Events
December 3, 2022
TSR Holiday Party, Hike & Business Meeting.
All participants are asked to self-test for Covid that morning.
Anyone who tests positive or has cold/flu symptoms
should not attend any events.
Wearing a mask is encouraged indoors when not eating.
Advance on-line registration is required.
Where: The Masker’s Barn in Watchung Reservation, part of the Deserted Village Complex.
Registration information for the party/meeting and hikes will be sent via email.
The annual meeting with election of officers for 2023 begins at noon.
Food: A potluck lunch will follow the meeting — hot tea, coffee, and table snacks provided. Please bring your own cold drink and festive food to share with fellow hikers: hearty salad, entree, nuts, fruit, veggies/dip, cheese/crackers, or dessert (homemade please).
Food can be dropped off at Masker’s Barn 9:00-11:30. No food heating/warming facilities are available so plan accordingly.
Hikes: Four hikes are scheduled prior to the party for those who want to work up an appetite.
Hike #1: Dean Leistikow 908-789-9413, leistikow@fordham.edu
Meet: 9:30 at Masker’s Barn parking lot. Approximately 4 miles at a brisk pace (2+ mph) with 410 feet elevation gain; not for beginners. Part of the route is along the rocky cliff edge of the ridge above Green Brook near Seeley’s Pond, with a steep descent and optional near-vertical 20-foot-high rock scramble. Boots/poles recommended. Bring water. Please note early start time.
Hike #2: Tom Pollard 973-600-2301, pollard.tom@gmail.com
Meet: 10:00 at Masker’s Barn parking lot. 4 miles with 300 feet elevation gain. We will briefly visit the historic Willcocks and Badgley families cemetery, descend, cross a bridge over Blue Brook, ascend above a streambed on the blue and orange trails, take the yellow and white trails to Sky Top picnic area (portable toilet), and loop back to Masker’s Barn passing the former sites of the historic Drake farm house and barn. Boots/poles recommended. Bring water. Please note early start time.
Hike #3: Kate Weller 973-557-7913, Kateweller@optonline.net
Meet: 10:00 at Masker’s Barn parking lot. 2.7 miles with 292 feet elevation gain. From Masker’s Barn in the Deserted Village of Feltville we will descend and cross the bridge over Blue Brook, then ascend the trail that used to be part of Glenside Ave. Continuing on the White and Purple trails, we will traverse a scenic gorge with a defunct copper mine, crossing a shallow stream and looping back to Masker’s Barn with a stop at the historic Willcocks and Badgley Families Cemetery along the way. Boots/poles recommended. Bring water.
Hike #4: Gordon Thomas 609-977-0267, thomasg@njit.edu
Meet: 10:30 in parking lot off Cataract Hollow Road in Watchung Reservation, halfway between Route 527 and Masker’s Barn. 2 miles out and back to beautiful Surprise Lake at an easy moderate pace with 171 feet elevation gain (one hill). Boots/poles recommended. Bring water. Please note later start time.
Thank you to those who volunteered to set up, serve, and clean up. We could use a few more! Contact Social Committee co-chairs:
Kathe Serbin (973-715-0491, katheserbin@yahoo.com) or
Elise Morrison (201-927-4275, tsrsocialcommittee@gmail.com)
Swap Table: Masker’s Barn is the perfect place to stop ’n’ swap. Bring lightly used hiking attire, books, maps – anything another member could use. Take home any unclaimed items.
Equipment repair/knife sharpening services: From 9:30-12:00, TSR member Phil Ross will provide advice and repair hiking equipment. Bring your microspikes with loose chains, hiking poles that need adjustment, etc. He will also sharpen kitchen and pocket knives, scissors, and small garden tools such as shears. If you are hiking, drop them off in advance with a note (name, phone, description of requested services) and pick them up after the hike.
Directions: Upon turning into Cataract Rd, pass Deserted Village and turn right onto dirt road. At the second grassy field, marked with “TSR Park Here” signs, park head-in (no parking along the road). Masker’s Barn is a short walk to the right, down Cataract Hollow Road.
Limited handicapped parking is available at the barn.
Click here for directions. 2 Cataract Hollow Road, Berkeley Heights, 07922.
GPS coordinates: 40.678228, -74.390504
Contacts on the morning of the party:
Kathe Serbin 973-715-0491
Elise Morrison 201-927-4275