Ramblings from Moe Mountain

[Kaleidopete]

@icebiker
I had a great day on the trails today. Ice everywhere. I started on the Hoeferlin trail which doesn’t have much ice, but that leads to Old Wayway rd, which has plenty of ice. Then the Furnace road starts out good, but on the uphill there is ice. Then to the Doublepond trail, again it starts out good and then goes to lots of ice! Back to the Laurel trail and LOTS of ice! Then up to the lake and only small icy patches. I saw some ice fishermen on the lake, so I thought I’d join them and I rode out about seventy five feet onto the lake and rode around a little. Good riding, but it gets dicey when dismounting and mounting the bike while on the lake. No studded shoes today. That’s it, all in all a great outing.

Double Pond

Someone else's frozen tracks

stud marks

Laurel Trail

The Lake, he caught one!

 

[Magic]

Balls of steel. Way to early for me to want to ride onto a lake, lol.

 

[icebiker]

@icebiker
I had a great day on the trails today. Ice everywhere. I started on the Hoeferlin trail which doesn’t have much ice, but that leads to Old Wayway rd, which has plenty of ice. Then the Furnace road starts out good, but on the uphill there is ice. Then to the Doublepond trail, again it starts out good and then goes to lots of ice! Back to the Laurel trail and LOTS of ice! Then up to the lake and only small icy patches. I saw some ice fishermen on the lake, so I thought I’d join them and I rode out about seventy five feet onto the lake and rode around a little. Good riding, but it gets dicey when dismounting and mounting the bike while on the lake. No studded shoes today. That’s it, all in all a great outing.

N-ice!! Shoulda joined you, but decided to head south.

 

[Kaleidopete]

Nice ride today, it started snowing just after I started, it was great!
I went looking for the trail that @huffster was exploring a few days back.
These roads just outside the park are weird! They go to dead ends and have
different names than my map program gives. I think I found it though and
here is a photo of it. I didn't try it today though.

more from this morning

 

[huffster]

There seems to be several unmarked trails over there, but I found that a few of them ultimately to lead to someone's back yard. There are some turns I did not take, so I'll probably be exploring over there at some point again in the future.

 

[jimf]

Most of those trails off Iron Mountain are quad trails and terminate in peoples back yards, I think the area is Highland Lakes off Barret Rd. I explored them all a few years ago by snow mobile of all things, the Iron Mountain/Wawayanda road loop is kinda meh on a bike but really fun on a snowmobile.

I love the contrast of evergreen/perennial shrubs and trees against the snow and ice. Pete has a knack for capturing this. Here is my contribution from rw at the bottom of warm puppy/rw-ramapo trail.

 

[Kaleidopete]

Most of those trails off Iron Mountain are quad trails and terminate in peoples back yards, I think the area is Highland Lakes off Barret Rd. I explored them all a few years ago by snow mobile of all things, the Iron Mountain/Wawayanda road loop is kinda meh on a bike but really fun on a snowmobile.

I love the contrast of evergreen/perennial shrubs and trees against the snow and ice. Pete has a knack for capturing this. Here is my contribution from rw at the bottom of warm puppy/rw-ramapo trail.

View attachment 45325

View attachment 45326

Nice photos from you too! And...I LIKE that loop, Wayway rd/ Iron Mt.
Wait 'till yer as old as me, and you'll like it better too!

 

[jimf]

Nice photos from you too! And...I LIKE that loop, Wayway rd/ Iron Mt.
Wait 'till yer as old as me, and you'll like it better too!

I ride that loop quite a bit to warm up and cool down or just to get some miles in when the trails are too wet for anything else. I love the little finger of single track that goes down to Wawayand Rd in Warwick and challenging myself to climb all the way back up. There is quite a bit of sustained climbed on that loop when done from the ranger station and Waway offers some tamer trails(read flatter) that are more visually interesting IMO. One can go down double pond to plymouth and hit banker and only have a few technical spots that can be skipped for the most part. I love being closed in by the rhododendrons on banker in particular and hate when trail maintenance cuts them back(I also realize this has to be done) I also feel that some of the single track protects you from the winds better, as long as your not near the lake. That said, time takes its toll on ones body and I hope that I am out eating up miles like you 20 years from now. You are an inspiration. I often find myself whining about the weather and then I check in on Strava and find that you have already been out. It never fails to impress me, hope to run into you over the weekend. Keep up it up.

