ABOUT THE PARKS:
Patriots' Path - Morris County Parks Commission
Lewis Morris County Park - Morris County Parks Commission - Morris County Parks Commission
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.80088, -74.53052
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| Whitehead Road Parking at the Patriot's Path |
TRAIL MAP:
Lewis Morris County Park Map - Morris County Parks Commission
Patriots' Path East - Morris County Parks Commissio (lower left corner)
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HIKE DISTANCE: 6.3 miles
THE HIKE:
I probably should not have taken Rocky on this hike. Some aggression issues have surfaced this week. He bit a vet tech and almost bit two other people, completely unprovoked. He can be so wonderful but he has also shown he can be unpredictable and that is dangerous. Now I see why he was surrendered to the shelter. This did not happen overnight. There is no doubt in my mind that his former owners knew, did not disclose and were hoping someone else would take care of it. Looks like that someone is going to be me. I won't wimp out on him and put him back in the shelter. That would be irresponsible. I have two choices. I deal with it or I have my vet put him down. I went ahead on the hike today hoping the trails would be empty early in the morning and they were for the most part but whenever someone would approach I took Rocky well off of the trail and had contact with nobody. It's stressful and it is no way to hike.
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| Fall colors starting along the trail. |
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| Balloon #43 of the year. |
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| The Patriots' Path goes left; un unmarked trail right. We would be returning from the right. |
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| This is shown as a yellow-blazed trail on the map but it is not blazed at all. It's a very easy trail to follow, though. |
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| On the northern loop. |
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| Coming back to the Patriots' Path. |
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| Whippany River |
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| Crossing Tingley Road. |
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| It's along this stretch that there we encountered more people. |
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| The Patriots' Path goes right but also left as a blue-blazed spur; we went right. |
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| Because this stretch had been busier and more stressful, I opted to avoid retracing and road walk back to avoid that section. |
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| The Patriots' Path turns left into Dismal Harmony Natural Area; we kept straight on East Main Street. |
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| Right on Tingley Road at the end of East Main, |
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| Coming up on the Patriots' Path where we had crossed over Tingley Road earlier. Turning left. |
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| We took a break at the bench at the Whippany River crossing. |
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| This stretch had far fewer people to run into. |
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| Back at the car. |
