Autumn, 2019 Day 18... Leaving New Jersey

Monday, November 4

     My only commitment for the day was lunch with my sister in Mt. Laurel.  The drive was a little over an hour and a half.  So, I had plenty of time to get there.  My first thought was to return to The Great Swamp and make a second attempt on that loop trail.  I hadn't counted on school buses and all those parents dropping their kids off.  One block from the park, a barricade blocked the road with no indication what was up.
    Following the detour brought me to a dead stop.  Both red and blue flashing lights were a few blocks ahead.  I was far enough behind schedule at this point and a loop trail is a commitment of time I might not have.
    So, once again, I bailed on the Great Swamp.  But, there was a back-up plan.  Heading back south, I wound my way to the town of Manville.  The Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park passes through here.  The state has turned seventy miles of the canal's tow path into a state park.
    A canal between the Delaware and Raritan Rivers was first proposed in 1690 by William Penn. A canal would cut one hundred miles off the journey between Philadelphia and New York.  The work on the canal didn't actually begin until 1830.  The canal saw usage for almost a hundred years.

     The drive to Mt. Laurel was easy and I lingered over lunch with my Sis.  Yeah, a pretty great way to wrap up a roadtrip.

    From lunch it was a fairly easy drive south into Maryland, just don't get me started about Baltimore traffic.

     The rest of the trip was with Mom.  We got a few things done, tackled a few projects and spent a lot of time just talking.

     I left Mom's on Saturday to face the 675 mile drive home.  The mileage doesn't change, but it seems further and further every time.  My goal was to get as far as possible in the daylight.  Much to my surprise, I was out of DC and onto I-95 in record time.  Traffic didn't slow until Fredericksburg, VA.  But then again, it ALWAYS slows there.  At this point I think they just hit the brakes out of habit.

     The sun was still setting as I approached Atlanta...

David
11/2019

PS: Next year's travel plans are still up in the air.  Being an election year, certain chunks of time are blocked off the vacation calendars.  No worries, I'm sure I'll find somewhere interesting to go.  I do have a long weekend in December, cobbled together with the last few PTO days.   Perhaps a roadtrip through south Georgia.

Autumn, 2019 Day 17...Gnome Homes

Sunday, November 3

      With a little time to kill, I did what I always seem to do, simply walk around the old home town.  The deli up the street from my parent’s house is up for sale...again.  One of the places downtown that always seemed out of place when I was a kid, was a small sign for a psychic.  I never knew of anyone who actually visited the place.  I found the “under new management” oddly curious.
     Ann and I met at the Prestige Diner(we locals simply refer to it as Prestige) We had a little over an hour to linger over breakfast and coffee catching up on things.

   After saying our good-byes, I was of to the town of High Bridge.  On the edge of downtown you’ll find the trailhead for the Columbia Trail.  The Central Railroad of New Jersey built the rail line in 1876 to bring ore to the Taylor Wharton Iron and Steel Company, owners of the state’s largest foundry.  The line was dismantled in 1980.  Fifteen miles of it were turned into a rail trail in 2005.  The trail begins in High Bridge.
     After ditching the car in the municipal lot, I grabbed my camera and started walking.  Considering the sun now set at 5P, my plan was simply to walk two and a half miles out, then turn around.  If not for the time change, I would have gone further.
    Seen on the trail...

 

     Alongside the trail, I kept seeing these small houses...

    Shortly after the trail opened, someone tacked a small door over a hole in the bottom a tree.  Inside, they left a small plastic box labeled "gnome home."  The instructions were simple.  You could take whatever small prize was in the box, but you had to replace it.  More began to appear.
    The Hunterdon County Department of Parks and Recreation didn't mind and they noticed an increase of families on the trail. Parents with small children loved them since it kept their interest.   Eventually, the number of these small structures took off.  Parents raised concerns over the materials and if they were safe for kids to poke around.  So, the county set up some guidelines.  Anyone can make one, but you're responsible for their upkeep, and are encouraged to take care of their maintenance every spring..
     There was one last thing to do, find a perch and settle in for sunset...

Coming Up,
One last stop in New Jersey

Autumn, 2019 Day 16... You Can't Get There From Here

Saturday, November 2

    There were two trails on tap for the day.  Both were just under three miles each.  The first was rocky with great views.  The second trail was nice and level through a swamp.
     Schooley’s Mountain Park, named after the Schooley family who owned the land in the 1790's, offers a small lake, a series of waterfalls, some nice scenery and a series of short and long hiking trails.  I chose a double loop that would hit the park’s highlights.
     If I had known what was in store later in the day, I would have gone further.
     From the parking lot, it’s a short walk down a gravel path to George Lake.  I passed a group who were just starting to set up for a wedding.  Perfect day for it.

