Metrotrails February 2016

Hello everyone!!!
Things are going pretty good despite all of the rough weather!
The snow took us by surprise...the largest single accumulation in my lifetime left us unprepared, and caused us to reschedule the first hike in the September 11th National Memorial Trail series. We had over sixty signed up, and had just under forty come because our snow reschedule date was Superbowl Sunday.
Still, we had a really nice time! There was a pretty good showing, we completed the hike, and some of us even continued to cover twenty miles!
The Metrotrails crew was complimented by Morris County attendants brought in by Mr. Tom Edmunds of Morris County Park Commission.
The group segmented a bit when we hit the Hudson River Waterfront, as some of us did all fo the piers, others did not, but in the city it doesn't matter so much.
For February, a few things have changed, but we'll keep with a lot of the plan, then continue to move forward from there!
This Saturday we are doing a difficult scouting  hike on the Warren Highlands Trail proposed route early in the day hosted by me. Sunday's hike will be on High Tor and Hook Mountain hike in NY along the beautiful Palisades.
The following week, Feb 21, we will return to the 911 Memorial Trail series, this time with the  opposite side of the Hudson, heading down the NJ waterfront of the Hudson to Hoboken Station.
For that, we will take the train in to NY Penn Station, head to the subway north, then walk across the GW Bridge as a group, visit Fort Lee Historic Park, then follow the waterfront south. It's much different than the NY side, but equally as interesting. When we arrive at Hoboken station, we simply take trains back to our start destination.
It will be easier to keep people together for that one, because the route is a bit more straightforward.
If anyone wants an early out on that one, after we reach North Bergen, the light rail leads all the way to the end point easily.
On Saturday, February 27th, we will do something very different, but also part of a series we've been working on already...

The September 11th National Memorial Trail mostly follows the East Coast Greenway through Maryland and Delaware, but many of these sections are long road walks. After many of our members indicated concern that most of the Pennsylvania section of the proposed trail was simply a designated route on paved roads, intended more for cyclists than hikers, I started looking at the entire trail more closely.
It turned out that at least forty days of the proposed trail route would be mostly walking paved roads if we followed it as shown on line, but this is of course still a work in progress.
Many of these road walks can be partially if not completely eliminated by following nearby trails.
One such place in particular was the Maryland/Delaware border. The 911 Trail is shown superimposed on the Mason-Dixon Trail through Elk Neck State Forest MD, but then follows large highways from there east. This is easy to overlook, because the Mason-Dixon Trail guide is not available on line, it is only available for purchase. While this is not all bicycle friendly, it is the best route for hikers.

Rather than do the 911 Trail sections 100% in order like I had originally planned, I decided it best to jump around a little bit, because our hikes could benefit the study altogether. The hike we will do on the Mason-Dixon Trail passes several historic sites like pictured Iron Hill Park, past the site of a famous battle, as well as other interesting points. This section breaks away from the East Coast Greenway and returns to it once more in Newark, DE.
Apart from showcasing some of the designated 911 Trail route and a potential alternate, this is also one of the only missing sections of the nearly two hundred mile Mason-Dixon Trail we have never hiked. One more hike in Maryland, one in Delaware, and then maybe three in Pennsylvania will complete the trail for us.
The next 911 Memorial Trail hike as scheduled will be on Sunday March 20th in Jersey City. That will also kick off more of the Morris Canal series again.
Also mark your calendars for our group's 19th anniversary, which is the twentieth annual Warren Railroad hike scheduled to take place the day before Easter, Saturday March 26th! Details to come on that!
Still nothing new on my work schedule, so this is why you see no hikes on the Metrotrails schedule after March (typically I'd have items posted for the next six months). I'll report back if I get any further news.
Upcoming hikes are posted at www.meetup.com/metrotrails

Also, everyone follow our facebook page at www.facebook.com/metrotrails for constant photos and information on places we've visited over the past nineteen years!

