Metrotrails Aug-Sept '14: Approaching Hike #800!

Hello all!!!
August has been a wonderful, busy month for our group! We have had a lot of exciting trips, and there are many more coming up!
In the coming months, we will focus on many new connections as well as interesting new sites, branching out farther in all directions, while continuing very seriously with our ongoing series' like the Perimeter of NJ.

The group has had a very strong following and is now operating pretty much 100% on it's own, without postings going on any non-Metrotrails groups. Over the past couple of years, we had been maximizing participation on our hikes and raising awareness through other groups on www.meetup.com, and had whittled it down to only Metrotrails and the NY/NJ/PA Hiking Group. I had stopped posting so much on NY/NJ/PA because Metrotrails had been doing well enough on it's own. I was using NY/NJ/PA strictly for the farther trips like the NJ Perimeter Series for which I wanted to pull in more participants.
The managers of the group have removed all but one of their leaders due to insurance from the outfitter or something that controls it, and so our affiliation with that group is severed (they have also severed Appalachian Mountain Club among others). No matter, we continue on and participation has continued positively.

The following is our schedule, which will be detailed further on in this newsletter:

8/31, Sun: Lehigh Gorge and Bald Mountain Loop: This loop will include some off trail, but mostly old mining railroads as well as the D&L Trail through Lehigh Gorge. We'll visit an abandoned mine railroad tunnel, possibly get some mountain views, and explore Penn Haven Planes with swimming on return.
9/5, Fri: Clinton/Pittstown Loop Night Hike: this night hike will cover the South Branch Reservation and Capoolong Creek with great swim spots along both! First have is back woods types of trails while the rest is back roads and abandoned railroad rights of way!
9/7, Sun: Moodna and Schunemunk Adventure: We will hike on and around Schunemunk Mountain including Trestle Trail and other trails, as well as an abandoned branch of the Erie Railroad! Along the way we will visit the oldest winery in America! Details to come.
9/12, Fri: Round Valley and Clinton Night Hike: Point to point along area trails and back road areas finishing in Clinton!
9/14, Sun: Long Beach Island Hike (rescheduled): This hike is the very last section of barrier island beach remaining in the Perimeter of NJ series! We'll begin near Harvey Cedars on the bay side for a short unfinished piece, then head south on the beach to the southern tip, Holgate, and complete the beach!!!
9/21, Sun: HIKE #800! Common Sense for Animals Fundraiser and  More! To celebrate our 800th hike, we will coincide with the CSA's 10th annual fund raiser walk. As part of Metrotrails, $25 donation will get participants a tee shirt and lunch, and the money goes to a good cause. CSA has saved countless animals over the years. The hike will be a northbound route, beginning with the walk at the event and heading onward to Belvidere using obscure trails, back roads, and rail beds.
9/28, Sun: To BE ANNOUNCED. As planned, I will be backpacking and so there will be a substitute leader taking over for the day.
10/5, Sun: Catskills Traverse: We will cover nine miles of the NEW Long Path section south of Phoenicia NY, as well as the ENTIRE BURROUGHS RANGE! This is sure to be a tough one, and possibly the hardest hike we've ever posted save for the sixy miler!

There will be plenty more items posted in the near future, so keep your eyes on our website and meetup group! I hope to have a reorganization meeting in the near future, and work toward improving our website and database! I have an amazing amount of information ready to go up when we get our ducks in a row!
For any further hike info, contact me at sneezehorse@hotmail.com or call/text (908) 343 8374.

As we approach the fall, we are working on connecting all of our hikes continually. We recently completed a section of Mason Dixon Trail, and I've now hiked a connective route to Baltimore, Maryland! With this connection, I hope that possibly this Winter we will make the connection to Washington DC!

This connections also fits into our "Planning" and "Development" aspects! In the past few weeks, I have been very fortunate to be a part of important meetings to help decide the route of the 9-11 Memorial Trail.

Several routes are being looked at with the idea of connecting trails to the World Trace Center, Pentagon, and Flight 93 crash site in Shanksville PA. Both the Highlands Trail and Warren Highlands Trail fit in the puzzle very well! No formal decision has been made yet, but regardless this will be a very interesting and diverse route. I hope to make the connection to Washington DC this Winter, and perhaps work with East Coast Greenway and 9-11 Memorial Trail!

