Hike #1079; Slatington to Kunkletown

Hike #1079; Slatington to Kunkletown

10/7/17 Slatington to Kunkletown with Craig Craig, Justin Gurbisz, Jennifer Tull, Carolyn Gockel Gordon, Sarah Jones, Jason Itell, Kralc Leahcim (Lerch), Ellie Zabeth, Sy P. Deunom (Martyn), Beth ?, Beth’s friend, Ken ?, David Lukes, and Pete G. Wilcox

Our next hike would be an awesome point to point trip, would include the the twentieth section of the 911 National Memorial Trail, but with a whole lot of other stuff.
I prepared this hike with the idea that there were a lot of things in the area to see and to revisit, so rather than just do a straightforward section of the 911 Trail designated route, we’d showcase some history and connections.
We met in Kunkletown, at the former eastern terminus of the Chestnut Ridge Railroad. I had found that a section was sort of a “trail” when I’d explored the area with Jillane the Summer of 2010. I’d planned to come back and hike it at some point, but never got around to it. I figured I would tack it onto the end of this one.
We got permission to leave cars on private land, at the old bridge crossing behind the general store. The crossing is still there, but closed to traffic. After we moved the cars to this location and got some snacks (I had good cookies), we shuttled to our start point in Slatington.

Historic image of the rail crossing in Slatington, where we'd passed on the previous hike

On the previous hike, we’d come into Slatington, and then followed the Slate Heritage Trail, formerly the Slatedale Branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad to the west. This time, we’d continue on the main line to the north. Before starting out, we enjoyed some delicious hot dogs at the stand we had used previously, who’s owner I’d met years before in Lehighton.

Former Lehigh Valley line

While we were there, there was some kind of chamber of commerce thing going on, and a girl standing there talking to everyone about the town, and the trail and such. I chatted a bit about what they really needed to entice people to come out, which was nice. There’s a lot of things missing with these trail plans, and I want to be a part of the developments to make them work better.

The trail north of Slatington

Soon, we were on our way to the north. The trail was looking quite lovely, with the leaves changing nicely. Railroad ties were still in place to the left of us, and at some point the rails were even still there. We skirted the airport to the right, and it didn’t take too long before we approached where we could see into Lehigh Gap.
We emerged from woods to the former site of the Lehigh Gap station, which the trail went around to the right. A stone foundation is all that remains of what was the brick freight station.

Freight station, right, passenger station, left, and hotel in between

Lehigh Gap at one time had two sets of tracks on the Lehigh Valley line; one for freight, one for passenger, and each had it’s own station. There was also a hotel that sat back from both.

Freight station foundation

We continued ahead from here, past a construction site trailer that simply read “dirty” on it.
This site was also a Pfizer chemical plant location for quite some time, where coal was used to make paint pigments.
The site changed a lot over the last century. The trail came in since I’d started going there; the freight station collapsed and was then demolished in 2004. By that time, the passenger station and hotel were all long gone.

Historic Lehigh Gap Passenger Station. David Altritchter photo collection

The Lehigh Canal as well as it’s dam remained in service at this site until 1832. The Lehigh Valley Railroad came in around 1855 I think it was, and the Lehigh and Susquehanna, later part of the Central Railroad of NJ, was extended south some time after the upper division of Lehigh Canal washed away in 1862.

Historic map of Lehigh Gap

From the 1820s until 1933, “Chain Bridge” was the main crossing of the Lehigh River at this point, replaced by the more modern bridges. It was clearly too low for floods and such.

Historic postcard image

There is still a bridge on the other side of the river at about this point, which was probably the old toll house that went with it.
Notations suggest that the bridge was torn down in 1930, but it certainly had some other problems, and was apparently destroyed before that in 1926.

Historic view of Chain Bridge at Lehigh Gap

We continued past the historic bridge site, and then headed down to the edge of the Lehigh below the new existing bridge that carries Rt 145.