      This is where it starts too get interesting.  The blue trail heads down a rocky slope to run alongside the Electric Brook.  There are plenty of loose stones on the slope, some partially obscured by the fallen leaves.
     Of course, I learned this out the hard way.  But, I did protect the camera. The view...

     At the base of the last waterfall, the trail starts going up, past a series of boulders.  On the far side of the boulders is the best scenic overlook on the trail, and the one alongside every trail description from the park.

      Eventually, you can simply take a nice wide path back to the parking lot, or add a couple of loops.  I did add another short loop and was glad I did.

      Less than a half hour from this park is the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.  There’s an easy two and a half mile loop trail through the swamp.  With all the rain lately, it might make for interesting photography.  With no street address to punch into the GPS, I tried the phone and google.

       At the entrance of the Great Swamp, I was greeted by a red sign saying “All trails closed.”  Bummed, I did ask in the visitors center.  The neighboring land is owned by the local towns.  Today was a “Deer Population Management” day in the form of a youth hunt.  The preserve closes for our own safety.
      Eric, my god friend from fourth grade  was working the previous night, so we met at the town diner, just as the sun was starting to set.
    After a great dinner, we drove across town to Untied Brewery.  When we grew up here, no restaurant had a liquor license and we had no bars.  So, the idea of a brewery seemed a little strange.  We stayed until last call at 11P telling storied and catching up.  A great way to end the day.

Coming Up,
Gnome Homes

   

Autumn, 2019 Day 15... Only in New Jersey

Friday, November 1

     The rain finally passed through during the night with the worst of it a little south.  My friend Andrea texted me a picture of the downed telephone pole and electric wires in her front yard.  She was stuck in the house until the power company could take care of it.
     But, by morning, the sky was blue, the air chilly and crisp and the conditions were perfect for a day on the trails.  This would by far make up for the washout of the previous day.  I was packed up and out nice and early.
     First stop of the day was back at the Ramapo National Forest.  If it hadn't rained the previous day, I would have done the long double loop.  But, I did have another trail planned for the afternoon. There was still plenty to see on the three mile single loop.
    It all begins on this fire road...

      At the point I turned around the day before, the trail leaves the road and goes through some rocky terrain.  In the end, I found out I could have just walked this road.  But, it was a great morning and I didn't mind at all.
      Remember this spot?

 

    While the trails seemed surprisingly dry, the rain had created numerous small streams to step over.

    At the bottom of the hill you come to Lake Ramapo, the local reservoir.

   The trail then follows another dirt road along the lake shore.

   This is where the trail really gets interesting...

        From here, the trail goes...up.  The next marker is on top of that hill.                                                                                            

   The climb is definitely worth it...

   
     This is also where you'll find the ruins of the Van Slyke Castle.  William Porter built the castle in 1900 and named it Foxcroft since it sits on Fox Hill.  William died in a car accident in 1911.  His wife Ruth remarried and renamed it Van Slyke Castle after her new husband Warren Van Slyke.  After Warren's death in 1925, Ruth retreated to the castle permanently and lived here until her death.
     The castle changed hands numerous times before being abandoned around 1950.  A few years later, vandals burned it to the ground.

   A little further up the trail it the castle's original water tower...

     A relatively short trail downhill leads back to the parking lot.

    The second trail of the day promised excellent views and an odd, quirky, man made feature of mysterious origin.  The trailhead was a short drive to the border of Bloomingdale and West Milford. The red trail is a straight shot to the overlooks.  The blue trail loops around.  What I wanted to find is on the blue trail.
    It starts with a short climb...

   The first overlook...
 

      Just a bit off the blue trail sits an anomaly.  No one knows who built it or when.  People just started noticing it.  Naturally, I had to find it, too.  Only in the mountains of New Jersey will you find The Stone Living Room... It's a ring of stone chairs.

   Complete with a separate stone sofa, with one heck of a view...

     

   
    Back on the blue trail, I had a decision to make...

    The "steep and rocky" trail definitely lived up to the description.  I wound up crab walking down some of the rocks and just really taking it slowly.  It's one stretch of trail I was happier going down than up.
     The reward, clear skies, no haze and a view of the Manhattan skyline, from forty-one miles away.

   Remember the story of the skyline from the Turnpike?  I sent this one to my friend Jenna with the caption, Extreme drive-by.  I doubt there are many days when you can see the skyline this clearly.
   Seen along the red trail as I looped back to the car.

    In hindsight, I couldn't have asked for a better day on the trails.  The previous day's washout was all but forgotten.  Now to head south and meet with some old friends.
    I realize my friends have other commitments and can’t always get together on one spot.  I get it.  Tonight, Jeff was in PA, Ann had a someplace she had to be until 11P, Eric was working and Andrea was trapped in her house by those downed power lines.   So, it was just Jean and myself at our usual place, the Stirling Hotel.  No worries, we talked up a story over a few local craft beers until last call at 11P.

Coming Up,
You can't get there from here