#8: Brian Lubbert Completes List!

NJ1K Congratulates Brian Lubbert for finishing his NJ1K round!

Brian first heard about NJ1K from Catskill 3500 Club activities. As Brian was completing his Catskill 35 he and his friends debated what the next challenge would be and someone suggested that Brian consider New Jersey’s very own peakbagging club. At first Brian suspected that all or most of New Jersey’s highest mountains would have houses on them (alas, some do) and put aside any attempt at a NJ1K quest.

Months passed and Brian met George Grzyb (another NJ1K aspirant) at a geocaching event, who rekindled Brian’s local peakbagging ambition. Brian crossed of the 25 peaks he had already climbed and commenced a sprint in June/July 2012 to complete the 27 he had not yet climbed.

“I have to say I have many favorite NJ1K peaks. I really love the peaks that require a hiking permit from the Newark watershed folks. The trails are always quiet, largely moss covered, and provide great opportunities to see bears! The three peaks of the Bearfort range provide some of the quietest locations to hike and geology that is thought-provoking and views, solitude and surprises that are stunning. The Kittatiny's are extremely enjoyable. The first NJ mountain I ever saw was Mount Tammany. I first saw Mount Tammany as a visitor to New Jersey in 1992 and had no plans to hike the peak, little did I know 20 years later I would finish this quest hiking to the fire tower on Catfish and hiking to Mount Paradise by way of the falls was very rewarding. I also liked working with the nice folks at West Hudson Farms to gain access to Wright Pond Cliffs and Westby Ridge. The entire process was easy and the administrators of the land and the farmers are very accommodating. I also saw the largest buck I had ever seen while making the journey to the peaks. I also found by approach up Jennings to be rewarding too.”

Like a few other peakbaggers, Brian hated Upper Pohatcong, but unlike many of us he enjoyed the walk up Cobb Hill.