Christmas Eve Hike: South Mountain, Rahway Trail/ Lenape Trail

I had planned all year to see the Tree in Times Square during the holidays. I haven't seen it in person since I was young, and I don't remember how it looked, or anything about my trip to the city. This Christmas Eve morning, I woke up dreading going into the city and dealing with crowds. We decided to skip THE tree and go for a hike to see many trees! (for free!)

look at alllll those free trees

We exchanged early Christmas gifts- Steve got me the Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (it's GREAT) and I gave Steve the New Jersey Walk Book. I had gone back and forth with what hiking/outdoors books to purchase for him; there are many cool books about specific great hikes throughout the Tri-State area. I chose the NJ Walk Book because it goes into detail about every park, every reservation, and every trail, down to the flora, fauna and geology of each site! 

Steve chose the Rahway Trail in South Mountain, one of our favorite parks. The Rahway Trail begins in the Southern part of the park, in the Locust Grove lot and meets up with the Lenape Trail (yellow blaze), lollipopping back to the parking lot. With the Rahway Trail plus the half of Lenape, we hiked about 5.5 miles.

Fact: the Lenape Trail has its very own website!

About 40 minutes into our hike I began to overheat and not feel too well. I had noticed in the beginning of our hike that I just wasn't feeling "strong." I felt sort of weak but figured it would pass... it didn't. After 40 minutes I had to stop, eat a banana and drink 1/3 bottle of water, with my coat off. I considered heading back but we were halfway up this really steep area of the Rahway Trail and I decided to rough it out. I felt better after a 10 minute rest but remained sort of iffy/queasy/dizzy for the rest of our hike (which was about three, three 1/2 hours).

Once we hit Lenape we headed .1 miles to Hemlock Falls, then made our way to the Washington Rock Lookout, where we very very surprised to find A CHRISTMAS TREE. There, right after the lookout, right as the ground goes paved, was an evergreen tree growing next to the path. It was covered in ornaments and handmade paper chains. 

It was beautiful. As I approached the tree I got teary-eyed... what a neat surprise. I didn't need the big flashy tree in Manhattan, I had this beautiful scraggly tree in the middle of nowhere, decorated by passersby. I wanted to take more pictures of the individual ornaments, but a family approached and a young girl ceremoniusly placed one of her ornaments on the tree as her family watched from a nearby bench. I could tell it was a special moment, and so Steve and I continued our hike.

I've been thinking about the tree since we went there a week ago, and of the ornaments adorning it- there were handmade ornaments by children, tribute ornaments to family and friends no longer with us, notes on paper tied with simple string. In a world with so much chaos and emotional "graffiti," here was a sweet, pure gift that really meant something to a lot of people.

Next year Steve and I will hike that same trail... I hope the tree is still there so I can place a special ornament on it and share in the memories and meanings of the ornaments of others.

Here are some shots and notes of our Christmas Eve Day Hike:

the trail begins!

action shot of my neat earflap hat

the lake beginning to ice over... Winter is here, right after the Solstice

HUGE Rhododendron groves throughout the Rahway trail

Clearing out some leaves that were holding up flow

A very interesting trail marker tree!

elf house

Right near where we saw deer only 25 feet away ~
Couldn't get the camera out fast enough for the deer, but hey, look at that storage shed!

We had to cross this

I have to make a comment about the above picture- while crossing, Steve slipped off a rock and his entire right foot fell into the creek, soaking his shoe. Like myself, Steve wears Merrell Moab Ventilators, breathable (read: not waterproof) hiking sneakers and WigWam Comfort Hiker socks when we hike. Steve's foot being soaked would not only have ended our hike but could have bordered on a dangerous situation as we were about 2 miles away from the lot and it was freezing out. Unbelievably, Steve's foot remained dry and warm. The Merino wool sock wicked away the moisture and the shoe allowed the sock to breathe and dry, all while keeping the foot warm and comfortable. 

Expect a bunch of gear reviews in the new year!

