Hike #311 10/14/7
10/14/7 Lake Towhee-Lake Nockamixon-Quakertown Highlands with "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Rich Pace, Fred Hafale, Skyler Jermyn, "DJ Ray" Cordts, Lucy Ruinge, Russ Moyer, Jen Heisey, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, and David Noble
Welcome to Walmart Nockamixon
This next trip would be yet another scouting hike for the route of the Highlands Trail in Pennsylvania. We would hike a route between Lake Towhee in Bucks County to the town of Quakertown. Joining me this time were "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Rich Pace, Russ Moyer, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, DJ Ray Cortds, Lucy Ruinge, Skyler Jermyn, and Jen Heisey.
Starting off at Lake Towhee County Park
Starting off a hike in Lake Towhee Park
Lake Towhee parking lot
Lake Towhee County Park
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Lake Towhee County Park
Lake Towhee
Lake Towhee
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Lake Towhee
Lake Towhee
Lake Towhee
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Lake Towhee County Park
Lake Towhee County Park
Lake Towhee County Park
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Lake Towhee County Park
Lake Towhee County Park
Lake Towhee County Park
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Lake Towhee County Park
Lake Towhee County Park
Lake Towhee County Park
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Lake Towhee County Park
Lake Towhee County Park
Lake Towhee County Park
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Bucks County back roads
South of Lake Towhee
Taking a break on the way to Nockamixon State Park
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A break along the road
Lots of bikes passing
Lake Nockamixon
<Photo 39>
Nockamixon State Park
Lake Nockamixon
Nockamixon State Park
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Lake Nockamixon
Dressed up in Wal Mart garb
Wal Mart associates hike
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Lake Nockamixon
Lake Nockamixon
Nockamixon State Park
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Nockamixon State Park
Nockamixon State Park
Nockamixon State Park
<Photo 56>
Nockamixon State Park
Nockamixon State Park
Nockamixon State Park
<Photo 60>
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Nockamixon State Park
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Nockamixon State Park
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Nockamixon State Park
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Nockamixon State Park
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Nockamixon State Park
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Nockamixon State Park
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Lake Nockamixon
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Nockamixon State Park
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Nockamixon State Park
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Nockamixon State Park
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Lake Nockamixon
</p><p><Photo 76></p><p>
Nockamixon State Park
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Nockamixon State Park
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Pond adjacent to Lake Nockamixon
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Lake Nockamixon
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Lake Nockamixon
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Lake Nockamixon
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At Nockamixon State Park
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Bridge crossing a finger of Lake Nockamixon
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Nockamixon State Park
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Rich on the bridge
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Bridge crossing a finger of Lake Nockamixon
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Near Lake Nockamixon
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The group on the bridge over part of Lake Nockamixon
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Lake Nockamixon
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Bridge over a finger of Lake Nockamixon
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Trail in Nockamixon SP
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Nockamixon State Park
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Nockamixon State Park
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Rock Hill
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Rock Hill
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On Rock Hill southwest of Quakertown
</p><p><Photo 104></p><p>
Rock Hill
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Rock Hill
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Rock Hill
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Rock Hill
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Rock Hill near Quakertown PA
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Rock Hill
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Rock Hill
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Rock Hill
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Railroad underpass south of Quakertown
</p><p><Photo 116></p><p>
Former Reading Railroad
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Former Reading Railroad south of Quakertown
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Former Reading Railroad south of Quakertown
</p><p><Photo 120></p><p>
Former Reading Railroad
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Former Reading Railroad
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Former Reading Railroad
</p><p><Photo 124></p><p>
Former Reading Railroad
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Swamp lands south of Quakertown
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Swamp lands south of Quakertown
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Stairs to nowhere?
