Abram
S. Hewitt State Forest, New Jersey – August 29, 2010
I went on my first hike with the Jewish Outdoors Club. I gave a
lift to three other people from Queens, driving to West Milford, NJ.
The state forest borders Wawayanda State Park, where I have hiked
previously.
There were around 24 hikers, and we met in a supermarket parking
lot, then hiked along a road for a short while before entering the
forest. We entered on a footpath called the Jeremy
Glick Trail, named posthumously for a West Milford man who died a
hero on September 11, 2001.
After climbing partway up a steep hill, we reached a rock that
afforded a view of the countryside:
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We continued on the trail:
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Another view of the footpath:
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A rock with colorful moss:
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Another nice view:
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A narrow wedge of rock has split away from the
main bedrock, with a deep crevice in between:
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For some reason, in this shot the party was almost
all lined up single-file, even though the path was wide enough that
they could have spread out a bit:
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A dead tree produces some color:
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A nice panorama:
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The group divided in half, with the slower group
opting for a 6-mile hike and the faster group opting for an 8.4-mile
hike. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to do the longer hike.
There were a number of spots requiring a scramble up or down.
Here, it was almost like a natural staircase leading down:
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I soon regretted having taken the longer hike,
because the leader was moving at a very fast pace and because it was
93 degrees that day. I had to fall behind and rest for several
minutes to cool down and slow down my heart rate. I don't know if the
leader realized they had lost someone and didn't care, or if they
didn't know. I had two friends in that group, and at least they
phoned to check up on me. I caught up to them and told them to go
ahead as I continued at a slower pace. I eventually continued on and
made it to this beautiful overlook of Greenwood
Lake, a 7-mile long lake on the New York/New Jersey border, which
as you can see is dotted by dozens of pleasure boats. There, I met
another couple of guys from our group, and also saw a few that had
taken the shorter route, as we were near the common area where we
planned to meet.
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An even wider panorama of Greenwood
Lake:
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I then hiked a little farther to Surprise Pond,
where the reassembled group of 24 enjoyed lunch.
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Some of the group has spotted a turtle near the
“beach” of Surprise Pond:
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Additional views of the turtle:
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After lunch, we began a hike out of the forest,
passing over a few streams via stepping stones:
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The loop trail ended with what appeared to be an
eroded woods road, though one write-up suggests that it was never a
road and is just a footpath that became widened and eroded from a
century of hiking. I'm not sure that I believe that.
Leaving the forest:
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A boarded-up old home sits beside the road, as we
walked back to the supermarket parking lot where we left our
cars:
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