Hemlock Falls

someone left their Spiderman gloves! :(

Hemlock Falls starting to ice

Washington Rock Lookout

West Essex Trail & the Abandoned Overbrook Insane Asylum

Also check out our West Essex Trail Hike from November 2012 here

Steve and I once again explored the West Essex Trail. It's become one of my favorite places for an easy, flat and beautiful trail. You remain connected to "real life" as for most of it, you're practically in residents' backyards, making it a really perfect place to walk, clear your head and recharge your batteries (but not have to worry about bears).

West Essex Trail is also ideal to run and jog, the latter of which Steve and I attempted at the very end. Yes, really, we both jogged for like 1/8th mile. As someone who is fascinated by runners yet has always loathed the act myself... I have to say, I actually enjoyed that 30 second jog! I've always run on the street or on a track, never in the woods or on a trail.

Here are some pictures of Steve attempting to swing on a long vine:

Here is a picture of Steve pointing to "where it hurts" after swinging on said vine:

During this trek, which was about 2.5 hours long, we ventured off-trail to explore some buildings we saw in the distance, which turned out to be the abandoned Overbrook Asylum aka Essex County Hospital Center. We honestly didn't know what we were looking at until later that day after we were home. There were no No Trespassing signs or tape or fences by the trail- it wasn't until we got close to the actual buildings that we saw the signs and backed off. I'm all for adventure but definitely respect the law (plus I'm a wuss and abandoned places really creep me out).

The building we saw from the trail looked like an open-area gazebo type of building, which we learned later was the old bandstand. It wasn't until we got to the bandstand that we realized, behind us, were tons of HUGE, beautiful brick buildings.

We decided to go a bit closer and try to at least figure out what these buildings were (or once were). We saw that many of them were numbered and that they were definitely abandoned- many of the windows on the lower levels were broken, Building 11 was fenced off (but with an open door...???) and crude  graffiti covered one of the side buildings, which we later learned was the Activity Center.

I got a nauseated feeling of unease as we approached the large building (Building 2). We saw the No Trespassing signs and so didn't cross them, but even being in that area was very unnerving, and this was before we knew what the buildings were and their history. Steve and I used to watch Ghost Hunters religiously (back when Grant was still on the show and he and Jason actually worked for Roto-Rooter... remember that?), and I thought, Wow, they really need to explore this place.

 Egon, this reminds me of the time
you tried to drill a hole through your head.
Remember that?

And they have! The Asylum was even featured on one of their annual live Halloween specials, as well as Ghost Hunters Academy and the non-related show Ghost Adventures. Not sure if they found anything, but I must tell you, the place is wildly creepy. The buildings are spectacular, with intricate brickwork and stone detail. They're massive and form a giant complex that is seemingly never-ending. Even after we got back on the trail and headed down aways, we were still seeing buildings in the distance. 

The history is fascinating, and there are several people who have had... encounters? while on the premises (including crew members of the 2008 film "Choke" who filmed on-site). All that being said, here's a Public Service Announcement from the Essex County Sheriff's Office:

Please be advised that the Essex County Sheriff’s Office will continue to conduct plainclothes surveillance operations at the county’s old hospital center in Cedar Grove. Please take particular note that persons found on hospital center grounds will be arrested and prosecuted. 

As we know now, this is one Weird NJ site we've got to love from afar. Here are some resources on the Asylum if you'd like to read more:

• 9/24/10 Infamous Overbrook Asylum/ Essex County Hospital Center to be Razed
• Wikipedia
• Amazing photos at Vacant NJ, North Jersey Exploration and Shadows and Rust

After we took some pictures of the buildings and got back on the trail, we went farther down the main trail then we did last time; instead of making a right up and into the woods we continued on the straight, flat trail down a bit past the Essex County line into Passaic County then turned around and came back. We met lots of nice dog owners, saw many X-country runners once school let out and at one point went down under the bridge by the water, which was beautiful.

The one real shame of the WET is all the graffiti. There are several abandoned shacks right off the trail that are just covered. Many rocks, trees, the entire area under the bridge... it's just unavoidable, it's everywhere. I suppose that's part of the trail being so connected to "the real world."