It was a "balmy" 14F at the trailhead this morning, with a slight wind chill factor causing it to feel more like 10F! Perfect hiking weather! Luckily we did a lot of
climbing, so we actually shed layers that we never put back on and weren't cold at all the entire hike. Continuing our assault on the peaks in the Pequannock Watershed,
we returned to the Four Birds trail today, on the national holiday of Martin Luther King's birthday, to head north from Green Pond Road and climb the two northern-most
peaks of Green Pond Mountain. Just 9 days ago we headed south from this point and climbed Copperas Mountain.
Beginning where the trail crosses Green Pond Road, we headed SW at first paralleling the cliffs of the mountain to our right, glimpsing the huge talus piles at its base and the beautiful white cliffs through the bare trees. Then we began climbing to the first peak, at least 400 feet above the road. The views from the first peak were magnificent, looking SE towards Craigmeur recreation complex on Green Pond Road and Copperas Mountain to the east. Standing on the edge of the cliff, we looked directly down (a straight drop) to the huge piles of talus below us. This was the first time I had ever seen anything like this in Morris County. It reminded me of the Shawangunks in upstate New York. Continuing NE along the ridge, we dipped 300 feet between the peaks and climbed 300 feet once again to get to the second peak. This one afforded more magnificent views overlooking the houses at the end of Deerhaven Lane and the gorgeous swamp just north. We continued along the ridge until the trail began veering away from it, at which point we turned back. But we didn't follow the Four Birds trail all the way back. Instead we took a series of woods roads which crisscrossed and paralleled the Four Birds trail all the way back to within a mile of the car. Alas, we couldn't avoid climbing the 300 feet of the first peak on the way back. We ended up climbing a total of over 1,000 feet. Total distance hiked today was 5.5 miles, with lots of elevation change, in just over 3.5 hours. A permit is required for hiking in this area, which can be purchased at the office on Echo Lake Road. The permits are good for the calendar year, so the earlier you purchase it the longer you will have to hike in these areas.
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Pull-off on Green Pond Road |
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Winter green! |
Winding creek |
Partially frozen cascades |
Creek crossing |
Mountain Laurel thicket |
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Ice and ... |
... boulder field |
Campsite near ... |
... abandoned Notch Road |
Notch Road looking west |
A rocky ascent here |
Climbing the first peak |
Partial view SE |
On the ridge |
View NE |
Craigmeur recreation complex |
Talus piles straight below |
[Photo by Laura] |
Tiptoeing to edge for a look ... |
... to the talus jumble ... |
... directly below |
Laura on the cliff |
Dan on cliff [photo by Laura] |
Cliff with talus below |
[Photo by Laura] |
Look at that pile! |
View south [photo by Laura] |
Fire ring on ledge |
Another view south |
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Continuing north along ridge |
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Laura on ridge (view south) |
Dan on ridge (view NE) |
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Residence across from our road pull-off |
Descending first peak |
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Boulder jumble in saddle |
Artistic Four Birds blaze |
Stream in saddle |
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[Photo by Laura] |
Climbing second peak |
Views opening up |
View NE ... |
... to swamp on Green Pond Road |
Climbing second ridge |
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View east |
House on Deerhaven Lane |
View of swamp ... |
... closer ... |
... and closer |
Dan zooming [photo by Laura] |
View south |
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Admiring the view |
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Another house at end of Deerhaven Lane |
Deerhaven Lane |
Gorgeous swamp |
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Laura and second ridge |
We turned back here |
Heading back |
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Antler scrapes |
Tricky descent |
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Creek crossing |
Ice on side of woods road |
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Descending back to car |
Fern in ice |
A trace of winter color |
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Path back to car |
Photographs and content copyright © Dan Balogh Web design by Dan Balogh |