Hike #919; North Easton Area Loop

Hike #919; North Easton Area Loop

3/2/16 Easton Area Loop with Jim "Uncle Soup" Campbell, Annika Krystyna, Sue Bennett, Sheri R., and Dan Asnis.

Our next hike would be another loop night hike, returning once more to Easton PA. We’ve had so many great successful Easton area night hikes, and it had been a while since I posted one there, so it seemed like a good time to throw one out there.

Group mirror shot

We met at the Giant food store in Easton to begin a slight variation of a loop I had done in the past and really loved. It encompassed a lot of the trails as well as the Lafayette College hill that I never tire of.

Interesting building owned by Lafayette College

I believe this was Sheri’s first hike with us, but Sue’s third. I felt bad that I didn’t recognize her at first, because she was on the two 911 Memorial Trail hikes. There are so many people on those so far that it’s hard to keep track. She had come through Tom Edmunds from Morris County parks.
We headed from the start point to the store to use restrooms and such, then started walking out across the lot to Sullivan Trail, the main road, and started walking up hill. We turned off of Knox Ave which becomes the main road off Sullivan Trail to climb steeply up the hill, then turned left at the top onto Paxinosa Drive. A lot of this was the old trolley right of way. I pointed out the view and what gaps were there on the visible Blue Mountain/Kittatinny Ridge. Sheri knew something about some of the buildings up there, and we talked about one in particular that was owned by Lafayette College.

View from Paxinosa

I pointed out Wind Gap and toward the Delaware Water Gap through the trees. Some of the houses afforded us some really good views out to the ridge line.
As we walked three police cars with their sirens and lights blaring went past us. I hoped they weren’t going to Gollub Park, which would screw up out entire hike plan from that point. It turned out that was exactly where we were going, but fortunately by the time we got to the turn off for the park, all of them were heading back out in the other direction. There were a group of kids following them shortly behind, one of them smoking some questionable stuff with the police barely in front of them!

We followed the side road into Gollub Park, past the couple of houses on the lane, then onto the trail itself. We cut to the right once we were in the woods so I could take everyone up to where the pavilion was associated with the Paxinosa Inn.
There was once a grandiose hotel atop the mountain here, but it burned down. It was rebuilt and deemed “fire proof”, but it too burned down, and now there is nothing remained of the establishment at all save for the four corner bases of the pavilion that once offered nearly 360 degree views.
There is barely a view today from that spot, just what you can see in the Winter time. We continued from the pavilion site back to the trolley grade, where it made a hard hairpin turn at the edge of the rocky slopes.

From that point, a foot path continues on along the spine of the ridge to what is called Weygadt’s Gap. It is also sometimes known as “Little Water Gap” because the St. Anthony’s Nose area on the Pennsylvania side with the Marble Hill on the New Jersey side sort of make it look like a miniature Delaware Water Gap.
We continued down to the end of the foot path at a lovely rock outcrop from which we could see up the Delaware clearly. I was wearing shoes with really no sole on them, so I was slipping around quite a lot. I didn’t go as far down as I typically would have because of the trouble with the shoes.

Weygadt's Gap

We continued back up from the gap to the old trolley line right of way again. From here, we turned left, and then followed the old trolley line on a gradual down hill grade, skirting the hillside.

Old trolley line in Gollub Park

There were really nice seasonal views to the left of the grade at this point, and I noted where the new Phillipsburg high school was, where the Warren Highlands Trail typically goes, and where I planned on it going.
I mentioned in the talk that I was sort of modeling the trail plan off of what Al Kent did with the Patriot’s Path and Lenape Trails in Morris and Essex Counties. Sue asked me “Oh, you know Al Kent?”. I had forgotten she came through Tom Edmunds. “Of course I do!” I replied.
I told her that I had met him in an interview I did with him for Black River Journal. Kent has always been one of my trail role models for the work he did on the two county trail systems. He used to go door to door, knocking and asking if it would be okay for him to put in the trail. It’s the kind of thing I’m doing now, putting a friendly face to the plan before naysayers can reactive negatively.