With the Perimeter of NJ series, we have nearly completed all of the beach front on the eastern part of the state! With the completion of Cape May (pictured at sunset further above), and the undeveloped northern end of Brigantine Island (pictured directly above), the only sections we have remaining are two small sections on Long Beach Island, which we will complete in September!
We also recently completed the waterfront between Toms River and Ocean Gate, one missing section of Old Mine Road, and the bulk of missing sections between Mahwah, Ringwood, and along the east shore of Greenwood Lake.

In October, we will make our way back to the Delaware Bay side, where we left off last Autumn at Jake's Landing and work on connecting north toward Salem area. One hike per month will be dedicated to this route.
Starting in December, we will be doing two NJ Perimeter hikes per month to close in the final missing sections. This second series will be working our way north from Camden to Trenton.
Aside from these, there are a couple of bay area hikes on the east side of the state to complete, and a couple of other small pieces we missed in other areas where we can get closer to the border. These too will be completed soon.

Apart from the NJ Perimeter series, I am trying hard to connect the few hikes we've done don't fit in yet.
For those who are not familiar with our organization, or new to what we do, every hike is intended to connect physically with other hikes we've done, branching out to new areas all of the time. Through these connections, we've reached as far north as the Mohawk River valley in NY, as far south as Cape may in NJ and Baltimore in Maryland, as far east as Long Island, and as far west as York, PA. Some of our recent trips were intended to connect several unconnected trips in the Catskills, and one of them was on the old Ulster and Delaware Railroad, now nearly abandoned and pictured above at a washout.

We have a hike scheduled for October 5th that will connect the rest of the hikes we've done in the Catskills; one more hike from Bluestone Wild Forest on the rail line to Kingston will connect these trips with everything else we've done. This is one of the priorities for the coming Fall/Winter.
The only other currently unconnected areas we've covered are Harrisburg Greenbelt and Hancock NY. A series of rail trail and back road hikes have been scaled off (probably two of them) to connect the Harrisburg section, and three more section hikes should connect us to Hancock.
Additionally, we will be branching out in other directions! Several more trips have been scaled off on the Appalachian Trail heading both north and south of where we have already covered. We hope to connect to Connecticut within a year to the north, and reach the central PA trail system connections on the AT in the Spring (Tuscarora Trail, which connects to Mid State Trail and more).
We've also had a couple of successful camping trips, paving the way for future events of this kind. The intention is to have more full weekend events at further away places. It's much easier to justify exploring farther away places if it's done over a weekend rather than in a day.
The Metrotrails schedule has lately been complimented by the efforts of "Lerch", or "Kralc Leahcim" on this group, who hosts Saturday hikes within reasonable distance of my regular Sunday ones, with overnight camping opportunities nearby.
Things are also going very well with promotion of what we do. This year we've already been in some great periodicals including the Times Leader in Scranton/Wilkes Barre area, and we recently met with Erik Weber from the Riverside Signal who will be doing a piece (his site is here: http://riversidesigna...­ )
Further, we were featured in the latest episode of Driving Jersey on PBS's NJTV, which is shown in NJ, PA, NY, and CT! We immediately had a nice influx of people join the meetup group, and I've been recognized publicly a couple of times again!
A segment from the latest episode can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.c...­
Driving Jersey could use your help to let NJTV know that you like this sort of programming! You can visit the NJTV facebook page at the following link: https://www.facebook....­
Send them a message and it will help our friend Steve Rogers develop more episodes of the series!

In other planning and development news, we are getting closer to developing Warren Highlands Trail out across the next state piece, which we now know is called the Stecker Tract. We have to deal with one adjacent land owner first, and then I will begin blazing. The property's main draw is an outstanding view of the Delaware Water Gap pictured:

We have also gotten permission for the first section of another new trail which might be called "Harmony Trail" to reach other properties. More updates on the development of these trails will come in the near future.
I've been cutting back growth on the previous trail sections, but we still need more help. Let me know if anyone wants to help keep it clear!

