​Yet another dawn hike, friends! For this hike, we decided to start at the AT trailhead just off of Rt. 519 (Greenville Rd) with our headlamps and work our way up and along the eastern side of the ridge with the goal of reaching the High Point Monument (the highest point in NJ, 1803 feet above sea level) by sunrise. It was about 1.7 miles to the “T” in the trail where we had the option of heading left and south on the AT to the AT platform, or heading right and north picking up part of the Monument Trail.  We timed our hike to go to the right and towards the monument, hiking an additional 0.2 miles more to catch the rising sun at the monument, and then made our way back to the AT lookout platform after that. It was a chilly fall hike -- at the summit and the wind had a bit “bite” to it -- we both had gloves and ear coverings for this one! It was worth the effort. The sun crested just over the rocky ridge line and lit up sky, casting blues and purples on the monument and a pink and orange glow on the autumn foliage.

​We carried on to the AT lookout to get more distant views of the impressive monument.  The 220-foot stone obelisk was completed in 1930 to honor war veterans.  As a native of Northern Virginia and a frequent visitor to the iconic Washington Monument, this NJ landmark felt very familiar and evoked memories of where I grew up.  We had fun with our little crystal ball for some interesting landscape shots.

We continued on the Monument Trail visiting Lake Marcia where we enjoyed the reflection of the golden trees on the water and then explored the Cedar Swamp loop before carrying north across the NJ/NY border and then cutting east back down the ridge (through private lands) which dropped us on Old Mountain Rd. We took the road (Rt. 55) back across the border (turns into Rt. 519) back to the car. The loop was about 7.5 miles.

Our plans were to grab sandwiches and have lunch at Angry Erik Brewing but it was only 11am when we finished our morning climb and the brewery didn’t open until 1pm. So, to pass the time, we parked at the brewery, which sits just off the Paulinskill Valley Rail Trail and decided to add a "part two" to our hike. This is a flat wooded trail (that is perfect for biking, btw) and you can easily park at the brewery and jump right onto the trail.  Most of the 27-mile trail heads west and south from parking lot.  We decided to walk east instead, crossing Rt. 206 and Rt. 94 following the trail towards Warbasse Junction.  We took a right turn before the junction at a short spur of road that dead ends and where a foot trail begins that follows the Paulins Kill on the left and skirsts a beautiful marsh and marshland to the right.  During our walk we saw all sorts of birds including a large blue heron and a group of white swans. The plant life was also really unique -- 6 foot tall cat’s tails, interesting shrubs with brightly colored berries, and reeds with dramatic dried seed pods. We walked out on a thin spit of marshland and enjoyed the magical quiet.

The out and back from the brewery parking lot to the marsh was about 6 miles so, in the end, we had put in 13 solid miles of hiking.  It was fun to combine both a rocky forest climb as well as a flat marshy stroll all before 1pm.  Now it was time for lunch and beers!  We drove about 3 minutes up Rt. 206 to Rt, 15 and stopped to grab sandwiches at Fat Stevo’s Cheesesteaks.  These sandwiches were INSANE.  Easily 2 lbs or more, the "Fat Stevo" namesake was a cheesesteak with peppers, onions, mushrooms, chicken fingers(!) and thick cut French fries.  The Fat Mac had pulled BBQ pork, mac and cheese, more cheese(!), bacon, and those thick cut fries.  These monsters are not for the faint of heart, but we had worked up an appetite.

Sandwiches in hand, we made a quick drive back to Angry Erik Brewing, a craft brewery founded in 2014 by a husband and wife team. We grabbed a table in their outdoor beer garden. We tried several of the beers.  Top on our tasted list was the X’s and Ales – a Belgian style ale with a gorgeous reddish-bronze color.  Some Belgian styles can feel heavy, given the alcohol content.  This ale was really refreshing, lightly carbonated, nice balance of nutty malty sweetness but not too sweet.  I checked the latest beer menu online today and it looks like the X’s and Ales has sold through - it is not listed on the menu, but we also enjoyed the Two Shoe Brew, a Copper Ale which is still listed.  The small batch offerings change often and you can't go wrong with any of the beers - just pick your favorite style and give one a try.   If you are a hop head,  Angry Erik always has a wide selection of interesting IPAs.  Most of Angry Erik’s beers are available to go in can, or you can fill a growler, as we normally do on our way out of any of the breweries we visit.  Angry Erik has terrific beer garden hours as well – the outdoor (and limited indoor) seating is open on Thursday and Friday late afternoon/evenings in addition to traditional  weekend hours. Cheers!

