Hike #298
8/5/7 Lehigh Canal; Northampton-Bethlehem with Cathy Fisher, Skyler Jermyn, David Noble, Jason Itell, Larry Butler, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Bill "Guillermo" Fabel, Christina Manley, "DJ Ray" Cordts, Gerry Martiniak, Jim Delotto, Tara Dugas, Dave "Captain Soup" Campbell
The group having dinner at Bethlehem Brew Works
Starting off, Northampton PA
Former Lehigh Canal, Northampton PA
Lehigh Canal, Northampton PA
Northampton PA
Along the Lehigh Canal in Northampton PA
Former Lehigh Canal, Northampton PA
Lehigh Canal under rail bridge in Northampton
Lehigh Canal, Northampton PA
Old Lehigh Canal lock with an old truck in it
Former CNJ railroad south of Northampton
Underpass below former CNJ railroad south of Northampton
Rope swinging again
Rope swing into the Lehigh along the former canal south of Northampton
Jason and a rope swing, Lehigh River
Along the Lehigh Canal in Northampton area
Rope swing into the Lehigh just south of Northampton
Rope into the Lehigh just south of Northampton
Rope swing into the Lehigh just south of Northampton
Rope swing into the Lehigh just south of Northampton
Swimming in the Lehigh south of Northampton
Swimming the Lehigh just south of Northampton
Swimming the Lehigh
Lehigh river swimming and rope swinging
Rope swing into the Lehigh
Rope swing into the Lehigh
Lehigh River swim
Lehigh River rope swing
Trail along the former Lehigh Canal
Fun along the Lehigh Canal in Catasaqua PA
Hilarity on the Lehigh Canal Trail in Catasaqua PA
This reminds me of a Prudential commercial
Catasaqua PA
Old rail bridge in Catasaqua
Along the Lehigh Canal, Catasaqua
Christina on the phone
Beer distributer
At the Beer distributer in Catasaqua
Skyler fell on that bridge and dropped his camera. Destroyed. Still haven't seen if he has any pics from this hike.
Lehigh Canal, Catasaqua PA
Crossing Lehigh Canal, Catasaqua
Crossing Lehigh Canal
Crossing Lehigh Canal, Catasaqua
Crossing the Lehigh Canal in Catasaqua
Crossing the Lehigh Canal in Catasaqua
Crossing the Lehigh Canal in Catasaqua
Lehigh Canal south of Catasaqua
Lehigh Canal Trail south of Catasaqua
Lovely view of green near Catasaqua Lake
I believe this pond was drained and dredged in 2010.
Giant Sycamore near Catasaqua Lake
Lehigh Canal trail
A Lehigh trestle
Lehigh trestle
Trestle
Trestle
Trestle
Trestle
Trestle
Trestle
Trestle
Trestle
Trestle jump
Trestle
Trestle
Swimming in the Lehigh below the trestle
Trestle
Trestle
Trestle
Trestle
Trestle
Preparing for the big jump
Preparing for the big jump
Hanging on the trestle. Miss you, Christina, RIP
The big jump
Near Allentown PA
Allentown PA
Allentown area
Crossing the Lehigh in a different way
Goofing off in the Lehigh
Goofing off in the Lehigh
Goofing off in Allentown
Goofing off at the Lehigh Dam
Lehigh swim
Lehigh Swim. Who had an umbrella out there???
Lehigh swim
Lehigh swim
Taking a dip in the Lehigh
Lehigh swimming
Lehigh Canal lock
Swim in the Lehigh
Lehigh dam
Lehigh swimming
Lehigh swimming
Lehigh swimming
Allentown dam
Allentown dam
Allentown dam
Allentown dam
At Allentown dam
At Allentown dam
At Allentown dam
Former Lehigh Canal lock
Bridge at former Lehigh Canal lock
Bridge along former Lehigh Canal
Lehigh Canal Park
Getting to Musikfest
Bethlehem during Musikfest
Hanging at Guillermo's place. Good party spot!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
At Guillermo's!