Best Regards

M'ke H

Metrotrails January 2016

Hello everyone!
January has been off to a great start and we've got a lot more goodies coming up!
It's a relief to have the holidays over with, and we had a crazy December. Now it's time to take a step back, put things in perspective, and look at our goals for 2016.
We already had a great First Day Hike between Spruce Run Recreation Area and High Bridge, with over thirty in attendance!
We followed up with an equally awesome Raritan River confluences hike. There is a lot of good attention coming our way for more in these types of series, and I'm looking very forward to following the popularity of the NJ Perimeter series with more fun.
The big one is the National September 11th Memorial Trail.
The focus of this trail is not actually on the three sites, but the themes of heroes, of resilience, of pride in what we have.
There are a lot of conspiracy theorists, naysayers of all kinds, and everyone can believe what they want to believe....the point we should not lose in all of this is that there were heroes, first respondents, police who died on 9-11-1, and regardless of any how or why, they deserve to be honored, and I hope many of them will join in this first hike of this series. I hope to meet many more people who might not have considered themselves "hikers" at any given point, but have found this as their inspiration to come out.
The route the hikes in this series will take are not all about September 11th. They are full of wonderful sites of national historic significance and natural beauty. These hikes will not be different than anything else we've been doing apart from the fact that we are utilizing a conceptual route for this future trail, and we'll have the opportunity to share these places with a greater audience.

I plan to run these hikes also as good media PR for full trail connectivity, the "You Can Get There From Here" idea.
The third and fourth hikes, in March and April, will be loops with both the 911 Memorial Trail and the historic Morris Canal route, seen above. After that, I plan to split the hikes, and monthly there will be two themed hikes, 911 Trail and Morris Canal, until we finish both again completely (so long as their is good interest from Canal enthusiasts in NJ).
As of now, only the first two hikes for the 911 Trail are posted, for January and February pending work schedule changes. More to come on that later.
We also have a lot more great stuff to announce/coming up:

This Saturday, we will complete the Appalachian Trail in New York, and add our SIXTH STATE to the inventory of connected hikes we've done! We will reach CONNECTICUT!
Over the past 19 years, the theme of these hikes is that each one of them is somehow connected with a previous one, and in that time I have covered 15,000 miles within five different states. It's been long overdue connecting into Connecticut, and we will finally do this.
The hike Saturday 1/9 will be between  Pawling and the Connecticut line. Future hikes will lead us farther into the state, with several plans coming together.
Then, on Sunday 1/17, we will cover the next bit of the former New York, Ontario, and Western Railroad's Scranton Division, now the O&W Rail Trail, between Starlight and  Union Dale PA. We've been tracing much of this rail line periodically over the years, as well as the great Lackawanna Heritage Trail, which this fits into. It will be a lovely hike, mostly flat on the old rail bed, with both mixed hardwood forests and pastoral settings, as well as a few historic villages.
The following week, 1/24, is the first 911 Memorial Trail, noted above.
I am still working on details for the final weekend in January, but stay tuned, it's coming up!
Other stuff to get worked up over: twentieth annual Warren Railroad hike, or 19 Year Anniversary Hike on March 27th, then a Ricketts Glen weekend group camping trip in April with food by Scott Trinkle!
Hope to see you all soon!

M'ke

Jersey Perimeter End!!!

hey everyone!
I just wanted to reach out and give some details regarding the FINAL JERSEY PERIMETER HIKE!!! This is coming up fast, Sunday November 8th! Further, this Sunday we have Centralia PA, and Nov 1 is the annual Halloween Hike at Sleepy Hollow NY. Details on the meetup group. But for now...
THIS IS IT!!! LAST JERSEY PERIMETER HIKE!!!!
Join us for our biggest, most significant event to date! This hike will be my last in the Perimeter of NJ Series, making me the first person to ever have hiked the entire perimeter of the Garden State!

This has been a fantastic journey of over 1,300 miles from the mountains of the northern perimeter, along countless miles of the Delaware River, bay estuaries, beaches, and urban environs!
The final leg will be between Roebling and Trenton. We will all meet at a state lot in Trenton, near the historic Trent House Museum, the lot with the State Police shanty in the middle of it, across from the Superior Court building. These are the GPS coordinates:
NJ40.212196, -74.764059
I am going to do this entire hike in a suit and tie, and I'm hoping to get many others in the group to "dress up" for this one in the true eccentric Metrotrails style!!!

To get to the starting point, we will walk a half mile from the parking lot where I have secured permission through state police to park, and walk a half mile to the Trenton Hamilton Light Rail station on the River Line. We will take the 8:46 train to Roebling. I posted the meeting time early so that everyone will have the opportunity to buy tickets. They are only $1.50 regular price and less for Seniors.
We should all be able to squeeze onto the river line train.
If things are crowded, you have the option of shuttling to Roebing, OR you can simply meet the group in Roebling at the train station at 9. Just note that there is limited parking at the Roebling Station.

