Hike #225 7/9/6
After all the annoyance of people prior to this, I needed a good hike to flush it out of my system for a while. This one was the perfect one to do it. I still get a funny feeling when I climb now, because I almost fell on this one when my camera bag turned and threw my weight. It was still an awesome time and an awesome group!
On the Warrington stone bridge
Hike 225
7/9/6
This trip was planned to be a point to point section from Hainesburg near Blairstown to the Delaware Water Gap using some different routes I had yet to follow. We met at Dunnfield Creek, the end point, in the morning and shuttled to Hainesburg at the Paulins Kill Valley Trail parking area.
Hainesburg NJ
Hainesburg NJ, beginning
In Hainesburg NJ
Approaching Paulins Kill Viaduct
Paulins Kill Viaduct area
Under Paulins Kill Viaduct
paulins kill viaduct
In Paulins Kill Viaduct
In Paulins Kill Viaduct
Paulins Kill Viaduct
Along Paulins Kill Valley Trail
Paulins Kill Valley Trail at Warrington
Warrington Bridge
Warrington Bridge
Warrington Bridge
Swimming in Warrington
Swimming in the Paulins Kill, Warrington NJ
Me swimming in the Paulins Kill
Paulins Kill River swim, Warrington
Paulins Kill at Warrington
Paulins Kill at Warrington
At the Warrington Bridge
Former NYS&W railroad bed at Warrington
Warrington area
Former NYS&W rail bed at Warrington
Warrington NJ
Along the NYS&W railroad bed, Colombia Lake WMA
Colombia Lake
Former NYS&W rail bed at Colombia Lake
Colombia Lake dam
Colombia Lake power house
Colombia Lake dam
Colombia Lake dam
Colombia Lake dam
Joining me this time were Cathy, as well as other hike veterans Rich Pace, Fred Hafale, Bill Jacobsen, Laurie Ellicott, "Major Tom" Conroy, and Cindy Kuhn. There were four newcomers, Malcolm Preese, Catherine Noti, Paul Sandhi, and Bernie ?. It is also significant to bring up the fact that this was the first time in quite a while that I had a car of my own. It had been a while since the Camaro's breaks went out, and I now had an 87 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra for my use. The only really good thing about it was the fact that it had bench seats and could hold six people! We began walking along the railroad right of way soon reaching the Paulins Kill Viaduct. Since this was the beginning of the hike, I figured we had plenty of time and asked who would like to climb inside it. We almost did'nt do it, as there were state park employees working on mowing the Paulins Kill Valley Trail in sight for a while before we headed up. Cathy, Rich, Bill, Paul, and Catherine as I recall all went into the viaduct. We climbed through the first three arches, then climbed up the ladder in the third arch to the top. Everyone was freaked out as usual by the pipe and wire crossing in one of the piers. We all made it okay though. We soon climbed back down, trying to be low profile as we were not technically allowed up there.
We continued along the right of way clearly passing the junction with the Lehigh and New England Railroad. When we reached the stone arch bridge over the Paulins Kill, the right of way became more overgrown and less used, so everyone except for Rich, Bill, and I decided to walk the road around. Rich loves fighting through weeds, so it was'nt too surprising who would join me in this. We continued across on the NYS&W right of way into Colombia Lake Wildlife Management Area at Warrington. It was beautiful along the lake with reflective water. I tried to get everyone to climb up the bridge to Rt 80 which I planned on using to get to the other side, but no one wanted to walk through the Poison Ivy. I walked up through it (and of course did'nt get any poison) but had to come back down. We continued through the pipe under the highway, then made our way on the right of way to the dam at the base of the lake.
Colombia Lake dam
View on Colombia Lake dam
Colombia Lake dam
View from Colombia Lake dam
At Colombia Lake dam
Along Rt 80, Colombia
Along Rt 80
Rt 46, Colombia
Portland Colombia Foot Bridge
Mt Minsi from the foot bridge
Mt Minsi and Delaware Viaduct from the foot bridge
Delaware River from the foot bridge
View south from the foot bridge, Colombia NJ
A canoe smashed against the foot bridge pier.
