Hike #214 4/23/6
Gerry in the Tekening Preserve
4/23/6
For this next trip, rainy weather predictions scared away all participants but GerryMartiniak. I decided to do the Belvidere/Riverton area hike once again, and Gerry droveus to the Tekening Preserve.
Me, Lower Mt Bethel Twp park when the new connector trail opened
Tekening Preserve
Tekening preserve
Tekening Preserve "Jack In The Pulpit"
Jack in the Pulpit
Delaware River from Tekening Preserve
Former Bel Del Railroad, Belvidere
Old mile marker in Belvidere NJ area
Bridge for the LHR railroad over Pophandusing Brook, Belvidere
Fields near the LHR right of way, Bridgeville
Old farm structure in Bridgeville
Abandoned farmstead near Bridgeville
Abandoned silo looking up, Bridgeville
Abandoned silo, Bridgeville
Abandoned farmstead, near Bridgeville
Old giant sycamore
Pequest River
Near Oxford Tunnel
South of Oxford Tunnel
Former Warren Railroad, Washington NJ after fixing a drain.
Washington Theatre and Dunkin Donuts
Cathy would drive us back at the end of the day. We walked the loop around the preserve as we had done in the past, following thewesternmost trails out to the south end of the preserve near the power plant, thenreturning via the riverside trail with the view of Foul Rift. This time, instead of heading back out to the parking area, there was a new trail to thenorth just before returning. We followed the path with a cinder surface alongside a field,then through a line of trees into the Lower Mt Bethel municipal park. We looked aroundfor a bit to see if there were any other new trailheads, but there were not, so we walkedacross the bridge from Riverton to Belvidere. As before, we headed up to the Bel Del lineto the L&HR right of way heading through the new development toward Bridgeville. Theonly real big changes were the facts that there were not tall crops growing and the pathfrom Hazen Road was accessable from the north side of the right of way rather than thesouth as hit had been. We stopped at the Bagelsmith in Bridgeville, then headed up Titman Ave to Edison Roadback to the right of way, and soon checked out part of the ruins of the farm along the rightof way. I climbed into an old silo I had wanted to see for some time. We continued through Buttsville, then the weather started getting much nicer, and the suncame out brightly! We continued on the right of way to Pequest, then climbed to theDL&W grade, following it to Oxford. We could have called Cathy for a ride from Oxford,having done 15 miles already, but we were both feeling well enough to continue on southto Washington on the railbed, though we did not use the Oxford Tunnel this time. We continued south across Jackson Valley Road, and when we reached the other side wewere faced with a great deal of water on the right of way. This entire section has been aproblem with runoff water since the first time I walked it. My grandfather always dislikedthis section due to the amount of water. Soon, we reached a point where we saw a drainage ditch and stone cut passage for thewater into a drainage ditch. I began trying to clear it to get the water off the railbedahead,. At first, Gerry did’nt think I’d be able to make it clear, but after a while, I hadsome water flowing into it and he joined in. The two of us worked on the drainage areafor about 45 minutes to an hour until we had the water flowing strongly through! By thetime we left, the entire right of way where we had been walking was drained of all thewater, and the right of way ahead of us had drained significantly. I honestly believe weflooded someone’s back yard due to this, but I suppose we’ll never know. We continuedon through Washington with no problems. We soon reached Port Colden and Cathyreturned Gerry to his car.
PICS!!! Here's a link to all of them from this hike followed by descriptions...http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q13/sneezehorse/hike214%204-23-6/1.) View of the Pacific Power and Light Martins Creek Station (formerly Roxburg) from the Tekening Preserve near Riverton PA
2.) Gerry on one of the southernmost trails in Tekening Preserve
3.) A Jack in the Pulpit Plant Gerry pointed out on the Blue Trail in Tekening Preserve
4.) Another Jack in the Pulpit Plant
5.) View of the Delaware River, the PP&L plant from Tekening.
6.) Me on the newly cleared connector trail between the Tekening Preserve and the Lower Mt. Bethel Twp. municipal park in Riverton PA.
7.) Former Belvidere and Delaware Railroad in Belvidere NJ near a former station site
8.) Old mile marker along former Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad showing one mile out of Belvidere NJ near the bridge crossing of the Pophandusing Brook
9.) Old bridge across the Pophandusing Brook
10.) Gerry along the former L&HR railroad in fields near Bridgeville NJ
11.) Me at an abandoned farmstead near Bridgeville and Edison Road
12.) Old barn silo just east of Bridgeville along the L&HR RR grade
13.) Looking up into the silo at the abandoned farm
14.) Apparently bullet holes in the top of the silo
15.) Gerry at the ruins of the old farm house
16.) Giant tree near the old farmstead
17.) View of the Pequest River from the abandoned railroad bed in Buttsville
18.) South portal of the Oxford Tunnel
19.) Gerry on the old DL&W Railroad right of way in Washington Twp.
20.) Me after Gerry and I cleared the clogged up drainage passage and cleared the water off the railroad grade
21.) B&R Diner and Dunkin Donuts scheduled to be demolished and rebuilt as a larger Dunkin Donuts
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