In South Amboy hiking
5/7/6
Industrial site in Perth Amboy
Industrial site Perth Amboy
This next hike would be the one following the annual party, which this year we decided tomake a Cinco De Mayo theme party (only on seis de Mayo, technically). We did’nt havethe party on my birthday this year, so we had it in May. It was not surprising that only oneparticipant who was at the party would join in on the hike, “Marky Mark” Camaano outfor his second trip with me.
Plaque on the new Victory Bridge, Perth Amboy
View up the Raritan from the Victory Bridge
View up the Raritan from the Victory Bridge
Raritan Bay from the Victory Bridge
Victory Bridge, Perth Amboy
On the Victory Bridge, Perth Amboy
Victory Bridge
View from the Victory Bridge of South Amboy
View from the Victory Bridge of the Raritan shore line.
South Amboy NJ
New development going in in South Amboy
South Amboy
South Amboy
South Amboy, originally the New York and Long Branch railroad tracks.
Ship in the Raritan Bay from South Amboy
South Amboy view into the bay
Raritan bay waterfront park in South Amboy
View of the Outerbridge Crossing from South Amboy
The beach in South Amboy
Outerbridge Crossing view from South Amboy
The beach in South Amboy
Beach in South Amboy
On the beach, South Amboy
Raritan Bay waterfront park in South Amboy
Raritan Bay
Branch on Raritan Bay
Raritan Bay beach in South Amboy
Along the Raritan Bay near South Amboy
Log on the beach in South Amboy
Beach in South Amboy
Raritan Bay view, South Amboy
Wtf? Rooted with garbage?
Along the Raritan Bay in South Amboy
Raritan Bay, South Amboy
Raritan Bay in South Amboy
South Amboy NJ
Morgan beach area. Tons of snails.
View of the NY Transit tracks nearby along Raritan Bay
Horseshoe Crab
Approaching where the former New York and Long Branch railroad, now NJ Transit goes along the beach.
Beach near Morgan
Raritan Bay near Morgan
Raritan Bay near Morgan
Near Morgan NJ
Near Morgan along the Raritan Bay
Raritan Bay near Morgan
Raritan Bay near Morgan
Ruins along the Raritan Bay at Morgan NJ
Morgan NJ
Making our way around a pier in Morgan NJ
Pier along the Raritan Bay we had to climb down in Morgan NJ
Jetti in Morgan NJ
Jetti in Morgan NJ, Cheesequake Creek
Cheesequake Creek Bridge, Morgan NJ
Boat in the Cheesequake Creek
Cheesequake Creek
Lift bridge
Steps at the Cheesequake Creek bridge
Cheesequake Creek outlet and the Raritan Bay
Beach near Laurence Harbor
Laurence Harbor NJ
Laurence Harbor NJ
Raritan Bay from Laurence Harbor
Raritan Bay from Laurence Harbor
Raritan Bay from Laurence Harbor
Verrazzanno Narrows coming into view in Laurence Harbor
Along the Raritan Bay
Along the Raritan Bay
Raritan Bay east of Laurence Harbor
Raritan Bay
Sea wall at Cliffwood Beach
Atop a sea wall at Cliffwood Beach
On top of a big sea wall nearing the Matawan area
Raritan Bay around Matawan Point
Raritan Bay and Verazzano Narrows Bridge in view from Matawan Point area
Verrazanno Narrows Bridge from Matawan Point area
Staten Island view from Matawan Point area
Matawan Point area view toward Staten Island
Verrazanno Narrows from Matawan Point
Raritan Bay view from Matawan Point
Staten Island from Matawan Point
Sea wall at Cliffwood Beach
Cliffwood beach area, Matawan Point
View from Matawan Point
Keyport Harbor from Matawan Point
Matawan Point view of Keyport Harbor
View out to Keyport Harbor from Matawan Point
Keyport train station
Len Adam also joined for his second trip, the first being theTrenton to Lambertville canal hike two winters before, and one newcomer, Peter Foxfrom Wilmington, Delaware, the furthest south anyone had come for my day hikes! Petetold me that the only other hike going on during this Sunday was a poetry hike, so minelooked a bit more attractive. Fred was also on board as usual. This would be once again the furthest continueous eastward section to date again, asplanned we would walk along the Rariton Bay east from where we left off in PerthAmboy. We met at the Perth Amboy Railroad Station. Marky Mark was generous enough todrive, and I was quite thankful for that as I would have had a hard time getting thereotherwise! We began walking west on County Rt 658, opting not to walk down to Ferry Point wherewe first touched the beach on the previous section. We continued through what lookedlike an abandoned industrial area on the roads, turning right and then left to the north sideof the new Victory Bridge completed just about a year before. The was fortunitely awalkway on the west side. There were great views from the bridge to the west, but thesuperior views were to the east. I had to run and jump over the median, which was a bitnerve wrecking because I could see down to the Raritan below. Fortunitely it was notopen enough for me to fall between, and I got my good pictures to the east. On the other side of the bridge at Marsh Point, I was a bit worried we would not be ableto find a way to the beachfront. We first walked along County Rt 684 which took us underand along a railroad, former Central Railroad of NJ’s Bayshore Branch, becoming MainStreet into South Amboy. Along the way was some kind of big mill place and another siteof a huge proposed developement which kind of irked me. We walked through the cutelittle downtown area then made our way in a