Hike #876; Lambertville to Frenchtown

Hike #876; Lambertville to Frenchtown

8/27/15 Lambertville to Frenchtown with Lerch, Sarah Jones, James Quinn, Shane Blische, Jim "Uncle Soup" Campbell, Jess Collins, Dan Asnis, Erika Daniels, and Blair Murdoch.

Historic photos provided by Shane Blische

Group shot

Our next hike would be a point to point between Frenchtown and Lambertville, posted because there was a tiny bit of Jersey Perimeter I wanted to get out of the way in Byram along the way. It turned out to be an even smaller piece than I'd anticipated needed, on a short road along the river, and down to some boat launch spots. Still, it was a nice night to be out, and ended up with a full moon.

We met at 4 pm in Frenchtown NJ at the station and headed south to Lambertville. I stopped for drinks and met Lerch at the store, didn't even know he was coming. It actually took me less time than anticipated to get there from work.

We shuttled south to behind the station restaurant in Lambertville to begin walking. Shane would meet us by his house in New Hope, and James, Erika, and Blair would meet us just north of there. We headed from the lot along the edge of the restaurant lot, closer to the waterfront because I'd never bothered walking it that close before.

Along the Delaware

We headed out across the bridge into New Hope and in a block to Dunkin Donuts.  Uncle Soup bought everybody a donut at this little break before moving on. Just up the street, we met up with Shane at the Bridge Street overpass of the Delaware Canal. We all began walking the canal to the north from here.

Shane was wearing a crazy hat, with wiskers painted on his face, and carrying a kid's keyboard. I took it from him and tried to play the "Theme from Mahogany", and "Imagine", but the keys are really really small.

Delaware Canal as James I believe passes over

We headed north on the canal a bit, and James had already arrived in New Hope. We just had to figure out where he could park. We passed the rail yards for New Hope and Ivyland Railroad, which Shane doesn't like, and we could barely seen an old beat locomotive on a side track there. Shane told us the line ended where it serviced a quarry just to the north.

Just as we reached where Rt 32 crosses the canal, James drove over top. We knew it was him because Lerch saw Erika in the passenger seat. I told him we saw him so we took a break to wait a bit. He eventually came back, and this time I was sure it was him. I was on the phone with him and so he pulled over. We planned to try to have him park over by Rt 202 to catch us. We continued walking north here.

Delaware Canal

There was a spot with a nice reproduction of an historic style canal crossing bridge, and James parked at a restaurant or something. The three of them fought through some weeds and reached the bridge, then we all continued on the towpath to the north. Somehow, Shane managed to drop his keyboard in the water and ended up throwing it out.

Shane's get up

We continued north through Centre Bridge rather quickly. It was nice for me to walk this section a bit slower and have a look around. Some of this section I had actually never "walked" before, but rather ran with Jason Itell and Brian Esposito several years ago. I told everyone how we had stopped for ice cream at Centre Bridge, but the rest of it went by so fast it is hard to recall all of it. I also broke my camera on that trip and took only one photo.

The towpath passed along the top of a retaining wall that was constructed following the devastating flood that occurred in 2004. From it, we had fantastic views of the Delaware and of the former Delaware and Raritan Feeder Canal on the other side. The feeder canal at that point is in poor condition. The towpath is at about river level, and is purged in places. The spillway at the Lockatong Creek confluence has been rebuilt somewhat recently, and we'd swam in it on a recent hike. We had a really nice view of it and the Bel Del bridge, now the trail, on the other side.

Lovely view of reflections. Blair took a similar one too.

The sun was beginning to go down, and it was very lovely through this section.

We continued on the northbound canal and soon reached where the Cuttalossa Creek flows. There are lovely old stone buildings here on the land side of the canal, and Shane mentioned that one of them was a former mill that was being restored. I had been looking at that area on maps, and even though it's a road, I would like to hike along the Cuttalossa Creek and see historic homes and the creek. That'll be a future one.

We also passed old canal barges, parked and abandoned from when they used to ride down to New Hope. Hopefully one day they will be operational again, but as of now the canal no longer holds water in many places.

We went by the old quarry places that are still in operation, and continued on toward Lumberville. As we neared the foot bridge to Bulls Island, Shane went and walked in the canal a bit. He found a hat which Uncle Soup went and got, and wore for the remainder of the trip. Apparently someone had dropped it while dining at the restaurant there.

Sunset over Lumberville on the Delaware

We headed across the canal, which is dry at this point. Bruce Hockenbury was hanging out there waiting for us to show up, intercepting as he had done the previous time. We hung out on the bridge and watched a search and rescue drill to the south. Lerch climbed up on the bridge as we got there for the group shot Bruce took, and I think it sort of scared the rescue people like if he was going to jump off.

