We woke up to a cold, drizzly morning Sunday, October 18th and wondered if there would still be a hike.   After checking the infamous Craigmeur website, we realized that the trip was still on.  Piles of hiking clothes later, the small group all met up at the A&P in West Milford.  Upon arriving at the entrance to the trail around 9AM, we took two group shots…one of the men, and one of the women.  That photo made the women become known as the Skittles Girls because of our jackets. However, the men were in boring nuetral colours, so they did not get a special nickname. The hike began with a rather steep assent to the mountain ridge where the elevation remained generally constant except for the occasional pile of boulders that the trail designers thought would be a clever joke to have hikers climb over instead of going around. However, our kind hiking guide stopped every ten minutes or so to let those of us who hadn’t hiked in a while to take a few minutes to take a breather and get their bearings.  Not far into the hike, we passed along a solitary flannel jacket hanging on a branch. Being in the funny mood we were, we decided to leave a note for the jackets owner…”If a jacket falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” Although it was cold and drizzly, everyone was in high spirits the whole hike. Everyone got a chance to be the hike guide even though Hans was the only one that had been on the trail before.  Even Diane was able to play leader even though at first she had no idea how we all knew our way through the woods.  Once she learned about the trail markers, she did wonderfully, though.  Around 11:30, our stomachs started rumbling, and just when we thought we got to the Overlook, we found a surprise…Surprise Lake! Hans wasn’t surprised, though. He was able to guide us to the perfect lunch spot at the Overlook out of the wind and drizzle. Although the hike up was pretty difficult even for the most stable of hikers who tend to slide off boulders *cough*Lee*cough*, the hike back was much easier for it was more downhill or level-grounded. From the different group members I chatted with through the trip, we all enjoyed the scenery.  The overcast day made the leaves that much prettier…especially the fallen ones.  At the end, we were all exhausted, but very glad that we had braved the elements on the hike of Greenwood Lake!

~Heather De Santis

Keep a look out for the great foliage photos…and hikers, too!

Posted by Diane Bogert on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 10:06 pm.