New Jersey 1K Club

Jenny Jump Mountain 3

Another lovely hike on a cold, but sunny, winter day. I parked where the Blue Trail starts at Rte 617. It's marked as a parking spot on the Trail Conference map, but it has space for only one car. And with the snow and ice on the side of the road, it was more like a half a spot today! After finishing the walk, I realized I could have parked at the north end of Mountain Lake and had a shorter walk. Well, at least I had time today to check out the woods roads to Jenny Jump 4. The Trail Conference doesn't show them, but there were several going in he right direction. I know it's a short walk to Jenny Jump 4 from where I was, but I was running out of time today. And it's an excuse to re-visit a very pretty area.

The hike up Blue Trail was easy and the bushwhack to the summit was not difficult. I like hiking in the winter! We've not had much snow so the bushwhacking is not hard. I imagine it's not as much fun in the summer time. Another tick-free hike.

Dunker Mountain

An easy walk on a cold, blustery winter day. But no ticks out today! Followed the well-marked Highlands Trail from Rte 23 and Canistear Road.

Kanouse Mountain

A fairly easy walk with nice views at the top. Several easy-to-follow, unmarked trails head toward the top. Saw some litter, not too much. My route was 2.2 miles. Could have made it shorter as an out-and-back, but why? A nice walk might have been to follow the trail to the north, along the west shore of Echo Lake, before looping back.

Mount Newfoundland

A nice, but cold, morning for the hike. Parked on Bigelow Road just before it becomes private. The White (Four Birds) trail is clearly visible there. Just below an old stone wall, an unmarked trail splits off from White. It follows the ridgeline all the way to the high point, whereas Four Birds drops down the mountainside a bit. The trail conference map (#125) shows the woods road veering north, away from Four Birds, but if you continue down it, a short section drops down to rejoin Four Birds near a scenic overlook.

Wawayanda Mountain

A nice walk on a cold, windy day. Went from AT parking lot to Pinwheel Vista and then made a right turn at the mailbox. The route along the ridge was in pretty good condition with blue blazes. About 1/4 mile from the high point, the blue trail split. The left (eastern) spur went closer to the true summit and required only about 100 yards of bushwhacking. A fair number of other hikers took the route to Pinwheel Vista (surprising to me on a cold Thursday morning), but no one on the blue trail.

Mount Gerard

Parked at pull-off on Rte 23 just SSE of Holly Trail (tall stone structures) and swampy area. Started down the woods road but didn't see any trails to the top, so bushwacked there. Not very strenuous. Found some blue blazes and trail at the top and followed this back to the woods road at the bottom. Occasionally lost the blazes and trail, but it's still not too difficult getting back down. Lots of ticks on Ryan today. Looking forward to ice and cold again!

Bearfort Lookout

A nice 2.5 mile walk from parking lot P8 on Stephens Road. Took Blue/White to Highlands Trail, to Yellow and back down on the road. A little snow and ice on rocks made the few steeper areas a bit dodgy, but still quite an easy walk.