ABOUT THE PARK:
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.72736, -74.49481
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| Parking off of Long Hill Road. There is also parking at the end of Woodland Road but this hike is currently not reachable that way since the trail is completely flooded out a short distance in from that side. |
TRAIL MAP:
HIKE DISTANCE: 5 miles
THE HIKE:
Dogs are not allowed here so since I had a use-it-or-lose-it vacation day to take before the end of the year and an appointment in Morristown, I took the opportunity to do this hike
having hiked here previously 10 years ago. |
| Starting on the blue trail at the kiosk. A woman approached me as I was starting, pointed to her sneakers, and asked if she would be able to hike these trails. These are the shoes I had on... |
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| I told her she could absolutely not hike through a swamp in a wilderness area with sneakers and directed her to the visitor center area trails. |
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| Some sections are dry. |
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| Some sections are not. |
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| It was snowing pretty much throughout the hike, much heavier towards the end. |
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| I would be returning from ivory on the right later; for now left on blue. |
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| Left on yellow where blue short cuts over to the other side of ivory. |
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| This is the type of trail you need to be prepared for. |
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| See that white object to the right on the steps up the bridge? |
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| Unbelievable! There were people leaving with fishing rods as I was starting the hike. They must have left this as the earthworms were still alive. I turned them loose and covered them with some leaves in hopes they can get where they need to be. Even if they don't make it at least they did not die trapped in a plastic cup in the snow. |
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| Crossing Great Brook. |
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| Great Brook |
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| I would be coming off of red here in a little while. For now staying on blue. |
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| Where I would be starting on red - looked pretty dicey but I's give it a shot in a bit. |
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| Even though blue leads to a parking lot, I wanted to continue on into this swamp. I could hear tons of ducks quacking up ahead. |
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| Well I can see why now - no humans can get there. This wasn't just swampy, it was completely flooded out. Way too much for my waterproof boots. |
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| Turning back. |
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| Now left on red. |
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| It is definitely dicey for a bit but the trail markers are there. |
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| Just not much of a trail to follow so going from marker to marker. |
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| After a while the trail does become defined. |
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| At the end of red, left on blue to retrace to the bridge over Great Brook. |
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| After crossing the bridge, left on blue where I had come in on yellow before. |
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| When blue continues on the short cut section, left on ivory. |
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| Yes, this is the trail. |
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| At the end of ivory, left on blue to retrace all the way back. |
