Author Archives: Chris Casciano

Quick Review – Mountain Hardware WINDSTOPPER Half Flex Balaclava

It’s been a cold, windy and snowy go of it here in New Jersey this winter. Though I’ve left my real gear monkey tendencies behind years ago, each season it seems I pick up a few new things and one of them really stands out and makes me wonder how I ever did things without [...]

Deer Hunting Again Closes Several Essex County Parks

As has become routine in the last couple of years Essex County will be holding a closed deer hunt to combat overpopulation at three local parks. On select Tuesdays and Thursdays through January and February parks and trails will be closed to the public. Below is a schedule sent out recently to residents of area [...]

New Year’s Day Hike 2010

I’m not one to make grand resolutions for New Years, but I do want to do two things in 2010 — get some more miles under my feet and keep exploring parks that I’m a regular at. Friday I did a little bit of both with a 7.6 mile hike around the snowy and slushy [...]

Twittering And Upcoming Winter Updates

I’ve got a few articles and updates and reviews in the works for the Hike New Jersey web site — some more park guides as well as reviews of some hiking and trail guides. Winter is approaching, but that doesn’t mean the outdoor activity should stop. There are great spots in the state for snowshoeing, [...]

Autumn Peaks in South Mountain Reservation

With this new site I’m hoping to post regular trip reports from hikes around the state of New Jersey to supplement the guide pages and give you an idea what to expect when heading out to your local park. Here’s the first of what I hope are many.
With the fall foliage at near peak in [...]

New Jersey Monthly does the Appalachian Trail

Just in time for fall where the trail may be a bit less congested and the views of foliage near peak New Jersey Monthly carried quite a nice writeup of a typical day on the Appalachian Trail as it winds through New Jersey from the Delaware Water Gap to the New York border. In it [...]

REI Opening East Hanover Store

While New Jersey has been blessed with a few great retail stores like Campmor or EMS for many years, this weekend REI is having a grand opening celebration for their 2nd NJ store in East Hanover. As part of the October 9-11th event they’ll be giving away gift certificates, water bottles, t-shirts and other gear.
I’ve [...]

Hike New Jersey Walks Again

In the late 90s a humble little site was created as a way for me to share photographs of New Jersey’s parks with those in the online hiking community. As time passed and other photo sharing tools came online that site went dormant and was lost to time. In the last year or so I’ve [...]