Unlike others, this time I will give extreme details on exactly where we will be going in case anyone needs to intercept.
We will start by walking from the station across the tracks and loop around the development including Peace Street and Amboy Ave. We will turn left on Hornberger Ave and head south to Rt 130 (0.75 mile).
This will by far be the worst section of this hike because we'll have to follow the edge of the highway for a bit. We will keep to the left, and cut off to the side to follow the edge of a cemetery for a bit. We'll follow the road past a motel which may have a view behind it.
We may also step of the road briefly for a side trip on an abandoned road.
We will turn left onto Burlington Road, rt 662 at a fork (about 3 miles in).

Our next point of interest is Fieldsboro, where we'll pass the White Hill Mansion built in 1723. The home played a part in the American Revolution and was visited by famous commanders.
Through Fieldsboro, we will have to try to follow the edges of the streets as best we can. We'll try to get close to the mansion and continue onward closer to the Delaware. We'll likely have to take Union Street to 4th Street out of the village, which becomes Burlington Ave. We can't stay closer to the due to a juvenile detention center. HOWEVER, there will be a bit of a woods section on state land we can hike, an old woods road which in one bit is a little overgrown. Other than that it's okay. We enter the woods at about mile 4.34

After passing beneath Rt 295 at 5.19 miles, we reach Bordentown. From here, the hike gets far more interesting. We'll try to follow the back streets as best we can, and head along the Delaware near the confluence with Crosswicks Creek. Bordentown is a more walkable, historic town.
We will head down hill and reach the Lime Kiln Trail, another nice little pocket park in Bordentown at mile 5.7. A small loop in Bordentown around the boat launch area and Delaware River Memorial Trail along the river brings mileage up to 6.75. At about seven miles we get on the D&R Canal Trail to head across Crosswicks Creek on the rail bridge.

We will make our way to the Delaware and Raritan Canal Trail, which crosses Crosswick's Creek on the railroad bridge. It's a really neat, scenic spot. The first bit of this section will have a couple of little side trips as well, because there are out and backs and the overlook off of the highway we will try to get to.

From here, we head north. The trail turns left immediately after crossing the bridge, then heads over to the former site of D&R Canal Lock #1. We'll turn to the north on the trail, but may take time to explore parallel side trails. One of these WILL take us to the foot bridge over 295 and scenic overlook. We will take this as an out and back, which will be worth it.


Next, we return to the D&R Canal towpath, more undeveloped in this section than the sections to the north that most people are familiar with, and continue to follow it until we are parallel with Lamberton Road.
We reach the towpath again at about mile 8.25.

There is a side path to the left off of the towpath. We will take this and follow it out briefly to Lamberton Road. We will turn right on the road and follow it. The road takes a hard bend to the left, reaches closer to the Delaware River, then turns right, paralleling it.
We pass under Rt 295 again at mile 9.78. We leave the towpath and follow the road at mile 10.19.

We will be able to get closer to the Delaware again after a short while, as there is a trail close to the edge. The trail will go up a ramp, then take us on top of the tunnel that carries the highway beneath!
That is mile 12.1.

We'll continue as close as we can on the waterfront heading north, and we'll reach Waterfront Park South. There are more great views all along the river here, and we should have no problem at all wandering by. We pretty much just stay along the river northbound until we get to where we left off before at Old Warf. We reach Old Warf at about mile 13.5.

From here, it's not legal to follow the edge of the perimeter because of the Superhighways, and we've already done that bit before. The only thing that remains is to walk past the Trent House on the roads, then head directly up to the back of the State Capital Complex.
We will pass right by our cars it we want to put things away or something. It's only a short walk from here to the back of the Capital complex. We will arrive at the capital just shy of fifteen miles (the walk back to the car will be 15).

We will pass the historic Trent House pictured above, then have to cross the parking lots near where we are parked. It is only a short distance under the highway and onto the steps that lead to the fountain and walkway behind the capital building.

We'll take a few photos here, and slowly make our way over to the front of the building where there may be press, not sure exactly what is going to go on at this point.
I have secured permission to use the capital steps within a wide time window and have a permit for this huge group. I am anticipating over 100 people may attend this particular hike.

We have had a lot of media coverage for this hike in the past, and so there may be a lot of that again at this point.
If anyone is able to help me with leadership responsibilities on this one I would appreciate it. It's going to be hard to keep everyone together. Please look over the route ahead of time and be ready for all of the turns!!!

