Hike #729; Pompton Lakes and Southern Ramapo Loop

 Hike #729; Pompton Lakes and Southern Ramapo Loop

10/6/13 Pompton Lakes Ramapo Loop with Justin Gurbisz, Brandan Jermyn, Ric Giantisco, Lyz Hagenbuch, Shep Glennon, Dan Lurie, Sue Olivar, Stephen Argentina, Cory Salveson, Ted Wright, Angela Wright, Susie Duncan, Brad Anesi, Tamara Sapilak, Mark Norman, Lindsay Haber, Terri Allen, Monika Kwiakinska, Beata Blatkiewicz, Andrew Sugar, Edward DiSalvo, Mahvash Saba, Rob ?, Dana ?, Amy ?,

Old water tower from Van Slyke

Our next hike would be a large loop around the southern Ramapo region. I wanted to revisit some of my favorite spots in the area, as well as cover some new stuff, including some discoveries made by our friend Justin. We'd need him to help guide us through some of these strange areas.

We met in the morning at the A&P in Pompton Lakes. I was worried about leaving cars here because there's apparently been problems in the past, but fortunately we didn't have any. We started walking from here through town, and headed down to Lakeside Avenue, where Lakeside Park offered us some nice views of Pompton Lake. We continued along the shore to Colfax Avenue, then continued to Pool Hollow Road where we could reach the southern terminus of the Hoeferlin Trail. We followed the trail to where it joins the Cannonball Trail and used it to cross Rt 287 on the pedestrian bridge.

We continued to the right, staying on Hoeferlin Trail, then reached Ramapo Lake. Someone in the group went ahead and followed the wrong way, so we waited for them to catch us along the lake. I went in for a very relaxing swim at a nice little cove while we waited. I think someone else went in with me, maybe Stephen?

After the dip, we continued on and followed Hoeferlin Trail to the north, which at times followed a woods road, out to Skyline Drive. We continued across Skyline Drive and then headed left to where Castle Point Trail breaks off to the left. We turned here, heading back to the south, and Cory joined us, having parked at Skyline. We all continued on from here to the south, and made a stop at the old water tower building that was associated with Foxcroft, better known as Van Slyck Castle. We checked out some of that, then continued on to the burned out ruins of Foxcroft, which everyone always likes. Someone asked "Where's Justin?" to which someone replied. "Just look up". And they were right, he of course was up on the structure before anyone even noticed.

I climbed around a bit too, as did some others.

It was kind of crummy out, and so we got pretty much no views. Still, we made the best of it and continued on. We turned to the right to follow Wanaque Ridge Trail, with hopes that there'd be some views from it, toward the Wanaque dam, but there wasn't much of anything, just a little bit. We headed on to reach the Indian Rock Trail, which heads down toward Back Beach Park, and began heading down hill.

When we got near the bottom, we reached an abandoned railroad right of way, at which point I turned the hike over to Justin. There were no signs telling us not to go that way, so it was all fine.

We turned left and followed a very nice old rail line, one that I never knew even existed. It was high above the Ramapo River, at least at first, and very pleasant walking. We continued along this for quite some time, and it eventually opened up to a utility right of way. We turned on this and Lyz, Ric, and I walked down the center of the Ramapo River for a while. We came out near the Rt 287 overpass, a really cool spot. We then headed left as per Justin's directions, and reached the north side of the bridge. We took a break to climb the rocks on this side, which was great. Only myself, Ric, Lyz, Justin, and maybe Stephen I think did this.

We all climbed down and followed the road onward more, and eventually came to a tunnel entrance Justin had told me about. Justin led the way, and Brad, Stephen, Ric, Lyz, Lindsay, Ed, Ted and his daughter I think, and Stephen as I recall were the only ones to go in.

The tunnel was rather narrow, and had one first passage that was kind of tough to go through, walking on stuff like boards and such. There were fixtures on the walls in the past used for light, and the way in was crawling behind a barrier.

