Last week Daniela and Shawnee hiked this
section of the West Morris Greenway as part of a much longer hike. Today we decided to walk the 4-mile section from Pleasant Hill Road in Chester to
Main Street in Randolph (much of it aligned with Patriot's Path), then do a spur heading NE for a closer look at the Lamington River before heading back to the car in
Chester. We used this map which gives an overview of many of the surrounding
trails in the area, but which doesn't include the spur to the river at Main Street in Randolph. The path is the original grade of the Chester Branch of the
Delaware Lackawanna & Western Railroad. If you want solitude, this is the rail trail for you. The only time you will hear road sounds is at the trail head,
and no where else! Ironically, we walked this same stretch in July of 2010 but didn't realize that
until we got home. The path looks much different between seasons.
The highlight was on our return. Glancing NW into the gorgeous swampy area adjacent to the path, my eye caught sight of what looked like a dozen or so nests high atop some trees about 100 yards away. I zoomed in with my 35x optical zoom and saw birds perched atop a few of them, moving ever so slightly. It was a community of Great Blue Herons. A few were performing look-out duty while others were lying in their nests. Soon the trees will be filled with leaves and there will be no chance of seeing the nests from the path, so we felt very fortunate to see them today. I was able to snap a few photos through the thicket of branches and they are posted below. Total distance covered was over 9 miles in about 3.5 hours. (Click on the thumbnail to bring up a bigger image in a pop-up window)
|
Pleasant Hill Road trail head |
Next to Bethlehem Hermitage |
|
Wow! |
Heading east |
View to the Hermitage |
Approaching ... |
... the Lamington River |
Swampy river |
Cat tail |
|
Christmas Tree ... |
... with decorations! |
Continuing east |
Wet section |
|
Old tie still in RR bed |
Skunk cabbage |
Sandy damage cleared |
Skunk cabbage bud |
Woods road to right |
Blue blazes of the WMG |
Swamp at ... |
... Lamington River |
|
Spring buds |
Bikers |
Line of pines |
Knot |
WMG emblem |
Culvert |
Interesting line of trees |
Green patches in swamp |
Side of path sprouting |
Bridge ... |
... over stream |
|
Building on Main Street |
Gate Main Street end |
Spur to river |
|
Views of ... |
... Lamington River |
Heading back on spur |
Blow down |
Uh-oh! |
Skunk cabbage on WMG |
[Photo by Laura] |
Heading back ... |
... west |
Dead garter snake |
Powerline cut south |
Path goes on forever |
Views in ... |
... powerline cut |
Community of nests |
Two Great Blue Herons ... |
... stand guard |
Tufted titmouse |
Mine tailings |
View west |
Gorgeous greens |
Swampy ... |
... Lamington River |
Cat tails |
Woodpecker work |
Brown Creeper |
Garter snake |
Close-up |
Spring is here! |
The dreaded Glove Creeper |
Birches along the way |
Puddle reflections |
Beautiful ... |
... colors on ... |
... Lamington River |
Photographs and content copyright © Dan Balogh Web design by Dan Balogh |