Historic bridge wreck image

Down by the bridge, we had been getting pretty warm, so Jason and I decided to go in.
This was a surreal and awesome feeling. The water in the Lehigh River was freezing cold, but the sun reflecting off of the water felt absolutely amazing. Everyone who didn’t come in missed out on this uncommon sensation.

Historic 1930 image of Chain Bridge and projected new highway route

Justin found his way to an access point for workers to get onto the bridge, which was being worked on, and walked the deck beneath it. While he was up there, Beth decided to do the same thing, and so I looked up to see them on the trusses beneath the bridge.

Recent view of the bridge site

We hung out here for a while; Lerch was on his way with a posse of people, and he asked me to stall everyone if I could. I tried to do so, and those of us who kept ourselves occupied climbing or splashing around had no problem with it.

2007 view of the Rt 145 bridge

The scenery around the bridge too has changed quite a lot; not only since the 1930s when the highway was re-aligned, but even in the past ten years. Vegetation grew in at many places, but also some was cut for an apparently new power line in others.

Lehigh Gap

After a bit, we headed out from the river side. I tried to climb up onto the decking, but gave up because my arms hurt too much from work.
We got back on the railroad bed, and then continued on to the Lehigh Gap Nature Center where we could use the bathroom, refill water, and pick up copies of new maps. We then backtracked the way we had come in, on the Lehigh Valley rail grade to the Rt 145 bridge. We used the slope to climb up to the level of the bridge, and then crossed over the Lehigh.

1940 view of the bridge

The Appalachian Trail uses this bridge to cross the Lehigh, and so there are always people on it. We crossed, then climbed up on the other side to the parking area.

Under bridge fun

Once there, we hung out for a bit to wait for Lerch and the gang to show up. He, Elizabeth, Martyn, Sarah, and Ken all showed up at this point to complete the hike.

Lehigh Gap in early 1950s

I used some of the timing to point out a bit more history, this time regarding the Lehigh and New England Railroad, which used to cross the middle of Lehigh Gap on a grand trestle.

Lehigh Gap, 1960s

The Appalachian Trail and it’s parking area is built on the right of way of the LNE line.
The railroad was the second major US railroad to be completely abandoned in one day, October 31st, 1962 (the first was New York, Ontario, and Western).

LNE trestle site and Lehigh Gap today

The trestle was demolished in the years to follow, but the site is still pretty incredible to see. Abutments on either side, and the remnants of a pier on the west side are still clearly visible.

Historic image of LNE trestle

I’ve had a fascination with the Lehigh Gap rail infrastructure since the first time I rode through the gap with Conrad Blease in 1997. The mountains were denuded of trees from the zinc smelting at NJ Zinc Company in Palmerton.

More recent view of Lehigh Gap

Since the first time I’d hiked it, many trees have grown back in, and a major reforestation project is taking place on the east side of the gap. This is one of the main reasons I posted this hike, because the overlooks on the way will not be around all that much longer.

Steepness

The day only got hotter as we continued. This was the steepest part of the entire hike, the Appalachian Trail to the top of the “inferno” of the east side. We started climbing, and reached the crest where we could see a panorama in both directions, up and down the Lehigh.
I pointed out where the Lehigh Canal dam used to be, clearly evident from the overlook.

View on the way up

We regrouped at that outcropping, and took some photos. When we were rested up, we continued on up hill, on a gradual ascent to the crest of the ridge. At that point, the Appalachian Trail had been moved from it’s original spot to the north of the ridge.

Lehigh Gap now

The route it follows now is a temporary one, and when the re-vegetation is complete, the trail will be moved back to it’s original location. Already, the surface of the ridge top is far more grown in than it was when I’d done it in past years.
I did a hike through the area in 2006, and there was literally no vegetation on the ridge top at all, and most of it was dead sticks and such with tiny shrubs on the approaches.
It won’t be long, and there won’t be any views left in this area, so we had to do it again.