Dinner at Bethlehem Brew Works
Dinner at Bethlehem Brew Works
Dinner at Bethlehem Brew Works
Dinner at Bethlehem Brew Works
Dinner at Bethlehem Brew Works
Cathy at Bethlehem Brew Works
At Bethlehem Brew Works
At Bethlehem Brew Works
At Bethlehem Brew Works
At Bethlehem Brew Works
At Bethlehem Brew Works
Bethlehem Brew Works
At Bethlehem Brew Works
At Bethlehem Brew Works
Finishing up another fun hike
Tree climbing in the Brodhead Lot at Lehigh U to end the day
This hike would be once again the first Musikfest Hike of the Summer. In the past, I had led three different hikes all ending at Musikfest. The first Musikfest Hike I'd led two years prior was along the Lehigh Canal from Easton to Bethlehem, and I decided to try something similar by hiking the Lehigh Canal into the 'fest, only this time from the northwest, the town of Northampton to Bethlehem. By the end of the day we would hike 18.2 miles. We met in the morning at the Brodhead Lot again, on the corner of Brodhead Ave and Packer at Lehigh University and shuttled cars to the town of Northampton, at a mini mall where Cathy and I had stopped to eat at "Mr. Pizza" the previous November. Joining me for this venture would be my girlfriend, Cathy Fisher, Skyler Jermyn, "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, David Noble, Christina Manley, Gerry Martiniak, Jason Itell, Larry Butler, and John Spiridon. We began walking in Northampton, heading down the street into the town of Northampton. As we walked, the former Jersey Central Railroad station came into view on the right, and there was a store on the left. We opted to go into the store for a moment to get some nourishment, then continued down the road toward the Lehigh River. Just after crossing the railroad tracks, there was a road that headed south parallel with the Lehigh River to the left. Since the Lehigh Canal was nowhere in sight, we had to assume it had either been filled in or we were at a point where it relied on Lehigh slack water from a nearby dam. My first assumption was correct, and walking down the road led to a trail placed atop where the canal once was. We followed this paved path for quite some time, which went easy and fast. After a while, the paved path ended with a sign stating that the trail from this point forward was unimproved and to continue at our own risk. We entered the wooded section and paralleled a dried section of the canal, though not filled in, and passed under an old railroad trestle. Wyatt climbed up on it and found an old backpack and told me I should use it, as my backpack was quite torn up. I did'nt use it, and stuffed it in my backpack for later. We continued walking along the old canal towpath soon reaching the site of a lock where the canal utilized Lehigh River slackwater to the south. There was a weird guy, probably high as a kite on who knows what kind of drugs who talked to us, and asked how an abandoned car might have gotten down in the canal prism, inferring some sort of extraterrestrial explanation, but I went on to tell some of the history of the canal, and he quieted up! We continued on, and checked out a rather new underpass below the former Jersey Central Railroad to the left of us, then continued on across a creek and along the Lehigh via the towpath. It was'nt long before we happened upon a rope swing and once again had to stop! I was first to go off the swing, and David stripped down to the buff to swim. Skyler, Jason, Larry, and Wyatt all followed to go off the swing for a great dip in the river. Everyone else went ahead and waited in a shady area. We eventually caught up and continued along the towpath which led us to a road where the canal apparently had been filled in. From here, we had to make our way up to the active former CNJ tracks to the left. Soon, we crossed a nice truss bridge on the railroad tracks and made our way into the woods to the left where we were along yet another watered section of the canal with the towpath cleared along it. A few others went ahead, not paying attention, on the railroad tracks and were able to join us shortly near an underpass below a road. It was a brutally hot day, and it was a welcome section of shade on the canal as we entered the town of Catasaqua. When we reached Bridge Street, we walked over to the parallel railroad tracks to survey the area, only to see a beer distributer store! We all headed over to that and went inside to look around. At first it appeared they did'nt have much to pick from, but then noticed there was