Hike #892; Columbia to Belvidere

 Hike #892; Columbia to Belvidere

11/5/15 Columbia to Belvidere with Lerch (Kralc Leahcim), James Quinn, and Karen Ezzo

View from Portland Columbia Footbridge

Our next hike would be another night one, this time between Columbia and Belvidere.
I stressed for a while over what this hike was going to be. The only reason for doing it was because I wanted to walk several blocks remaining of the NJ Perimeter in Belvidere, and I wanted to format it into a long hike like all of the other ones were.
I knew there was this tiny bit left, and I figured all along that it was going to end up as part of a night hike, but now it was down to the last few days before the final Jersey perimeter trip, and I had to get it done.
We met in Belvidere by my grandfather’s vacant lot, where the old creamery used to be off the Bel Del Railroad. From there, we shuttled in Lerch’s car to Columbia by the foot bridge. I came up with a route that had some stuff I liked all along, some places I wanted to explore, and some other stuff I’d never used as part of a hike before.
We started with the always nice Portland Columbia footbridge with it’s nice views. I showed James where I used to climb around when I was a kid there (actually because we both had to pee). When I was little and hiking with my grandfather every Sunday near the Delaware Water Gap, we always finished out the day by going to the foot bridge and walking across to Port Mart where we could get Lehigh Valley Farms chocolate milk, which used to be my favorite before they switched it to that Tru Moo garbage.
We went half way across, then came back out to the road.

Former Lehigh and New England Railroad trestle site, abandoned 1962

We went north from the foot bridge on Washington Street, and then we walked down to the left because I wanted to show everyone where the Lehigh and New England Railroad used to cross the Delaware. Only a couple of piers remain on the NJ side, as well as two concrete footings to the metal stanchions in town. There is only a base and one abutment remaining on the Pennsylvania side. The rail line was abandoned October 31, 1962.
We walked from there up Decatur Street to cross Interstate 80 near the TA station. We turned right on Simpson Road to where we could pick up the Lehigh and New England line again, now the entrance road to the Knowlton Township Public Works department. We walked across the yard, and at the far side fought through some weeds to get on the part of the right of way on state park land.
It was getting dark too fast. Still, we made our way along the rail bed, and a guy in an adjacent field on an ATV stopped and stared at us. We turned right when we got to Stark Road, then followed it out to Rt 94. We turned right here, and when we got to some farm fields near Columbia Lake Wildlife Management Area, we cut into them and followed the side.

Abandoned

There was a house down on the property I discovered by myself many years ago, but I’d never gone back to it for some reason. It was just one of those things in the back of my mind for so long that I never got around to doing.
We walked along the edge of the fields, which fortunately for us had just recently been plowed or we’d have had a hell of a time getting through, and headed down hill to the house. I could see the roof of it sticking out from the vegetation.

Abandoned

I had found this house by accident back in what must have been 2002 or 03. Back then, I still was having trouble getting people together for the hikes. I tried planning them on my days off, people would tell me they’d be there, and then never show up.
Rather than waste the day, I would try to force myself to go out and explore on my own. On one occasion, I had gone to Wal Mart and got some sort of Huffy bicycle on sale for $25. I wanted to test it out, and so what better way to do so than by following my favorite railroad right of way? I got on the bike in Port Colden and rode the old Lackawanna main line north to Portland PA. I remember getting to Oxford and having to stop somewhere to pump the tire up, but didn’t have trouble after that. I think I even went through the tunnels. It ended up being a fifty mile day.
When I got to Columbia, not wanting to head back yet, I went to Columbia Lake WMA and followed one of the access roads to the pipe under Rt 80. I thought I could follow the edge of the lake by path all the way to Warrington Road, but I could not. It was impassable. I fought through weeds with the bike, and then came upon this abandoned house.