Lehigh Gap in 2006

The area is a “superfund” site, even though there is no super fund any more. Still, there are great efforts going to fixing the landscape.
They had done some replanting with planes as well as by hand, but the earliest was the north face of the gap and ridge, where management roads were put in place for planting. At the time, invasive species such as Ailanthus were put in in order to help re-vegetate, but they admittedly didn’t know what they were doing at that time. Since then, more native plants are coming in and growing quite quickly.

The ridge, devoid of vegetation, 2006

We got to the top, and rested under the lone tree that provided enough shade to relax. We held back until everyone was able to catch up before moving on.
The temporary AT takes us to the north side of the ridge, at a nice upper level of the management roads for planting, and offers superb views the entire way.

Timber Rattlesnake

One of the plants that started doing really well were the blueberries. Although there were none this time, I had had them in the past. Along with these blueberries come a great deal of rodents who eat them, and with the rodents inevitably come snakes.
We didn’t have to go too far before we saw a handsome rattlesnake slithering across the trail. It had been basking in the sun there, and moved off when we startled it. It didn’t coil or rattle, and much of the group was freaked out enough without that.

View from the trail

In the valley below us, we could see the former east plant of NJ Zinc Company. This is now run by something called the Horse Head Corporation, which adheres to more strict environmental regulations in how they do business.
We continued along the ridge for a good while, slightly up and down along the trail route. We took a little break along the way, and continued to where Jason had spotted an option to either go down via a “path”, or to continue on the AT up ahead.
My plan for this hike was to descend from Blue Mountain into the valley, and then as best we could follow the former Cherry Ridge Railroad right of way. I wasn’t totally sure how we’d accomplish this, but figured we’d have some fun finding out along the way.
It was decided we’d follow Jason down hill on the path. The path shortly became just a dry stream wash, not a path at all. We were already committed, so we followed the crazy steep thing down hill carefully.
I don’t know that many in the group were happy with the route, but I found it quite fun and interesting. We regrouped about half way down at another management road. Jason took a side trip to see if using it was feasible, but it was not.
We continued off trail down hill, following the wash, until we got to an open boulder field to the right. We cut over to that, with some limited views, then returned to the wash on the other side. From there, we were able to head down, cross it, and then reached a good, clear management road just to the west of us. We regrouped again here.
The management road took us down hill into an open area, maybe another access to the Horse Head coroporation. Whatever the case, we turned right and began following the maintanance road along the power lines heading east. Lerch, Justin, and Jason got pretty far ahead.
When we caught up with them, we continued on the power line ahead. Elizabeth, Sarah, and Martyn I think got pretty far behind. We tried waiting for them for a while, but still they didn’t even come into sight.
We continued ahead and got to where another utility right of way broke off to the left. We opted to follow this down to the Aquashicola Creek. Once down, we took another dip, which felt awesome.
The power line stretch had provided us with an interesting walking route, and more continuous views we’d not have gotten otherwise, so it was a good decision to use.

View along the power line stretch

We instructed Martyn to turn at the other power line intersection, but he ended up continuing straight. We then told him to follow it to the next road and turn left to catch us.
The rest of us, when we realized he passed, left the stream and got onto a private access lane known as Harris Lane to reach the abandoned Cherry Ridge Railroad right of way. The tracks were still in place but terribly overgrown. We wouldn’t be walking these just yet.
We continued out to Little Gap Road and then turned to the right for a bit. We soon neared the county fair grounds on the right where the tracks became more clear.

Chestnut Ridge Railway

We cut off the road to the right onto the Carbon County Fairgrounds and soon reached the tracks of the old Chestnut Ridge Railway. It was still overgrown; no train would be traveling on these tracks for some time. We also could not hike it, or have hiked it, from the other direction either. It went right along back yards, badly overgrown, and one of the places was having a party going on. Fortunately, we were able to follow it for a little while around the faiground area. There were a few apparent residences there, and we could follow immediately parallel service roads when it got too overgrown.

