different than previous  years because I would not incorporate Point Mountain, but rather the areas a bit to the south, beginning in High Bridge and then ending at my grandfather's house on Mountain Top Road in Lebanon Township.

Those who have known me for a long time know that the Christmas holiday season is one of the toughest times of the year for me. The holiday season has become a sad time of loss, pain, and obligation. Friday marked ten years since the passing of my grandmother, June Allen, which was horribly painful to me. In the years to follow, I was driven into a great amount of debt, and the exchanging of gifts became impossible in my situation. The horrible feeling of guilt and inadequacy has made it too difficult for me to enjoy holiday get togethers. The holiday season also marked the tempestuous end to my nearly ten year relationship with Cathy Fisher. The details of my negative experience with the holidays get deeper and more painful, and so I tend to avoid acknowledging it.

Despite all of this, I do find solace in the traditional hikes that take place every December; the holiday North  Hunterdon trip with the visit to my grandfather's house, and my annual Holiday NY City hike, to take place next week. The fellowship of the group, the simplicity of the trip, and introducing everyone to my wonderful grandfather, who is an absolute pleasure to keep company with, and who is responsible for starting me off hiking at the age of three, is one of the most special holiday traditions I have. Sharing that bit of my life with everyone is always uplifting.

We all met in the morning at my grandfather's house. I was running a bit late, and had to pick up Brandan. Fortunately I made it only five minutes late. A lot of people were late so it was okay.

My grandfather had to head to church, so we figured out the car shuttle and headed down to the Nassau Tract, on Nassau Road in High Bridge, where we met up with Bill Honachefsky. We had a group of 19 to start the hike, again a mix of many past participants as well as new ones. It was cool to have five new people. One of them, Gabriel Franklin married my old friend Megan Bubalis from high school, but unfortunately Megan couldn't come this time. The entire group did great with the craziness of changing terrain and randomness.

We followed the trail through the Nassau tract, and a mountain biking group had put a huge series of trails all through it to my surprise. Fortunately, the Taylor Steelworkers Historic Greenway trail was still marked with my yellow paint and was easy to follow. We headed across a stream and down to the road again, then crossed the intersection onto more of the trail, passing carsonite posts Bill and I had installed a couple weeks prior. We headed to the intersection, then followed the blue blazed spur trail to the Solitude House and beyond to the dam. I had Bill help out with history talks on the area since he knows it better than me. Union Forge Heritage Association was recently booted out of the Solitude House because the town wanted to turn it into a Bed and Breakfast. They were foolish for doing so, and the place will never function in such a way. Besides, it's so historic, it should be nothing but a museum. The Solitude Dam's bucolic setting was  no more...the deep pool below it, which we used to be able to jump into no longer existed. The main frame of the stone dam was there, but all of the trees from the berm were gone, and it had lost a lot of it's beauty. It was required by DEP that the dam be repaired or torn down, so the town opted to repair it. The trail we put in over to it was also buried over on an access drive, and the blazing will need to be changed in order to reach it now.We turned back and got back on the main yellow blazed trail, out past the Bloomery Forge, and then Kyle's grave. We paused there for a few moments, then crossed over the Carnegie truss bridge we re decked in 2009. Bill told us about the TISCO building, oldest office building in NJ, and then we headed along the trail up hill to the Columbia Trail, former High Bridge Branch of the CNJ railroad, on the trail that Bill and I moved over from storm damage also in recent weeks. Once at the Columbia Trail, I showed everyone the short overlook spur, then we followed the trail back into High Bridge. At the parking lot at the end of the trail, Bill said farewell because he had to go to a meeting, and the rest of us bushwhacked down across a marsh, then up hill through municipal land. We fortunately found ATV paths going through it heading up hill for most of the entire way. I think that should become more of the Taylor Steelworkers Historic Greenway. Once we were close to Cregar Road, we had to climb up a dump spot, steeply and without a trail, to reach the road. Eric chose to go around and follow the roads, and caught up with us at the same time.We then wandered along Cregar Road to Fine Road, out to Observatory Road in Voorhees State Park. I pointed out the comedic "Super Fine Road" to the right of the main road on the way up. Once on Observatory Road, we turned left, then left again onto the Vista Trail, and followed it to the seasonal overlook where two stone benches, built by our retired maintenance guy George, stood. We took a little break here, and I told everyone the history of the Water Bond Act of 1958, the creation of Spruce Run, and other history. We then headed down on the Vista Trail, then reached the Highlands Trail and turned right. We crossed Observatory Road again, then did the cross park trail section. The large trees that had fallen over the trail that gave us so much trouble during the night hike were no problem this time, and we just walked around them to the left.We followed this trail out to Brookside Trail and turned left, through Hoppock Grove, then down the Gold Trail along Willoughby Brook. We followed this trail out to the foot bridge over the brook returning to Brookside Trail, then headed up Loop Road to the field sections. I unlocked the restrooms for everyone there, though I probably shouldn't have, and then we moved on to the Highlands Trail on Rt 513 out to Bunnvale.