Looking down from the Portland Colombia Foot bridge
Canoe under Portland Colombia Foot Bridge
Former NYS&W Railroad bed in Colombia NJ
View of the Delaware Water Gap nearing TA Travel Center in Columbia NJ
TA Travel Center in Columbia
At the TA truck stop, Colombia NJ
Splitting the group at the TA station in Colombia NJ
Under the Delaware Viadcut near Colombia
Under the Delaware Viaduct
Former NYS&W railraod underpass, now a road beneath Delaware Viaduct
Delaware Viaduct
Delaware Viaduct
Delaware Viaduct
Frontage road along 80 north of Colombia
Snake!
Snake!
Snake!
Rich checking his GPS off trail near former Camp Weygadt
Off trails below Mt. Tammany
Off trail below Mt Tammany
Slate outcropping below Mt Tammany
Mt Tammany from an off trail slate outcropping
Mt Minsi from a NJ off trail slate outcropping
Slate outcropping off trail at Del Water Gap
Mt. Minsi from an off trail view point
This one has got to be one of Rich's
Descending into a hidden glen at the Water Gap
Descending a slate hill on the south side of Mt. Tammany near former Camp Weygadt
A slate wash just south of Mt. Tammany
Off trail trying to follow Yellow Dot Trail
Trying to find old yellow dot trail
Trying to find old yellow dot trail
Trying to find old Yellow Dot Trail
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany..very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail view on Mt. Tammany
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Climbing dangerously up the Kittatinny Ridge
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail view from Mt Tammany
Off trail view from Mt. Tammany south
Off trail view from Mt Tammany
Off trail view from Mt. Tammany
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Laurie climbing the ridge
Off trail scramble up Mt. Tammany...very dangerous!
Following abandoned yellow trail, Del Water Gap
Along Mt. Tammany Fire Road
Mt Tammany Fire Road
Mt Tammany Fire Road
Mt Tammany Fire Road
Mt Tammany Fire Road
Mt Tammany Fire Road
Along Dunnfield Creek
Dunnfield Hollow
Dunnfield Hollow
Dunnfield Hollow
Dunnfield Hollow
Dunnfield Hollow
The finishing group!
We searched for a way across, but no one wanted to take their shoes off to wade it. I walked out and across the bottom of the dam to see if there was another way, but there was not. We headed back up the the right of way and followed it, as well as another path parallel out to the back yard in Colombia, then out to Rt 46. We turned right on 46, then walked along the Delaware River looking around for rail remnants. I think we walked across the footbridge briefly for the view as well. We found a dead end road built over part of the right of way and followed it for a ways, but then found it to be a dead end, and had to turn back. A guy in a house at the end came out with his arms in the air looking like he was about to yell, but we did'nt give him the chance. The road was called "Susquehanna Lane" I think, and the only reason I could think of for such a name would be the fact that it was built over the New York, Susquehanna, and Western rail right of way. We walked Decatur Street out from here, then crossed Rt 80 to the TA Truckstop where we took a lunch break. Cathy, Major Tom, Bernie, Malcolm, Paul, and Catherine decided to cut out early here because they did'nt want to do the bushwhacking up the Kittatinny Ridge that I had planned. Cathy led them north along the frontage road (consequently built on the NYS&W Railroad bed) to the Lackawanna Cutoff back to Hainesburg. Rich, Bill, Cindy, Laurie, Fred, and I stayed for a bit longer at the TA station. Rich headed to McDonalds for some food and then came back. After the break, we too followed the frontage road to the end, then cut into the woods. We met a couple railroad fans under the Delaware Viaduct we chatted with for a while before continueing on. The last time I had been to the end of that side road was with my grandfather and my cousin when I was very small. We headed into the woods following a faint path, sometimes nothing more than a deer trail, along the top of a ridge above Rt 80. We walked north through an area that used to be called Browning, and climbed up onto a very high pile of slate outcroppings. It was not a quarry, apparently a natural formation. We climbed to the top, then made our way along the little flat topped ridge. Rich fell behind because I think he was taking pictures. There was also a woods road ascending here, though we decided to climb down from the slate pile to a mostly dry creek bed. We