block from the main street, up and throughan enclosed pedestrian bridge over the tracks, then parallel to them for a bit. The road wewere following turned a bit north, and I decided it would be a good time to try to get tothe shoreline. The road headed out almost to the water, then turned east parallel to the bay. There was abuilding site under construction between finished structures, so I took this as anopportunistic point to walk through. We crossed the disturbed area out to a nice walkwaymade of pavers along the shore. Large ships were docked to our west, apparently oiltankers or something. Ward Point on Staten Island was within view, as well as a beautifulclear view of the Outerbridge Crossing. A lighthouse was also visible far out in the bay. I made my way down onto the beach, and everyone else soon followed. I found this to bea great experiance, having walked all the way in a line between here and my home.Though I had done two beach hikes before with Cathy, and one short section in PerthAmboy’s short beach section, there were many things through this trip that I had notexperianced yet. For one, I had never seen a Razor Clam. They were shaped like old stylerazors, and I had no idea what they were and why they were so abuntant. Pete told meabout them and what they were, and I was amazed. We also saw many dead HorseshoeCrabs. Where little creeks flowed into the bay, they hit the beach in wide spreads of waterso shallow you could walk across them without getting your feet wet. The beach soon ended, and we found ourselves walking through some grassy lands, andthe former CNJ Bayshore Branch Railroad sat just above us on a bit of a fill. It moved offfrom the waterfront shortly. We continued through grasslands to Morgan where theCheesequake Creek flowed into the bay. It was quite wide at this point, as several smallcreeks all joined here. We crossed the creek using the Rt 35 bridge. On the other side, wewere in Morgan Beach. We were able to continue to the shoreline once again easilythrough more grassy shores and sandy beaches. Much of this was now a parkland which allowed us legal public access. We passedthrough Lawrence Harbor through Seidler Beach on the way to Raritan Bay Beach. Someof this is now the Raritan Riverfront Viewing Area. As I recall, we must have crossedMarquis Creek on the way easily over the beach. We went over a section of rocky coast,passed the ruins of a building of some kind, and walked out on a jetti into the water alongthe way. At one point, I believe in Raritan Bay Beach before the jetti, we came to a largewooden dock which we did’nt know how to get around, as it went into the water to ourleft. There was a spot where we could climb on using a metal bar and I founda patharound to the other side. There was a ladder going down onto the next section of beach onthe waterfront side! We soon headed out to a place where there were a lot of peoplefishing, and the beach opened up very clearly. There was a nice section of more developedparkland as we left Middlesex County on the way into Monmouth, and there was aboardwalk and bridge over the Whale Creek. The other side of the creek was calledCliffwood Beach. We continued on the boardwalk for as long as was feasable, thenwalked the beach some more. We passed by the Treasure Lake viewing area at the town of Cliffwood Beach as theVerrazzano Narrows Bridge becan coming into sight in the distance. After another sectionof beach and grasslands, we climbed atop a large, long Sea Wall leading us along the coastfor quite a different walking experiance. Marky Mark was hurting pretty bad while wewere walking here, but he pushed onward. The sea wall became more broken up and therewas an access to a couple roads. We continued on an interesting rocky section out toMatawan Point on Keyport Harbor. This section was sorrounded by large piles of dirtpresumable to keep crashing waves at bay. I tried to continue walking out along the coastin toward the next road, but it became far too wet and I had to turn back. We made our way into Cliffwood Beach and wandered several roads trying to find ourway out. Fred and I both had Hagstrom maps covering the area, so he and Pete decided togo on ahead while I continued on with Len and Marky Mark. Finally, when I got the twoof them out to West Front Street, the road which crosses the outer part of KeyportHarbor on a bridge, I told the two of them to wait behind while I ran ahead. I ran up and across the bridge, then into the west side of Keyport. I turned right andcontinued south on what looked like a main drag. I asked some people on their porches ifthey’d seen two guys come by, and fortunitely I was just behind them. I turned right on Rt516 and kept running until I could see them walking far ahead of me. I ran and finallycaught up. The three of us continued on 516 over the Garden State Parkway to Matawanand the NJ Transit Train Station. We bought tickets from a vending machine, and it onlycost us $1.50 to take the train back to Perth Amboy! I put a 20 dollar bill in and got 18one dollar bills and fifty cents! The train took us back to Perth Amboy and Pete took me back to get Marky Mark andLen, though we had to detour a bit due to an accident. Still, quite a great hike I thought!
