Furs are rarin' to go to Ramapo!

Ramapo Mountain State Forest





Ramapo is an awesome 2,264-acre state park here in northern Jersey, with streams, lakes, and lots of trails. Recently, despite the threat of rain, the UFC went off to do a little bit of hiking. We took the Skyline Drive entrance, which is off Route 287. This part of the park does not get as much traffic as the reservoir area, which gets loads of people (and furs) especially on nice days.



Of course, you have to come prepared. We had water, a hiking map (Trail Map 22 North Jersey Trails Eastern Portion) and sturdy hiking boots.






To get to the lake, there is a bit of an uphill climb for about five minutes or so. There is a pretty stream to the left. We had to hold on real tight to our furs, coz they were reaally rarin' to go.

Rocky uphill climb.

Ramapo lake. We saw several kiddies fishing, although nobody seemed to be catching anything. There were definitely some fishies swimming in the water. There are a lot of water lilies, which crowd most parts of its surface.

Babams is one happy dawg!

Ramapo Lake has some fishing, and you can bring a little watercraft in too. We always see a lone sailboat docked close to the shore.

Local fungi. Since we've been getting so much rain this summer, there were loads of different kinds of these shrooms all over the place--- red, yellow and brown, in all different shapes and sizes. I have to get a mushroom book one day so I can start foraging!

Furs cooling down and fetching some sticks. Babams has gotten quite adept at swimming, and now beats Chibby when racing for the sticks in the water!

We took the Cannonball trail, which wraps halfway around Ramapo Lake. Feeling adventrous, we wanted to explore more trails. We missed the turn to Hoeferlin and ended up by the highway. What da hec?!

Turn around, guys! This ain't no trail!

Hoeferlin trail was not well-travelled at all. A lot of the spots were quite overgrown, and we did not see a single soul on the trail. There are three viewpoints with views of the highway, the mountains, and Ramapo Lake. This was a bit of a strenuous trek, pretty hilly, and all da furs were good and tired by the time we finished, about three hours later. Good job everybody!!!