More good stuff to come~!
Best Regards

M'ke  H

Coming up July 2014

Hey all!
Things have been going great so far this Summer, with all sorts of exploring all over the tri state! We have a lot more great stuff coming up!

Over the past month we have completed much of the section of Long Beach Island I had yet to walk, as well as connected where we left off in Mahwah with Ringwood State Park, filling in more of the gaps in the NJ Perimeter series. For the northern part of the state, little remains. A few tiny pieces are necessary to close the few remaining gas we have  not done there. Over the next month, we'll close in a couple more of them.
The first of those little sections will be Monday, 7/7.
I had long finished the northern edge of the state by foot, but in the past couple of years a section of the Old Mine Road that had been closed to public has been re-opened. I have put together a long and difficult hike that will begin with this section I had yet to do, and then pass through the Walpack Valley, climb the Kittatinny Ridge off trail, then descend off trail and pass through Bear Swamp Wildlife Management Area. This should be a very interesting hike, but definitely not for beginners.
Because I am stuck working the full weekend, our friend Lerch takes the helm for the regular weekend hike this Saturday, check out the rest of our schedule!

Saturday 7/5: Lerch leads a point to point between Knowlton Township and the Delaware Water Gap putting together some of his favorite spots and some of mine. I sent him information on places we've visited and loved on my past hikes including Totts Gap Cave, Upper and Lower Slateford Falls, Slateford Farm, and more. It's tied together with visits to other amazing local places including of course Mt. Minsi.
Lerch has been a regular member of this group for a  year now, but has a long history of hiking and exploring the area that makes him a leadership candidate. He's very into organizing the hikes, and for those of you who know him as crazy Lerch who jumps off bridges, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how well he will manage the group!
Thursday 7/10: I have rescheduled the South Branch of the Raritan night hike due to the storms for next Thursday. This route follows the river closely after meandering through Flemington area, meeting at 3:45 at Clinton A&P.
Saturday and Sunday, 7/12 into 7/13: Finally, we are doing a group camp out! We've got some amazing stuff planned for both Saturday and Sunday, or just Saturday night and Sunday if you wish.
On Saturday, Lerch will be doing some area explorations on and around the Conestoga Trail near out camp site that will include Pequaea Creek, Martic Forge Trestle, and Wind Cave, largest tectonic cave in the eastern US!
On Sunday, we'll leave the camp site and hike the Mason Dixon Trail as well as a few other nearby trails in a generally southbound route to Lock 12 on the former Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal. After this hike, I will have hiked consecutively from the all the other places we've visited to Baltimore. This hike gears us up for an upcoming hike to Washington DC! I will detail more of this after the rest of the schedule.
Saturday 7/19: Although my regular hike is Sunday, join leader William "Guillermo" Fabel for an epic route along the Blue Mountain in PA. He will be hitting some of the most spectacular views the AT has to offer including the Knife Edge, Baer Rocks, Bake Oven Knob, and North and South Trails into Lehigh Gap. An epic hike not to miss if you can make it, and with Guillermo as your leader you'll see outstanding vistas that the average hike along the AT would bypass!
Sunday 7/20: Cape May Loop! This promises to be one of the most interesting shore hikes we've done! We're meeting at Higbee Beach WMA on Sunset Blvd in Cape May, and we'll trace some former industrial site area, an old rail line, and the Cape May canal, as well as the entire beach along to the southern tip, the furthest south we have ever reached on a Metrotrails event (believe it or not, Cape May is farther south than Baltimore!). We'll see the sinking concrete ship, and watch the sunset from Sunset Beach, and we may even do a winery tour!
Sunday, 7/27: An outstanding figure eight loop that will be between Long Pond Ironworks State Park, Sterling Forest, and Monksville Reservoir! This route takes us along rivers, past iron works and furnaces, and to one of my favorite vistas I've ever visited! We'll cover one of those tiny missing pieces of NJ Perimeter along Greenwood Lake as well. Details may change regarding start point. Stay tuned.
Sunday, Aug 3: 9th Annual March on Musikfest Hike! It's hard to believe this tradition has gone on for nine years now! What participants might find hard to believe is that after all this time (often with two of these hikes each year), we still have plenty of ground we have not covered yet! This year's trip will include several points we've never visited before including more of the South Mountain park properties and different stuff on the Saucon greenway, as well as quarries, college campuses, and more!
Sunday, 9/21: Jumping ahead a little bit, I just want to remind everyone of the Common Sense for Animals Walk/Hike. I've put together another new hike stringing together otherwise unconnected parks that should be interesting; the $25 goes to help the no kill animal shelter, and you get a free lunch and CSA tee shirt!
Volunteer Work: Work still progresses with the Warren Highlands Trail. A lot more clearing needs to be done on the Marble Hill system, which I have been working on, but we need to recruit more volunteers. We are awaiting the decision of land management review regarding the next piece of state land we plan to push across on Scott's Mountain on the way to Merril Creek. Once this is approved, the trail will almost immediately be pushed through to Washington. When that time comes, we'll prepare an in depth guide to the trail route that will be presented here and on metrotrails.org