Keyport train station
Photos by Mike Helbing and Fred Hafale (FH), here's a link to all of them followed by their descriptions:
http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q13/sneezehorse/hike216%205-7-6/
1.) The north side of the Victory Bridge in an old industrial site, Perth Amboy NJ
2.) Another view of the industrial site and Victory Bridge (FH)
3.) Plaque commemorating the Victory Bridge
4.) View west along the Raritan River from the Victory Bridge of the Parkway Bridges
5.) Parkway Bridge as seen from the Victory Bridge (FH)
6.) View out to the Raritan Bay from the Victory Bridge
7.) View across the Victory Bridge (FH)
8.) Pete Fox, Len Adam, "Marky Mark" Camaano, and I on the Victory Bridge (FH)
9.) Parkway Bridges from the Victory Bridge (FH)
10.) View of the north side of the Parkway Bridge from Victory Bridge (FH)
11.) Wetlands in South Amboy as seen west of the Victory Bridge
12.) On the South Amboy side of the Victory Bridge (FH)
13.) Len observing a site that was soon to be developed
14.) An industrial site in South Amboy NJ
15.) Railroad underpass in South Amboy
16.) NJ Transit shore line tracks from pedestrian overpass in South Amboy (FH)
17.) South Amboy NJ, along the railroad tracks
18.) Oil tanker on the Raritan Bay from South Amboy
19.) Another view of the tanker (FH)
20.) Me, Len, and Pete overlooking the Raritan Bay in South Amboy (FH)
21.) The Outerbridge Crossing from South Amboy (FH)
22.) View out to the Raritan Bay (FH)
23.) Nice view of the Outerbridge Crossing between NJ and Staten Island NY
24.) Me on the beach in South Amboy (FH)
25.) A lighthouse out on the water on the Raritan Bay, South Amboy
26.) Marky Mark and Pete in South Amboy
27.) A nice walkway along the shore in South Amboy (FH)
28.) Raritan Bay view
29.) A giant log up on the beach (FH)
30.) Another view of the same giant branch just east of South Amboy
31.) Me, Pete, and Marky Mark on the log
32.) More of us on the log (FH)
33.) View west toward South Amboy (FH)
34.) Another view of the Outerbridge Crossing (FH)
35.) A junk sculpture? (FH)
36.) A small stream outlet into the bay near Morgan (FH)
37.) At the same small creek outlet (FH)
38.) The small creek letting out into the bay
39.) Horseshoe Crab shell
40.) Tons of snails on the beach!
41.) The NJ Transit tracks in view in the distance (FH)
42.) Horseshoe Crab (FH)
43.) NJ Transit tracks in view along the shore (FH)
44.) The beach and the railroad together near Morgan
45.) Along the Raritan Bay, the tracks are to the left (FH)
46.) Along the bay near Morgan
47.) Another view out to the bay (FH)
48.) Pete and Marky Mark walking along the grassy shore line near Morgan
49.) Morgan Beach vicinity (FH)
50.) Making our way along a rocky coastline
51.) Some sort of burnt ruins in the Morgan area
52.) Climbing up onto some sort of old dock in the Morgan vicinity
53.) Climbing a dock (FH)
54.) Marky Mark and Pete coming down the dock right along the water
55.) Len on a Jetti near Morgan
56.) More of Len on the jetti (FH)
57.) Bridge over the Cheesequake Creek (FH)
58.) A motorboat on the Cheesequake Creek (FH)
59.) Rt 35 crossing over the Cheesequake Creek
60.) The lift operation of the Cheesequake Creek Bridge!
61.) Climbing to the top of the Cheesequake Creek bridge (FH)
62.) The outlet of the Cheesequake Creek into the Raritan Bay (FH)
63.) Along Morgan Beach
64.) Along the Viewing Area at Laurence Harbor
65.) Me in the Laurence Harbor area (FH)
66.) Another view of the bay (FH)
67.) The city as seen across the bay (FH)
68.) The Verrazano Narrows Bridge coming into view (FH)
69.) The Verrazano Narrows Bridge becoming clearer in view
70.) Pete taking pictures of flowers
71.) Raritan Bay Beach
72.) Pete with a Horseshoe Crab
73.) A Great White Heron or Egret along the waters of the Raritan Bay near Cliffwood Beach
74.) The Verrazano Narrows Bridge becoming even clearer yet
75.) View west from atop a sea wall at Cliffwood Beach, looking toward Treasure Lake area
76.) An even better view of New York City with the Verrazano Bridge becoming clearer
77.) A paddler in the Raritan Bay with a view of the city
78.) View of the top of the sea wall (FH)
79.) Me on the sea wall (FH)
80.) A view out onto Keyport Harbor (FH)
81-87.) More views north toward the city (FH)
88.) Fred on a rocky battered sea wall nearing Matawan Point
89.) Here we are making a corner along the bay (FH)
90.) View across the bay again (FH)
91-92.) Keyport Harbor (FH)
93.) View between parts of he sea wall at Matawan Point
94.) The NJ Transit tracks looking east from Matawan Railroad Station
95.) Pete and Fred waiting for the train at Matawan Station
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