Kazmar Pond

Kazmar Pond, Wawayanda State Park (12/12/2009)

This is a hike of my own invention put together in about 30 seconds after Plan A panned out. We were going to do a loop around Lake Lookout in Wawayanda from the parking area which we always use for Terrace Pond on Clinton Road, but the pull-off at the trailhead was snowed in! I completely forgot that West Milford got 7-8 inches of snow this past week! So we headed north and then west to the main entrance for Wawayanda (which was plowed) and did today's loop.

We parked at the visitor's center just off Warwick Turnpike (prior to the park toll booths) and took the blue-blazed Hoeferlin trail north. After reaching the t-intersection with the blue-blazed (yes, also blue-blazed) Iron Mountain Trail, we made a left on that trail and headed south. This trail we took to the AT, where we intended on turning east to head back to the car. But the blazing and intersections with woods roads here was very confusing and we ended up missing the left turn. We headed west and crossed a sturdy bridge over Wawayanda Creek before realizing that we were going in the wrong direction. So we turned back and found the turn east and took it, skirting the beautifully frozen Kazmar Pond on its north bank before returing, via the Hoeferlin trail, back to the car. If you do this hike, after passing the ruins of the chimney (which you can see in the photos) watch for the wand with the AT blaze. You should turn left at this wand, even though the AT blazes continue straight ahead.

This was a strenuous hike almost soley because of the snow. A good part of the first half had been packed down by the tires of a park vehicle, but the AT was completely untrodden and climbing two hills on that path was quite tiring. But the snow made it a fun experience. And from now on we're keeping our Katoolahs in the car, even when the grass is green in our home town!

Total distance hiked today was 4.5 miles in 3 hours.

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