Hike #976; Warren County Rail Loop

Hike #976; Warren Co Railroad Loop

10/13/16 Pequest & Belvidere Area Loop with Jim "Uncle Soup" Campbell, Eric Gregorich, Jessica Anne, and Jennifer Berndt.

This hike would be another repeat of one of my favorite Warren County abandoned railroad loops. I had been planning again to do the Warren Highlands Trail scouting, but again more key players were not available, and since it was a completely different group than the last time, I opted to changed it to this again. I knew this group would appreciate this hike.

Pequest Furnace Railroad bed

We had met in Washington with the plan of doing the Warren Highlands Trail route, but then shifted and shuttled up to Pequest Furnace to start the rail loop again.
This time, I wouldn’t have to do anything in an odd order again because I had just done the route and knew we could easily still walk through. It would be simply the Lackawanna old main line from Pequest Furnace to Manunka Chunk, the Bel Del line and near it south to Belvidere, then the Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad bed east to return to Pequest Furnace. Our cars were parked literally right where the tracks used to be.
We made our way across the through girder bridge over the Pequest, then turned left on the ATV trail through the Pequest Furnace site. I pointed out some historic ruins through the area as we went by.
A right fork where ATV trails come together takes us past some old foundations, then to the right of way of the former Pequest Furnace Railroad. We remained on that right of way east to the old Lackawanna Railroad main near the dramatic Pequest Cut.

At the sand quarry lands

We stayed on the Lackawanna line, a really beautiful section through Pequest Wildlife Management Area over top of the Pequest River on the viaduct, a three arch concrete span going over both the river and the former Lehigh and Hudson River railroad. We then crossed over Rt 46 in Buttsville, continued up behind the gas station, then followed the right of way north.
The rail bed disappears at Green Pond Road, so we had to follow the parallel road briefly, then got back on it again by Hot Dog Johnny’s. A side path to the right leads up hill and helps to circumvent the sand quarry that has been built over the rail bed. We continued out through the open area easily.

Bridgeville fire

We got back on the right of way on the other side of the sand quarry, and I saw the wood sticking up from the large “no trespassing” sign that had been placed at the site in 1997. I have several photos of the thing, which is still laying under a mess of weeds there. Spots like this make the passage of time more abundantly clear, but at the same time confusing. How can something deteriorate so much in so little time? Something as hard and sturdy as wood has not stood the test of time as well as I have. I really don’t feel any differently than I did when I was seventeen, and yet it’s been almost twenty years I’ve been organizing these hikes.
The rail bed emerged across from the building at Bridgeville, and it was again sad to see the old station in the back sort of gutted by fire. We walked on along the right of way to the northwest, and crossed Harmony Station Road followed by Sarepta Road, then Upper Sarepta Road.

Crossing Catherine's Run

We were on the railroad bed only a short bit on the other side. I was concerned because a large cement mixer had been parked on the right of way. I was concerned they may try to reach the tunnel in order to cement it shut.
I was told recently that the state was concerned about Geocachers going into the tunnel to hide crap.
We continued on the parallel farm road out to the wooden plank bridge crossing of Catherine’s Run. From there, the decision had to be made to pass through Manunka Chunk Tunnel, or to skip it. Jess wanted to do it, and so did Eric, so off we went. I gave Uncle Soup the simple directions over the top to the other side, and he made it with no problem.

Manunka Chunk Tunnel

We walked through the wet mess in order to get over to the east portals of the tunnel. We used the easier one of the two to pass through, without the rails in it. It still had tons of mud, but overall it was fine.
We were careful not to slip over in there. Jess had already taken a nasty fall off of the plank bridge over Catherine’s Run earlier because it was so slippery, and fortunately wasn’t more than a little bruised. I declared that our quota of falling for the evening, and fortunately we didn’t have any more.
We emerged at the other side of the tunnel, and Uncle Soup was already waiting there on arrival.

Manunka Chunk Tunnel

We continued on the other side to the left, onto the old Bel Del Railroad right of way. I again gave the history of the site, the station that once stood at the west portal, the railroad yard, the floods, and more. A major flood in 1913 had badly damaged the rail yard, but the Flood of 1955 washed out so much of the Bel Del that the company deemed it irreparable.
Many years ago I spotted old railroad rails still down in the last washout spot below, which is now behind a business called Mike’s Tykes. We continued to the south along the Bel Del line toward Belvidere.

Historic view of Manunka Chunk at the 1913 flood

While walking the Bel Del, Jen met up with us walking the other way. She had met up at this exact spot on one of the past night hikes, because it’s pretty much where she can get to after getting out of work.

