Hike #751; Montvale to Mahwah Area
2/2/14 Montvale to Mahwah with Brandan Jermyn, Justin Gurbisz, Ed DiSalvo, Jack Lowry, Terri Allen, Leisa ?, TJ ?, Jeremy ?, and ?.
The group in Saddle River area
Our next hike would again fit into the Jersey Perimeter Series. This time, with all the snow on the ground, I decided I wanted to try to do the next road walking section to connect the towns of Montvale and Mahwah. This and only one more hike remained in order to finish covering the entire north side of the state, the only NJ boundary that is not bordered by water. I knew this might be one of the most boring hikes we've ever done from the start, and it turned out that it may very well have been the most boring of all of the NJ Perimeter hikes, but we somehow made the best of it.
We met at the Sheraton Hotel in Mahwah, which was our intended end point. We'd then shuttle as few cars as possible to the east, to Montvale and Pearl River where we'd finished the previous one in this particular leg of the journey. We managed to squeeze into two vehicles, Ed's and Jack's van, and get there. We stopped at a mini mart along the way in Pearl River for some drinks.
We surprisingly had five newcomers for this one, even though I thought I made it abundantly clear it would be a boring one compared to others. It was disheartening to me that a few people quit the Metrotrails group following this hike.
I feel somewhat bad that these people who joined had their first hike be something that is far less interesting than what we usually do. People get a certain idea in their heads about what hiking is like, or what it's supposed to be, and when something is not the norm it can easily be rejected.
To start our trip, we parked at the Annie Sez store where we met for the previous one in the series. We then walked south on Kinderkamack Road to an apartment complex road. We cut across their access lane back to Kinderkamack, cutting a corner. Ed pointed out a restaurant in a rather old looking building that he said used to be a McDonalds. That was rather surprising.
We turned right on Magnolia Ave from Kinderkamack, following it north. This took us across the Pascack Brook and out to Woodland Road where we turned right. We took that road just barely across the state line, then left on Burdick Road. I pointed out to everyone how the license plates changed from NJ to NY in what appeared to be the exact same development. It's an interesting area for those looking for those subtle differences. I appreciate them, but I suppose for someone who hasn't seen the entire remainder of the NJ perimeter, this would certainly mean far less. For me, this was just another piece of the puzzle, exciting every step of the way.
Burdick Road closely parallels the state line. It was just on a knoll to the south of us, and this road too crossed back over the line. We passed through two oblong stone block objects on either side of the road as we passed back into NJ, where I pointed out the difference in license plates again. We turned right on Crestview Terrace, then right on Turkuile Road. This took us to Summit Ave, and we turned briefly right, then left on North Ave heading almost to the state line again. The intersection with North Road was just about on it, and there were signs for Orangeburg NY just to the right of us as we made the left continuing on North Ave. When we reached Spring Valley Rd, we turned left and followed it back out to Summit Ave and turned left.
Summit Ave continued on out to pass beneath the Garden State Parkway through an underpass, at which point we turned right along the edge of a business property parallel with the parkway. We continued next to a slope between buildings and the Parkway eventually over a parking lot and out to Chestnut Ridge Recreation Complex. We followed the edges of their fields and parking lots to their entrance road, then turned left to follow it out to Chestnut Ridge Road north.
Most everything we were walking through were new developments, like probably 1950s or later. Like on the previous hike, we'd occasionally see some old home surrounded by the new ones. They were often altered to the point where they might not be recognizable as historic unless we were looking for it. TJ asked if we had to make all the corners to do the perimeter of the state, and I said "YES!". He was a good sport about it though. We headed left along the Saddle River River which changed name to Weiss Road as it entered the next county, Passaic, leaving Bergen. We also passed the 1795 House, part of a property of 2000 acres belonging to Samual Bayard, granted by William III in 1697. This was one of the oldest homes we passed. Just prior to this we did pass a couple of lovely old Victorians along Chestnut Ridge Road. We followed Weiss Rd to a right on East Saddle River Road (the second of three roads by this name), then turned left on Brook Road which took us across the upper Saddle River itself, which was quite pretty in this area.
