Hike #269 2/18/7
2/18/7
North Mercer County Pennington Vicinity with David Noble, "Amish Paul" Hassler, Wyatt Hassler, Susan Charkes, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, Larry Nelson
Near the end by Stony Brook
This trip led my group and I to the northwestern end of Mercer County NJ, where we hiked point to point from Washington's Crossing to the north side of Pennington. I met the group at the Stony Brook/Millstone Watershed Association property.
Washington's Crossing on the PA side
Washington's Crossing PA
The Delaware at Washington's Crossing
The Delaware at Washington's Crossing
Washington's Crossing Bridge
On Washington's Crossing Bridge
Washington's Crossing
In Washington's Crossing State Park
Washington's Crossing
Washington's Crossing State Park
Washington's Crossing State Park
Continental Lane in Washington's Crossing SP
Continental Lane, Washington's Crossing State Park
D&R Canal south of Wasington's Crossing
D&R Canal south of Washington's Crossing
Crossing the frozen D&R Canal at Somerset, Mercer Co NJ
Jacob's Creek Road, former Mercer and Somerset Railroad
Old truss bridge with planks off of Jacob's Creek Road
Jacob's Creek Road, former rail bed
Fields near Pennington
Fields near Pennington
Near Pennington NJ
Former Mercer and Somerset Railroad bed near Pennington
Near Pennington
Near Pennington NJ
Restroom in Pennington
Pennington NJ
Old station in Pennington NJ
Railroad underpass in Pennington area
Baldwin Lake
Baldwin Lake WMA
Baldwin Lake
The dam of Baldwin Lake
Fields north of Pennington
Fields north of Pennington
Fields north of pennington
Fields north of Pennington
Sunset north of Pennington
Sunset north of Pennington
Fields near Pennington
Entering Stony Brook/Millstone Watershed Association
I was planning on meeting at a lot along Wargo Road, but when I drove Wargo Road I could not find the parking lot noted on the official map of the park! I passed a couple cars while driving up and down the road, but was not sure if they were with me or not. I was finally able to find Susan Charkes, who worked for the watershed and was meeting for the hike, and had her wait at the main parking area instead. I headed back out to find the rest of the group. Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews called me on my cell phone, having parked at the lot I was looking for. Unfortunitely, this lot was far too small to accomodate everyone's vehicles. Mr. Buckett was there with one newcomer, Larry ?. When I found them I directed them to the main parking area, and I directed "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, as well as David Noble to the parking area via phone. David was the last to make it there; he was visiting from Olean New York for the weekend. We all piled into mine and Larry's cars and headed to Washington's Crossing on the Pennsylvania side. We all piled out and looked around for restrooms to no avail. We were parked the same place I parked previously for the hike I did starting in Bristol on the Delaware Canal, and the only place hidden enough to go was behind a nearby dumpster, so everyone opted against that. We walked along the grassy shore of the PA side out to the Washington's Crossing Bridge, where we admired an interesting ice jam along the river to the south. It did'nt look stable enough to cross on, but it was very cool still. We got to the NJ side and headed onto a pedestrian bridge over Rt 29 into Washington's Crossing State Park. We walked by a viewpoint where we could see the site where George Washington and his army crossed the river in Winter of 1776, then continued onto the trails system to the north. There was a nice narrow footpath, blazed with pieces of plastic with a color designation on them along these paths. We followed a series of them over a brook and to the northern part of the park. We came out to a road, which I was not expecting, as I thought the entire park was undeveloped. More trails led to the north from this road, but we followed the road to the right because I could not ascertain exactly where we were. Where the road turned away, we entered the woods and headed onto the edge of a field, following it to the eastern end of the park, then turned right parallel with another road, which was probably Rt 579. We continued on the path along the fields parallel with the road to the south. Soon, we reached an area known as Bear Tavern and turned along an old road known as Continental Lane, the route used by General Washington and his troops on their way to the Delaware during the American Revolution. At first, we were on the wrong road, but a guy we met walking through directed us to the correct route. We continued along Continental Lane back to the Delaware, and crossed once again via the pedestrian bridge. When we reached the other side, we stopped into a little