Hike #300
Beginning
This is fun to look back on, another milestone hike, 300 of them...but sadly the hike itself was one of the crappiest ones I've ever done. In retrospect I remember the good parts more than anything. Meeting new friends like Iannis and Mike, and having to pry Guillermo out of the strip bar! LOL!
8/12/7 Quakertown-Bingen PA with Cathy Fisher, "AmishPaul" and Wyatt Hassler, "DJ Ray" Cordts, Christina Manley, Iannis Garafalo, Michele Morholt, Michael Ademik, Bill "GuillermO" Fabel, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, Gerry Martiniak, Beverly Auvil, John Spiridon,
Fighting through...south of Hellertown somewhere
Quakertown PA
Quakertown PA
Quakertown PA
Quakertown PA
Quakertown PA
Quakertown PA abandoned rail cars
Hiking north of Quakertown
Abandoned rail line north of Quakertown
Rail line north of Quakertown
Tracks in place north of Quakertown
Rail bed north of Quakertown. This is where Guillermo said he felt like a Rhino.
Rail bed north of Quakertown
North of Quakertown
Rail bed north of Quakertown, Rhino country
Rail bed in Shelly, PA
Rail bed in Shelly, PA
Rail bed in Shelly, PA
Rail bed north of Shelly, PA
North of Shelly, PA
Rail bed in Shelly PA
Rail bed in Shelly PA
Along the rail bed in Shelly, PA
Helping Christina across a stream in the rail bed
A little help across the stream
helping out
Helping Christina out of the muddy area
Wyatt in a truck
Just north of Shelly, PA
North of Shelly PA
Takin a break
Walking down into Coopersburg
Heading to Coopersburg
Coopersburg PA
Coopersburg PA
Coopersburg PA
Coopersburg PA
Golf course north of Coopersburg
Golf course north of Coopersburg
Farm lands
Farm lands crossing
Farm land north of Coopersburg
Farms
Somewhere north of Coopersburg PA
A shortcut
Somewhere near Coopersburg
North of Coopersburg PA
Abstract art north of Coopersburg
Walking parallel roads and through grass because the old Reading Railroad was far too overgrown, north of Coopersburg
Crossing Desales property
Crossing Desales property
I've got my Marti Gras beads, which I think Russ gave to us!
Somewhere near Hellertown PA
Somewhere near Hellertown PA
It was time to celebrate! My 300th hike was about to take place, and we had a party the preceding night at Tea Biscuit's house in William's Twp. Pa just south of Easton. We had a fun night of laughing and carrying on, and playing Beer Pong. DJ Ray Cordts brought his DJ equipment and entertained for the party, there were poker games going on, and everyone seemed to have fun. I drank myself sick for only the third time in my life. The next morning we got up and prepared to hike. Tea Biscuit and David, who was renting a room off Tea Biscuit, were both not ready to hike. Most of the partygoers were in no shape to go. I had to count people and cars to be sure everyone was safe. At first there were some missing, but I accounted for them all, and Paige Foley was asleep in her car, so when everyone was accounted for, we headed out. We met yet again at the Brodhead lot, and this time shuttled south to Quakertown PA. We were running very late, and Skyler, Michele Morholt, and her friend Mike Adamek were running behind. I directed them as best I could, and when they finally showed up we shuttled south to Quakertown. Joining us there were Gerry Martiniak and his wife Beverly Auvil. We met at a town parking area in the middle of Quakertown. For this trip, we also had signed on my girlfriend Cathy Fisher, Skyler Jermyn, Ray Cordts, Christina Manley, John Spiridon, Jim "Mr Buckett" Mathews, "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Bill "Guillermo" Fable, Michelle Morholt, Russ Moyer, and newcomers Gerry led us up the street to the railroad crossing of the former Reading Railroad I think it was, and we headed north. There were still tracks in and they were relatively clear here. It was nice easy walking at the beginning, though it was very open and a hot day. The late start made it all the more intolerable. We did the best we could and continued on. Soon, there was a train parked on the left, no engine and a lot of flatbed cars, so we opted to walk on top of them, which took us for quite a while. There were a couple industrial spurs to the left leading to some industries along the way. Gerry pointed out some points of interest as we walked, and explained that this rail line was scheduled to be reopened as a single track commuter line in the near future. We continued on crossing an overpass over what I think was Pumping Station Road, and the tracks became a bit more overgrown. There were only intersprersed secions of trees and weeds and such that we were still able to walk around, so it was'nt so bad. Things