ABOUT THE PARKS:
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.33486, -74.23511
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| Henry Hudson Trail Parking in Big Brook Park |
TRAIL MAPS:
HIKE DISTANCE: 12.5 miles (5.9 miles one way on the Henry Hudson Trail)
THE HIKE:
Having to babysit 19-month-old grandson Teddy for the day, there were two options. Spend all day chasing him around the house to keep him from getting into things or go on a stroller-friendly hike. Obviously I chose the latter!
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| Ready to roll! Or maybe not. The stroller was not rolling smoothly when I realized the tires were very flat. |
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| With this being a rail trail, there is a bike repair station over to the left so we headed there only to find the air hose did not reach low enough for a stroller. |
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| No problem. Back to the car for the automatic pump which inflated the tires perfectly in no time at all. |
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| Now we were ready to roll. |
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| There were LOTS of "nacks" to be had along the way. |
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| The HHT goes to the right. To the left is old gated Big Brook Road which leads to some trails through the Big Brook Park woods. The plan had been to do those trails first but with rain having just ended about an hour before, it was too wet and muddy. We'd be doing that at the end instead. |
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| It is impossible to make Teddy keep his shoes and socks on. |
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| Big Brook |
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| Shoes on for some walking. |
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| Back in the stroller for a road crossing. |
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| Then some more walking. |
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| Another road crossing. |
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| Looks to be a renovated old train station, now a hangout for a feral cat colony with quite a swanky house for them which even has a window (to the left of the porch on the right). When I zoomed in it appeared that these 4 were all ear tipped, meaning they had been spayed and neutered. Yay! So nice that somebody cares for them properly like that. |
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| A walking/"nack" combo. |
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| Crossing over Route 18. |
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| A trail access with parking that is not on the map. |
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| Grandma is losing the sock/shoe battle. Sigh. |
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| Ummm, Teddy, where is your other shoe? |
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| Found it! |
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| "JUST DO IT" - Teddy lives by those words. That explains a lot. |
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| For Teddy it is all about the culinary experience. |
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| Grabbing that bench for a diaper change. |
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| Just after that bench the trail turns left along VERY busy Route 55 to a crosswalk up ahead, then back up along the other side back where the rail trail continues. |
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| Police training on the left. I could see farther along that there was equipment for K-9 training. |
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| Not a K-9 in the K-9 training area. |
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| The end of the trail at 5.9 miles. |
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| Heading back. |
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| So much prettier with blue sky and sunshine. |
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| Back long Route 55 ... |
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| ... to the crosswalk and down the other side. |
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| Taking a break at the diaper changing bench. |
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| Route 18 Crossing |
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| Some old railroad tracks along the way. |
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| White-breasted Nuthatch |
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| Where the HHT turns left, turning right to go to the dirt trails. |
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| First along Big Brook Road. |
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| Where Big Brook Road turns right, left on the Field Connector Trail although there are no markers and a few intersecting trails. There are MANY more trail than shown on the map. I stayed left at the first two intersections and ended up on ... |
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| ... the Piggery Connector which is not on the map. |
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| Then I somehow ended up on the Headwaters Trail. I would have explored more had I not been 12 miles in with the stroller harder to push on loose sand. And did I mention uphill and downhill over and over? |
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| Somehow got off the Headwaters Trail on some other trail that led to the paved park road. |
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| The HHT running parallel to where I was. |
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| On the paved park road ... |
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| ... downhill to the pond ... |
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| ... then retracing a short stretch on the HTT back to the parking lot. |
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| He gave me an enthusiastic head nod "YES" when I asked if he had a good time. |
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| And this is how he was delivered back to his parents. |
Hi Daniela -- What an excellent hike! I _love_ Monmouth County Parks...have yet to visit Big Brook...I knew the HHT passed through it (and excellent pix of that trail), but I didn't realize the park had its "own" trails! Loving that pond...that makes it worth visiting right there!! And kudos to Teddy...yet _another_ future hiker! (He may be the worlds first barefoot hiker someday...shoes be darned!) :)
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work...looking forward to seeing Teddy's (and Ellie's) next adventure!
-- Jim
Yes, the park map shows three trails that form a loop but there is more than that. Wish I would have had the time/energy left to explore that more. As far as Ellie, she had a complete meltdown over Teddy going hiking with me. So I had to promise her a hike for yesterday, which she held me to, LOL. So that will be up at some point today. And later this week a solo hike with brother Harry to keep things fair. What did I get myself into?
DeleteWhat is the name of your tire air machine and does it inflate fairly fast? Missed seeing Brodie.
DeleteYes, it is very fast. It took about 15 seconds for each stroller tire to inflate. You set the PSI and it shuts off when it reaches that. When I have had to use it for car tires, it takes a few minutes to inflate a tire that is low but it does the job. I like that the directions are printed right on the front because of course you never remember how to use it when you need it. It is a VacLife Tire Inflator. https://www.vaclife.com/products/vaclife-air-compressor-tire-inflator-dc-12v-yellowvl701?variant=41036215451821¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&srsltid=AfmBOopn_-Wz_4aFckTQWhW3biw0pgIMKuxJvnUtJyNDBMlq9q-Qk8d_TgU
DeletePS - Brodie had to sit this one out. Not wrangling him AND a toddler, LOL. But no worries, he had his poodle friend spending the weekend so he was not alone.
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