liquor store and restaurant to see if we could find snacks, but there was nothing, so we began walking along the Delaware and Raritan Canal/Belvidere-Delaware Railroad right of way south. The canal was frozen over in some places, and we walked on it for a bit here and there. We continued south to a place along the canal called Somerset; we recognized the spot we needed to leave the canal as being the Jacobs Creek Aqueduct. It was here that the former Somerset and Mercer Railroad broke off the Bel Del line. There was no sign of a trestle ever having existed here over the canal, unless it crossed a bit further to the south. The canal had broken and thin looking ice, and some areas totally thawed, so we figured we could'nt cross here. Wyatt and I made our way down to the Aqueduct, and I tried walking under it holding onto a shelf of stone inside to take away from my weight. Still, the ice gave in and I got my feet wet. While I was suffering to try to get through, Wyatt yelled back to me "Buckett's across!". Mr. Buckett decided to try his luck on the canal and walked across on the ice. I, being probably the heaviest there at 210 lbs (the most I've ever weighed), decided to try crossing next. When I had no problem, everyone followed me across. Amish Paul was the last one, and he threw a log onto it first, which led David to yell at him. Paul let us know he only threw it out in case the ice broke he would have something to hold onto. The railroad right of way on the other side had a road built on top of it, known as Jacobs Creek Road. It was obviously the route, as it was very flat. We walked along the road, and David began to show that he was an "Anglophile", demostrating his love of proper British language and accent, inviting us to his home in "Wilmsburyshire, one of the most prominant tracts of land in all of North Wales" among other absurd rantings. David and I constantly have an odd British banter going on, using as many words as possible to say the simplest things, in full English accent. We continued to the next intersection and turned left, which was still part of Jacob's Creek Road. We immediately crossed a bridge over Ewing Creek, which I inspected for a former rail crossing. The only sign I could find was that the northern abutment was old stone capped with concrete, while the other one was new stone construction. I figured they could have put a new bridge onto one of the old abutments. We soon passed where Rt 579 turned off this road to the left over an old rickety truss bridge. Somewhere in here, we had someone beeping at us from a car passing by. At the time, I thought nothing of it, but I found out later that it was Mr. Corrado and Mr. Rotola, both parent leaders from my boy scout troop way back. I got an e mail from Mr. Corrado later on!
South of Pennington NJ
We continued on along Jacobs Creek Road/rail bed and made fun of crappy construction on bridges along the way. We soon reached route 546 and turned right. We could see the railroad grade ahead going through someone's yard, then in a line of trees beyond. We turned right and walked along the road for a little bit until I saw a sign in the field to the north of us saying this was a future parks site. I then decided we should walk along the field despite no trespassing since it was a part of a new park. We continued, and could see some sort of memorial with a flag pole in place, probably a future memorial park. We continued to the local municipal fields, I guess part of a school, near the municipal building. We made our way up hill to the dugout along one of the fields for a lunch break. A cop pulled in and parked, watching us, but did'nt stop us at all. After eating, we continued across the fields to Scotch Road and turned north. After walking the road for a ways, we found the abutment for the bridge where the Somerset and Mercer Railroad used to cross the road. We continued north, and David found some cigars in a pack along the road. He smoked one, and I smoked the one that Brian Esposito gave me the previous summer. We soon turned right and came out to Pennington-Titusville Road where we checked out a cemetary. We continued into the middle of town and Amish Paul, Wyatt, David, Mr. Buckett, and I went into the Pennington Market, a supermarket. I saw a guy drinking Lehigh Valley Farms chocolate milk so I had to get some. We also had samples of some sort of ice cream that was sat out in cups. We left the market and headed north to an ice cream shop where I of course had to get some. We then walked Delaware Ave across the active railroad tracks in town and watched a freight engine speed by below us. We turned left into a park immediately past the tracks, and walked through it north passing a nice old railroad station. When the the road crossed the tracks, we climbed down to