 

[Kaleidopete]

I ride that loop quite a bit to warm up and cool down or just to get some miles in when the trails are too wet for anything else. I love the little finger of single track that goes down to Wawayand Rd in Warwick and challenging myself to climb all the way back up. There is quite a bit of sustained climbed on that loop when done from the ranger station and Waway offers some tamer trails(read flatter) that are more visually interesting IMO. One can go down double pond to plymouth and hit banker and only have a few technical spots that can be skipped for the most part. I love being closed in by the rhododendrons on banker in particular and hate when trail maintenance cuts them back(I also realize this has to be done) I also feel that some of the single track protects you from the winds better, as long as your not near the lake. That said, time takes its toll on ones body and I hope that I am out eating up miles like you 20 years from now. You are an inspiration. I often find myself whining about the weather and then I check in on Strava and find that you have already been out. It never fails to impress me, hope to run into you over the weekend. Keep up it up.

Thanks for the report and kind words. I too like that little finger of single track that goes down to Wawayanda Rd in Warwick, I don't go all the way down though. That trail is so great because both ways are so different from each other it's like a new trail. I know the rhododendrons on banker and I'm always wondering if I'm going to meet a bear there! I get out as much as I can, but I don't do many miles, but like an old turtle, I plod along, having fun. Hope to meet up again sometime on the trails.

 

[Kaleidopete]

Not much to say, except it's the last day of the year! And a fun year it was!
All my hiking buddies in the park crapped out yesterday, so I went alone, which is fine by me.
They all said it was too icy. They were right, but I wore my Yaktrax, shoe spikes and it was fine.
To repeat a famous quote. There is no such thing as bad weather, you're just unprepared".
The park was all ice today too, but studded tires got me through. Some photos. Happy New Year!

 

[Kaleidopete]

Another nice ride today, Cherry Ridge Road and Mojo Swamp. 38° and sunny, perfect.
A lot of the Wawayanda trails are muddy, ya just gotta know which ones you can ride without messing them up.
It didn't even seem like January today. I did ride a bike and hike a bike, but it was great just being out there.

 

[huffster]

That second pic on Mojo Swamp is a challenging little stretch of rock garden. I used to "clean" it 1 out of every 10 times. Now I probably "clean" it 7 out of 10. It helps to have ridden it a gazillion times. I was in the park in the afternoon but up north.

 

[Kaleidopete]

I went to Marty's Fat 50 event today, I didn't ride in it, but I saw many peeps and friends. I videoed the start and took a few photos.
Then I did my own ride at Dickerson Mine Preserve. I've never ridden there and wanted to give it a shot. I had a great time. Weird trails go around the lake and into a sand pit and out to regular roads. I also took the White trail, a slow grueling climb from a road behind Marty's. That took me over the power line to the Blue trail. I had no idea where I was, or where the Blue trail would take me. Being very good at getting lost, I decided to turn around and return the way I came. Good choice, as even that looked slightly confusing. Rather easy trails in there, but it was still a great exploration for me. I returned to Marty's and got a nice sandwich at a deli there. I didn't know when everyone was returning, so I called it a day.

The Red Fox outrunning me on the trail.

Crossroads

Marty's start

a link to the video, gotta click the play arrow, upper right.

https://goo.gl/photos/QT1Nc9MGDcW8VxU16

 

[huffster]

Clearly fat-bikes are a fad. That was a big crowd rolling out there.

