24 July 2018 Practice Hiking at Cheesequake State Park

Daily Journal

Cheesequake is a real name

To better prepare myself for hiking in the Swiss Alps, I have been doing a 10k training program and trying to get out on some practice hikes. Although with the extreme heat and humidity in NJ and two small kids at home, I have not gotten out as much as I have wanted to. This past weekend provided the perfect opportunity for me to get out for a lengthy practice hike. The weather was amazing and Nannie and Pop Pop took the kids for a sleepover (thanks Mom and Dad!!). So, I took myself bright and early to Cheesequake (yes that really is the right name!) State Park in New Jersey to test out some of my new hiking equipment and to make sure my shoes were nice and broken in.

Scenic New Jersey

Despite what you may have seen on “The Sopranos”, New Jersey is not all turnpike and there really are some amazing and scenic places to check. Cheesequake State Park is definitely one of these places where you can see many of the natural ecosystems found in New Jersey. Plus the hiking trails are well marked with boardwalks and wooden steps to help hikers in the muddy or steep areas.

As a New Jersey native and Rutgers GeologyThe science that deals with the dynamics and physical history of the earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the physical, chemical, and biological changes that the earth has undergone or is undergoing. graduate, I have studied many of the ecosystems and geologic units present throughout the state. However, I truly was surprised by just how many different ecosystems I trekked through within a relatively short distance.

My 6-mile hike started off in a forest setting, and I hike up and down inclines and over peaceful babbling brooks. This soon changed to a fresh water marsh totally covered with lush green ferns. The marshlands were then replaced with cedar swamps; a site I am very familiar with having grown up in South Jersey and spent some time swimming in cedar lakes.

Parts of the trail were covered in several inches of coarse-grained sand. Which is not surprising since this part of New Jersey is located within the Coastal Plain. This is one of the four geologic provinces that makes up the southeastern portion of the state and is recognized by its extremely sandy soil.

Next I spotted a perfect little snail hiding out in the middle of the moss mats that covered parts of the forest floor. I then wrapped up my hike by eating lunch next to a saltwater tidal pond and climbing on a ~100 year old oak tree that was knocked over during Super Storm Sandy in 2012.

Overall it was a wonderful and relaxing morning and I can’t wait to do it again in Grindlewald in about 12 days!

Hike Stats

If you love your FitBit just as much as I do, I figured many people might like to see the “stats” from our hikes each day. So I will try to post the amount of steps taken, miles hiked, floors climbed, and the feet ascended in each of our hikes.

Steps: 13,486

Distance Traveled: 6 miles

Flights Climbed: 34 floors

Ascent: 232 feet

13k steps and 34 floors is an amazing amount of activity on a normal day for me, so I cannot even imagine how high these stats are going to be once we are in Switzerland!

Haiku of the Day

NJ Coastal Plain
Sandy soil holds forests
of pine and wonder