This hike involved another predawn start for us to see if we could catch sunrise views at the top of Wildcat Ridge (Rockaway Township, NJ).  We decided to start our hike at the trailhead parking on Upper Hibernia Road.  As we arrived, a bow hunter pulled up. “Wow, I rarely share this lot with hikers this early in the morning!”  We started out with our headlamps under the moonlight, cutting left on a yellow blazed trail, but we heard our hunter friend calling out to us in the dark. “You’re going the wrong way, the ridge will be straight on!”  So, we retraced our steps carried on a bit further on the gravel path then cut into the woods where there “appeared” to be a trailhead.  We probably should have stuck with our original plan!  We meandered along what looked to be an old two track road which eventually seemed to end.  We used the Alltrails app and our GPS and (with a few stops and starts) managed to navigate our way back to a proper hiking trail.  Likely the passage would have made more sense in the daylight, but the trees kept us in full darkness until just before the crest. After a comfortable moderate climb, we made it to the “hawk watch” lookout, about 1030 feet above sea level, with a wide vista opening to three cardinal points East, South and West, just as the sun was beginning to peek over the eastern horizon.  The view was breathtaking, the sun cast a warm pink-orange glow that lit up the fall foliage. 

We made our way down from the ridge, eventually doing some rock hopping across a fast-flowing stream then approached the ruins of the Split Rock Furnace.  This 32-foot-high charcoal-fired furnace was built in 1862 to smelt magnetite ore into iron that was needed for the Civil War.  It operated for about 10 years and was abandoned in the 1870’s. According to historians, the massive stack constructed by Andrew B. Cobb, “supported a tall brick lined chamber. Burning charcoal melted the ore at 2500 degrees creating molten iron which was collected at the bottom of the furnace.” This is Morris County’s only surviving iron furnace and is listed on the State and National Registers of Historical Sites.

​We climbed past the furnace up to Split Rock Road (a gravel road) crossing a large manmade modern dam and cut back into the woods following the western side of the Reservoir on the Four Birds Trail heading north, enjoying the autumn lake views and hugging the shore of the lake. We didn’t manage to see a hawk on at the ridge but as we hiked along the reservoir, we caught a glimpse of a hawk in the trees up the hill and heard its shrill call.

We reversed course, crossing back over Split Rock Road and made our way to Solar Pond Road where we came upon Beaver Pond, aptly named, as there were two large beaver dens in the water, along with a rich amount of flora, waterlilies and wildflowers. This hike was a gem. There was almost no other foot traffic and it had great scenery changes -- vistas, tumbling streams, historic ruins, lakeshore views -- all in a 7-mile loop.

After our hike we drove an hour south (Route 287 to 202) to Unionville in Hunterdon County to visit one of my favorite New Jersey destinations, Unionville Vineyards.  It was a bit out of the way for this particular hike, but well worth the trek for us, as it was release weekend for their “The Big O” Red Montage wine. Frankly, if you are hiking ANYWHERE out on Route 78 West, especially in the Round Valley/Cushetunk area, this vineyard is the place to visit.  First, you can’t beat the setting. The winery is on a large farm complete with a big red barn (where the indoor tasting room is located), views of the rolling vineyards and green horse pastures in the distance, plenty of space to spread out on, and a beautiful old 1858 farm house at the top of the property.  There are picnic tables under 100+ year old oaks and a lovely stone patio toward the top of the property.  The owners have set up a large open outdoor tent for suitably spaced wine tasting sessions (I would highly recommend a tasting if you haven't been before the staff is knowledgable and enthusiastic. You can book timed tasting reservations.) but you can also just show up, pick a spot for a picnic and buy a bottle.  And you can’t go wrong with any of this vineyard's bottles! Unionville Vineyards wines are, in my estimation, are some of the best crafted wines in the state. They are known for their Chardonnays which are well balanced, using neutral French oak carefully and judiciously to create subtle and complex nuanced white wines that highlight the terroir and the natural qualities of the fruit. They are simply a pleasure to drink. I keep bottles of the Pheasant Hill Chardonnay on hand for special occasions...  And each winter I indulge in their numbered “Vat” Port releases too…

​But I digress. Here’s why we made the trek - to try the latest release of the 2017 The Big O Montage Red, a Bordeaux style blend. In fact, I reviewed the 2011 release of The Big O in 2015, and I seem to come back to this Unionville Vineyards montage red over and over again.  The 2017 The Big O is a blend of 90% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon.  Aromas of black cherry and a faint sweet tobacco on the nose, it is a medium bodied red with tart red fruit on the palate. I taste red currant/strawberry but also peppery, spicy notes common to Cabernet Franc.  A cool wine fact: the "green" vegetal herbal flavors, in wine - things like bell pepper/green peppercorn/roasted red pepper/spiced cayenne chocolate flavors often found in Cabernet Francs are caused by a group of aroma compounds called methoxypyrazines or “pyrazines” for short.  The  latest release of The Big O has bright acidity and good structure with angular tannins which will only benefit from a bit of aging over the next few years. This wine would be a great accompaniment to red meats, particularly heartier fall versions that are grilled or roasted with herbs. I think it would be excellent with herb crusted lamb. Okay, now I’m hungry – time for dinner!

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!)

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!