Hike #221 6/16/6
6/16/6
This next hike was a spur of the moment one again. With the days now long enough thatwe could start later in the afternoon, Cathy, Skyler and I were able to do a hike afterworking a half day at Works Date, where I was working regularly.
I had also beencontacted by Warren Reporter, the local county newspaper, about my hiking trips, and myinterview was to be in Hackettstown on this date. We drove to Hackettstown, and Cathydropped Skyler and I off at the Warren Reporter office while she headed out to get ussandwiches. Skyler and I walked in and gave them an interview for maybe an hour, andalso supplied some pictures. The reporter’s name was Kevin Lechinski, and he wrote whatI felt was the best article on my hikes to date, having been in both Star Ledger andExpress Times, as well as Skylands Visitor. After the interview, the three of us ate our sandwiches in the parking lot behind thebuilding, then walked out to the Main Street to the former Morris and Essex Railroadtracks. We turned left to walk them to Washington. It felt a little funny as we walked bythe station platform, people waiting for the train as we walked by on the tracks. We continued west soon crossing Rockport Road on a bridge, then passing under AllenRoad. A bit past there was an old farm overpass that is part of the Donaldson Farm whereCathy found some plants that she thought looked like Marijuana. She was picking lots ofthem, and realized it was’nt. As a joke to get me mad, she did’nt tell me it was’nt andcarried it for miles. She even asked me to carry it for her for a bit. She soon told me itwas’nt marijuana, but that she wanted to give it to a friend as a joke. I continued to carryit for a while until she told me I could put it down, citing that it was so nice of me to carryit anyway. We continued on the tracks west to Port Murray, by which time we were very thirsty andout of water. Cathy walked around the back of a farm store to find drinks while Skylerand I sat on the tracks saying “I don’t think she’ll find anything”. After a while we gottired of waiting and went in behind her. We were happy to find that she had found amachine with drinks! We tried a new Snapple drink called “White Tea” which was verylight but tasty. We each had a couple drinks before we continued on. We soon passed the old railroad station and two cabooses which had been parked therefor a couple years, then continued toward Washington. When we reached the Pyronics siteon the right, Skyler and I decided to head in and explore a bit. A great deal of the area hadrecently been cleared and fenced in for some reason, while the rest lay in thick brush andwoods. I had long wanted to see if a two story brick building I used to go in with mygrandfather when I was little was still standing, but had assumed it was long gone as mylast couple visits we could not find it. I was amazed to see as I walked an almost totally overgrown section of paved road thatthe house still existed, almost completely covered over with vines and vegetation save forthe top left corner with one window. I called Skyler to catch up with me, and we crawledon hands and knees to get through the front door of the house. Inside, it was much as I remembered it, and it was obvious that no one had been inside forsome time; there was little graffiti. I decided to head up the stairs while Skyler stayed atthe bottom. When I reached the top of the stairs, the room ahead was open, with whatmust have been a loft directly above my head, open only to the room ahead. There was aloud hissing sound I head twice, but did not know what it was. There was also a terrible,almost unbeareable smell of something dead up there. Skyler yelled up at me asking if itwas me making the sound. When I told him it was’nt, then we heard it again, we knew itwas time to get out of there.
Whatever it was, it must have been large and had somethingdead inside. I ran down the stairs and the two of us jumped out a bottom floor windowheading back to the railroad. When we returned to the tracks, Cathy was nowhere to be found. I called out to her butcould not hear a reply. After a bit of calling out, I thought I heard a voice, as well as a lotof dogs barking. I figured she must have continued on the tracks west, so Skyler and Iquickly headed back toward Washington. I kept calling out, as well as trying to callCathy’s cell phone with no reply. Eventually, I saw a figure far off walking. I ran ahead tocatch up, and sure enough it was her. I directed her to the path she would have to take toget home in Port Colden while I ran back to catch up with Skyler. We checked out theoutlet tunnel for the Morris Canal inclined plane along the tracks, then headed into theWashington yard. There was a brush cutting train parked on a track that we checked out,then bushwhacked down to a little parking area behind the Arctic Foods building. Wewalked around the outside of the building, then crossed Rt 57 and headed up FlowerAvenue. Before we got to Skyler’s house, we stopped and talked to former Mayor ofWashington, Mark Bond a bit about history and the Morris Canal. Skyler drove me homeand then took us back to Hackettstown to get Cathy’s car. I played with Skyler’s newgame boy Super Mario Bros. game along the way.
Pics! Here is a link to all of them...followed by descriptions...
http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q13/sneezehorse/hike221%206-16-6/
1.) Skyler and Cathy on the former Morris and Essex line just west of Hackettstown
2.) The Donaldson Farms just south of the tracks in Mansfield Twp between Airport Road and Allen road, parallel with Rockport Road
3.) Skyler with a view of the Donaldson Farm
4.) Skyler on an old farm overpass near the Donaldson Farm
5.) Another view of the Donaldson Farm
6.) The Port Murray Railroad Station
7.) Cabooses on a siding in Port Murray
8.) Port Murray Road underpass
9.) Some sort of an old tank in the Pyronics area near Port Murray
10.) The old brick house, almost totally obscured by vegetation
11.) Me along an abandoned road in Pyronics
12.) Skyler on the bottom floor of the abandoned Pyronics house
13.) The top floor of the abandoned house
14.) Me in the old Pyronics House
15.) Cathy on the tracks just east of Washington
16.) Skyler at the Washington yard limit before the Rt 57 underpass
17.) Me along the tracks nearing Washington
18.) Skyler with the brush cutter train in the Washington Rail Yard
Skyler and Cathy on the tracks in Mansfield
In the abandoned brick yard house
Donaldson Farm view in Mansfield Twp.
Donaldson Farm view in Mansfield Twp
Farm overpass at Donaldson Farm
Donaldson Farm view
Port Murray railroad station
Cabooses in Port Murray
Port Murray bridge
Brick Yard in Port Murray recently cleared.
Abandoned brick building in Port Murray
Abandoned road in Port Murray
Abandoned house
Abandoned house
Former M&E division railroad in Washington Twp.
Entering Washington on former Morris and Essex line.
Washington rail yard
In the Washington rail yard
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