Here is the link to the video from Fox's Chasing News (note wrong date on that):
Have your suit or dress ready and join us for this momentous occasion!!!



NOTE: Those wishing to do an abbreviated version of this hike can join a bit late at the Bordentown Station. Otherwise, you will have to arrange to meet us on the perimeter on your own. Utilize the above description to intercept.
I hope to do a group photo in Bordentown.
Here is a link to the Chasing News broadcast of the hike:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4xKpHSqBVM
Here is a link to the NJ.com interview on the series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgYRsTja6LU
Also, Steve from Driving Jersey on PBS plans to come along and film! Here is a link to the last episode we were on with Driving Jersey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFm9drWGB2w
If you can come, please do! This is an historic event, and I would love for as many people to attend as possible. I'd really like to have the highest attendance ever on any of my events for this one.
Also, I will be on "Jersey Matters" on METV, WJLP NY and another for Philadelphia area. Stay tuned to the Metrotrails facebook page for updates on that. Video will be shared when it appears on youtube.
Hope to see you all soon!

M'ke Helbing
Metrotrails

Coming Up: End of the Perimeter Hikes and More!!!

Everyone,
We are fast closing in on the end of our Perimeter of NJ series!!
I know many of you are rejoicing in this, because you're sick of all the lower Delaware/Delaware bay stuff, but it's been a really great experience for me. I know some of you will miss going down to that portion of the state. Rest easy, we will return there, but for better hikes without the stipulation that they be on the perimeter, focusing on different points of interest.
The three remaining Jersey Perimeter hikes will be as follows:
9/27: Great Bay Blvd/Tuckerton NJ area missing pieces. This is pleasant road walking and some trails too in the famous maritime town.
10/11: Forked River to Waretown. We already hiked point to point here, but we followed the old railroad bed, Barnegat Branch. We can do an almost entirely different hike closer to the perimeter in this area, and I've been more diligent about that everywhere else throughout the state. I've been sitting on this hike for a while, so we'll finish this one.
11/8: The last one, Roebling to Trenton.
The final hike will meet near the Trent House, in the state lot with state police shanty in the middle.

Amazingly, we had very little trouble securing permits. We are permitted to park in the otherwise closed to public portion of the lot with the blessing of NJ State Police, who were absolutely outstanding and among the the nicest we've dealt with for arrangements.
The also gave us permit to congregate right on the steps of the state house with a hundred or so people that show up as well as press. I owe them a debt of thanks for helping me so much with this endeavor.
Once we arrive, an early meeting time of 8:15 has been posted so that we can all get to the station to get tickets, we will take the train south to Roebling and walk back. The first part of the hike may be a little crummy because we have to walk Rt 130 a few miles. From there though, it should be very very interesting.
As an extra treat, my grandfather Eldon Allen, who started me hiking at the age of three, and who still works six and a half days a week as a licensed land surveyor over the age of 80, will be doing this hike with us!!! He can still out hike probably a lot of people less than a quarter his age!
I am still working out further details for the final hike, so expect more notifications with further details as the time nears. The hike is posted on meetup here:
http://www.meetup.com/Metrotrails/events/225388707/
And on facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/986758328043235/
Hope everyone can make it!!!