Chestnut Ridge Railway at fair grounds

The Chestnut Ridge Railroad came to be in 1898, with it's principal purpose to travel to Kunkletown for a planned white brick manufacturing facility. It’s benefactors included JP Morgan, Howard Gould, Chauncey Depew, and John Jacob Astor. Additionally, it was hoped that the area of Kunkletown would end up becoming a resort destination much like the Poconos had become. This really never came to fruition, however.
We continued across the campgrounds and emerged at Lower Smith Gap Road. We had to come out and follow the road for a little bit because the tracks became impassable and entered private land again.

Historic image of a passenger rail car

The tracks remain in place for quite a while, but don't continue beyond Little Gap. I wasn't able to get on them for very long until town because they were either overgrown or too close to people's houses.

Aquashicola Station

When this rail line was active, it reportedly got as many as two hundred passengers per day, which I can hardly believe. There wasn't that much going on along the line to the east. The brick factory flopped, and I knew there was an ice house. Additionally, workers would travel to their homes to their jobs at the zinc company as well.

Tractor Lerch

Lower Smith Gap Road sort of paralleled the line for a shot bit, and then it was behind someone's private home. We went around that to where the line used to cross the right, just before the road bridge over the Aquashicola Creek. It looked weedy beside the creek, but I figured we could try walking it.
I got back into the woods on it, and it started looking like a mess, so decided not to go for it. It turned out that the rail line went to a private garage area anyway. We'd have to find another way though.
We headed back the way we came, up the hill a bit and then turned onto what looked like it might have been a driveway, might have been a road, going back up to Little Gap Road. We opted to follow this. There was a nice country view toward the road below there.

Historic image of Chestnut Ridge Railway

It was probably a driveway, but there was a path going to the left from it that served us very well. The path led us higher up, but not all the way to the paved road above. It basically skirted the hillside for a while, which was a great little hiking route.
When the path started to come out into a yard, we cut directly up hill to Little Gap Road again. We then passed the house, which had an old tractor in front.
The road continued down hill, and we could see a bit of the old rail grade below to the right. We didn't attempt to walk it because it again comes out in back yards.
The road had some nice old masonry walls lining it, one of which was badly falling down.

Covered Bridge Inn

We simply continued on the road until we got to the little town of Little Gap. The settlement has a lot of homes and a little bar on the left, called the Covered Bridge Inn.
I at first didn't want to stop for any kind of break, but Lerch and the others were very convinced it was a good idea. In retrospect, it was a great idea.
The Inn takes it's name for the Little Gap Covered Bridge which is just across and down the street, on Covered Bridge Road. The bridge was originally built in 1860; it is a Burr truss span with some components of Howe truss. Like so many other covered bridges, it's been damaged and rebuilt at least to some degree over time.

It just so happened we were right in time for happy hour specials. There was a bunch of stuff on it; some sort of weird but delicious fries, regular fries, mozzerella sticks, and I don't even recall what else. Ken bought me a beer, and others shared fries and sticks with me.
The plan was that Martyn, Elizabeth, and Sarah would meet us there. Somehow, Martyn overshot the place and walked right by, so they had to backtrack.
When they got there, they hurriedly got what they wanted before we were on our way out.
I had spoken to one of the proprietors of the place about how to get onto the railroad bed for the remainder of the trip. The Chestnut Ridge Railway once crossed Covered Bridge Road immediately on the north side of the bridge. I knew we couldn't follow it from here because it went through people's yards it seemed.

A bridge right at the covered bridge, which we missed because it was oscured.

I at first thought the line was on the far side of the bridge from us, but I was mistaken.
The lady at the bar said that I could walk down to a driveway after a storage space, and that I could get on the rail bed on the other side all the way out to Kunkletown. She said I would see "no trespassing" signs but to ignore them, no one minds us walking through.
We left the bar and headed to the east on Little Gap Road for a bit. I was happy that we'd still be doing at least the start of the railroad bed before dark.
After the large lot on the right, we turned right onto the driveway known as Duglas Lane.