made our way down through some very thick Rhododendrons. The other side was much easier to ascend. We continued and soon reached the short loop road wich used to be part of Camp Weygatd. It was here that the Yellow Trail, which has'nt appeared on the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference Maps since 1988, began to ascend Mt Tammany. I had long wanted to follow it's route, and we found the first couple blazes, very faded. Almost immediately after finding the trail we seemed to lose it. We continued heading up, soon parallel to the creekbed we had crossed earlier. We found more blazes a ways up making our way down into a low area and up the other side, but then we lost it yet again. We continued making our way up hill, and when we could not find any more blazes, we cut uphill to the left to an open boulder field with the vertical ridge above. We made our way through the boulder field, which offered some nice off-trail viewpoints. We then reached the steep ridge and began walking along the base. Fred and Bill began climbing up, so I decided to follow them. We came to a point where we could not turn back easily, so Fred continued climbing up steeply. Rich, Cindy, and Laurie stayed at the base of the steep rock to find another place to ascend. Fred continued up and made a left onto the rock where it cropped out a bit more. Bill came in right behind me. We really had to use our hands to pull ourselves up the cliff. We zig-zagged a bit in order to make it to the top, and I remember thinking this was insane.
There was some serious vertical climbing involved where we could have been done for had we fallen. We followed a crack in the rock for it's hand holds to reach the top. From the top, we made our way north a bit to where Rich and Cindy began to climb. Laurie decided to continue along the bottom to find another route. Cindy took off quickly toward the top. Rich realized that there was no way down from the rock he was standing on, so he began climbing up as well. They both made it to the top pretty quckly on what looked like an insane climb. The views from this ridge were spectacular, and unknown as they were all off trail. When we were all at the top, we decided to head north along the ridge to help Laurie find a way to the top. We continued to yell to her to be sure we did not get too far ahead. Fred went far ahead and was amazingly able to find the route of the Yellow Trail which ascended using a cleft in the steep ridge to get to the top. It seemed to be re-blazed since it's 1988 abandonment, and we were able to follow it to the Mt Tammany Fire Road. We followed the Tammany Fire Road to the Blue Dot Trail, using it to descend to Dunnfield Hollow. I jumped into the creek to cool off at the bottom, which I really needed. We then headed out the Dunnfield Creek trail the AT back to Dunnfield where we were parked. I was still shaky from the climb, but it was well worth it!
Photography by Mike Helbing, Richard Pace (RP), and Fred Hafale (FH).
1.) The crew getting ready to go in Hainesburg on Station Road, and former New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railroad (FH)
2.) Getting everyone together for the circle talk in Hainesburg (FH)
3.) Everyone's in the circle now...(FH)
4.) The Paulins Kill Viaduct comes into view on Station Road (RP)
5.) The group under the Paulins Kill Viaduct on Station Road (FH)
6.) I'm going over the history of the Viaduct (RP)
7.) View up at the Paulins Kill Viaduct (RP)
8.) Me inside the first arch of the Paulins Kill Viaduct (RP)
9.) Catherine Noti, Paul Sandhi, Cindy Kuhn, Cathy Fisher, and Bill Jacobsen in the Paulins Kill Viaduct (RP)
10.) Climbing down out of the viaduct (RP)
11.) Laurie, Cathy, Rich, and Bill on the NYS&W/Paulins Kill Valley Trail near Hainesburg
12.) Entering the woods on the rail grade, Paulins Kill Valley trail just to the west of the Viaduct (FH)
13.) The Warrington stone bridge where we stopped for a break
14.) Rich photographing the Warrington Bridge (FH)
15.) Rich's shot of the Warrington Bridge (RP)
16.) I'm entering the Paulins Kill for a dip at the Warrington Bridge (FH)
17.) Me swimming in the Paulins Kill (RP)
18.) I'm still in the Paulins Kill (FH)
19.) Me swimming around in the Paulins Kill, still at Warrington (RP)
20.) View upstream of the Paulins Kill River (RP)
21.) View downstream of the Paulins Kill at Warrington (RP)
22.) The group, with me perched, on the Warrington Bridge (RP)
23.) The group FINALLY leaving the Warrington Bridge!
