Morning Hike

[Glenn Walters]

Opposites attract. My wife and I are very opposite in a lot of ways. Married 19 years last month. She "does not like" the wilderness. Yet I was able to bribe her to do a little 2 mile round trip to Apple Pie Hill this morning. She loved it. She always seems to end up loving our little hikes when I can get here out there. I think she "does not like" the idea more than she "does not like" the wilderness. As long as she humors me once in a while I will never tell her that. Anyway a few pics from our journey. It was so clear we saw A.C., Philadelphia, F.R. Mountains. and as far north as Sourland Mountain. Beautiful Morning.

 

[Glenn Walters]

Of course I have doubles again. Lol. Will have to repost pic of Sourland. Seems not to have downloaded. The one little "mountain" you see is FR Mtn

 

[c1nj]

Glenn, you may of been looking at Arney's Mount instead of the Sourland Mountains and Bear Swamp Hill instead of the FR Mountains from Appe Pie.

 

[Glenn Walters]

Sourland

 

[Glenn Walters]

Glenn, you may of been looking at Arney's Mount instead of the Sourland Mountains and Bear Swamp Hill instead of the FR Mountains from Appe Pie.

I had a compass and was holding a map. The large hill was directly north. I know Bear Swamp is almost directly SE. The little hill photo was almost directly east, slightly north. Now that I think about it we saw Philly and A.C. and they were really far in the distance, so probably not Sourland. Where is Arney's Mount?

 

[c1nj]

Northwest of Pemberton Borough and east of 206

 

[Glenn Walters]

I dont care if I am right or wrong. I find true facts to be way more interesting than winning. I just know that there are quite a few hills in the pines between AP Hill and Arney's Mt. that rise up 200 plus feet. There are also a multitude that are 150-200. I just looked up Arneys and it is around 200-210. It is hard to tell from the pic I posted but that was really far in the distance. How is it dominating the horizon so much with so many like hills between the two hills?

 

[NJChileHead]

Hi Glenn,

I believe that the others are correct about it not being the Sourlands. If it were Sourland Mountain, you would see a lot of other ridges and formations around it. The Sourlands stretch about 20 miles and go through Hunterdon, a bit of Mercer, and some of Somerset. If you could see them, you'd be seeing well into the piedmont, with other formations visible to you.

Have you been to the Sourlands? Even if your wife does not like the outdoors, the Sourland Mountain preserve in Somerset County is amazing in the autumn, and a nice hike with lunch thrown in at the roaring brook boulders is a terrific way to spend the day.

Good luck!

Chilehead

 

[MarkBNJ]

It's a great view from the top of the tower. When I brought my girls there a few years back a young guy was on watch and he invited us up. It was similarly clear and we had a similar view. Unfortunately the view of the ground below was not as attractive. What was the condition of the site when you were there?

Have to agree with the others, though, that you weren't seeing up into Mercer. From Apple Pie Hill fire tower to Sourland Mountain is approximately 43 miles. To see the horizon that far away at sea, for example, would require a height of around 1250 feet ASL. Sourland Mt. is 440 feet or so at the summit, so a back of the envelope adjustment suggests you'd need to be at the top of Apple Pie tower, and then another 700 feet or so higher, to see the top of the mountain.

 

[Glenn Walters]

I definitely agree with you all. I was definitely wrong about Sourlands. BTW Chilehead, I like your post. I have heard nothing but good things. Havent been yet, but will get there. Very busy so living in Pines is a blessing. So much wilderness to explore in my backyard. I really do love the Pines. The remoteness is probably what I love most. Most times when I am on a trail I never see or even hear another person. So peaceful. I will get to Sourland and many other places when I get the chance.

The question remains. There are many 200(ish) foot hills in the Pines. Arneys Mt. is about 205. It couldn't possibly dominate the northern horizon from 15 miles away(as the crow flies). Any answers? Again, as I said before, the truth is way more interesting than being right. So if I am wrong, let me know. If I am right does anyone know what that could be on the northern horizon?

 

[Glenn Walters]

Mark, Unfortunately there will always be people in the world who just don't get it. There was some trash strewn about at the peak, but not much. I don't understand the grafiti on the rails? Being a slob is one thing. I just don't understand being destructive. Why would people come all the way out to this beautiful spot just to be a dirtbag? Some people will just never get it. So sad.

 

[MarkBNJ]

I definitely agree with you all. I was definitely wrong about Sourlands. BTW Chilehead, I like your post. I have heard nothing but good things. Havent been yet, but will get there. Very busy so living in Pines is a blessing. So much wilderness to explore in my backyard. I really do love the Pines. The remoteness is probably what I love most. Most times when I am on a trail I never see or even hear another person. So peaceful. I will get to Sourland and many other places when I get the chance.

The question remains. There are many 200(ish) foot hills in the Pines. Arneys Mt. is about 205. It couldn't possibly dominate the northern horizon from 15 miles away(as the crow flies). Any answers? Again, as I said before, the truth is way more interesting than being right. So if I am wrong, let me know. If I am right does anyone know what that could be on the northern horizon?

Well, when everything else around is 14-18' ASL then 205' ASL is pretty prominent. . I think if you look at a topo it's pretty clear that you were looking at Arneys and probably that hill to the east at Juliustown. I suspect that the view just fooled you into thinking the distance was much greater than it is. I don't know the height of Apple Pie tower, but assuming it's 75 feet for the sake of argument, the horizon is only about 10.5 miles away. Pemberton is 12.5 miles from Apple Pie Hill. So Arneys would loom up exactly as your picture depicts.

 

[dogg57]

Well, when everything else around is 14-18' ASL then 205' ASL is pretty prominent. . I think if you look at a topo it's pretty clear that you were looking at Arneys and probably that hill to the east at Juliustown. I suspect that the view just fooled you into thinking the distance was much greater than it is. I don't know the height of Apple Pie tower, but assuming it's 75 feet for the sake of argument, the horizon is only about 10.5 miles away. Pemberton is 12.5 miles from Apple Pie Hill. So Arneys would loom up exactly as your picture depicts.

The Height of the Tower is 60ft(Last time I measured)54ft where most stand and lookout.

 

[Boyd]

The question remains. There are many 200(ish) foot hills in the Pines.

There are not very many.

Threw this together very quickly and tweaked the shader to make the high spots obvious - orange and red are over 200 feet. I threw some major roads in as a point of reference. Sorry, didn't have time to make this more complete, but you can explore elevation in detail with my map. There is an elevation scale at the top of the webpage.

http://boydsmaps.com/#lidar,39.805013,-74.590537,13