Abandoned with no floor

After checking out the house I ended up coming out some guy’s driveway and heading onto back roads to Delaware, then back on the railroad bed to Washington.
I’d known about this hidden house for so many years, and just never brought a group back to it. I recall having intentions to do it, but the group either wasn’t in the mood or there wasn’t enough daylight left. It was always near the end or something. This time I made it one of the main events, so we couldn’t miss it.

Abandoned

It was in pretty bad shape. The upstairs was missing boards on the floors. It was far worse than when I had found it, but still I’m surprised the thing is still standing at all so many years later, and with all the windows broken out and exposed to weather.
We checked out every floor of the place, then headed out along fields. I watched the GPS on my phone trying to keep us lined up with the gravel cul de sac in Columbia Lake WMA, the same one I had come off of on my hike over a decade before. We somehow managed to get down to the road without any real problems except climbing over some dead fallen trees. The rest was easy. We turned right on the road and passed through the giant pipe under 80.
From the point passing under Rt 80, the roadway follows the right of way of the northbound New York, Susquehann, and Western Railroad built in 1881. Much of the right of way through the area was obliterated by Rt 80, and the track to the east is now Paulins Kill Valley trail beyond, and in good shape. There was once a junction on the other side of the lake from where we stood. There was a branch that went to Delaware, and that was originally the Blairstown Railroad built in 1876. John I. Blair built the line, but sold it to NYS&W who extended it east and northwest. It traveled from Jersey City to Stroudsburg, from which point it’s wholly owned subsidiary, the Wilkes Barre and Eastern (completed 1893) continued to Wilkes Barre.
We continued on the gravel road until the right of way turned to the right. It was dark, and so we could barely see the turn off. We passed the power house at Columbia Lake dam, and then I showed everyone where the Liberty Water Gap trail goes down and under Rt 46. We then came back up and crossed the Paulins Kill on the Rt 46 bridge, also the trail route, then turned left to continue on the trail. This gained the old Blairstown Railroad right of way after a spot passing through someone’s yard. There was someone out working in their garage, with lights brightly on, but I don’t think they saw us pass through at all. It was all clear once we got to the lake.
We passed through yet another giant pipe under Rt 80 and followed the rail bed out along the shore of Columbia Lake and out to Warrington Road. There was a house right there on the corner of the rail bed and the road, and there was a guy that had just walked into the house while we walked by. He was obviously peering out the window at us as we walked, and when we got to the front and began walking Warrington Road, he switched windows and was obviously peering at us from another window. We just continued up the road to the intersection of Vail Road and Delaware Road, and continued on Delaware Road.
We passed under Rt 80, and then passed Delaware Lake on the left. There was some sort of abandoned building we had a look at on the left there.
As we walked, I told everyone some of my family history, and I remembered going with my grandfather to look for the house of some relatives of ours. It was called the Brinkruff Farm House. I remember we did find it, and until the fire I had photos of the place (I’m hoping that I can find it if I go through my stuff).

Couchery

Remarkably, as we walked, I think we came across the Brinkruff farm house. I can’t be sure, and I’ll have to look at the actual photo to make comparisons, but it’s possible this was it. I really hope I still have them somewhere among the stuff I have to go through.
We also checked out an old collapsed barn and and interesting old spring house to the right of the road.
There was an old masonry building on the left, on the hillside, and I vaguely remember one of the Albertson family being described as living on the north of town. This was a majestic home and seemed to fit that description. My great great great great great grandfather was Henry Albertson, and the one who lived in this area was supposed to be a brother of his.
We continued down hill into Delaware, and then we took a side trip onto the lovely little looping road in the gully east of town where my great grandfather, George Prall Allen was born. I showed everyone that house, which I also had an old photo of, and we continued through town.
Next, I showed everyone the oldest post office in NJ that is still in it’s original building. We made our way from here along the back road until we got to the fields behind Smiddy’s Deli. We turned here and headed over for some drinks.
The guys at Smiddy’s are always friendly and happy to see us, so we stopped to chat with them for a while before moving on.
We next picked up the old Lackawanna Railroad’s main line and followed it to the south. It’s nice and clear, so we had no trouble following it.