them. It was a bit slippery getting down there. We walked the tracks north to the bridge over Baldwins Creek. We made our way down to the creek and immediately found some blazes along the creek heading east. We followed them, leading us to Baldwin Lake. The lake was nice, save for the new developement homes built on the north shore messing up the view. We continued on, soon reaching a side trail with an emblem and initials "D & R" on it. This was a Delaware and Raritan Valley conservancy emblem of some sort. We continued following the shore line, which I believe had orange paint blazes, passing yet another emblem at the dam of the lake. We continued around to the northeast side of the resevoir and headed into the woods on a little loop trail. We made our way back on a sewer line right of way when we could'nt find a way through, then followed some of the D & R emblems on another trail until we met a man along the way walking his dog. He told us there was some sort of easement for a trail heading north into the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed but that it had'nt been cleared. He walked with us for a ways and directed us the way to go, the same way we had gone before near the sewer line. We parted ways and continued through the woods, at first on a trail, but then bushwhacking. We ended up having to walk barely into the woods parallel to new development homes, then followed some sort of an old farm road out to a field. We crossed the field directly and ended up on Titus Mill Road near an intersection. We followed the road from here east to the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed land and our cars, having political discussions along the way. We were all very tired, and David drove Larry and I back to our cars at Washington's Crossing. We all parted ways save for David and I who had dinner at the Washington Diner, where we laughed and stayed until late.
Photos!!! Here's a link to all of the pics from this hike followed by descriptions of them:
http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj93/sneezehorse1/hike269%202-18-7/
1.) View of the Washington's Crossing bridge from Washington's Crossing PA2.) David and Amish Paul along the Delaware at Washington's Crossing Park, PA3.) View south along the Delaware River from Washington's Crossing Bridge with an ice jam!4.) Part of the ice jam on the Delaware River looking north from Washington's Crossing Bridge5.) The Washington's Crossing Bridge6.) David, Mr. Buckett, and Wyatt on the Washington's Crossing Bridge7.) View of the Delaware and Raritan Feeder Canal from the Washington's Crossing Bridge8.) On the pedestrian bridge at Washington's Crossing State Park over Rt 29, NJ9.) View of the site of George Washington's Crossing of the Delaware10.) Along the trails in Washington's Crossing Park; the northeast side of the park11.) East side of Washington's Crossing Park12.) Larry at a bridge along the old Continental Lane, Washington's Crossing Park13.) Amish Paul and Wyatt along Old Continental Lane14.) Delaware and Raritan Feeder Canal at Washington's Crossing15.) Mr. Buckett walking on the frozen D & R Canal16.) The group very carefully crossing the D & R Canal at Somerset, where the Somerset and Mercer Railroad broke off the Bel Del line17.) Hiking Jacob's Creek Road, formerly the Somerset and Mercer Railroad18.) Nice little truss bridge just off Jacobs Creek Road19.) Mr. Buckett and David (with a box of wine) along Jacob's Creek Road20.) Walking on future park land nearing Pennington; the tree line in the distance is the rail right of way21.) Walking on the future park land fields just west of Pennington22.) The group walking through the ball fields in Pennington Area23.) An old railroad abutment for the Somerset and Mercer Railroad along Scotch Road24.) David and I smoking cigars along Scotch Road25.) David smoking a cigar in the "Tobacco Free Zone" just outside of Pennington26.) Me taking a picture into the mirror in the restroom of Pennington Market27.) The group crossing a ball field in a Pennington municipal park28.) Pennington Railroad Station29.) Nice railroad underpass along Baldwin Creek30.) View of Baldwin Lake31.) Another view across Baldwin Lake, Baldwin Wildlife Management Area32.) Sun setting over Baldwin Lake33.) Along the dam of Baldwin Lake34.) Crossing a field after being lost in the woods, nearing Titus Mill Road35.) Nice view of the fields near Titus Mill Road36.) Crossing the fields toward Titus Mill Road37.) Still continueing across the fields as the sun goes down38.) Beautiful Sunset across the fields near Titus Mill Road39.) Another nice sunset shot40.) More crossing the field41.) Here we are along Titus Mill Road42.) Entering Stony Brook/Millstone Watershed land off Titus Mill Road
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