And for the camp out...I unfortunately have to work on Saturday, and I won't be making it to the camp site until 7 pm. Fortunately, Lerch has agreed to work out the details for where I am unavailable and he'll be doing an exploratory trip, carpooling everyone to different sites on Saturday.
On Saturday night, we'll eat, swim in Otter Creek, and then be at the site ready to hike first thing in the morning. We plan to have cars spotted at the end point Saturday night with permission of power company who owns Lock 12.
Contact Lerch about meeting up, here is his number: 732 814 5770.
The camp we are using is
I am looking forward to doing future trips like this one, branching out to farther places and arranging hikes and such around it that make the long trip more worth it. We can use our status as a non profit to get discounts and such, which we did on the upcoming Otter Creek/Susquehanna campout.
Branching westward, we connected this site from the Appalachian Trail in Clark's Valley. Through these hikes, we had covered a route on the Appalachian Trail to St. Anthony's Wilderness, from which point a series of trails led to the Horse-Shoe Trail. This trail is a long distance route between Valley Forge PA and the AT at St. Anthony's, another I am near finishing.
The Horse-Shoe Trail connects with the Conestoga Trail, which leads south to the Mason Dixon Trail, connecting at Lock 12, our end point. Lerch will be showing everyone around some of the greatest hits of that trail on Saturday.
The purpose of Metrotrails is to promote these trail systems that are lesser known, and I would like to take the opportunity to describe the Conestoga Trail and why it is so special.

I have always loved "weird" trails. Conestoga Trail is missing from most state maps, as well as most state trail maps. Perhaps it's not recognized by many groups because it involves quite a bit of road walking and many other weird spots.

It breaks off of the Horse-Shoe Trail at a strange spot with only a little sign saying that was the beginning of the system. It heads south on roads beneath the Interstate, then climbs on cement block steps to cross the Hammer Creek on the interstate's bridge. I knew right away this was my kind of trail.

When I was reading about the trail, a site said "If you really want to experience Amish Country, do not take the harried auto tours....hike the Conestoga Trail". Jillane had had an interest in Amish culture, and so this looked like it was perfect.
The character of the trail was ever changing, going from woods to back roads to the edges of cultivated fields.

The trail passed by Speedwell Lake, a former forge site. It then continues down stream parallel with the Hammer Creek. The trail is very much focused around the creeks and rivers, first following the Hammer, then Cocalico, then Conestoga, then Pequaea, then Susquehanna.

Sections of it were well mowed and cared for, while others were really rather overgrown. During times of high water it's necessary to wade sections of the trail. Crossing the roads, it's not uncommon to pass an Amish buggy going by.

The trail makes it's way over some treacherous spots for being in such a rural area, such as the pictured dam on the Hammer Creek, a very narrow walkway not easily navigated. One without good balance would surely fall off into the creek.

It's amazing to see how the most historic structures are retained and built upon, rather than tearing down the old ones to build anew. Following the salmon colored blazes of this trail through these areas is almost like following a secret code. Much of the trail is secluded and other hikers will rarely be seen.

In some places the trail is well maintained, but in others it is only minimally done so. Because the trail traverses so much private land, some land owners will not allow brush or trees to be removed, and so it can make it that much more challenging.