From here, we turned right on Hampshire Hill Road, then right again on Plymouth Road to the state line at Hillside Road. The intersection was right on the state line. I seem to recall in this area seeing an old Dutch colonial style home, the kind made of stone with the sort of gabled roofs like that of the Von Steuben House near Hackensack. We saw a few of these on the previous north Jersey Perimeter hike, but each of those had historic markers. The ones we were passing this time had pretty much nothing, save for the 1795 house. Still, even the 1795 house had no historical society markings, the sign looked to be the craft of a proud home owner who wanted to share the rich history with passersby like us.
We headed down hill on Hillside, and soon reached the West Branch of the Saddle River, a small creek at this point. The yards to the right of us were homes with a rustic style, but probably not historic. What was historic were the river's channels. To the north of us, there were two channels; one was the main and more natural looking river route through the yard, but to the left was what appeared to be a former mill race of sorts. To the south side of the road, there was a long stone wall, which at first just appeared to be someone's crafty property decorations. Upon further inspection, we could see the wall continued to grow in height farther from the road, and reached a purged out former dam site on the river. It was obvious that this used to be a reservoir. I figured the thing we saw to the north, up stream, was probably a mill race. Someone asked me what kind of mill I thought it might be, and a saw mill was suggested. I theorized that they might have had a grist mill or some smaller mill on the up stream side of the reservoir here, but that the saw mill was probably down stream from the reservoir site, because the slack water would have served a larger tail race that we simply could not see from here.
We went ahead and turned left on West Saddle River Road, and passed a few more homes that appeared to be historic. There was a large one near the intersection and slightly to the north, followed by another one to the left as we headed south that might or might not have been historic, and another more certainly historic one on the hill to the right. We then passed barns that were now converted probably into residences on the left, and probably associated with the nearby homes. Finally, we then came to our first real historic marker. I was surprised myself to see that most of what I had guessed would have been true of the mill and reservoir site we'd passed were pretty accurate. The sign denoted the site of the former Bush Mill constructed about 1800. It even noted a grist mill was added a bit later.
The sign was somewhat misleading in that it said the present day home is on the "site of" the Bush Mill, but the bottom of the sign stated that "The Bush Mill is believed to be the oldest of three mills remaining on the Upper Saddle River". Perhaps the house is in fact the old mill, or perhaps some of the old mill foundation or more was incorporated into the present dwelling. I'd be interested in finding out, but we weren't going to find more information here.
The river came into view below us to the left of the road in a bit, and we saw Anona Lake, which appears to be a swimming lake in a small park. We turned right on Sparrowbush Road, then right on Tommel Drive. It was weird walking through all of these developments. People didn't seem that unfriendly, they just didn't appear at all! No one was coming out of their houses, and if they did most all of these development roads had no sidewalks! We did pass two young girls who were out playing with their dog at one point, and when we said "hello" neither of them answered. An old lady heading out to take a walk, carrying a cane, was the only other one we passed from around the homes, and she didn't respond when I said hello either.
We turned right again on the oddly named Tam O Shanter Drive, then to Heather Lane and turned left. We then went right on Crescent Ave, left on Shuart Road, and right on Cortland Trail. TJ opted to stay on this road when I turned right onto Cobbler Lane. I wanted to follow the perimeter, but in this case it was shorter than the road he wanted to take. He was using the same Google maps as me, but he didn't have it on the aerial images so it wasn't shown as accurately as mine was. We ended up beating him (barely) to the next intersection.
This development might have been the newest one we passed through. Again, there was no one around. This development also had no utility poles, everything must have been under ground. There was only one street light, which we joked must have been in front of the homeowner's association president's house. The light seemed cheap, made with four long two by fours stuck together rather than one large pole like most things like that we'd see.
We turned left on Grenadier Drive, which led us to Airmount Road, right next to the state line. We headed south only a short distance, then I led everyone off trail into the woods. We needed to get away from this road walking badly. There was a deer trail which I tried to follow to the south. The goal was to head to Airmount Park through the woods parallel with the road. The woods was somewhat wet under the snow, and I got my feet pretty soaked a couple times, but no one really complained.
