[Journal entry for June 27, 2012] I had started out expecting to hike around Cedar Swamp in Sterling Forest State Park, so I parted at the trailhead of the Lake-to-Lake Trail (blazed in white), off of Long Meadow Road in Eagle Valley, NY. I soon passed Blue Lake, a small but pretty lake just west of the road, in the hilly country of the Highlands. The trail passes several boat ramps, so I guess that kayaking is permitted here. I soon discovered that the trails ae only poorly blazed and that many woods roads are unmarked on the map. I missed an intersection and wound up going south, exactly opposite the diection I had planned. It was a pretty area, however, so even after discovering the error I decided to continue in that direction. The woods road passed numerous wetlands, full or frogs and great blue herons, and many with signs of beaver, too, in the form of lodges and gnawed trees. I eventually connected with the Hasencleaver Trail (blazed in yellow), a trail that I had hiked in the winter. I took it west to the northern end of Monksville Reservoie. This is the shallow end of the impoundment, furthest from the dam. It was quite full of green algae. I followed the trail around the northern end of the Reservoir until I came to the Wanaque River (which is more or s tream, really). The bridge was washed out during last fall's storms, and still not repaired, but fortunately the water was low and I was able to cross stepping from stone to stone. Several kayakers were approaching, though I doubt that they could have gotten much further upstream than my crossing point. I then visited the Long Pond Iron Works, a ruin on the west side of the river (Long Pond is an old name for Greenwood Lake, which is just a few miles to the west). I passed several tall iron furnaces, built of massive granite blocks yet falling to pieces. Two tents sheltered the remains of water wheels. One was original, but badly burned. The other was rebuilt. I then hiked north along the river until I reached an overlook at Mine Hole Falls, a small waterfall along the Wanaque River. I found another point at which I could cross, and then connected with the Sterling Ridge trail, which heads back north. I was surprized to find stands of living Eastern Hemlock along the trail. An insect infestation has killed off most of these stately trees elsewhere in the region.

I took a short side trip down a woods road to the site of an old mine. I found two flooded mine shafts surrounded by piles of waste rock. I wouldn'k like to fall into one; climbing back out would be difficult! I then rejoined the main trail and ascended up onto Big Beech Mountain. I stopped for a few minutes at an overlook on its southeastern flank. It affords a great view of the hills and lakes to the east. I then continued uphill, past a tall south-facing cliff, one of the many glacially-plucked scarps in the Highlands. I reached another overlook, near the summit of the mountain, consisting of several rounded outcrops. Standing atop one, I was able to see westward to Bearfort Mountain, on the west side of Greenwood Lake (though I couldn't see that lake itself). Shortly after, I passed a sign indicating that I had reached the NY/NJ border. The trail then descended down the south side of the mountain and connected with the Lake-to-Lake Trail, which I took back east. It passes several beautiful wetlands. I saw several more Great Blue Herons in them. Several anglers were casting from the boat ramps of Blue Lake.

This is an intersting area, and I will spend more time hiking here. The trails are rather poorly marked, however. I relied heavily on navigation by compass and map, but even this was difficult, for not all the woods roads were on my map. The trails are fairly easy to hike, except that some of the sections along the woods roads are rather eroded - full of cobbles that are difficult to walk over. Five hours.