Hike #854; Warren County Rail Loop

Hike #854; Warren Co Railroad Loop

6/8/15 Warren County Railroad Loop with Gregg Hudis, Alyssa Lidman, Dan Asnis, Rebecca Sage, Karen Ezzo, Larry Philips, Jen Berndt, and Lowell Perkins.

The group!

Our next hike would be yet another night hike, this time a repeat of a past successful one, a loop on the abandoned railroad beds of central Warren County. I never really tire of this one because it ties together so many of the places I'd been visiting my entire life, and on the earliest group hikes, and we can do it as a loop to alleviate complications.

We met at 4 at Pequest Furnace site, where the former Pequest Furnace was the site of a many rails coming together for that industry. The Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad had a through style girder bridge, decked over for pedestrian use, right by where we parked. We would begin our hike there. I got Gregg to pick me up because my car had a dead battery when I got home. Jen and Lowell would meet up with us later in the hike, but the rest were there from the start.

I was in pretty good spirits for this entire trip. It felt good to be in my comfort zone but also to just be out in the good weather. We crossed the old LHR rail bridge, then immediately climbed to the left through trees onto the right of way of the Pequest Furnace Railroad. I pointed out the historic ruins along the way to the former Lackawanna Railroad main line. We continued to follow that to the north.

The rail bed is completely within Pequest Wildlife Management Area all the way to Green Pond Road in Buttsville. The section we turned onto is one of the nicest in the entire county. Clear and easy to walk, we enjoyed the route out across Pequest Viaduct in Buttsville, then crossed Rt 46 and climbed up the other side.

We got past Green Pond Road, and continued on the paved road briefly to regain the rail bed shortly after an industry. We had to head up to an ATV path above to get past the sand quarry beyond. No one was working, so when we got to the clearing for that, we simply went on back down and continued on the rail bed back out to Rt 519. From 519, it's part of Jenny Jump State Park, and kept clear.

The week before, I met with Diana Blass, reporter for "Chasing News" of the Fox Network, who was interested in doing a story on my Jersey Perimeter series. She didn't want to come out on one of the hikes, but rather ask me some questions about the series one on one. I was going to get others involved it, but timing and planning went by fast and it ended up just being me. I was surprised when she showed up alone, and filmed with a gopro. Apparently that's how they do it now, and get alternate angles with two cameras. It was quite interesting, first because she was alone filming, but second because she was alone going to meet a strange man to go for a hike in the woods. To make things even stranger, Diana had never gone hiking before in her life! I brought her to see the Manunka Chunk Tunnel, since the perimeter of NJ series included the old Warren Railroad from earlier on, and that bit is right along the Delaware River (Now that I think about it, I should have brought her to see the river just a little ways to the south). I ended up bringing her through Manunka Chunk Tunnel, which she handled like a trooper, especially for a first timer.

I was told the piece was supposed to air the night of this hike, but rather than stay home and watch it, I would rather just be out hiking. It actually didn't end up airing this time, and had been postponed until July 4th at 10 pm.

I brought the group this time across the plank bridge over Catherine's Run, and we took a break at the pool near the bottom. Jen and Lowell were close to meeting us, both of them having parked at A&P Supermarket nearby. I told them how to get to us.

The group at Catherine's Run

After our break, we made our way to the Manunka Chunk Tunnel. All of us passed through. We used the normal, easier portal to get to the other side, and once there, Jen and Lowell both met up with us. From this point, we headed south, the way they had come, following the old right of way of the Bel Del Railroad. It was pretty clear this time but always so different than the Lackawanna one because it was single tracked instead of double.

Down along the Ol' Bel Del

We continued on the right of way until we came to where it used to pass under Rt 46. Here, we climbed down but did not continue on the rail bed. We instead headed up to the road around the Hoffman LaRoche Facility into Belvidere. It would just be too complicated to bring a group of people behind that facility and not get caught.

Just as we made the corner, the clouds broke loose and it began pouring on us like mad. I fortunately had my otter bag, and kept a lot of people's phones dry with it. We continued walking down the road in the pouring rain to the park with the pool in it, entering Belvidere. We turned right to follow the paved trail into the woods there, which no one ever uses, and headed off of it when it neared the railroad tracks, formerly the Bel Del heading south.

The section of the Bel Del north of Belvidere, where it is still used as a spur to get to Hoffman LaRoche, was abandoned in 1955 following the great flood, because the railroad deemed it irreparable.

We walked the tracks south, and saved a pretty Box Turtle that had gotten stuck between the rails. Often these turtles make it over the rails and can't get out, so we help them by keeping them away from this place where they'll get stuck. I've saved many of them over the years. We stayed on the tracks to the long bridge over the Pequest River and crossed it, but then I realized that I'd wanted to climb down prior to that to visit stores nearby, so we re crossed, then followed Water Street into town where we stopped in the store for drinks.

Belvidere

Once out, we headed across the Pequest on the road bridge, and up to Skoogy's Deli for some sandwiches. We each ordered something and ate up. I think the clerk inside must have been annoyed, because she was obviously ready to close when we all came in. As soon as were were done inside she locked up and turned off the lights.

