On my long, circuitous route from Clark, NJ to East Wallingford Vermont, I stopped at High Point State Park in North Western New Jersey. It was another one of the places I’d been a few times in the past. That area of New Jersey was a very popular destination for the motorcycle club my wasband and I belonged to in the 1990s, mostly because of the many twisting mountain roads that made for great riding.

High Point is the highest point in New Jersey at 1803 feet. The monument, a 220 foot obelisk, was built in 1928-1930 to honor war veterans. The obelisk is open to the public; there’s a small fee to climb to the top.

The High Point Monument reflecting in the water of Lake Marcia within the park.

I used the panoramic capture feature on my phone to fit the whole tower in for a shot from its base.

The High Point Monument silhouetted against the late afternoon sky.

I should mention here an obelisk is not a rare form for monuments in New Jersey. I grew up near the Camp Merritt Memorial Monument in Dumont, NJ, a 65 foot obelisk.

On our way to Vermont on Sunday morning, Penny and I stopped at the Watchung Reservation, a Union County park. Among the dozens of miles of hiking trails in the relatively small but heavily wooded park is the deserted village of Feltsville. It seemed like a good place for Penny to burn off energy before our long drive and I really do love a nice walk in the woods.

We avoided the townsite for a while by following a random series of paths that eventually looped back to a cemetery that predated the town. Then we hiked up to the town, back to the damsite along the creek, and through the woods a little more. I figure we walked about two miles on that gorgeous morning.

This 242 year old headstone is the only original stone in the small cemetery near the townsite.

One of the few surviving buildings from Feltville, an 1800s mill town. (Side note: this is a great example of the perspective distortion I’ve noticed with the iPhone Xs’s wide angle view.)

This stone wall and some of the foundation is all that remains of the three story mill building.

This creek, dammed upstream in two places, provided power and water for the mill and town.

The obligatory mushroom photo.