The trail along the edges of fields can often be confusing. All blazes must be watched for or wrong turns could be made. The good thing is that the creek should always be nearby for these sections. They even have blazed farm equipement!

Covered bridges are very common in the area, and the trail passes by and through several of them. There are also occasional Amish farm stands on these back roads. It's great to stop and patronize these places to get a real sense of their way of life.
When the Hammer Creek flows into the Cocalico Creek, Conestoga Trail follows Cocalico mostly on parallel back roads, which are still very pretty.

Nearing Lancaster, it because a sort of suburban sprawl. The trail enters an area of larger homes, and follows developed roads with only a couple of side trips. One follows the "goat herder's highway", a planned and partially built highway one would not even recognize along fields, and then another to a lovely stone viaduct of Pennsylvania Railroad. These sections are quite a lovely break from the otherwise urban area.
The Cocalico Creek flows into Conestoga River just before Lancaster, and so the trail parallels.

In the middle of Lancaster, it becomes a much more developed route, as a paved path close to the Conestoga River. It then passes into Lancaster Central Park.
Despite what one might think, Lancaster Central Park is not a developed urban park, but rather resembles the northern part of the Conestoga Trail through the rural areas as it follows portions of Mill Creek, and along rocky outcrops above Rock Ford.

The route leaves the park and follows several more back roads as it makes it's way south out of Lancaster. It can be brutal in the hottest days of Summer, but otherwise it's quite lovely and has some interesting points including the old Snavely Cemetery.

The worst road walk section is out of New Danville south of Lancaster. It follows a section of road known as Long Lane. While the road has lovely farm views, it is busy and there isn't a good shoulder. It's necessary to walk the edges of fields more.

What makes this portion significant is that it was the original route of the old Native American trail, the original Conestoga Trail, that they used to walk between present day Lancaster and the Susquehanna River. The trail continues back to Conestoga River to follow the back roads for a bit, then cuts off road again for a little while along a tiny creek

The trail follows beautiful back roads from here, through little Conestoga area villages and lovely farm lands. The route heads up hill out of the valley of the Conestoga River and then descends to the edge of the Pequaea Creek, following it via back roads.

The trail finally leaves the roads at Martic Forge, where there is a giant old trestle that Lerch will be showing the group on Saturday. This old Pennsylvania Railroad route is mostly a trail today, one that we will hopefully soon be covering, maybe in the Winter time.

Conestoga Trail continues south along Pequaea Creek, and then follows the right of way of an old trolley line down stream through State Game Lands, quite a lovely section. It eventually passes through Pequaea Campgrounds.

Beyond the Pequaea Camgrounds, it's one of those areas where there are signs that say "no trespassing, residents and Conestoga Trail hikers only"!
The route passes through a backwards little area full of old houses, many abandoned.

The trail passes the confluence of the Pequaea Creek with the Susquehanna and then follows a short section of road up hill. The trail climbs then along the high cliffs above the Susquehanna for the remainder of the distance.

It is in this section that the trail passes Wind Cave, largest tectonic cave in the eastern United States. There are several passages within this cave where a lot of time can be spent. This is another place Lerch plans to bring everyone on Saturday. The climb to it is steep, but worth it.

The trail continues up and down along the slope of the Susquehanna, making difficult ascents and descents in order to cross different tributaries. It also passes through some tight spots of schist outcroppings including Fat Pack Squeeze, pictured above.

There are several overlooks, the best of which are House Rock pictured above, and The Pinnacle, which has parking and a lot of people always wandering around. Both are outstanding, but House Rock is probably the best, not only for it's seclusion but for the nice bends in the river.

Nearing the power plant at Holtwood, the trail make it's way up along Kelly's Run, another scenic tributary and follows it for quite some time. The cliffs are quite high in this deep ravine made of Wissahickon Schist, and the trail emerges at the Holtwood Recreation Area.

The original trail route beyond this point was closed during a power plant construction, and must now be a road walk out toward Norman Wood Bridge. The trail descends on the road to cross the Susquehanna River on Norman Wood with more outstanding views.

At the other side, Conestoga Trail descends into Lock 12 recreation area to the lock itself, and ends at a parking area along the Mason Dixon Trail.
This is there area where Lerch is arranging for cars to be left on Saturday as well, that way we'll be able to just get up on Sunday morning and hike without having to worry about a car shuttle.

