Fall Foliage Swarm: 10/23/11

ST-DocLizard1 · 10-24-2011, 01:07 PM

The weather window for the day was good, but turned out to be spectacular with sunny skies, little cloud cover, and the opportunity to turn down/off the electrics. A company of six met at the Pilot Station which would turn in seven at the second fuel stop later in the day.

We departed the Truck Stop and made a beeline for some twistie tarmac after warming the rubber up, over, and back up Jugtown Mountain. We ran a course through Asbury, over the ridge, and past the "Pumpkin Chucking Contest" in Harmony. A spirited romp by Merrill Creek Reservoir led us to CR519 and a drop at my favorite: Lomerson Glen. Those who have enjoyed this "pathway to heaven" will attest to its serpentine layout with natural scenery guiding your way up the mountain. At the crest, it opens up to hay fields that fortunately, were recently mowed as one of us would soon appreciate.http://www.wristtwisters.com/f101/nj...tml#post473816 Fortunately it was soft landing without drama.

We continued onto Belvidere for a refueling and a chance to phone the seventh rider(BMW) to arrange a rendezvous point. Crossing the Delaware River dropped us off on River Road and offered the crew a chance to negotiate the "carousel" to 611. Crossing back to the Garden State we headed for another fuel stop in Hope and connect with our missing partner.

After a warm beverage, we attacked a marvelous set of curvess leading to the infamous "Shades of Death Road" on the way to Allamuchy. Next up was CR519 and then over the ridge to SR94. CR 614 provides an interesting chance to savor some good pavement, but be alert, when the road changes to West End. There is downhill, decreasing radius, "tightly righty" that will have you landscaping if you are not paying attention for there is no advanced signage.

A nice pass up CR521, over Mt. Benevolence, back to CR521, and out to US 206 left us needing fuel at Ross's Corner in Augusta. The hunger alarm was sounding at that point so a journey to Swartzwood Lake was in order to nourish the famished horde. The Boathouse Restaurant serves fantastic grub with a Prime Rib Melt being the most popular among our crew. A great lunch with good conversation ensued.

The "Magnificent Seven" parted ways with rmb & BMW heading towards Newton, the remaining five (Tsmith, Sckill, fjrrider08, zaq123, and I) traveling south. The two New Yorkers left the pack at Interstate 80, while the remaining trio continued to CR519. Coming up upon a pack of pokey riders and a couple of cages, caused us to detour up via Lake-Just-It and circumnavigate Mountain Lake just to get in one last curvy stretch of asphalt.

I arrived home way before dusk with some great miles on the clock.

Thanks to everyone who turned out and welcome to newcomers Tsmith & fjrrider08.

Doc

zaq123 · 10-24-2011, 01:30 PM

Great report Doc, as usual, short, detailed and to the point.
Now we need Sckill upload some vids here. How much footage does that camera hold?

**rmb** · 10-24-2011, 02:31 PM

Great writeup Doc!

ST-DocLizard1 · 10-24-2011, 03:26 PM

Thanks guys. Just enough info to make it interesting.

Sckill mentioned that the GoPro will run out of battery life before the SD Card is full. Maybe he will post some more footage after editing.

Till next time(maybe one more before Winter arrives?)

Doc