We came out in the park, and skirted the soccar fields to a nice little low wooden fence line we could sit on for a break. Some of the group sat next to a white jeep type of truck, and the guy who owned it came up walking his dog. He told everyone to move away from his truck, and sort of had an attitude about him.
After the guy left, Brandan said "Apparently we're smack dab in the middle of Assholeville". We had a nice little break, then continued on around the edge of the pond in the park, and across the inlet on a foot bridge. We cut through woods from here soon to reach Mahwah Road. We followed that north to a left on Miller Road.
We turned right on Black Oak Lane and continued to Arrowhead Road. While walking these roads, we could see the Ramapo Ridge coming into view ahead. We were nearing our destination. We passed by a couple more historic homes, or ones we figured were probably historic. One looked like an old Dutch Colonial in the mid section only. On the outsides it was built up with all sorts of additions and continuations of the gabled roofs. I couldn't take my eyes off of it looking for clues that it might be a reproduction. Even the corners on the front side were of large stone fit into place. If it was a reproduction, great care was put into emulating the finest details including the cornerstones. I would say that this was probably an historic structure with a lot of add ons.
Another one near where we started heading down hill on Flaming Arrow Road appeared to be an historic Dutch style home, with additions. It's strange to me that these places had no historic markers, despite the fact that they might date back to the 1700s.
We followed Snow Drive down to Olney Road, and turned right. The road was blocked off to vehicles mid way, but we of course could walk right through to reach Stephens Lane. We turned right here heading up hill slightly. We then cut through a line of trees to the left and over a large snow pile to reach Kingsbridge Way, where there were a lot of town houses and access roads off of that one road. The north side of the development was on the state line, or very close to it. We cut down the access roads and continued north of the town houses. I fell down the slope a couple of times on the ice while trying to navigate the swath of woods between. My mismatched shoes, one of which was one of the ones I wore on the 63.4 mile day hike we did in November, had no tread and it was tough.
TJ and three others left us in the development to head back to the cars in what they thought was a more direct route. Again, TJ was using google maps on his phone without the aerial images, and he didn't know what I had in mind. My route was certainly going to be much quicker and more direct because they had to go far south to the nearest bridge over the Ramapo River....as far as Google was concerned. I had something much more interesting in mind.
We reached Kingsbridge Way again and followed it to Fox Lane right next to the state line, and turned left to Franklin Turnpike. We went right here and soon crossed the Mahwah River on a road bridge. Leisa headed to the 7-11 for a drink or something, and I took the opportunity to climb down from the bridge to check out the river. I saw an abutment for possibly a bridge out in the water to the right I wanted to see. The water was cold, but not too bad. I waded up and down the stream a little bit before getting out.
I was curious about the rail lines because from 287 on the ride to the beginning of the hike I spotted an overgrown old railroad track passing beneath us and figured we'd cross the line along the way. However, I don't remember crossing any old rail lines at all let alone ones with tracks still in.
We continued on Franklin Turnpike and came within sight of the Entering NY sign, but we went left, beneath the railroad tracks, still used for passenger service, and turned left on Ramapo Valley Road. Justin must have been chomping at the bit to climb something. There was an abandoned railroad bridge frame next to the current active one, and so he climbed up and went across that. Even Brandan went out one a bit.
I heard a whoop and thought for sure police had seen them so we hurried on, and turned right on to North Ramapo Ave. The state line passed through the middle of the intersection with State Street. We went left here, then right on Meadow Ave, where the state line crossed close to again. We turned left on 1st Street, right on Ridge Ave, then left on Jersey Ave. This led us to abandoned Houvenkopf Road.
There was a chain link fence blocking the old road, with two bridges in site, a stone arch one and a through style truss one. There was a sign on the fence reading "bridges unsafe". Of course, we payed no mind to that and went around the fence.