We headed off of the bridge just as it was getting dark, and some of the group used the restroom which was still open. We crossed the Delaware and Raritan Canal, and I told Bruce where we were headed next. Some of the group went way ahead, and they missed the next turn off I took after getting on the old Bel Del right of way.

Historic Raven Rock Station

Historic view of the Raven Rock station on the Belvidere Delaware Railroad in 1895

We got on the railroad bed at Raven Rock, the NJ side next to Bulls Island. The town of Raven Rock was once a bigger deal, but today it is really kind of lost because of the popularity of Bulls Island. Hardly anyone refers to the area as Raven Rock anymore. There was once a rail station at this point, but it was one of the ones abandoned earlier.

Historic train photo at Raven Rock

ALCo RS11s lead a southbound coal train through Raven Rock in 1966, shot by Martin Zak.

When I saw the road going off to the left, the Byram Boat Launch, I knew I had to head down. This would be a good spot for a swim. I had to ignore the fact that no one else was waiting up for me. It would be too good to pass up, and I hadn't stopped to swim yet. It was an absolutely beautiful spot, and indescribably refreshing.

Moonlight over the Delaware, Byram access

The moon was coming up over the foot bridge, still in view, and the Delaware River. I figured the group would probably wait for us at the next point. The water was good and deep at this point, and we had a relaxing swim. It was rejuvenating enough to continue after that. The moon continued to rise and provided enough light that no flashlight would be necessary.

Historic view near Byram

Penn Central ALCo powered train heads north along the Delaware River near Byram.

Shot 1971 by Martin Zak
The old Bel Del line was nice and flat, down below the level of the highway at this point, so we wouldn't be easily seen. It didn't take long before we reached the parking area in Byram, where the bridge used to cross the Delaware. Everyone was waiting for us at this point, including Bruce who had come back to visit. I guess this was good because it gave him the opportunity to hang out with the group a bit more.
I might have taken a little more time as well, because there was a road prior to this that goes a little bit closer to the Delaware than I had walked before in Byram. I took a small path down from the rail bed and onto the road for some distance to the north, and again returned to the rail bed. I'm really trying to cross my "t"s and dot my "i"'s on this one.

Byram Station historic view

Byram Station, seen here in 1945. It was established in 1852 when the second phase opened to Tumble Falls. The station was mostly destroyed in the Great Flood of 1955. Little remains of the station today unfortunately.

The group was waiting at what was the site of the former Byram Station. Shane pointed out where the station used to stand, and also how the more recent re-alignment of the parking area had moved the trail back from where the tracks were, and the parking lot onto the former right of way.

We continued walking from here to the north.

It seemed like it was going to be a long way, but the distance went by pretty fast. I had been hoping to get up to Devil's Tea Table on the way back up, but there just wasn't going to be enough time and daylight to do that on this one. The moon rose high, and especially in the sections of open fields and such, the light cast our shadows on the trail in front of us which was really neat.

Historic Frenchtown Station view

The original Frenchtown station, opened 1853 when the third phase opened to Milford. It was remodeled in 1950 to replace the dilapidated 97 year old structure. Shot sometime in the 1940s by Stanley Zak.

As we neared Frenchtown Station, I also did not remain on the railroad bed. There was one bit of River Road that goes closer to the Delaware I had not walked, so we turned off at the last crossing and followed it out to the river for a bit. It wasn't long beyond that that we reached the station itself.

The original station was a more handsome structure had a fate I am uncertain of, but Shane can probably comment on further.

Frenchtown Station historic photo

The "new" downgraded station, seen here in 1962. Passenger service is already gone but the freight trains still rumble. Shot by Norman Lipponcott.

The "newer" station, you will notice in the photos, seems to have the windows in exactly the same spot as the original station, and the ticket booth also appears to be in the exact same place. I wonder if this current station, which has been remodeled into the station cafe, is actually the original station with it's second story removed? The dimensions definitely suggest that such is possible.

Frenchtown Station historic photo

A southbound freight train led by EMD GP30 #2226 passes the remodeled Frenchtown Station in 1975, shot by Richard Makse. The station still housed a freight agent and block station agent until Conrail took over in 1976.

Some of the group remained on the railroad bed I think, and didn't take long to arrive at the end point. I took Lerch back to his car, and someone else took

Historic Frenchtown Station

Historic Frenchtown Station

James, Erika, and Blair back to James's car.  Lerch and I took a trip to Wawa again for some food, and were halted by some road work for a while.

This one to me was a much mellower hike than many of the night ones were, more of just a relaxing thing than a very serious hike, but it was good to get another tiny bit of the perimeter stuff done, and to be able to do so on a route that was almost entirely trail.

Only one more segment remained for me to finish, a small piece also in Lambertville to be done on the next night hike. I'm getting more excited all the time for the completion of the perimeter.