And for some more interesting happy stuff....
This has been a really fun Summer. I wish we'd have done more mountains and such, but the perimeter thing changed priorities a bit more. I assure everyone that next year will be even greater, and this one wasn't bad!
Among other things, this year marked ten years of the Metrotrails March on Musikfest!
The March on Musikfest was something I started doing in 2005. I of course love doing hikes ending at the famous event, and every year we've managed to do totally different hikes all ending at the event. We still have more trails we've never done that will last us many more years.
In 2005, only two showed up for the hike on the 100 degree day. I was surprised that it didn't generate more interest, but that was what it was sometimes like in those earlier days. By 2006, we had it right.
The first hike was simply Lehigh Canal from Easton to Bethlehem where the festival was happening. In 2006 we took Nor Bath Trail from Northampton to Bath, then south on the former LNE Railroad to Bethlehem. But that wasn't enough. We did another one in 06 on more LNE lines as well as the Lehigh Canal.
In 2007, we had established that the Musikfest hikes were like a big party. Everyone wanted in. It was a guaranteed fun time. That year, we covered the Lehigh Canal similarly to the first one, only starting in Northampton and ending at Musikfest. It was also the first time we tired a night hike into Musikfest. We had a fantastic time and sneaked into a Moody Blues concert...then got kicked out!
In 2008, we went crazy with it and had two hikes, each Sunday of Musikfest. We did one starting in Allentown, then taking some of the canal and such back to the festival. The following week, we put the focus on South Mountain for the first time, an area we still have yet to completely cover.
The addition of Laura Cunningham, Bethlehem Native, to the group helped a lot because we got to see places we didn't know existed. Mr. Buckett moved to Bethlehem and we had legendary tailgating parties under the Hill to Hill Bridge in his party van.
2009 was a major party year, with Buckettcue the same time as Musikfest, concerts we attended, and the hike included more of South Mountain. I did night hikes in the region of Musikfest just so that we could attend it later if we so wished.
August 2010 almost did not happen; fire had destroyed my house just over a week before and nearly claimed my life. I  had just got out of the hospital, having been in intensive care for a full week. I wasn't supposed to walk or strain myself, but I had already missed one week of hiking and couldn't bare any more. We repeated the Lehigh Canal from Northampton to Bethlehem. It was extremely hard for me, but I made it (and had a 103 fever the next day).
In 2011, we did even more south side stuff. I can't get enough of that side of the river because there's just so much, and most outdoors groups focus nothing on the area. The Saucon area and beyond has a lot to see.
Such was the case with 2012. We found even more up there. We were able to visit some favorite spots with overlooks but also cover mostly new ground.
In 2013, we visited the Little Lehigh Greenway, then took to the south side to reach South Bethlehem.
This proved that there was still a huge amount to see when it came to the marches on Musikfest, things we'd never even covered in the least bit.
More craziness ensued when we approached Bethlehem from the south, crazy difficult South Mountain stuff in 2014.
In addition to the regular day hike, the night hikes got even more popular than ever. I repeated the Lehigh Canal from Easton to Washington with a good sized group.
This year, we returned to Little Lehigh Greenway, using the opposite side trails we did on the previous one, which also went very well.

We also did yet another successful Lehigh Canal night hike.

There's no sign of running out of locations to explore for the next few years on this one.
Thanks to everyone who's continued to come out and make it such a fun time year after year!
Now....let's make the final Jersey Perimeter one something special.
PS-- also look out for great hikes coming up at Ricketts Glen and the annual Halloween Hike at Sleepy Hollow NY again!

-M'ke

Metrotrails June/July 2015

Hey all!
Things are going really great with all of the hikes, and we have some more good stuff coming up too!
Coming up this Sunday we have a really great local hike that I think everyone will enjoy in Hunterdon County.
Note that this meetup is FREE, however, the event will say $25 on it. This is not necessary to attend the hike, but a donation of that amount will get you a tee shirt and free lunch, which is pretty substantial amount of hot dogs, burgers, and more, as well as drinks, and a tee shirt.
The walk we are doing for the fundraiser as part of the hike is to benefit Common Sense for Animals in Warren County.
In addition to this, the hike will showcase other trails including the Highlands Trail, which was completed across Hunterdon County five years ago, meeting it's goal of connecting the Hudson and Delaware Rivers.
We will also honor the Columbia Trail, which is this year celebrating it's 20th anniversary as a trail. Then, we'll celebrate the five year anniversary of the completion of the Taylor Steelworkers Historic Greenway in High Bridge as well as the Riverfield Preserve. Metrotrails has been involved with the development of three of these four trails, and I used to maintain the Columbia Trail through my former job.
The hike will have many historic sites and some swimming spots, so please do come join us!
Here's what else is coming up:
7/2: Hackettstown area night hike on Morris Canal and more
7/5: Ringwood area loop hike with views and more! More difficult terrain
7/8: Rieglesville/Carpentersville/Phillipsburg area night hike
7/12: Bay Point inland on Delaware Bay, NOW WITH CRUISE! This hike will now begin with an outstanding cruise around the Delaware Bay out of a nearby marina. There will be a small fee for the boat ride at the beginning, and the boat will drop us off at the start of our hike! More details to come.
7/19: Catskill Mountain Railroad train ride and hike! More details to come, but we're going to show Ulster County how excursion lines and hikers can work together for a better future.
7/26: Stow Neck to Alloway Creek; the last full day hike remaining on Delaware Bay. The rest are segments in that area! This is quite a milestone!
Note ahead of time, Sunday November 8th will be the LAST hike in the Jersey Perimeter series! Hope everyone can attend what is sure to be one of the largest events we've ever had!

Talk to you soon!

M'ke H