Sunset over Hoffman LaRoche

We had to walk a stretch of Rt 46, one of the worst parts of the hike, then turned right on Manunka Chunk Road heading toward Belvidere. The road walk section is much better on Manunka Chunk Road because there is a wide grassy swath with corn fields around us that provides a buffer to the traffic. At some points it’s even at a much higher elevation from the road, making it seem like we’re not even walking beside a road. We had some of the light visible from the Hoffman LaRoche buildings as we went by. It made me think of all of the seemingly countless times we sneaked along the Delaware behind it to pass through.
We continued to the town park near the pool, then turned right across a field and to the paved trail system behind the park, which we took on a half loop then an informal path to the Bel Del tracks, still used as an industry spur to here to reach the aforementioned industry.
We walked the tracks south into the town of Belvidere; everyone hesitated when we got to the undecked tie bridge over the street, which always gives me a bit of a laugh because I have no problem with it.
When we got to the bridge that crosses over the Pequest, this time we headed down and into town to get food and drinks. I wasn’t feeling all that well, and I wanted something to drink.
I didn’t want some sort of Four Loco or sweet thing. I really wanted a Weyerbacher, but the store in town didn’t have it. I gave the clear a silly hard time about it, but she handled it all well with a laugh.
We turned right to cross the Pequest River on the road bridge, then stopped into Skoogy’s Deli for a bite to eat.
I was so stressed out from work that I could half the time barely have an appetite. I knew I hadn’t eaten and that I should probably have something, so I grabbed a half size premade sandwich. Even before finishing the small thing, my stomach hurt terribly. My life can’t keep going on the way it has with all of the work stress or I’ll end up having a very serious problem.
I managed to eat the entire sandwich piece before moving on, but I didn’t feel good for a while walking. We headed to where the Belvidere Station used to stand, and got on the tracks heading south.

Historic view of Belvidere Station

We walked the rather freshly ballasted Bel Del line past the former northbound junction with the Lehigh and Hudson River line, then continued to the southbound junction, the main line from which point the Lehigh and Hudson line had trackage rights on the Bel Del. We turned left to following the northeast bound Lehigh and Hudson line.
It was nice at first, with the old tracks in place to the right, but when we got to the road underpass, beyond was still very wet. Everyone else walked around the big puddle while I went right through it.

Pophandusing Bridge

We made our way past the two old hopper cars, past the station, and then through the former rail yard to reach the old bridge over the Pophandusing Brook. I warned everyone that this was undecked, and that last time Jason went down and over the brook below. This time, everyone made it across okay. We continued on the other side into the age restricted community, and I think I walked into a chain or something as we entered the area.
On or close to the railroad bed through the development, and across each road, was a narrow surfaced path. This took us right out to the crossing in Hazen. From there, we crossed and headed down into the line of trees around the rail bed at the Unangst Farm. I think I fell here trying to get down, but was okay.
I was happy to find that I’d still had one beer in my backpack that had somehow escaped me. I was feeling really bad after eating, as well as feeling stressed out, and that one beer really helped out.
I hate the fact that I am relying on any outside source for redemption for how I’ve been feeling. I’ve always been able to push through just about anything. I suppose I could push through this as well, but I feel like I’m suffering through it.
It was also a huge help that the section ahead was so stunningly beautiful. I have always loved the section of the right of way passing through the Unangst Farm. It’s wide open, without a tree lining the right of way at all. Clear as can be, with just enough ambient light from the moon, the stars, and the far off farms to see without a light, even on the darkest of nights.
We passed through this section and out toward Rt 519. The corn had been plowed since the last time I was there, and I considered passing directly along the railroad bed, but it would have been tough going, so we just kept to the farm access to the road. We passed beneath the through girder bridge of the old LHR line, then up to Titman Ave. We turned right here, and followed it out toward Rt 46. I had wished we could get over to the next good section on the other side of Edison Road, but the county had removed the old road bridge. Maybe one day we can get a footbridge. We walked Rt 46 this time and turned right to pick up the railroad bed in Buttsville near the old truss bridge that predated the Rt 31 alignment.

Pequest Bridge in Buttsville

We got right back on the right of way at the road bridge, and were able to follow it easily on out along the Pequest underneath route 31, then across the through girder bridge across the Pequest, directly beneath the old Lackawanna bridge we had crossed earlier.
This time, there was a couple of planks set up on the old bridge to walk over; some of the ties had been removed, presumably to keep ATVs from continuing through onto private land. The state apparently does not own the entire stretch of the line through Buttsville, though they should.
We continued on the right of way with no problem through the dark woods back to Pequest Furnace.

The group on the LHR bridge

I never get tired of exploring these favorite old places and sharing them with friends who haven’t seen them yet. The history is amazing, and the feeling of walking through the night through the open fields or wandering through the unseasonably warm woods woods is indescribable.
Lately, it is often that these hikes are the only things that keep me feeling at all sane. I question myself and stress over my decisions and how to move forward, but the hikes are on the outside of that. They’ve always been the best therapy, with the simplicity of one foot in front of the other. It’s likely I’ll do another hike like this one through the area in the near future.