Saturday, July 16, 2011
Allamuchy Mountain State Park was next on my list after Stephens State Park. It was no more than a ten minute drive between the two parks, which was quite convenient.
The sun continued to rise, as it was a little after 11:00 A.M. when I arrived. The parking lot was grassy, so I wouldn't recommend hiking and parking here after a rain storm. Unless you're feeling bold and have a truck of course. My original plan was to take the yellow trail to the white trail to the red trail to the blue trail to the yellow trail back to my car. The beginning of my hike didn't work out so well. I would suggest finding a better map than the one supplied by the park, because they don't have unmarked trails marked on the map. What I thought was the intersection of the yellow and white trail, ended up just being an unmarked trail that eventually led me back the white trail. Only, I wasn't sure which way was North. I really need to invest in a compass. I had a hunch to go right, but I second-guessed myself and went left. Then I found two people biking and asked them if they knew where they were. Apparently I chose the wrong direction. So I began to head back the other way.
I continued on the white trail, which had a random sharp turn down the mountain. I then came to another T, with no idea which way to go. Once again, my gut was telling me right, but I decided to go left. I knew it was the wrong way when I eventually saw a trail marker that said Allamuchy Pond Trail. I soon saw two hikers come down my path, and I asked if they knew their bearings. They showed me a map that marked me in the territory of an unmarked trail. Go figure. So I headed back to the white trail intersection and continued walking.
I later saw white/red markers, and eventually I entered on the red trail. Hooray! Since the red trail goes around Deer Park Pond and continues with the blue trail, the worst of the hike was now over. I can't get lost now: It must be easy breezy from here on out. As I neared the pond, the trees opened up to partly cloudy skies. I forgot how hot these summer days get when I've been in the shade the whole time. I was working up a healthy sweat by this time.
The pond was filled with lily pads, and a few flowers as well. If I looked out far enough, I could see the water glisten as it reflected the sunlight. Quite majestic, I may add. As I walked on the red trail, I started to see more raspberries, ripe for the picking. I really need to start growing a raspberry bush. It would be great if I could get a wild strain rather than a farmed strain. These raspberries just look so much juicier and natural. The soundtrack at this point of the trail was a bird who would not stop chirping. Once I found where it was, I took a little video zoomed in on it. A good minute of chirping, and it still didn't stop. My guess was that it was calling for a lover, with no avail. Though there was a second bird that began chiming in as well. Maybe she's playing hard to get. Regardless, walking around the pond and seeing a few pairs of people go by got me thinking- hiking definitely ranks up there in best date ideas.
After my walk around the pond concluded, I headed back into the woods. All I needed to do was take the blue trail back to the yellow trail. Not too bad. Though, before I left the pond area, I could have sworn I heard a beaver slapping his tail and breaking some sticks. I had remembered seeing something that looked like a dam on the pond, but the trail I was on didn't have access to the pond at this point. So unfortunately, I had to take it for granted that I heard a beaver. (After googling it online, there are in fact beavers at Allamuchy). The final animal I came across was a frog, which I only found because I heard him scurry in the leaves nearby. Unfortunately, I could only get a picture of his back before he moved along.
The last leg of the hike was a walk along the yellow trail, which doubled as a driving path. Only a few cars passed by, but considering the road was narrow for more than one car, I stopped walking to let a car pass by me. Then, after almost four hours of hiking (with the occasional break to take pictures), I finally made it back to my car. My legs were very happy to finish this journey.
I passed by a farmers market on the way to the parks, so I decided to take the same way home and pick up some local produce. I saw a gardening area with a table of self-serve corn and peaches (take what you want but put the total amount of money into a box.) I only bought two ears of corn and two peaches since they didn't look top-notch. I continued to drive and saw a larger produce stand. Here I bought some big, juicy-looking jersey tomatoes, more corn, more peaches, a watermelon, and raw milk cheddar cheese. I was really happy to see local, raw milk cheese. By this point, I felt satisfied. Then to my surprise, I saw a sign for another farm. So I followed the sign and came to Alstede Farms. I bought some broccoli, fresh local eggs (huge smile on my face when I saw those), and ice-cold local apple cider. That apple cider was liquid gold to my throat. Maybe just because it was so cold, maybe because it tasted so good, maybe just because I was a little hungry. But man, now that I was driving home feeling refreshed after quite a productive day, I was feeling on top of the world. Though a little rough at some points in my hike, this was one of those days that reminds me what living really is all about.
Pictures are 63-199: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150316338465260.386848.753450259&l=ee3c9b87a9
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