24.) Rich and Bill on a section of the abandoned NYS&W Railroad, or "The Dinkey" in Warrington Vicinity just east of Colombia Lake
25.) The rest of the group coming back from their easier route along the roads to Colombia Lake (RP)
26.) Me, Rich, and Bill coming out of the woods from the NYS&W grade near Colombia Lk (FH)
27.) Entrance to Colombia Lake Wildlife Management Area, which uses the rail grade (RP)
28.) The Group on the NYS&W grade at Colombia Lake WMA (RP)
29.) Colombia Lake (RP)
30.) Along the Dinkey rail grade in Colombia Lake WMA, now an access road (RP)
31.) View from upstream of the Colombia Lake Dam (RP)
32.) Close up view of the power house by the dam (RP)
33.) Colombia Lake Dam from below (FH)
34.) Another view of the Colombia Lake Dam (RP)
35.) A view of the dam behind the trees
36.) A panoramic view of the Colombia Lake Dam (RP)
37.) A view I took walking across the bottom of the dam
38.) Me walking across the bottom of the dam (FH)
39.) The group in a shot I got from the bottom of the dam
40.) The group above the Paulins Kill and below the dam (FH)
41.) Out on Rt 46, where the Blairstown Railroad/NYS&W/Dinkey line turned south, with signs showing where we are (RP)
42.) Near the end of Rt 46, the on ramp onto Rt 80 in Colombia NJ (RP)
43.) Rt 46 along the Delaware River, near it's end in Colombia NJ (RP)
44.) The group on the Portland-Colombia Footbridge as I go over history (RP)
45.) View north from the footbridge with Mt Minsi of the Del Water Gap in view (RP)
46.) View of Mt Minsi and the Delaware Viaduct from the footbridge (RP)
47.) View south from the footbridge at Portland Power Plant and the toll bridge (RP)
48.) Close up view of the toll bridge from the foot bridge (RP)
49.) A Battered canoe up agains one of the piers to the footbridge (RP)
50.) Laurie and Cindy on the Portland-Colombia Footbridge (RP)
51.) Another view of the canoe on the pier of the footbridge (RP)
52.) On a driveway that used to be the NYS&W Railroad in Colombia NJ
53.) The group crossing over Rt 80 in Colombia with the Delaware Water Gap in view
54.) The TA Travel Station in Colombia (RP)
55.) Rich and the crew having lunch at the TA Station in Colombia
56.) Cathy led this part of the group back from the Colombia TA Travel Center early
57.) Rich and I talked to these people under the Lackawanna Cutoff underpass on the frontage road tha was once the route of the northbound NYS&W Railroad (FH)
58.) Laurie, Cindy, and Bill at the Lackawanna Cutoff underpass (FH)
59.) Another view, southbound, of the Lackawanna Cutoff underpass, former rail bed (RP)
60.) A view of the Delaware Viaduct from the road, former NYS&W grade (RP)
61.) Another view of the Lackawanna Cutoff's Delaware Viaduct
62.) View of the Delaware Viaduct with Route 80 in the foreground (FH)
63.) The group walking along the frontage road toward Mt Tammany and Del Water Gap NRA (RP)
64-66.) A snake we passed after entering the woods near Browning (RP)
67.) Rich stopping to mess with his camera in the vicinity of Browning
68.) Hiking off trail on a small ridge high above Rt 80 to the east (RP)
69.) Making our way up a steep area north of Browning (RP)
70.) Me in a meadow type area atop a slate outcropping above Rt 80 and the Delaware (RP)
71.) View of Mt. Minsi from the slate outcropping (FH)
72.) Another view from the Slate Outcropping (FH)