an entire walk in cooler! David picked up a case of Coors light and we were happily on our way. Mr. Buckett denounced the place saying all it had was Piss Water. We continued on south along the railroad tracks, not realizing the towpath of the canal was on the east side now. I waded through the canal, followed by Wyatt I think. We got a lot of bad Cow Itch (Stinging Nettle). A few went back to cross more safely below, and Cathy crossed a bunch of rocks and fell in badly bruising her hip! No one was hurt too badly to go on, and as we made our way not a hundred feet more on the trail there was a perfect path where the canal had been filled in, easy to cross! Oh well! We continued on, and the trailway took us through an open park along Catasaqua Lake. The trail continued on beyond this park and in woods where the canal was either dry or filled in. We were closely parallel with North Dauphin Road, and the trail eventually led out to the road, which actually appeared to overtake the canal. We walked along the road until it was feasable to get out to the railroad tracks and walk them. We passed under Rt 22, followed by Union Blvd. Along the way south, we reached where a branch of the railroad used to cross the Lehigh on the long trestle we jumped off the previous year.
Some of the group stayed at the beginning of the bridge while Skyler, David, Jason, Larry, Christina, Major Tom, and I continued on to where we'd jumped the previous year. There was a small rope attatched to the bridge, so I assumed that was the place we jumped from last year. I stood out on the edge of the bridge frame asking Skyler what his opinion of the depth of the river was. He said in theory it looked deep enough there. Last year, there were plenty of people there so we'd know where it was safe to jump. This time there was no one. As soon as Skyler said it looked safe in theory, I threw myself off the structure which must have been forty feet down to the river. I hit pretty hard and took in a bit of water, but I was safe. It was an awesome feeling, and I cut my nose somehow, as it was bleeding when I got back up. David was the second to jump off. He did'nt hesitate much, just threw himself off and loved it immediately. Skyler followed next I think, and he had no problem. I believe the next to jump off was Major Tom, and he hit the water hard on his lower back, and ended up with some bruising, but he came up laughing, and feeling great, so he was alright! Jason, having not jumped off last year, was quite intent on doing it this year, so he jumped again. I jumped a few times, the second time to show everyone where abouts to land. The last time we jumped, Skyler, David, Jason, and I went all at once, which made for good photo options. Amish Paul would'nt let Wyatt jump off. We headed back across the bridge and continued on the tracks south under the Hanover Ave bridge where the next canal lock was, beyond where the canal used more Lehigh Snack Water.
Wyatt and I ran across the river on some sort of breaker below the dam, and a lot of us swam in the Lehigh for a bit. A bunch from the group walked ahead, missing the group swimming. We caught up with them on the towpath ahead after a while. We continued on toward Bethlehem on good clear towpath for a few miles. Along this section, Skyler and Wyatt were wrestling again, and Skyler ended up falling into the canal, through a huge patch of Poison Ivy! Skyler did not get any of the Poison, but Jason reached out to pull him out, and he ended up having a perfect poison ivy hand print on his arm from Skyler for a couple weeks! Jim Delotto was waiting for us on the trail up ahead, and he began walking with us toward Bethlehem. As we neared the concert area, which was getting prepared for a BB King concert that night, they shoo'd us out of there pretty quick. Here we met up with Guillermo and Tara Dugas, who continued with us into Bethelem and Musikfest, then along streets up to Guillermo's house where we hung out for a while and drank all of his beer. Captain Soup joined up with us here as well. We hung out for a while and then decided to walk to the Bethlehem Brew Works for dinner, which was quite good. After eating, some of the group got rides back to the cars with Amish Paul and maybe Captain Soup, I can't remember....but anyway, some of us just walked on back to the Brodhead lot. David led the way out across the Fahy Bridge and under a tunnel, a route I had no known, leading us up along streets back to Brodhead. What a great hike!