started to get bad however when we hit a Yellow Jacket's nest and I got stung. Quickly thereafter Cathy got stung as well as Michelle. We all ran quickly for a ways to escape them. We continued on and soon crossed another road at grade, probably California Road (there is a village called California just north of the crossing too). There was a yard directly to the right, and the tracks were overgrown. I opted to walk in the yard and then cut over to the tracks as soon as possible, which was'nt long. We continued on the right of way which was now much easier. It was a double track, but completely overgrown with large trees, with a walkway in between the two tracks. DJ Ray got stung by a larger species of bee and had to take the stinger out of his ankle area, but he was okay. We continued on as the railroad led us through a cut and some fills, and we soon began to parallel Rt 309. There was some insanely high grass over ten feet tall all around us. It was not abrasive, more like a high grass. Walking through it was surreal, and Guillermo commented that he felt like a Rhinocerous walking through it. I was ready for it, as Gerry told me before the hike that we'd have to bully through it. We soon reached the village of Shelly and Cathy, Beverly, and I don't remember who else decided to go out to 309 to walk. The rest of us continued on which was tolerable, save for a few spider webs. When we reached the next grade crossing on a small road just off 309, Cathy, Gerry, Beverly, John, and to my surprise Mr. Buckett all decided to turn back. They walked some roads out through California on their way back to Quakertown. The rest of us reentered the woods and were at first happy to see we were in a cut with a clear enough walkway. Continueing on, the cut we were in became much more difficult. The undergrowth got bad, and there was water on both sides of the tracks. It got to a point where going on along the tracks was not really feasable so we opted to try to make our way up to the east. I carried Michelle over and helped Christina, and Wyatt got his feet covered in some shitty mess from the water, but we overall made it okay, and entered a big yard full of trailers to big rigs and scrap metal. We made our way out to an access road and followed it out to the next road which was either State Road or Passer Road, I really don't know...Wait a minute...on second thought I don't think it was either, it would have been the road south of State Road. Sorry bout that. Smack me if I do it again. Anyways, it was impossible to get along on the tracks from here so we opted to walk 309 north down a hill into Coopersburg in a drainage flume along the northbound lane. When we saw a mini mart Skyler, Wyatt, and I had to head over for drinks. I got a Gatorade Berry Rain drink, which I started drinking a year ago, and loved it. It really helped, as after I drank it my hangover headache started feeling better. We crossed back over and stopped for lunch at Burger King, which I really needed as well. After eating we headed up State Road I think it was where we found Russ waiting for us. Guillermo had disapppeared, and as it turned out he went into a Gentleman's Club, so I had to go in and get him. I found him sitting next to a girl in a thong. We continued on the right of way, which was really badly overgrown. We came out to what must have been Landis Street and the tracks looked too bad ahead, so we turned right and then immediately left on the parallel Gubitosi Drive, a dead end street. We walked by some huge residences, the last of which was for sale and vacated, so we continued straight into a line of trees when we reached the end, and came out onto the south side of Tumblebrook Golf Course. There were people golfing right here, but we figured 'screw it' and walked on through on a paved path around the perimeter, which led parallel with the tracks. We continued along in the golf course all the way to the north end, then cut into the woods back up a fill onto the tracks. While climbing back up, we hit a few more yellow jacket's nests, and I got stung a couple times, but Christina got it worse with ten stings! We were able to follow the tracks, not easily, over the Tumble Brook and Jacoby Road, then continued on. It kept getting worse, and there was what looked like an industrial park around us, so we left the tracks to the right and walked along a parking area. We crossed at the next access road to the west side of the tracks and paralleled on a path along a retention pond. When we reached the end of the pond the path turned left, with no access. We opted to cut back into the woods toward the tracks, which was very