Cabin in the Woods (aka Return to Kakiat)

Sunday was about as gorgeous as anyone could hope an October weekend to be. The air was crisp and refreshing, without being overly chilly. The sun was shining. It was a perfect day for a stroll in the woods. The goal was to find the abandoned cabin in the woods that we failed at finding last time. I vaguely remembered its location and we set off to it immediately after arriving. It didn't take long, honestly. A short walk from the parking lot, past the dog park, through some deep piles of leaves, along the Mahwah River, and finally up the hill.

The sturdy cabin stood solidly on its mortared stone base. As we approached, it became rapidly clear how well built it was. Honestly, this surprised me. Most other abandoned buildings I've come across are crumbling or broken into in some fashion. This cabin, which had been built in 1922, was an exception. The logs showed very little signs of deterioration and the chinking was in really good condition. Sadly (for me), the windows were all solidly boarded and the little opening to the basement/crawl space was way too small looking for me to try.

There was one hole in one of the boarded windows though that told a very different story about the inside of than the outside. The floor was all rotted through and the tacky mint green paint on the inside was peeling in large patches. All that seemed left was a central stone fireplace and a staircase in dubious condition.

After we realized that we weren't going to see much more of the cabin, we continued our adventure along one of the paths we followed last time. The trail (blue blazes which eventually loop to white blazes) follows the river, leads to the old mill, through the pine plantation and loops back towards the bridge. I had hoped for a good display of fall foliage, but it was mostly lacking en masse along the trail we followed.