The first arch bridge crossed over a small wetland. We continued on to the truss bridge which went over the Ramapo River. The edges of the pavement were deteriorating off into the river on either side, but the trusses appeared to be in reasonable shape. Justin of course took the opportunity to climb up the trusses.
I've never seen Justin so cautious with his climbing as he was with this truss structure. He said it was very slippery. He used the bolts on the bridge for grip and used his hands a lot to pull himself up. He of course managed to get to the top and then climb onto the cross bracing for some good pictures. I was a bit concerned when even he said it was slippery.
We moved on from here to an open area, and after looking around briefly I could tell this was the abandoned railroad spur right of way that served the Ford Motor Company plant that once occupied this space. Railroad ties in perfect line to the south of us were obvious. We tried getting out of this area that was surrounded by chain link fences to the west, but that didn't work. We instead had to follow the railroad right of way to the south, which was more interesting anyway.
We continued on the rail line until we saw some sort of access road to the right. With no gate in place it was very easy to come into the back of the Sheraton Hotel, where there was a guy cleaning his truck. No one bothered us and we were soon back in the parking lot. Of course, the deserters had not made it back yet. They had gone too far out of the way. The only way I could see that they might have gone would have been across the Rt 17 Bridge to the south, which has no pedestrian lane.
We were amazingly back at the parking lot at about 3 pm, and so we had plenty of daylight left. I asked if anyone would like to go into the Sheraton and see if we can get permission to go to the top and check out the view. The building is 22 stories high, with an observation area around the 12th floor. I told everyone to stick close to me as we went up to the counter.
I talked to the girl behind the desk and asked about group rates and conferences, introducing myself as President of Metrotrails. We talked a bit about hosting events there, and she told us we could get price of rooms down to $119 a night or less depending how many people came. I asked about amenities, and she told us about the business center and indoor pool. I then asked about the viewing area and if we could possibly have a look at it. She agreed, and we all piled into the elevator to head up to the viewing area.
The view from the dining hall area, with windows all around it, was quite nice. We could see into the gap to the north where the Ramapo River passes through the Ramapo Ridge at Suffern, and we could see west to Houvenkompf Mountain and south down the valley at 287, the Ramapo Ridge, and the fountain out front. There were guys around putting tables together and setting them up, probably wondering what we were doing around there, but they didn't kick us out (except when I tried to get in the kitchen).
We headed back down the uncomfortably fast elevator, and almost everyone headed out. I let everyone know we had the option of continuing on. There was so much more to see from here, the former Ford Motor Company property, Houvenkompf Mountain across 28, and the town of Suffern. Any would have been fine with me, but Justin called it right when he said Houvenkompf Mountain, further justifying it by stating that the rail bed and the Ford property was muddy.
Only Justin, Brandan, and I continued on from here to do more exploring. We made our way past the Sheraton property, then out along the parallel access road to 287 past a building with the "Amazing Savings" store logo on it. We thought all those stores had closed. Whatever.
Just past the last building, we went through a hole in the fence toward the u turn bridge for 287 South. The north end of the bridge is directly on the state line. It's not really open to pedestrians, but the three of us running across it would probably go unnoticed. A police car with his lights on went by right as we were about to go up, so we held back a bit. While waiting, Justin noticed an open thing on a pole with switches, which he turned off. There was nothing that said to keep out. It probably turned the light off.
We then hurried across the bridge, then on the other side jumped a low section of chain link fence. I was originally just going to follow the fence up the rocks, but then I saw an old paved road off to the right that I had to get a closer look at. The road appears to be the former continuation of a road known as Split Rock Road further up the mountain, which now dead ends. The pavement was badly washed out and it was barely recognizable as a road. I suppose it must have been closed when 287 went in.
We followed the road up hill until we got to an abandoned car balanced on a rock. We cut off to the left from the car and made our way up part of Houvenkopf Mountain to the rocky outcroppings with views to the east. We had a great view of the Sheraton, with the NY City Skyline directly behind it, as well as the hills we'd just crossed earlier on our way into Mahwah. We could see the Ramapo River and former Ford plant property, and the abandoned railroad spur bridge that went over the river into the site, with the town of Suffern beyond. The rest of the Ramapo Ridge to the north of us beyond the river, where the Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail ascends on it's way across Harriman State Park was in plain view as well. I can't wait to one day hike that section as well, hopefully in the near future.