View from the trolley bed

After speaking of Mr. Kent, my mind was blown when Sue announced to me “Well...he’s my father!”.
Here I had been hiking with the daughter of one of my role models all along, and didn’t even know it. I went on to explain to her how I used her father as an example with the 911 Trail meetings.
My big concert was the loss of identity of the trails along the way to the new trail and it’s controversial theme. The plan we were presented with showed the route of the 911 Trail bypassing Troy Meadows Natural Area, which would skip a favorite spot of mine, a special Willow Tree that the Patriot’s Path literally climbs over and through the branches.

View on trolley bed area

Mr. Kent told me in the interview that he never wanted a trail named after him; he was very humble the entire time and and just happy to get the trail opened. He just liked to walk a long way he told me.
When I told him that one of my favorite spots on the Patriot’s path was that Willow tree, he said “THAT one I’ll take credit for!”
Later, I asked Mr. Kent what his favorite spot on the Patriot’s Path was. He thought for a moment, and chimed in “That tree you mentioned before...that could be it...”.
When I saw the 911 Trail skipping that spot, I had to pipe in. If we are to keep the regional identities of these trails, how could we skip the favorite spot of the trail’s designer? When we did the more recent hike on the Mason-Dixon Trail, I realized each trail has had it’s champion. Just as Al Kent championed the Lenape Trail and Patriot’s Path, Robert Yost championed the Mason Dixon Trail.

Original St. Anthony's Nose

How would Mr. Yost feel if a huge new trail came through with not one, but two designated routes, both to the north AND to the south of the trail he laid out.
I explained all of this to Sue, how these people were heroes in their on right, and that I felt we needed to honor the work they’ve done, not a route that’s the one you can bicycle the fastest, or where there’s strong buy in from local government. Just doing what is best. These are not just trails after all, they are vehicles for education, for showcasing our nature and history. I was very glad I was able to tell Sue how important her father is to the trail planning world. I also learned she had not yet been to that special Willow tree, but that she will make a point of going now.

Deteriorated path

We continued on the trolley bed to the vague side path that leads down to the original St. Anthony’s Nose, a former view to the north at a vertically oriented stone formation.
This was the most dangerous spot on the entire hike because there is a steep drop off. I was wearing shoes with absolutely no tread, and actually slipped slightly while going down. Good thing I didn’t trip! We continued from here back to the trolley right of way and headed south. It wasn’t long from there before we reached the fence at the private land. We had to turn right there, on the old pathway that leads up to Shawnee Ave.
The pathway is in bad shape now, and the stairs no longer go all the way up to the road. It’s necessary to do a bit of climbing in order to get all the way up. We managed though, and then we walked some pleasant back streets heading generally down hill for a bit, toward the Lafayette College campus. We made some lefts and rights and eventually got there.

Easton view.