Just south of this point on the Mason-Dixon Trail is Peavine Island, an outstanding and historic island out in the middle of the river. Given the time, we will head out and explore the island when we are finished with the rest of the hike.

Following this next hike, the only portions left to hike of the Mason-Dixon Trail are from Perryville Maryland to Iron Hill just south of Newark DE, and the section from Black Gut area at Three Mile Island west to the Appalachian Trail at Wiskey Springs. This too we may end up finishing in about a year. There are more opportunities for group camping trips out of Gifford Pinchot State Park along that route. There's sure to be more great things coming up!

If anyone has any further questions feel free to contact me at 908 343 8374 or Lerch at 732 814 5770!
Regards

M'ke H

June 2014 Hikes and Events!

Hey everybody!
We've got more great stuff coming up for the month of June!
There are a lot of great things coming up regarding the planning, development, maintenance, and promotion of the area trail systems...
This Summer, we have some epic hikes planned, and there will be a few changes with how I've been organizing things.
First, all Summer hikes are intended to have swimming spots, or at least somewhere we can get wet. This Summer is no exception. Every hike will have time and places to jump into water!
Next, we will be doing some more high adventure trips in addition to some shorter and long night hikes. The regular Sunday hikes are going to be a bit more extreme than some of the things we've been doing, but not to worry, there are often going to be alternative routes and/or early out points for those who don't want to do the tougher stuff. If you have a question regarding any trip, don't hesitate to ask!