Justin found a kids chair somewhere in the woods, and he brought it to the lowest rock outcrop with the steepest drop from it and sat on it. He left it there so that passersby on 287 might look up and see it. We made our way further up and west from here, passing over more rock outcroppings with glacial erratics. One peak to the north of us had a giant one in view I'd love to get to.
As we made our way down and up between sections of the ridge, I spotted an old woods road followed by some stone ruins of sorts. It appeared to be where stone buildings were built up against the somewhat vertical exposed rock. At least three or four piles of rocks about the same distance from the outcropping and off the edge of the former road were there. I wondered if it could be some of the earlier settlements of the Ramapo Indians who live on Stag Hill, very near to where we were. The area had obviously not been used by any vehicle, even ATVs in some time. It was barely recognizable as a road in this spot, and even less so on the areas approaching it. I'd be interested in finding out, but I don't want to invade the properties of the tribe who live up there, because they've had a reputation of being rough.
We continued on, and an ATV was clearly audible close by. We could also plainly hear gun shots not so far away. We didn't want to get to close to them, but we had to continue west just a bit more. We couldn't stay following the ridge because there were private homes built out closer to the edge off of nearby Geiger Road. My goal was to reach a utility right of way and follow it south a bit.
Soon, we reached the right of way and followed it up hill. I was afraid that where it crossed Geiger Road it might be too close to someone's home, but the only buildings were associated with microwave towers. We managed to continue on across the road and paused for a break. While there, a car came up the road, so we hurried on down hill on the right of way. We hear more loud motors, which at first we thought were more ATVs, but it turned out that it might have been a kid in this super loud Honda that passed us a couple times later when we finally reached Stag Hill Road.
We followed this road from the utility line to the left down hill back toward Mahwah. It wasn't a very busy road, and it led us easily back to under 287. We kicked a basketball down the road as we walked, and when we reached Rt 17, we turned left on Mountainside Road which took us over the same highway. There was a Dunkin Donuts and pizza place, but Brandan and Justin were craving good Jersey diner food, so we continued on.
On top of 17, both Justin and Brandan climbed up the sign and waved at traffic looking northbound. The bridge led us directly to the roadway around the Sheraton and back to the cars.
We went to the diner down 17 and had a great meal. The latter portion of this hike was really what made the whole day worth it. As per what I scaled, it seemed to be pretty accurate, and Justin, Brandan, and I ended up covering a total of about 19 miles. I felt really good about the hike in the end.
When I got home I was saddened to see that some of the members of the Metrotrails meetup group had quit. I do take it personally when someone does not enjoy a hike, and I have to focus not to let it bother me. Some people come into my hikes with a false premise about what it is or might be. This faulty foundation can be based on their own beliefs about what hikes are or should be, and might be affected by what they have heard about me and the hikes I organize from other people.
The hikes I organize are reputed through "
All of this poses a question to me: how can I most accurately portray these activities in a positive but realistic fashion for those unacquainted? I don't know that there is a good answer to that.
My answer came to me as if by magic when the classic Beatles song "Obladi-Oblada" just popped into my head. The word "Obladiblada" actually means "Life goes on", but the meaning is so much deeper for me. A few years ago, there was a poll where "Obladi-Oblada" was ranked "Worst Beatles Song". I remember feeling shocked by what I thought to be an unfair assessment. How could this song that I've always loved be ranked the worst? The truth is that it is a matter of personal opinion. One person's favorite song might be loathed by others.
I suppose some people might loath hiking with me just as some people might hate a certain song. If Paul McCartney had stopped writing music because someone didn't like "Obladi-Oblada", we'd never have heard "Maybe I'm Amazed" and everything that came after it.
I have some really incredible hikes coming up, and so when a couple of people decide what I'm doing is not for them, all I have to say is "life goes on"...and it will.
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