 

[rick81721]

I watched that video and couldn't tell if it was just 20 guys on fat bikes going around in circles or what

 

[Kaleidopete]

I watched that video and couldn't tell if it was just 20 guys on fat bikes going around in circles or what

They were coming out of the parking lot and lining up in the street

 

[Kaleidopete]

I rode a local trail near my house that goes into Wawayanda. I've ridden and hiked most of these trails for the last fifty years and I still get lost!
Now-a-days there are a few people that attempt to maintain these trails, and a great job they do! They are bike people and really know how to make a trail. Like I said, most of the trails have been around a long time, but have disappeared to nature, only to be reclaimed by trail makers. So today I headed out to explore where I haven't been in a long time. This particular trail I'll call Sandpit Trail, because it goes right into an old sand pit that has been abandoned for forty years. It still gets some use though from local quad users and bikers and hikers. There are no markings on the trails, but most are pretty easy to follow. There are also side trails that I don't know, most likely going to someones backyard. Really killer single track and ups and downs though. Too much for my sorry ass, so it was hike a bike for some of it. As I pushed my bike I said out loud "no one can ride this shit!". Then I remembered some other trails that I see riders do and I said "yes they can, but I'd like to see it!". It was only a two mile loop that starts outside of Wawayanda and then goes in to and back out of the park, but what a great trail. My Strava is named Heave N Hell. I enjoy marking these trails on my own mapping system, just for fun.

Locals party place.

Rocky up ride

Blurry rock bridge through stream

No way I'm ridin' up that!

That's it

 

[Kaleidopete]

1/21/2017
I went to do the group ride with the Cycle Craft group at Mahion Dickerson today.
It was a no show for everyone but me, damn. I figured I’d give it a ride anyway. I even had trouble finding the parking lot and was helped by a local guy. He said this is where they all meet. Then he told me to be careful because even he gets lost in there. Oh great! Figured I’d stay on the double track and see where things go. I went down along side the lake and it was pretty good. I was on the Yellow trail. Then I see offshoot trails, some marked Yellow, some blue, some not at all. I stuck with the double track and went down and around the bottom of the lake and back up the other side always trying to stay to the Left, to get back. It turned to single track and pretty nice riding! But...I kept coming to other Yellow blazes, WTF? I didn’t take the Yellow because it went right and I was staying Left. After a while I came upon Yellow again and since it was going the way I thought I wanted to go so I stuck with it. Wrong. It went up and around and came to More Yellow blazes. WTF again! I picked a yellow going the way I thought and it went up and around in a loop and back to where I had already had bin. Now I’m done for, totally lost. So I keep going figuring Yellow will bring me to civilization, but there are so MANY yellows. Just to add a little drama to the mix I decided to crash. Thank God for helmets! It rattled my brain, but I was good, I’ll be a little bruised on my left leg, I’m sure, but not hurt. Got a lump forming on my left side forehead. Now this sucks, I’m lost, beat up and frustrated. I ride on. Hey these trails are pretty good, kind of wide open though, I‘m used to Wayway and the tight Laurels. I’m havin’ fun again. I don’t know where I’m goin’, but I’m makin’ good time! I sure wish I’d meet someone that could tell me which way to go, but I ride on. I’m coming to a spot I recognize, ah, I’m half way back. I decide to head towards the road and ride that back for a while. Good choice, it’s easy peddling, just the break I need right now. I spot the trail off to my right from the road and cut through the woods to it and ride it back to the parking lot. Still no other bikers. End.

Slippery when wet

Rock over

Schrooms

 

[JimN]

1/21/2017
I went to do the group ride with the Cycle Craft group at Mahion Dickerson today.
It was a no show for everyone but me, damn.

The ride leader had to cancel this week's ride. Make sure to check on their Meetup next time the night before!

https://www.meetup.com/Cycle-Craft-NJ-Rides/events/236584972/

 

[Kaleidopete]

Thanks

The ride leader had to cancel this week's ride. Make sure to check on their Meetup next time the night before!

https://www.meetup.com/Cycle-Craft-NJ-Rides/events/236584972/

Thanks, I looked at Facebook instead and saw nothin' I'll remember that.