Furthermore, with the great success of the Metrotrails meetup group, I am scaling back on other outside promotion. Most notably, I will not be posting half as many hikes through the NY/NJ/PA Hiking group on Meetup. We've met a lot of amazing people through that group, but some of the hikes I will be posting are not geared toward beginners, and it has been causing some problems. That group is limiting group sizes to 25; while I feel that is a fine number of participants, at least 30% of those who sign up for  hikes do not show up. On our anniversary  hike this year, we had 75 participants, but 72 who were signed up simply did not show up or un-RSVP'd overnight before the event. Because of this limitation, the knee jerk reaction of people is to sign up for anything posted, whether they plan to go or not. The group is also imposing several other rules I disagree with, and the wordiness of their typical postings is causing people not to read pertinent information posted on my announcements (and other leaders answer questions regarding my hikes, which they know nothing about). Participants have been showing up prepared for five miles, not fifteen, for example.
As a result, I've opted to keep most of the great hikes posted exclusively through Metrotrails. It's time to promote the great things we have going on rather than give the credit to someone else's group. I will occasionally post through that group to bring in more newcomers, as well as to promote hikes that might have low participation because they're out of the way (beach or Jersey Perimeter hikes).
Next, I would like to welcome Dan Lurie officially to our Leadership Team! We've got a great bunch of leaders and co-leaders who have been augmenting the already interesting Metrotrails schedule, and Dan has begun posting some great stuff too. He recently substituted for me while I was backpacking in Maryland with a Goffle Brook/Trolley line hike that looked great.
I'd also like to thank the other leaders in the group for helping out along the way either leading or co-leading. It's great to have talented friends I can depend on in such a capacity!
Of course, there is our schedule of upcoming events...
Here's our schedule:
June 1: High Falls and New Paltz rail beds, canals, and mines! A point to point near New Paltz NY! This is the missing link! After completing this hike, we will have connected other hikes as far north as Amsterdam NY on the Erie Canalway Trail!
June 6: Friday night hike focusing on the new Warren Highlands Trail route, which we'll be pushing through across Warren County!
June 8: Gregg Hudis and Dan Lurie will once again be filling in for me with a hike along rail beds and trails in southern Sussex County near Stanhope (look for the announcement soon).
June 15: Pennsylvania Dutch country hike that begins with a tour of Crystal Cave ($9 per person at group rate). We'll continue to trace an old rail route and back roads.
June 22: Long Beach Island central loop. One of two loop hikes remaining on LBI, and one of 28 remaining to finish the entire perimeter of NJ!
June 29: Ramapo-Ringwood Hike, another of the Jersey Perimeter series, this hike will be very difficult and include both on and off trail from the Mahwah area. It will include a good amount of bushwhacking in addition to the trails.
July 7: An atypical Monday hike, because I am stuck working that Sunday on 4th of July weekend, we will be doing a very difficult twenty mile hike on and off trail in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area as well as Bear Swamp Wildlife Management Area. This hike is NOT good for beginners!
July 12-13: Tentatively planned Saturday night camp out at Otter Creek on the Susquehanna Railroad with Mason Dixon Trail hike to Lock 12 the following day. This hike is an opportunity for an intro to backpacking. An additional day may be possible. More details to come on this trip.
July 20: Cape May Loop Hike, another in the NJ Perimeter series!
July 27: Wanaque Loop Hike, another in the NJ Perimeter series, and the last of the north border!
Sept 21: Mark your calenders for our Common Sense For Animals fund raiser hike! Details may change, but the trip will be almost entirely different than the one we did last year, and a $25 donation gets all participants lunch and a tee shirt! It's a worthy cause!
In addition to these trips, look out for regular night hikes starting up again very soon! Jersey Perimeter hikes will continue at least once a month until finished.
So what of Planning and Development?
Our biggest project is the Warren Highlands Trail. Developing this trail has been an outstanding experience. Warren County has been a pleasure to deal with all along the way from the Freeholders who support the project, to the Planning Department, Department of Land Preservation, Board of Recreation Commission, and of course volunteers. This week, the Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders made a Proclamation that June is National Outdoors Month. As Chairman of the Board of Recreation, I was honored to attend and speak about the development of the trail system, as well as do a radio interview about it.
The trail itself is coming along very nicely. In the past month, we have finally completed the trail from the Marble Hill state park property down to Belvidere Road. The trail now follows the old farm road down past the pile of rocks (the remains of the old Harmony Twp School), then turns left into a swath of woods, weaving around a bit. It then reaches Belvidere Rd, and turns left to follow the road for a time.
Soon, the trail turns right into the county owned Geiger Tract. It skirts the edges of the fields, now marked with carsonite posts and on trees. It passes through a swath of woods, crosses a stream, and then follows two more fields before it's current terminus on Stryker's Road at Farmer's Fairgrounds.
As of today, we have been officially given permission for the trail to pass through the Merril Creek Nature Preserve. We have also been given permission to connect the trail on their right of way and through state land to the Hoff-Vanetta Farmstead. This is huge news. I hope to have the trail completed through to Washington by September.
We have scouted other properties beyond Washington for possible acquisition, and have begun discussing land review process to open the trail through state Wildlife Management Area tracts.
Making new connections:
As always, I am continuously branching out to new places, trying to connect everything by foot. As of this Sunday, the furthest north we will have reached will be Amsterdam, NY. The furthest east is part of Long Island at Brooklyn, and the farthest south has been Cape May.
However, this past week Jillane and I nearly connected everything to Baltimore Maryland. One hike on the Mason Dixon Trail remains in order to connect what we covered with previous hikes. We covered 114 miles.
The trip took us from Otter Creek, along the Mason Dixon Trail just north of where I'd last left off to the north, to Druck Valley, then onward to York, PA, now the furthest west we've ever reached. From there, we followed the Northern Central Rail Trail south to Baltimore County, Maryland. We continued south across Baltimore from there.
Just as we will connect the northern reaches of these trips this Sunday, we will connect this with a hike tentatively scheduled for July 13.
Depending how things go, I'd like to post another two day trip in August at the southern Catskills to connect some other stuff. Another trip I have been looking at would connect Harveys Lake PA with Ricketts Glen. I am planning on doing more complicated group trips that will involve camp outs and blocks of motels to travel a bit further away, maybe on a monthly basis. I feel we can improve the diversity of places offered through this group by continuing with these such events everyone can enjoy.

Finally, we still have plenty of large and XL Metrotrails tee shirts for $10 a piece! This helps us to keep the website and Meetup group going!

Thanks everyone who has continued to come out! The trips continue to get better all the time, and I'm blessed to have such a great group of people to affiliate with!

Best Regards
M'ke  Helbing
President
Metrotrails