Camping at High Point State Park, NJ Summer 2015 Allison Fasano GEOSCI 10

In June of 2015, a group of 11 friends including me took a trip to High Point State Park in northern New Jersey, just north of Sussex County. We rented out a camping spot where we could set up our tent and a fire pit was provided. It was so cool. We were completely secluded, the visitor center was a 15 minute walk away and the next camp site was about a mile down the road, so it really made the experience feel like a real survival weekend considering none of us had gone camping before. Unfortunately the weather was extremely damp, in fact it poured for a straight hour when we got there and in the middle of us setting up the 14-person tent. Everything was soaked but we wanted to make the best of the trip regardless.

To explore our surroundings, we decided to walk down the long road outside of our campsite that seemed to lead to nowhere. The first things we noticed were these little lizards! They were so tiny and you could spot them everywhere if you looked hard enough. Some were green and some were red but they were so fast.

This is Lake Marcia which takes up about 20 acres and the water comes from surrounding natural springs. Although it was freezing, we all decided to jump in anyway. The sand was so mushy and soggy and there were little fish swimming all around our legs in the water.

One day, the girls split up to prove that we could handle the wilderness on our own. We decided to take a trail, that I believe was called the Appalachian Trial, which would lead us to the High Point State Monument. The walk was very rocky and steep, but we had some guidance from colored markings on the trees to keep us on the right path. We had to be very careful of Poison Ivy, and my friend Olivia (in the red) was very good at spotting the leaves for us!

We got to this wooden overlook and climbed up the stairs We got to this wooden overlook and climbed up the stairs. Here is the view from the top. I am not sure exactly what lake we were looking at in the distance but it was not the one that we swam in earlier. Additionally, I’m noticing now from taking this class how interesting the rocks on the right look in this picture. I wonder how exactly all of that grass ended up there or if the rocks came through the surface and ruined the grass.

Here is my friend Olivia again standing on the overlook Here is my friend Olivia again standing on the overlook. In the distance is the High Point State Monument that we would later walk and climb up a long swirly staircase all the way to the top. I believe that the monument is in honor of all war veterans and is almost 100 years old! It seems like such a far walk away from this overlook but it probably only took us about 45 minutes to get there. Below is a picture of the inside of the monument and all the stairs we climbed.

To prove this isn’t one big lie, here I am at the overlook To prove this isn’t one big lie, here I am at the overlook! It was such a cool and rewarding trip to take because we all went “off the grid” and didn’t use our phones for the entire time (something that is very hard for my generation). We learned a lot about respecting nature and our surroundings along with coming up with creative ways to go about things when your resources are limited. I think every one should give themselves a weekend to do this with a group of friends because it was a great learning and bonding experience for us and was a very low cost to do!

Sources Department of Environmental Protection. (n.d.). Retrieved October 04, 2016, from http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/highpoint.html#high