We made a pit stop in the mini mart there, then headed up hill toward Woodglen. Before reaching Woodglen, we turned left into Lebanon Township Memorial Park, and followed their trails over to the World Trade Center Memorial, which is quite nice. Eric waited behind here to be picked up, while the rest of us headed through the park out to Hill Road, then turned left on Red Mill Road heading down hill toward my Aunt Pam and Uncle Ken's house. We turned right on Newport Road and then headed to their place, and hung out in their garage for a little bit. I figured we'd just say "hi", but they had beers, wine, cheese, and cheese curls all set up for us! Such a nice gesture!

We didn't get to stay nearly as long as I'd wanted, and had to leave. We walked back old Boy Scout Road, the beginning of which Uncle Ken owns. Along the road is the ruins of the old Newport Mill, an awesome site we have enjoyed looking at in the past. We then wandered through on the old camp road into Miquin Woods, formerly boy scout camp Watchung. We wandered along the old roadways across Miquin Woods, then had to turn off trail along the Spruce Run Creek out to the end of the property. I used my GPS to be certain we were going the right way, and followed a utility line into township land. It was mucky, but we handled it. We then turned left off of the utility and onto the somewhat new boardwalk that a scout had put in (actually at the recommendation of Matt Davis and I at Environmental Commission meeting). We continued out to Woodglen Road, and turned left on Anthony Road. I had my grandfather come out to pick up Michele, who would drive the drivers back to High Bridge and pick up Pizza for the group. Jane had an animal emergency and had to leave as well. The rest of us continued to hike Anthony Road, past the ruins of Swack Hammer Church, and then on to Hollow Road, then  Mountain Top Road. It was getting very dark, but we were almost done. I counted down the mileage as we neared the end. It went by fast.

When we reached my grandfather's house, he had snacks and drinks all set up for us, and we sat around chatting. We did similar to what we did at my cousin Dorothy's house, and gave everyone the opportunity to talk about how they got involved with the group. Since it went so well the previous time, I thought we'd try again. It wasn't nearly as entertaining as that time (the last time was hilarious), but it was still nice. My grandfather then had the opportunity to tell everyone all sorts of silly little stories about our past, and the hikes from when I was little.I felt bad for Michele, because she ended up having more problems than anticipated. The pizza place I knew of in High Bridge had closed. Michele couldn't find anything else around, and finally went to Goodfellas in Clinton. Fortunately, the pizza was terrific! We ended up a bit late though. Guillermo missed out on the pizza unfortunately as he left as it was arriving, and Rich, Ron, Jane, and Kam all left a bit earlier to. I guess only 14 of us ate. I must have eaten an entire pie myself. We had a lot of great conversations, and it was what I wanted it to be.

This was a very positive form of congregation, with no obligation except to relax, be ourselves, and talk to each other with the respect that comes naturally anyway. The sharing that occurs is of ourselves, and the the mix of both serenity and excitement of the day. The Christmas season can mean whatever we want it to, whether it be Christian or not. I prefer to call things spiritual, and not really acknowledge Atheism, though I do respect that as well.

In my opinion, there is no such thing as Atheism, however. I can't grasp the concept of nothingness; it's like saying nothing that can't be seen exists, or matters (again, in my opinion).

I think back to when I was a teenager and one particular experience I'd had at Greens Beans coffee shop in Hackettstown. We used to all get together there in the late afternoon. At that time, smoking was allowed indoors, and my pre-hipster friends would smoke and drink exotic coffees while listening to whatever performer was on for that evening.

One one particular occasion, there was a very talented pianist there, playing all sorts of classic tunes. I remember singing "Hey Jude" with him. We chatted openly between songs, and he was just this cool, worldly sort, though he resembled the infomercial guru Billy Mays more so than the Maharishi. The man was taken by our open mindedness, and said he had something he'd like to play for us, if we cared to listen. He pulled out this strange Indian instrument. I remember it being like an accordian in a way, but it made a deep humming sound. The man then went on to explain to us what "overtones" were, and how we'd have to listen for them. The combination of sounds, the correct notes working together, would create other notes that can only be heard when the right notes are hit. I didn't know what to expect when he started "playing" the instrument. While the noise emanated from the instrument, the man began vocalising in a similar fashion. It took him a moment to pick up the right tone. When the tone was correct, the combination of his voice and the simultaneous sound of the instruments created a sound unlike anything I had ever heard before. It sounded like some unearthly flutes, coming right out of the air! It was like the source of the new music was from just over the man's head. I got goosebumps witnessing this, and even now thinking back on that moment gives me a chill. It was one of the most amazing things I'd ever heard. It was like this music was in the air, and he'd found the key to release it.It was at that moment I realized that Atheism simply does not exist. How could it? There are unexplainable things all around us, some we can see, some we cannot, and probably many we haven't even tried looking for, or even know we should or shouldn't be looking for.

I feel that saying there is nothing beyond our comprehension is foolish and vague. Regardless of the specifics of religious denomination, which is right and which is wrong, there must be something more. I witnessed the sound of souring flutes spawn from the cacophony of an annoying wind instrument and a constipated vocal  moan. There is plenty that has yet to be revealed, or to reveal itself to us.

For me, every day should be less like traditional Christmas and more like Thanksgiving. Whether it's giving thanks to a creator, or just enjoying life and it's pleasures, and being thankful for it, life is wonderful. The best gifts we can give can't be bought in Hallmark or anywhere else, and in the case of this day, the gifts were companionship, respect, trust, and humor, among countless other things.Thank you everyone for attending.