Hike #297 8/3/7
8/3/7 Califon-Washington with Cathy Fisher and "Major Tom" Conroy
In Ken Lockwood Gorge
This impromptu hike on a Friday night with my girlfriend Cathy and "Major Tom" Conroy ended up being an interesting experiance. After leaving Washington, we left Cathy's car at the A&P Supermarket in Califon NJ, then began walking down into the middle of town, passing the Eckerd drug store that was recently built, and already being turned into a Rite Aid.
Califon NJ
Eckerd (now Rite Aid) in Califon
Califon Station
On the road in Ken Lockwood Gorge. It had badly washed out recently, and was closed permanently to traffic.
Old road in Ken Lockwood Gorge
This barricade thing was on a rail car in High Bridge
Taking a break to avoid the storems at McDonalds!
We continued down into Califon, crossing over the South Branch of the Raritan on the old truss bridge, then headed up to the railroad bed. We turned right past the old stone station and headed out of town. We passed John Palmer's old house, which he recently had moved out of to an assisted living facility, and his driveway was quite overgrown. We continued across Hoffman's Crossing, but headed down to River Road to walk through Ken Lockwood Gorge rather than on the railroad bed above. We continued to the gorge trestle where we returned to the right of way and headed west. We continued on out of the gorge into the town of High Bridge, but did'nt waste time. We reached the site of the junction with the Central Railroad of NJ's main line and headed north. It was getting dark rather quickly, but still we moved on. Cathy and Major Tom both got out their flashlights, but I was still seeing rather will without them, so I stayed far enough away from them so that I could still see. We made our way along the tracks, and the area as we neared Glen Gardner seemed to be more disturbed than it was in the past, though I could'nt see it very well. We passed through Glen Gardner easily, but even by the time we reached the southern end of the town, we could already see some lightning in the sky. It would grow continually more prevailant as we headed north. As we neared the Rt 31 underpass entering Hampton, thunder was growing louder all the time. It was getting pretty nerve wracking, and we kept moving quickly down the tracks. As the thunder grew louder, I hurried Cathy and Major Tom along. We passed the former junction with the Lackawanna's Warren Railroad and continued out to the bridge over Main Street in Hampton, and climbed down. We walked down hill on the main street, happy to be in the light now, and headed out to Rt 31 north. We kept the pace fast even though we had to walk up hill after crossing the Musconetcong into Warren County, and we continued to the A&P plaza where we hurried into McDonalds just as it began to rain. The manager, Mike, who I'd known for some time was all ready to take our orders for food when lightning struck somewhere nearby and knocked out all the power! The lights went out and came back on again, but then went completely out. We were left in the dark, and it began pouring down rain intensely outside. Mike let us hang out inside the store for a while, but soon had to make us leave as they had to close down. I asked, but he would'nt give us any of the food they would have had to throw out. We sat on the bench out front waiting for the storm to pass over, and even though the rain stopped the lightning was still very intense. We decided it prudent to stay put rather than try to walk on. There were police on the scene by now directing traffic at the nearby traffic light that had been knocked out. After a while, we paid a couple McDonalds employees five bucks to drive us to Major Tom's apartment and he took Cathy and I back to her car in Califon. Quite a night!
1.) Looking down from the A&P parking lot2.) The Eckerd, soon to be Rite Aid! Califon NJ3.) The historic Califon Station4.) Major Tom and I on the road in Ken Lockwood Gorge, now washed out5.) Cathy along the River Road in Lockwood Gorge6.) I know it's the barricade on River Road in the gorge, but I can't see anything else!7.) A train on the tracks north of High Bridge, former CNJ Railroad8.) Cathy and Major Tom at the McDonalds in Washington just before the power went out in the storm
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