Metrotrails Blog!

Hi everybody!
As usual, we have a lot of exciting stuff coming up in the world of Metrotrails!
While I will be on vacation, backpacking the Conestoga and Mason Dixon Trails in early May with Jillane, Metrotrails Vice President Matthew Davis will step in to host the weekly hike! He has put together an interesting route to cover more of the Lackawanna Heritage Trail and vicinity we covered in the fall of 2012. This promises to be a great hike!

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Here is the trip posting from Matt!
The hike is 15 miles over relatively flat terrain. There will be some roadwalking, but most will be over an improved/semi improved rail bed.

Food will be available locally, but may not always be the most convenient. I would say bring the basics (especially a lot of water) then support the local stores and shops by buying other goodies.

The reason I chose this area: My grandfather was a coal miner in Carbondale. My father grew up here until age 15. I will be bringing historic pictures and other artifacts to share. It will be an interesting soul search for me, and a inside look at a family from a coal patch town for you.
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Saturday, April 4th
Meeting:
8:30 am at the CVS in Dickson City
1600 Main St, Dickson City, PA
Alternate carpool location:
7:30 am at the Park N Ride
Just north of Exit 12 on I-80
486 Hope Blairstown Rd, Blairstown, NJ
We will leave one car at the CVS, and shuttle cars to the start:
9:00 am at the Weis Market;
1 8th Avenue, Carbondale, PA 18407
(supermarket is just west of this address, on State Route 6 aka 8th Ave, aka Brooklyn St)
We will walk the railroad tracks to my father's house site, then continue on surface streets. We'll pick up the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail. We will follow this intermittently to our ending point. I originally was going to take us through Archibald Pothole State Park, but I don't think the road walk/interest ratio is in our favor. It's simply too far, and we miss a big chunk of the trail (where it follows the river). There will be enough trail to keep us occupied. I have reached out to a few organizations to let me know if there are any publicly accessible historic sites along the way. Plus, we can always find a way to keep ourselves occupied. I guess we'll be surprised!!
We will pass through the towns of Carbondale, Mayfield, Jermyn, Archibald, a sliver of Olyphant, before we end on the border of Dickson City.
The hike should take less than 8-9 hours, even with stops for lunch, refreshments, and exploration.
Bring plenty of water, comfortable hiking shoes, your camera gear, and weather-appropriate clothing.
After finishing around 5pm, we'll retrieve the cars and head home. We should be back to the Hope Park N Ride no later than 7:00 pm, unless we stop for dinner.
Anyone wanting to carpool, please let me know ASAP so I'm sure we have enough room. -Matthew (908) 295-1484

After this weekend, look for a May 12 Long Beach Island hike, the next in the NJ Perimeter Series. We'll also have a Metrotrails meeting which we have yet to decide on a date. On Friday the 17th, I'm looking at doing a night hike and movie event. We'll go and see the new Star Trek film, then night hike over night!
May 18th will be Warren County Natural Resource Day at White Lake, with a four mile hike led by me, and Metrotrails display table. May 19th will be Hike #700, with more surprises than I'm willing to share right now!
Everyone, please join Matt's fantastic hike on Sunday. He's awesome. Hope to see you all soon!

M'ke