73.) Laurie, Cindy, Bill, and Fred on the slate outcropping with the view
74.) Another view of Minsi from the slate outcropping (RP)
75.) A pretty flower Rich found on the slate outcropping (RP)
76.) Fred making his way down steeply through Rhododendrons
77.) A dry slatey little creek valley we passed over
78.) Another view of the dry creekbed
79.) Making our way onto the long unmaintained Yellow Dot Trail below Mt. Tammany (RP)
80.) Ferns and forest we made our way through looking for the trail (RP)
81.) Making our way up Mt Tammany off trail (RP)
82.) The group staying just below a talus slope (RP)
83.) Where Mt. Tammany became very rocky
84.) Rich below me on the rocks in the open area below Mt. Tammany
85.) Me on the rocky slopes below Mt. Tammany (RP)
86.) Some of the group stayed below in the woods longer than Rich and I did (RP)
87.) Me on the rocky slope again (RP)
88.) More of the rocky slopes (RP)
89.) The first viewpoint we reached off trail on our ascent
90.) Me, probably calling out to the hikers below us (RP)
91.) Another view out from the just above the trees (RP)
92.) Me making my way up through the weeds again (RP)
93.) It became more steep the further we went (RP)
94.) The views also got better as we climbed; Rt 80 is in view to the south
95.) I climbed this steeply through brush
96.) Rich making his way up the ridge
97.) Here it became more rocky and open, as well as steeper
98.) Laurie on the rocks we were about to ascend
99.) Fred climbing the rocks just ahead of me
100.) In this free spot, I was able to turn around and snap the view, one of only a couple opportunities I had while climbing this treacerous rock
101.) Looking back, Bill Jacobsen is climbing behind me
102.) Bill found a tree to grab a hold of
103.) Bill making his way up, almost to the top (FH)
104.) The view from the top (FH)
105.) A view over Knowlton Township (FH)
106.) The Delaware River in the distance (FH)
107.) Another view from the ridge (FH)
108.) Bill making it up past the most dangerous part of the climb
109.) Me taking a picture of Bill scrambling up from the cliff (FH)
110.) View of the rock outcroppings on the Kittatinny Ridge to the north
111.) Cindy climbing up as it became steeper (RP)
112.) I looked down and shot this one of Cindy and Rich climbing, I must have gotten freaked out because this was the last shot I took for a while
113.) Cindy climbing the dangerous part of the cliff (RP)
114.) Cindy continueing to climb the cliff (RP)
115.) Laurie on the rock (RP)
116.) Bill on the ridge top (RP)
117.) Laurie on the Yellow Dot Trail, Mt Tammany area (FH)
118.) Bill and Laurie on the Yellow Dot Trail (RP)
119.) The Yellow Dot Trail (RP)
120.) Hiking Mt. Tammany Fire Road (RP)
121.) Cindy on the Tammany Fire Road Trail (FH)
122.) Me on the Tammany Fire Road (FH)
123.) Bill and Laurie, also on the Tammany Fire Road (FH)
124.) A bridge over Dunnfield Creek, Dunnfield Creek Trail (FH)
125.) One of the little falls along Dunnfield Creek (FH)
126.) Fred, Cindy, Laurie, and Bill resting along Dunnfield Creek (RP)
127.) Resting along Dunnfield Creek (FH)
128.) The Dunnfield Falls, with me running down from behind them (RP)
129.) Resting along the creek for a bit (FH)
130.) Laurie, Rich, Fred, Cindy, Bill, and I along the Dunnfield Creek Trail, near the end
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