Hike and Sip #2: Mount Tammany and Jersey Girl Brewing

Well friends,  I am releasing this entry on a day where it may not get much attention, given the MASSIVE headlines.  Still. We need escape now and again from the "crazy" -- we need to be reminded that there is good in the world.  So, here is the second in my "hike and sip" series.  (P.S. this hike and sip will be a GREAT one to take over the next few weeks as the fall foliage peaks!)

This “hike and sip” entry features the well-known and much-loved hike up Mount Tammany, on the eastern side of the Delaware Water Gap where the river cuts through the ridge of the Appalachian Mountains.  The “wow” factor is high for this one; once you crest Mt. Tammany, you stand on dramatic rock formations which afford sweeping views of majestic Delaware River (a good 1200 feet or so below) as you look across at Mt. Minsi on the other side of the river. In order to avoid weekend crowds, we started out very EARLY.  We parked at the Dunnfield Creek Trailhead lot at 5:30 am and decided to ascend Tammany in the darkness and emerging dawn following the Red Dot trail using our headlamps. This section has a rocky climb of about 1.5 miles, getting you up to the peak and rocky lookout. Our goal was to give ourselves about an hour to make our way up to time our summit with sunrise. As it turned out, our morning more was overcast than anticipated but the climb was exhilarating. We were treated to amazing views of the fog moving through the gap.  Mt. Minsi looked like an island in a sea of swirling mist.  The breeze was light and cool and the gray blue dawn enhanced the moment which was both ethereal/mystical and epic (cue Led Zeppelin’s Thank You for the mood!)

1500 feet above the Delaware Water gap, standing on Mt. Tammany, looking across to Mt. Minsi... thick fog flowing through the gap

We did manage to catch a sliver of warm pink sunrise through the trees as we made our way along the Mt.
Tammany Fire Road, an easy ramble following the ridge where hints of autumn were beginning. The cloudy sky enhanced the glow of the golds, oranges and deep burgundy splashes of color in the woods. The beauty of the Tammany Fire road is most people don’t take it (majority of hikers use the blue dot trail for an immediate descent), but it is lovely. So, we had the woods along the ridge to ourselves for nearly 2 hours.

We worked our way past the Upper Yards Creek Reservoir briefly – it was under some construction, drained of water and had looked like a moonscape (we recommend skipping this segment for now) and then we curved back onto the Turquoise Trail which brought us to Sunfish Pond. We followed the trail that skirts the shore of this glacial lake formed by the last ice age.

Sunfish Pond - a glacial lake

The last segment of our hike was downward on the Appalachian Trail back to the trailhead.  We would recommend taking Dunnfield Creek Trail down as a better alternative. It is more scenic than the Appalachian Trail on the descent (we have hiked it pre COVID)  and follows the tumbling creek waterfalls, but we noticed that it was far more crowded with hikers by the time we were completing the last few miles of our 12-mile hiking loop at around noon, so we stuck to the AT.

After our hike we set out for our post hike refreshment adventure. While we have been to several of the breweries in the Hackettstown area, we had not yet visited Jersey Girl Brewing.  Their beer list looked interesting and well curated so we stopped for takeout sandwiches from Ginette’s Deli (big thumbs up for the BBQ chicken cheesesteak!) and we made our way, lunch in hand, to Jersey Girl’s brewing facility on the border of Hackettstown and Mt. Olive, not far from Budd Lake.  The brewery itself is located in building that houses several small corporate enterprises.  Currently you order beers inside their tasting room and bar (social distancing and mask protocols in place) and then bring your beers out to a simple tented beer garden (dog friendly) with tables and high tops as well as generous lawn with an area to park your own chairs and picnic.  A local cover band, Mudfoot, was setting up to play later in the afternoon and there was a good (well-spaced out) crowd enjoying the beer.  The standout for us was their Sour Belgian Tripel called Suicide King. Given the high ABV of 10%, this beer was absolutely quaffable and went down dangerously easy – I get the name! It had great balance --tart fruit character as well as fragrant white floral notes, but it was not a feminine beer at all – it had also had the heft of an ale with the malt and yeast to round it out and richness of flavor from the barrel aging.  We also liked the Runnin' with the Devils Amber Lager, a 4.9% ABV rye lager. Jersey Girl substitutes rye for some of the barley giving it a toasty, spicy flavor.

​This brewery has something for everyone – IPAs, pilsners, saisons, lagers, stouts and even their own hard seltzers. The staff were friendly and enthusiastic about their offerings. I really liked the “Jersey pride” vibe and relaxed atmosphere of the place and the beers were outstanding. I would definitely make a trip out to this brewery again to catch music and try their new releases. I may not have been born and bred here but after 30 years living in NJ, I’ve got a deep love and appreciation for this great (and unfairly maligned) state. I consider myself an honorary “Jersey Girl! I even bought myself a T-shirt!