South Mountain Reservation hikes

The South Mountain Reservation is really a hidden gem. these past few days, I have taken several hikes of varying distances inside the reservation and found wanting more. Contrary to all that was written in the Net, there was very little visible trash from the southerly to northern boundaries. Although, from the Locust Grove Parking lot to about 1/2 mile into the reserve on the Rahway trail and part of the River trial, liberties were taken in attempting to transform the area into a fairyland with toy structures. Sorry, but for me the real fairy dust are the leaves and there is really no need for any further enhancements.

If you take the Rahway and River trails, they were relatively flat and leveled until you get to the Hemlock Water Falls area and then the trail gets steep until you get to the Summit or Overlook trails. Make sure you get a copy of the trail map (https://www.nynjtc.org/hike/south-mountain-reservation; http://jciccone.com/hikes/Hike29_3rd/Pages/index.html; http://www.njhiking.com/nj-trail-maps/). I printed out the one from http://www.njhiking.com/nj-trail-maps/, and colored the trails according to the maps legend and sealed it in a large freezer bag. I brought along a Silva compass, a Garmin GPS device so i can re-learn my woodscraft after a 45 year hiatus.

The weather was chilly, I wore a wool base underwear layer, wool sweater, wool shirt, wool beanie and gloves. not exactly warm but toasty after a few minutes of walking. My daypack contained 2 liter of water, a liter thermos of hot water, 3 trail snack bars, rain jacket, down vest, emergency survival kit , 1st aid kit and a cellular phone with an extra battery pack. Do I need all that stuff? probably not, but **** happens.

enjoy

I gotta ask. What is in an emergency survival kit that would come in handy in the South Mountain Res.?

For some of us , a simply kit would have a whistle, mylar blanket, Bic lighter, candle and a small knife. Just enough material to provide the basics for signaling, shelter, and warmth and light. I just carry it out of habit from an earlier time. Confidence to hike alone does not come overnight and has to be built upon. For me the extra stuff just gives me a little more assurance in unfamiliar landscape. The reservation is about 2000 acres of wooded landscape and can be intimidating to some.

I used to hike at least once a week. Less now. I was never concerned about getting lost in S.M. res or Sunfish Pond - Delaware Water Gap, because they are bordered by roads or geologic formations that would be easy to identify and find my way out of. Cell phones work in the S.M. res and in about 1/2 of the D.W.G area.

My two concerns in the Gap are rattlesnakes - very little threat -- and bears in spring. Falling or tripping on lose rocks is more of a concern.

My last "attempt" to get to Sunfish Pond was thwarted by two people coming down the trail who asked for help getting back to the parking lot because one had injured her leg and could not walk. There was no cell phone signal but we asked people on the trail to go back to the base and call for help. Two of us propped her up and we walked down the trail. Rangers came about an hour later and took her the rest of the way.

My felt need for assurance came 5 years ago when I was in my car in New Hampshire, following my friends with their motorcycles on the Kancamagus Highway (beautiful). It is an attraction for motorcyclists. Going around one of the curves, high in the mountain, we came across a woman who missed the turn. She and her bike pitched under the wire guard fence and were in the weeds. There was no cell service and it was over an hour before a rider could get to Conway to seek help and such help could arrive.

As a result of that experience, I purchased a signal beacon from R.E.I. Since I still ride/drive with the guys, I wanted to be able to summon help if we encountered trouble on future rides. We went to Wyoming last summer and plan to go to Canada this summer. I hope I never need it but it is in my car in case.

JJ

The satellite emergency beacon device is great for times when we are totally immobilized or when someone else is in dire straits. My point is that we should be as self sufficient as possible in order to extracate ourselves out of a bad situation. When you went cross country on motorcycle, did you just rely on the basic factory supplies tools? I made sure I had a tire plug set, pump, straps and several tire spoons. Then again , back then, I didn't have a credit card.

An emergency survival kit in the reservation? - - First: try to find a high spot, where there a view of the manhattan skyline...Second: take out that every-important survival kit....in it, pull out the red wine (to be on the safe side, put in zinfandel wine as it covers those white AND red wine drinkers), a few long lasting candles, the teeny-tiny CD player with alot of johnny mathis songs, some cheese and crackers (its most advisable to keep these items chilled within the thermal compartment of the emergency survival kit); pull out the inflatable pillows and the rolled up blanket which you've been carrying in your backpack; hang one of those blue-anti-bug lights on a nearby branch.....then smoochy-woochy all night long; take selfies of what it looks like to be in a totally relaxed mindset and then wait until the rescuers come; video-tape them smiling while toasting to your survival-rescue and then post on Facebook

if you need any help OR if you have any further suggestions, please email me and enlighten me as to what i may have missed!

Re: the the fairy houses you mentioned: http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2016/07/along_the_fairy_trail_the_nj_woman_behind_the_tiny.html

The story behind them is wonderful and the fairy trail is much loved!