Crossing the Aquashicola

I was still expecting to see the right of way on the other side of the bridge, but it was there on the left just as we stepped off the main road. We were able to turn onto it and almost immediately reached a nicely decked old trestle over the Aquashicola Creek.
I waited up there for everyone to catch up, and did another group shot. The sun was starting to set, which was really pretty over the creek. The rail bed was totally clear, and with original cinder base rather than some crushed stone aggregate. It was the perfect wind down to the end of the hike.

Dusk on the Aquashicola

We were always at least somewhat close to the creek; we got pretty close to it in a short bit, and there were concrete foundations along the left side of the rail bed. I could see across, into a yard or something on the other side, that there were more masonry ruins there. There was apparently a dam here over the Aquashicola, and there might have been a mill or an ice harvesting facility I'd been told about earlier. Just past that point, ATV trails came in from the left and the path became even clearer.
The sun began to set beautifully as we got into deeper woods. Development was rarely visible across the creek to the north, and the woods became thicker around, with smaller Birches and Rhododendrons dominating the immediately adjacent edges.

The group crossing the Aquashicola

Jason, Craig, and I walked up front of just about everyone else, and were actually very far ahead for a while, chatting about other clubs and life in general.

Ruins, maybe part of an old dam, on the Aquashicola

The trail got a bit muddier along the way, as the rail bed passed through small cuts in the landscape. At one point, there was a very nice stone lined spring to the right of the path, which might have been used during the early days of the railroad or early residents.
Soon, we came to the sign we were warned about regarding no trespassing, but it was far more welcoming than we'd expected it would be. A large white sign simply read "Use Trail At Own Risk". The signs were situated on the trees in such a way as to suggest "no trespassing" is off of the trail to the north and south, and that the trail is open.

Lovely Chestnut Ridge Railroad bed

The right of way opened up up ahead into a very wide, logged out area. It looks like it was probably herbaceous openings for hunters. We passed through this area, and then soon after passed a very large club building to the right.

We took the risk

The trail narrowed again after the access road to the hunting club's building, and passed through more deep woods.

After a while, the trail opened up into more open farm lands on both sides. At about this point, Pete Wilcox met up with us for the remainder of the trip. I gave him a big hug and swung him around a bit, and accidentally dropped my camera from my bag. I realized it pretty quickly, and Pete went back with me to find it. Fortunately we did.

Historic rail car image on Chestnut Ridge Railway

The entire time we were on the rail bed, we only passed two other people; they were riding on a utility ATV and out getting fire wood. They didn't say anything to us about being out there, and we figured they probably weren't supposed to be out there either. Probably stealing fire wood.

Historic image of Chestnut Ridge Railway

It wasn't too much longer before we could see the lights of the cars going by on Chestnut Ridge Road. We could also see the lights from a house along the right side of teh right of way. I wondered if maybe this could have been the old Kunkletown Station.

Historic image of Kunkletown Station

It likely was not the station, because the peak of the roof on the existing structure is completely different.
We made our way up to the gate on the road and sat down to wait for the others. The road bridge was just to our left, over what in this area is known as the Buckwha Creek (I'm not sure at which point it changes from Aquashicola).
The others showed up soon, and those of us who were ahead hung back to make sure that everyone had rides back to the start.
The old stone bridge where we were parked, on the old road route, was just barely below us and we could see the cars from where we were sitting. It was neat to just come out of the woods and all of a sudden see the end. I know when things like this are coming, but in cases like this it must be nice for those in the group for whom it comes as a complete surprise.
I don't think anyone was quite that hungry since we had only stopped for snacks in Little Gap just four miles before.

Historic passenger car on Chestnut Ridge Railway

This hike went really very well. I was so happy to see such a big crowd show for it, and it was clear that we were all having a pretty good time. There are plenty more outstanding hikes coming up in this series, and I only hope that we can have as good groups assembled for those as well.