Once we got further in, it opened, up and there was what appeared to be a plastic growing in a trellis along the roof. We went all the way to the other side, which went into private land, and then turned back. Quite cool, though I was coughing for a day and it was probably from this.

While we were goofing off inside, a lot of the group decided they wanted to just go on to the end, so we lost a lot of them here. We moved on following them a bit after coming out, but a lot of the group took much more time in the tunnel than I did.

The path led us along the Ramapo River and then out to Wanaque Ave right by the shopping center where we started. I gave everyone the option of continuing on if they wanted, or cutting out here. A good number opted to continue on, and so we were off, but not before picking up some fun drinks at the liquor store across the street.

We followed Wanaque Ave out to the former Greenwood Lake Railroad. It is used as an industrial spur from the NYS&W Railroad just to the south, but the tracks end just below here. Now, there is a utility right of way built on it. We turned right near the end of the road following it.

When we got to Rt 287, we had to turn right out through a parking lot away from the rail bed. We reached Ringwood Ave, turned left under 287, then turned left on Union Ave passing the Super Stop and Shop. I figure we can use this as a meeting place for a future hike.

We turned left onto Susquehanna Lane, which heads into Elks Camp Moore. We made the right, heading up hill toward the camp, but then bushwhacked off of the road to the right into the former Federal Hill property, where the German Bund Camps used to exist prior to WWII.

It was strictly bushwhacking for a bit, with no real trails. We continued to the south following some rock outcroppings until we reached the edge of a large quarry. We then skirted it off to the right until eventually I saw a woods road down below us to the right. We headed down and followed the road, on the route closest to the quarry, for some time. I watched the GPS as we walked, and as there were more woods roads we took the ones that seemed most likely to get us back to the railroad tracks south of the quarry. Looking at the maps today, I can see that we were very close to some of the Bund camp ruins, but we just missed them. We'll have to visit there again soon. For the time being I had to get everyone out of there. It was now dark, and I'm sure everyone was about ready to be done. George Washington's troops once mutinied at this point, and there would certainly have been another one if I got distracted.

We soon reached a utility right of way, which we followed down hill to the right. A chain link fence broke off to the left of it soon, and a path followed that out to the railroad tracks. It was an easy shot from here to the end.

Unfortunately, while goofing around on the tracks, I somehow dropped my phone. We kept on walking until I realized I didn't have it. I went running back to find it. Lyz and Ric I believe helped, and it was ringing so I knew the battery was still in it. Sure enough, I found it laying on the tracks easily and we were on our way again.

Some of the group went out to walk the roads back to the parking lot from the next crossing, while the rest of us continued across the trestle over the Ramapo River to Wanaque Ave. We headed left, back to the cars to conclude another great extended hike.

Most of the remainder of us got together for dinner at a diner along Rt 23.

If anything, this one felt to me like the End of Summer hike more than anything else. It felt more like something had come to a close at this point. There was some sort of sadness that can sometimes go along with the Autumn. I don't think anyone else felt it but me, because this was really a great hike. This would be the last time of the year that I would jump off into the water and my friends would join me. To me, that last communal swim signifies the end of the Summer in a lot of ways. It was a dismal, rainy day, but somehow fitting with the ambiance of the ruins we passed.

There would be a lot more good things coming up. I was now ready to move on exploring the lower Delaware Bay during cold months, the more urban hikes would be coming in the Winter. With the passing of the seasons though, I sometimes wonder how many I have left. During a recent hair cut at my mom's hair salon, I saw how grey my hair is falling onto the cape around me. I've had grey hair since I was 16, a lot of it, but now I'm getting a little more.  I'm still very fortunate to not feel a day over 17, and not have the limitations that so many of my peers are feeling already in their early thirties. Still, one can never tell what is just around the corner. I'm enjoying all of this so much, and I never want it to end, because there will always be more to do.

I want ever hike, just like every day lived, to count for something special.