Saturday, June 18, 2011
After visiting NJ Botanical Garden, it was only logical to visit Ringwood State Park, since it was a few minutes away. I parked and explored the area around the Manor. The Manor itself was closed off to the public. Only the Park Office was open.
Just like at the NJ Botanical Garden, I loved the open fields and landscaped areas. I walked around and came to a stream, where I saw a striped tail right under a little bridge. Upon a closer look, I saw that it belonged to a raccoon! Though a little hesitant at first to see a raccoon during the day (which could mean it has rabies), I tried to follow it as it hid in the foliage along the stream. I was finally able to snap a picture of the little raccoon's adorable face. By the way it was moving, it didn't seem to have rabies. It was either an insomniac or a hungry little fellow.
I went to the Park Office to get some information regarding the trails. I was told about a Blue Trail and a Yellow Trail. The blue trail is smaller and along the Manor's property, whereas the Yellow Trail was longer and took you up Governor's Mountain to get a view of the Wanaque Reservoir. Though a 3.5 hour hike at 2:30 or so, I couldn't pass up the opportunity of an elevated view of the reservoir. I was given a paper that described the trail and how to get there, which proved to be very beneficial since it began as a red trail, then became white, then yellow. The red trail split into red and white, which both take you to yellow, but I recommend taking white to the yellow. The red had some serious uphill slopes, and I was lost for about 20-30 minutes before realizing that I missed the turn onto yellow.
Pretty early into the hike, I realized that I finished my water from lunch. I don't know why I didn't buy a second bottle of water. Part of me was tempted to turn back and get water, but since it was already after 3:00 P.M., I wanted to finish the trail before dusk. I learned my lesson the hard way- the next hour and a half, all I was thinking about was how thirsty I was. My body is pretty good in regards to surviving on little water, but the more I walked, the more I feared my body would react in a way that would prevent me from finishing my hike. Part of the hike crosses two roads, and by the time I got to the second road, I was very tempted to hitch-hike for some water. Fortunately my inhibitions were still intact, and I decided against it after I let two cars pass by. By then I was a little more than a third into the hike. I sucked it up and kept going as I was about to ascend Governor's Mountain.
Then by the grace of God I found a building. I had been on the yellow trail, and I noticed a short unmarked trail that let to a parking lot. Turned out it was a Church. I asked if I could use their water fountain, which they graciously allowed. Never before in my life has cold water tasted so good. I must've been drinking for three minutes, and by the end, practically no water was coming out of the spout. As I was leaving, I thanked the three men who were there, and one offered to refill my water bottle with ice and gave me a bottled water. They were setting up for a fundraiser for Missionary work and rebuilding in New Orleans. It wouldn't start for another hour or so, but I was invited to come when it did start and have some cajun food. I gratefully thanked them for the water and continued my hike. Someone somewhere out there was looking out for me, because God only knows what would've happened had I continued to go without water for so long.
I made it up Governor's Mountain, which was only about a 15-20 minute hike (That's what happens when mountains have been weathered down so much.) I finally came to a clearing with a great view of the Wanaque Reservoir. I sat up there for a good 40 minutes just enjoying the view and the peacefulness. I then descended back down, and rather than retracing my steps back along the yellow trail, I cheated and walked along the two roads that took me back to the State Park. My legs weren't used to hiking so much with the ups and downs, and it was starting to get dark. I already pushed my luck with the water incident- I didn't want to push it any further and injure my muscles from over-exertion. By my estimations, this probably saved me 30-45 minutes, and I walked on a road rather than changing elevation on dirt and stones.
The moment I walked back to my car was a huge relief. It felt amazing to free my feet from shoes. The way I felt at the time was summed up in four statements: I reek, I'm beat, I'm tired, and I'm hungry. But it was all worth it. My body got a hell of a workout, I took some good pictures, and this was the toughest hike I'd been on this summer. I definitely felt a sense of accomplishment.
I left my house at 7:30 A.M. and returned home at 8:00 P.M. Talk about a full day! I stopped by the grocery store to pick up stuff to make dinner, and I ended up buying a pre-made rotisserie chicken. Never before had I felt so carnivorous. I easily ate a third of the bird. Amazing what walking and hiking can do when you haven't eaten too much during the day.
The scary part, though, was that when I was undressing to take a shower, I found two ticks on the inside of my shirt. One was on my bra, and the other I found after I had taken my shirt off. They were dog ticks, fortunately, and as far as I know, didn't latch onto me. I completely forgot that ticks existed until that point. I'm going to need to be more careful in the future. That, and I need to invest in some bug spray. For the last hour or so of my hike to Governor's Mountain, there was a fly or two that seemed to be following my head. My sweat must have been quite attractive to the buggers.
And so ended my journey on such a beautiful day. Though a bit hot in the middle of the day, it wasn't too bad for a day in June. I only hope to have plenty more weekends this nice.
Pictures are 1-72: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150286084805260.378367.753450259&l=60e13f931a
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