Photography by Mike Helbing, unless otherwise noted, usually with initials of the photographer with the picture numbered with an alpha suffix.
0.) At the parking area at Rite Aid ready to hike, Northampton PA (PH)1.) On the site of the Lehigh Canal in Northampton PA2.) David in Northampton where the Lehigh Canal used to be3.) Nice bridge view from the canal towpath3a.) Me readying my camera (PH)3b.) Skyler and I photographing the nice bridge scene (PH)4.) Beneath an old railroad trestle south of Northampton. We found a backpack here!5.) Amish Paul and Wyatt on the towpath6.) An abandoned car at the site of a canal lock near where one of the slackwater areas ended between Northampton and Catasaqua7.) Somewhat new underpass below the former CNJ Railroad tracks7a.) Another shot of the bridge (PH)8.) Goofing at a rope swing north of Catasaqua9.) I honestly don't know who's hitting the water here...maybe Wyatt10.) Jason fumbling on the rope swing!10a-10s.) Goofing off at the rope swing (PH)10t.) Gerry on the towpath southbound (PH)11.) Underpass north of Catasaqua12.) Railroad trestle in the Catasaqua vicinity13.) Crossing a through truss bridge on the north side of Catasaqua14.) The group along the Lehigh Canal on the towpath in Catasaqua14a.) Christina along the road in Catasaqua (PH)14b.) The group along the road in Catasaqua (PH)15.) Major Tom, David, and Skyler in the beer distributor place in Catasaqua!16.) Skyler broke his camera falling on the bridge behind him here in Catasaqua17.) Jason and Wyatt on the towpath heading south from Catasaqua17a-17f.) Crossign the canal just south of downtown Catasaqua (PH)18.) David with his case of Coors light on the towpath south of Catasaqua18a.) Along the towpath below Catasaqua (PH)19.) A pond section along the canal20.) Canada Geese in the Catasaqua Lake area21.) Giant Sycamore tree south of Catasaqua22.) Along the towpath heading south23.) On the old railroad bridge in the Allentown area24.) Wyatt and Skyler on the bridge24a-24r.) Goofing around, jumping and swimming at the trestle (PH)25.) The group on the trestle ready to jump, Jason, Skyler, David, and I25a.) Another one of us on the bridge (LB)25b.) Here we are jumping...(LB)26.) More of us jumping27.) Taking a break on the east side of the trestle28.) On the tracks heading south29.) Skyler at an underpass30.) Skyler and Wyatt in Allentown area31.) Me crossing the Lehigh on the dam (CF)31a.) Another one of me below the dam (LB)32.) Skyler! (CF)33-38.) Wyatt and I crossing the Lehigh (CF)39.) Skyler! (CF)40.) Wyatt, Skyler and I (CF)41.) Taking a dip (CF)42.) Mr. Buckett! (CF)43-45.) Taking a dip (CF)46.) Skyler flaunting it (CF)47-51.) Putzing around at the dam...I had just got caught in a fishing line! (CF)52-54.) Getting out of the water (CF)55.) Looking at the overpass by the dam56.) Jason and Larry below the bridge along the canal57.) Skyler!58.) Along the canal heading into Bethlehem from the canal park58a.) Reaching Musikfest in downtown Bethlehem on the canal (PH)59.) Downtown Bethlehem after being joined by Delotto, Guillermo, and Tara60-90.) At Guillermo's house having some beer and goofing around! Captain Soup joined us here, and we hung out for a long time before moving on. The pictures with the alpha suffixes were taken by Amish Paul.91-102.) Hanging out at the Bethlehem Brew Works where they were giving out some free beer, but we also had another long dinner! Again those with the alpha suffix were Paul's.103.) After we reached the Brodhead lot104.) Wyatt trying to climb a tree at the Brodhead lot
Hippity hopping across the Lehigh
Lehigh Bridge jump
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