I never tire of the view from up at the college. Sue’s daughter was attending classes there, and she pointed out her car as we went by. The sun was going down, and the lights of the city were shining bright as it became darker. I slid down a long railing along a staircase, then hit my butt pretty bad on the bottom. It hurt for days after doing that. We went down a set of steps to half way down to Bushkill Drive, then back up to the statue I love so much, the war memorial that overlooks the city. We re-grouped there. It’s always one of the best views up there. I mentioned that the band “The Cyrcle” was from Easton, and was singing the song “Red Rubber Ball” while there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbDKN0dk54M
We turned right along the top of the slope and made our way through the campus. There were kids walking around everywhere, and we headed to the Fisher Campus to the west, like we usually do. There is a little store there where they sell food, and there were tons of kids around. We stopped so everyone could use the restroom. The area is like an amphitheater which is pretty cool.
From here, we made our way down through the campus, down the steps from Fisher, then along the road to a grassy swath where we climbed beneath Rt 22 to Bushkill Drive. This is tricky in the dark, but we always manage okay. We then turned right on the Karl Sterner Arts Trail, which at first and later follows an old branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. It also follows a cemetery road in the center section. We’d done this so many times, but it’s perfect for a night hike. We followed it through to the Simon Silk Mill, but no one wanted to go exploring this time. We continued on and turned left at 13th Street, back under 22.
We then followed the likely former route of Rt 22, through the main part of town. Much of it lined up with present day Bushkill Street. The main road obviously would have been Northampton Street originally, but the bridge was lined up with this one. We headed west a bit more and turned down to Wood Avenue where the old Easton and Northern Railroad crossed. We then went into the park across the way, and passed by a building. I heard a sound like a camera went off, but we continued on. We got on the bike path which took us over the footbridge over Rt 22, from Lower Hackett Park to Upper Hackett Park. At the top, we crossed over, then descended a bit on the grass to get on the path heading back down hill toward the Bushkill Creek.
Soon, we were back to the Easton and Northern right of way. There was a ton of snow at the bottom, which had been plowed back in there into several piles. We climbed over it and crossed Edgewood Avenue. The trail then goes along the former railroad through a commercial complex. The rails still protrude from the pavement there.
At the end, we got on the paved section of trail again, which was only done in the past couple of years, and followed it through a nice secluded section. We then crossed over Bushkill Creek, then crossed Bushkill Park Drive quickly. The trail then skirts some back yards, so we kept quiet, crossed Bushkill Creek again, and skirted Penn Pump Park. We went by Walters Mill Pond, and continued on the trail as it became more secluded again north of Penn Pump Park. It’s really pleasant and rather worry free from there across Stocker Mill Road. We continued north of there to where Penn’s Grant Path crosses.
We turned right on Penn’s Grant Path shortly to Bushkill Drive, and turned left, across the road. We climbed a hill from there to a paved path alongside Kesslerville Road. The path then turns away and skirts the backs of houses. I really love this area for urban hiking.
The path continues out to an intersection with an old farm road, and goes left and right. We turned right, heading south, headed down hill, then went left beneath utility lines across Wagon Wheel Drive. We remained on this section toward Sullivan Trail. The last time we had been out there, we continued out to another path section to the east, but this time we tried something new, heading south.
I always like to try to add new things onto the hike, and the entire remainder of this one would be new to me. I hadn’t tried to follow this path yet, and it ended up being really nice and relaxing. It took us across Meco Road and behind businesses, with homes to our right. It then weaved around a parking lot to the Forks Township Community Center. We kept to the right here, and then found the surprise in an historic old cabin.

Frace Cabin

The building was called the Frace (Fraes) Cabin, built in 1766 on nearby Frost Hollow Road by Michael Fraes, paid for in British Pounds on one of the Penn Patents in Forks Township. They had moved here from Lebanon Township, Hunterdon County NJ. I can’t help but wonder if I might somehow be related to Fraes, because I had many Dutch descendants in the Easton area. I’ve traced some back as far as the 1730s through the Hutchinson genealogy.
We continued on from here to the right, when the path forked. We skirted the north side of Forks Community Park for a time, then turned and skirted the west side. We could have been done slightly earlier if we had taken the east fork before, but then we wouldn’t quite have hit fifteen miles. I had to get my mileage in.
We continued the west side to the south side, and another path went to the right. I would like to do that sometime in the near future, but will work that out later. This time, we continued on to the east, along the south side of the park.

Group mirror shot at night

The path took us out to Marigold Drive, and I checked my phone for the biking maps to see where to go. Although it wasn’t shown prominently on my google maps, the path actually continued to the east from this spot, so it was perfect. We walked the paved path parallel with the access road to the park.

The path literally terminated behind the grocery store where we had met. It was perfect. We were pretty hungry, and considered places that were right there, but we had also been discussing Taco Bell, so I think our hearts were set on that. Dan started checking into their lobby hours for us on his phone.
When he called them, he found out they closed the lobby earlier for cleaning or something at the closest one. We opted to go for the one in Phillipsburg because it was on the way home for several of us. We went into the grocery store first though, which might have been necessary to put me over the mileage I wanted, but probably not.
We had finished this one surprisingly rather early as well, and it was a really nice time. It seemed like all of the hikes, night or day, had been winners lately. It’s only looking more optimistic all the time.
We had a nice Taco Bell dinner before making our way to our homes, ready for the next one.