Manunka Chunk

After a while, we reached Manunka Chunk Tunnel. My original plan was not to go through it, but to follow the Bel Del railroad bed to the south and then do some road walking. Lerch really wanted to go through, and I was up for it, but James and Karen weren’t. I gave them directions to get them over the top, and Lerch and I would go through.

Manunka Chunk

I wasn’t going to do this the easy way.
Since it was Lerch, I knew he’d be up for more of the craziness. As he started walking into the normal portal we always pass through, I said “Oh no. We’re not doing this the easy way. We’re going the other way.”
Lerch seemed maniacally delighted as I knew he would be. We passed through and ended up doing the tunnel faster than I’d ever done it before. We went over the first two cave ins with no problem. It didn’t really start getting hard until we got to the part where the tracks were covered in silt. This tunnel had caved in before they had a chance to remove the rails, which makes this one really interesting. It’s necessary to walk on the ties in that section, because water movement under them has eroded it very deeply, and it’s over my knees if you stop in the wrong spot. So we had to carefully make our way over all of this. Lerch, with his handy height, was able to hang onto the wall and use the rail to get through without having to play the balancing act that I was.
We got past this and soon were at the east portal of the tunnel. As we walked along, we reached the path that leads up to Catherine’s Run, and I showed Lerch the little waterfall before we made our way up hill along the path. From the upper vantage point, I could see James’ flashlight and that he had gone the wrong way. Lerch and I hurried up the path over the top of the tunnel to help direct them to the right location, and we made our way ahead.

Manunka Chunk

We followed the path to the plank bridge over Catherine’s Run, which we crossed quickly with no problem, and then followed farm fields to Upper Sarepta Road. From there, we turned right and walked the road for a bit to head out to the A&P supermarket.

A&P closing

I had worked at that A&P for a while when the Mansfield store closed. We walked by the front of it, but it was closed when we got there. Part of me is sad that A&P is closing, because it was once America’s #1 grocery store, and it’s got a history of being located on the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, from an entrepreneur selling a box of tea he found.
The store built itself up, got top heavy, and poor leadership ran it into the ground. The other part of me is glad to see the chain go belly up just because of how horrible they were.
I worked at three A&Ps, but also two Shop Rites, two Radio Shaks, one JoAnne Fabrics, one Wal Mart, and a Rental Center, and of all of this retail A&P was the worst managed. It was most corrupt, and I saw fear tactics and employee abuse at levels that one would think impossible.
It’s possible this is the last time we’ll go by an A&P on one of my hikes.
We passed the store and headed to the nearby pizza place, which was getting close to closing, but we had enough time. It was actually pretty tasty, and they had beer to go with it. We had a nice sit down meal, but at my last slice they were ready for us to go.

Spider at A&P

We headed out and made our way onto Manunka Chunk Road toward Belvidere. It was getting late, and we soon reached the town park in Belvidere. We stopped to take a break, and Karen laid down in the grass. She couldn’t go on right away, but walked back to her car without us having to pick her up. The three of us continued onto the paved path from the park to the Bel Del Railroad and followed it to James Street.

Belvidere Riverton Bridge

The final leg of the hike was the last remaining bit of the Jersey Perimeter I had to do, several blocks right in town. James Street, Wall Street, Fisk Street, we finished those, and cut through a parking lot of what used to be BASF.
Water Street, Front Street, Depue Street, and part of 4th Street were all I had remaining to walk. We also went down by the Delaware at the access point, at what used to be the public beach. It was nice and relaxing to head through town and get that last bit out of the way. We walked back around the block to my grandfather’s lot, because we actually passed by the street it was on while heading south on Depue, and I took Lerch back to his car. I think we stopped for snacks or something on the way, but I can’t quite remember. I was quite tired, and I was anticipating the coming weekend.
Sunday was going to be great and no amount of negativity could mess that up.