tough. There was a lot of signage on the right forbidding to trespass, so we tried to make our way down to the west and found a farm road. We walked the road out, and someone in the group, I think it was Russ, talked to the land owners who were watching us like Hawks. As it turned out, they were cool and allowed us to walk through their property out to the next road, which was Passer Road (yeah, now I got it right). We turned left, and the tracks were still too bad to walk so we made the next right onto New Street then onto Flint Hill Road crossing the tracks again. A guy living along them told us he used to ride ATVs on it, but it's really impossible to pass now, so we continued on turning left on Walnut Lane and then right on Station Road somewhat parallel with the tracks out to the Allentown College of St Francis De Sales, though I think it just said De Sales on the sign. We walked across some of the campus to Weyhill Road, then onto Ballybunion Road. Some of the group went the wrong way and had to catch up with us. The road became Augusta Drive, and there were huge houses. We talked to some movers moving somebody to Texas for a bit, who of course did'nt know where the tracks were. We continued on to a Valley Road, and Wyatt and I checked out the tracks, which still did'nt look good to walk. We continued on the road, and Guillermo, Wyatt and I wandered across a ripped up area near a house to check out the tracks again, but I decided not to bring the group down. Guillermo and Wyatt decided to continue there. We continued on Valley Road out to the village of Bingen, turned left on Reading Road, then left again on Bingen Road. I made the executive decision, which everyone agreed on, that we would have to take the shortest route into Bethlehem. We began walking the road, and DJ Ray and I stopped to take a cool off dip in the Saucon Creek. We continued on up Bingen Road and I called Cathy and Mr. Buckett to come and pick us up. Russ and a few others were ahead of us, and had no idea I'd contacted them, and were surprised to see they were rescued! They had to drive up to Guillermo's and Cathy came back to get a second load of people. Wyatt, Michelle Mike, and I waited for the ride. We all went up to Guillermo's and ordered a pizza. We opted not to wander Musikfest out of exhaustion.
1.) Wyatt and Skyler in Quakertown2.) The crew on the tracks in Quakertown2a.) Gerry on the tracks in Quakertown (PH)3.) Looking north along the tracks in Quakertown4.) Skyler posing on an old rail car5.) Skyler, Guillermo, and Wyatt on the old rail car flatbeds6.) On the tracks heading north of Quakertown7.) Wyatt and Skyler on the tracks where they're overgrown north of California Road8.) High grass overgrowing on the tracks9.) The tracks north of California heading toward Shelly10.) Gerry bullying his way through the undergrowth10a.) Fighting through the undergrowth (PH)10b.) Cathy taking a break in the shade just south of Shelly (PH)11.) This is where Guillermo commented he felt like a Rhinocerous12.) Along the tracks in Shelly12a.) Where some of the group took a break to walk on the road where it was overgrown (PH)13.) John and Gerry at the road crossing in Shelly where they turned back13a-13f.) Crossing an insanely muddy area north of Shelly to get away from the tracks (PH)13g-13i.) Here I'm helping Christina cross the muddy area (PH)14.) Wyatt in the back of a tractor trailer north of Shelly15.) Christina, Yanni, and Skyler in the truck place we passed through north of Shelly16.) The group taking a break while I scouted around looking for how to return to the tracks16a.) The group hangin out (PH)17.) Russ and Wyatt heading into Coopersburg on Rt 309 in the drainage basin18.) More in that 309 drainage ditch18a-18d.) The group walking down Rt 309 in Coopersburg (PH)19.) The group crossing Tumblebrook Golf Course...whoops!20.) More crossing the golf course21.) Crossing a private farm as we neared Passer Road22.) Nearing Passer Road in the fields23.) Crossing the field south of Passer Road24.) Lovely farm view25.) Ray taking a shortcut across a field to make his way to Station Road26.) Here we are with a religious sign27.) Wyatt with his friend Jesus28.) Wyatt climbing on some Abstract art at the DeSales College29.) Ray was swinging something, I forget what...30.) The group crossing the lawn at DeSales31.) In the DeSales parking lot32.) ME! With my Marti Gras beads.33.) Wyatt with his broken sword along Bingen Road34.) Wyatt and I waiting to get picked up along Bingen Road34a.) At Guillermo's house after the hike (PH)35.) And as an added bonus, my cat Turkey!
me!
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