Lydia loves silly holiday hats. We left them in the car.
On Friday, I think, I saw an article in the Express online about 15 trails in the area that you must hike. The regulars were there like the D&L and the AT. One peaked my interest, it was at the end of the list "Warrens Highlands Trail" in Phillipsburg. P'burg?
I emailed Angel and we planned to go Sunday after she got off from work. It stays light till 8:30 and it should be no problem. Sunday, it looked like it was going to pour all day, but never did in Bethlehem. (Philly and the shore got hammered.) I texted her and asked if they still wanted to go. She said it was raining in Easton as she left work. We called it off.
I had planned to hike at Lessor Lake in New Tripoli for Memorial Day. It's a 4 mile loop around the lake. I've never been there. This is going to be a summer of discovering new trails. I'm tired of walking at the same old places.
My not-quite 16 year old niece came along. So did Lydia. She had off from work. I printed the brochure and map and off we went. I thought it was odd that the directions said the entrance was across from Aqua NJ. I thought they were giving us a landmark. Not at all. There was a pullover and two picnic tables. If you didn't know it was there you missed it. I know we did. I was looking for Aqua NJ which was right past it.
This one looked like a trail head. A sizeable parking lot, a trail map, warped picnic tables made from recycled plastic. The whole 9 yards.
The website says that the trail showcases "the exceptional Highlands Region and pleasant Warren County countryside, the Warren Highlands Trail extends over 52.4 miles from the Delaware River in the west to the Musconetcong River in the east. From its western terminus at the iconic Northampton Street Bridge in Phillipsburg, hikers can connect with the Morris Canal Greenway Trail. (Now on to do list. Downloaded map.)
There are four trails. Red takes you from the city park to the trail. Yellow, which takes you to this parking area. Blue -- the one by Aqua NJ, has most of the trail highlights and is in fact the longest and "straightest". And the orange which takes you to an ice cave.
After taken silly selfies Lydia found the trail head on the right. Then entrance was grass here and really overgrown since it's been raining for two weeks. But it quickly turned to dirt. I was happy I opted for bug spray. Our first challenge was a wet, steep hill. It was at this point I was happy we decided not to go last evening. I turned around and went back to the car for my hiking stick. Wise decision.
We arrived at the top of the short hill and Lydia says "I can't climb over that". Entire trees were down. We turned around and slid down the hill and went back to the Aqua NJ entrance.
http://howtowilderness.com/trail-signs/
The unmarked trailhead began as a gravel entrance. We soon found ourselves in a grassy meadow, not knowing where to go. Looking at the map it seemed like we should go straight, but the obvious trail was up a powerline to the right. We headed across the field looking for trail markers and the teen found one straight ahead. Once we managed to get thru the meadow, the trail was well marked, using flashing symbols that I learned aeons ago in Girl Scouts. (And we thought it was just fun!) We also learned trail markings that used stacked rocks but those I don't remember.
We were parallel with the road for most of the trail. Sometimes you could hear it. As we retreated deeper and higher into the woods you couldn't.
It was all uphill. Sometimes a little, sometimes steep, but always up. Lydia lagged behind but insisted she was okay. Her goal was the Scenic Outlook of the Delaware. We trugged up.
Our first point of interest was the ice cave on the red trail so we kept an eye out for the red blazes. It was pretty easy to find, as was the cave. The loop was only a 1/4 mile long.
"The Fulmer Mine or “Ice Cave” is a mine that was excavated in the late 1800’s for its iron ore reserves. During the winter months, you will see the floor covered with stalagmites. The icy stalagmites form when the air and floor are cold enough to quickly freeze the water that drips from the roof above. Over time, the frozen water droplets build up into ice stalagmites, creating a beautiful, almost surrealistic scene within the mine."
Lydia asked what was next. It looked like the scenic overlook was about a 1/4 mile away. She said okay,--that was her goal afterall -- and then we could keep going if we wanted too, and she'd head back. We walked and walked and walked. No overlook. I was looking for a clearing in the trees, or maybe a rock outcropping. Nothing. We had gone way more than a 1/4 mile. Lydia said "I'm taking a break and then I'm heading back. If you see it soon, I'll come." There was a clearing at the top of the hill and the teen and I went for it. When we arrived we were greated by three red flashes. "start of trail". WTF? That's the trail to the community park. We were at least 1.5 inches on the map TOO FAR.
We went back to Lydia and tried to figure out our mistake. We found where the yellow trail split off. Had we seen that on the way up, we could have saved ourselves some steps. I was too busy reading blue flashes to notice the yellow, because I wasn't looking for yellow. Again, yellow was covered with brush and fallen trees. We continued to head back, walking thru the rhododendron section we missed taking orange. Then the teen says, wait! Over there! I think I see a sign. It was the sign for the overlook. Does this look like any scenic overlook you have even seen? I challenge you to see the Delaware River. Or anything for that matter. It sure deosn't looklike the picture on the sign. We were maybe 1000 feet from where we came off the red trail!
Since it was uphill going, it was mostly downhill coming back. It was slippery. We all slipped at least once.
My suggestions for this trail: Go with blue and orange. Stay off of yellow. And don't look for the overlook.
52-hike challenge: 20/52 Miles/Steps: 3-ish
Bathrooms: None
Weather: 61 and overcast when we left.
Wildlife: One squirrel. Heard lots of birds.
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