While here, I saw that there was something going on at the Country Gate Theater, a practice. I used to be one of the Country Gate Players, but just haven't had the time to join in, so I went on inside to say hello. Many of the people I performed with are still active there now. Bill Scurato, the theater owner, was my theater arts teacher in high school, and I've always had a great respect for him. I saw him sitting in a chair in the audience, so I went up to him and put my arm around him.  He was happy to see me, and we had a nice talk about promoting the theater. I told him how I'd like to do a hike again some day soon where we stop and see one of their shows as a part of it. Once my Jersey Perimeter thing is done I'll have time to do more locally conscious things, and I really look forward to doing more of that.

Mr. Scurato told me he was proud of me for what I've made of myself, which was nice to hear. He was always a great supporter of my oddities, right on from school till now. I remember him saying before he retired from Warren Hills that the school did not do right by me, and that they should have embraced who I am more. I've always appreciated that from him. There are more fond memories with him than I can begin to convey in this simple journal.

After speaking with him, I was able to go to congratulate his daughter, my friend Gina Scurato on her recent marriage to Marisa, who she met when she was playing Rizzo, and Marisa was playing Sandy in a production of Grease, which I was also in. It was really neat to hear the two of them had gotten together after so many years. I didn't see Marisa around; I haven't seen her in so many years.

I hurried back out of the theater, with the group wondering where I had run off to. I explained to them briefly where I had gone, and the importance of that place to me, and they understood.

Lowell reading everyone the funnies

We moved on from here out past my grandfather's lot, which used to be the property the creamery was on, and then got on the former Bel Del line from where Belvidere Station used to be. There was still some rain, but it was letting up a bit. We followed the tracks south to where the southbound connection was with the Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad. The former northbound connection is now in someone's yard and not easily noticed let alone is it walkable.

The tracks are still in place on the LHR line, and we walked on the parallel ATV path. This time, it was wetter than I'd ever seen it. There were giant puddles like crazy all over the place. We constantly had to walk through sections of it, and there was one particularly long one next to the two old hopper cars that are still left on a side track.

We managed to get by this mess, and then continued on the tracks to where the ended, and we entered the woods section on an ATV path following the rail grade. Someone had put some plans over some of the bridge over the Pophandusing Brook, which made it easier to cross. It was dark at this point, and I questioned myself briefly as we followed the ATV path beyond, because it seemed so much longer to get us to the age restricted community that had been built over the rail bed. Once we got to that point, I knew for sure where we were.

The pathways through the development are always easy to follow, with the lights from streets and homes illuminating everything well. We pushed on along those paths, then crossed Hazen Road to continue on the right of way across the Unangst Farm.

This was always one of my favorite sections, if not my favorite, of the entire LHR line. It is completely open, and the grade has been tilled over to be recognized only as a discoloration in the right of way. It was very clear this time and no crops were really growing up high yet. We managed to wander across that free of incident, then paralleled another sand quarry before reaching where fields had obliterated the grade. We cut directly along the former route along fields to Rt 519 in Bridgeville where we turned left under the old rail bridge.

Next, we turned right on Titman Ave, after crossing the stone arch bridge over the Pequest River. This took us for a bit to the former Edison Road route to the right. My plan was to wade across the river here and regain the old LHR grade. The water was a bit higher this time than some previous times, so it was harder to cross, but we managed to do it anyway. Since there's a house close by, I didn't want to be out there for long. We climbed up along old Edison Road to the former rail bridge site, then ascended to where the tracks used to be and headed east.

The first bit of that was very easy and nice. We didn't have any trouble until we got to the deck girder bridge, often visible behind Hot Dog Johnny's. This bridge has some missing tie spaces and can be a bit unnerving, especially in dark like it was. Jen went slightly ahead of me, and was fine until the last one, when she went through a section of ties. She was okay, but hurting a bit.

From this end of the bridge, we continued on out to Buttsville. When we reached the road, we turned right briefly to avoid someone's yard. The rail bed is state land across it, but they have it blocked off as their own. We got back on the rail bed next to the old through truss bridge the road takes over the Pequest. This spot too is private, but it was not blocked off, so we continued no through toward the next piece of state land, which is at the Rt 31 underpass.

At this point, we had a very short distance to go to reach where the LHR crossed over the Pequest, directly under the Lackawanna's Pequest Viaduct crossing the same, which we crossed earlier. When everyone was across safe, we simply followed the rail bed back to the cars straight. It went by really fast for me, but others seemed to think the section dragged on. I suppose with all of the excitement and constant stuff going on in the previous sections, the relaxation of a longer stretch without incident must have seemed longer. The bridge we'd crossed at the start crept up on us fast, and we were finished.

It was good to be back in my element again. I felt good on the previous hike to Hackettstown, but it was different than any of the other regular stuff I do in format, because it was segmented into morning and afternoon. This hike left me in a better frame of mind that I had previously. Things felt like they were getting better, and building up to bigger events coming up very soon.