Carol and I headed south for a week's vacation that combined a family
visit in New Jersey with several days of hiking and
geocaching in both New Jersey and New York, mostly in New York's Catskill Mountains. We covered a lot of ground
on this trip!
On a drizzly morning before a fun afternoon/evening family gathering, we visited several Revolutionary War historic sites in nearby Morristown National Historic Park. First we toured the fascinating Washington's Headquarters Museum, which included this replica of the interior of the huts the soldiers lived in during the harsh winter of 1779-1780.
The layout of the park, which, surprisingly, has 27 miles of hiking trails. When I was a youngster my Boy Scout troop took a long hike here.
The Wick Farm was crucial to the soldiers' survival.
More hut replicas have been built at the actual location in the hilly country known as Jockey Hollow.
We could easily have spent the whole day exploring this park.
Then we paid a quick visit to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. This was created in the 1960s when a major "jetport" was planned here to serve the New York metro area. Local resistance sprang up, and eventually the proposal was defeated and this vast wetland was preserved. I remember writing a letter at age 12 to NJ senators urging them to protect the swamp. It was nice to "come home" to it briefly.
The western half of the refuge has a visitor center, a wildlife observation center and several accessible trails. The eastern half of the refuge is a designated Wilderness Area of 3,660 acres with 8 miles of trails. I walked a quick one-mile loop near the visitor center around the pleasant White Oak Trail which, appropriately, leads partly through a white oak forest.
Other parts of the White Oak Trail lead via boardwalks through expansive wetlands. This is a renowned birding area, though we were a little early for the prime season.
The day after our family celebration, we headed north in beautiful spring weather. Our first stop was a four-mile hike in the 4,290-acre Ramapo Valley County Reservation in the Northern New Jersey Highlands. It is part of a nearly 20,000-acre chunk of public parkland in this section of New Jersey, near the New York border. The key objective was the oldest geocache in New Jersey, placed in November 2000. The hike began with a bridge crossing over the Ramapo River.
A pleasant walk along the shore of Scarlet Oak Pond, with one of the ledgy viewpoints visible on the ridge above.
A good-sized waterfall on MacMillan Brook.
We made a short climb to the Ridge Overlook, with a distant view of the New York City skyline.
Carol goes down the ledges in search of a geocache. We had to be mindful of hand placement as rattlesnakes have been reported at the site.
We chatted with a friendly group of hikers from a club known as the TriState Ramblers.
We followed the Ridge Loop along Monroe Ridge, a trail with a surprising sense of remoteness on the side away from the road.
Looking across at a ridge known as Rocky Mountain.
A happy geocacher! This was her 19th find of a year 2000 geocache. Last year she completed the elite "Jasmer Challenge" by finding at least one geocache placed in every month since the first one was placed in May 2000.
On the way down I made a return circuit on the Vista Loop, passing through some nice hardwood forest.
Who knew there was Prickly Pear Cactus growing in New Jersey? The viewpoint here is known as Cactus Ledge.
Cactus Ledge overlooks Scarlet Oak Pond with the NYC skyline on the horizon.
Dutchman's Breeches!
A wild cliff.
A more civilized vista from Hawk Rock.
There is some rugged terrain in the Northern New Jersey Highlands.
The path around Scarlet Oak Pond is a busy place with strollers and dog walkers.
We drove north a short distance to New York's Harriman State Park for a second hike, in search of another year 2000 cache. I had never been to Harriman before. It's a hugely popular area for hikers in the NYC/lower Hudson Valley area, with more than 200 miles of trails.
Some snow lingered from a weekend snowstorm that had dropped two inches of snow at my nephew Mike's house in Randolph, NJ, and up to a foot of snow on the high peaks of the Catskills. From a parking spot on a narrow, winding road through the park, we walked up a woods road known as Island Pond Road.
In a mile we turned onto the Dunning Trail, soon passing the water-filled Boston Mine.
Carol logs the find of the old geocache.
It dates back to November 2000.
On the way back I made an easy one mile round trip on an unofficial side path to a summit known as Stahahe High Peak (1148 ft.) The first section was a tunnel through mountain laurel, which would make for difficult bushwhacking indeed.
Open hardwoods and ledges on the ridgecrest.
Looking back.
View ledges ahead.
A fine view over Lake Stahahe and many hills on either side of the New York/New Jersey border. In the other direction there were glimpses of the distant Catskill High Peaks, looking snowy.
On to the Catskills!