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Rail yard in Quakertown
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In Quakertown
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Rail cars in Quakertown PA
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Quakertown Station
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Quakertown PA
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Quakertown PA
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Quakertown PA
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Quakertown PA
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Quakertown PA dinner
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Quakertown PA dinner
</p><p>Many of us did this trip wearing Wal Mart smocks yet again, for the third week in a row! We met in Quakertown on the main drag, at the little parking area in town where we'd met for hike 300 in August, and then shuttled cars to Lake Towhee Park. We began walking from the first parking area and headed down to the lake shore heading north. We had to cross a mowed picnic area and began along the perimeter trail of the lake, which at first was a woods road. It led us to a driveway, following it shortly before heading off into the woods. We continued around the north end of the lake crossing over a tributary to the lake, and then passing by where we'd turned off of the trail on the previous trip that had begun at Lake Towhee earlier in the year. We followed the trail around the east end of Lake Towhee and reached a fork. To the left a trail led to higher ground reading "dry route", while another went to the right. I decided we'd go to the right, and while the trail was tough to follow sometimes due to spuratic blazes, it was not wet. We continued to the main dam of the lake and followed a little access road to a camp area out to a road. I can't remember which one it was, but there were a lot of cyclists passing by on some sort of huge trip. We made a left hand turn onto the next road which led to Rt 563 I think it was and the entrance to Nockamixon State Park. We walked down to the water and took a break, and Wyatt and I went for a swim, even though signs prohibited doing so. I accidently lost my knife into the water twice, but fortunitely Wyatt found it both times! After the second time I dropped it he insisted on carrying it to shore. We continued along a bike trail heading southwest along the shore to the site of Stover Mill (there are a couple Stover Mills in Bucks County) and an old dam. I had previously hiked this on the perimeter of the lake hike I did in the Spring with Jason Itell. We followed the trail through the woods and around the perimeter of the lake. We got split up at one point when I was way way ahead, and the rest of the group was below closer to the shore in a nice cleared area. We fortunitely got back together soon, and then made our way up to the highway bridge at a creek inlet (I think it was Tohickon Creek inlet) where we were joined by David Noble. Together we all headed along the trails, which were better groomed in this area, to the next parking area. I spent a while talking to a guy about the history of the area, and he told us a bit about the Liberty Bell Line, an old trolley route that operated between Philidelphia and Bethlehem. Some of this right of way was currently under developement as a rail trail, and I was hoping to utilize some of the right of way as the route of the Highlands Trail. At the time of this writing I have yet to figure out a good route from Nockamixon to the righ of way. We continued out to the highway, and followed it out to I think it was Rt 313 on the west side of Lake Nockamixon. We turned left and then right on a back road and turned right off of that onto a gas line heading up Rock Hill. As we ascended, first the gas line was mowed, and then turned into an overgrown high grass with a sort of ATV trail on it. We saw one guy, who looked equally as surprised to see us, apparently hunting. He gave us no trouble. When we reached the crest of the hill, there was a bit of a view, and the former Reading Railroad line came into view below. Most of us were fighting through weeds, but DJ Ray and Lucy I think it was found a better route that was clear on the other side of the tracks. Just before reaching the bottom, we came to a driveway we had to cross. There was a guy out in his yard, but he did'nt stop anyone until Mr. Buckett went by, and he chatted with him a bit. The guy did'nt give him any trouble and we moved on. We followed the driveway out to a road and climbed up to the tracks. We continued following the old double tracked route to the north into Quakertown. Skyler tried taking what appeared to be an easier parallel route to the east of the tracks, but he ended up getting stuck and had to come back over. Mr. Bucket spent a lot of the time discussing the Highlands Trail project with Jen, and he was driving her nuts which was rather funny to see, so I changed the subject and we ended up spending most of the remainder of the hike talking about Quentin Terantino movies. There were some trains parked on a siding in Quakertown which we checked out, then followed the main street back to where we were parked. We decided to have dinner at a pizza place, which was taking forever to get ready. We almost left (actually, David did!). It was actually good pizza though.</p><p> </p><p>Here's descriptions of the pictures as they'll appear on Photobucket, followed by a link to them:</p><p> </p><p>1.) The group getting ready to go at Lake Towhee1a.) More of the group at the parking area (FH)1b.) The group at the parking area (RP)2.) Starting down to the shore of the lake3.) DJ Ray along the trail down to the lake shore3a.) Heading down to the lake (RP)4.) Nice view of Lake Towhee4a.) Another lake view (FH)4b.) Along the lake (RP)5.) The group at the lake5a-5c.) Along the lake (FH)6.) Walking along Lake Towhee heading to the trail head from the picnic area7.) Where the trail follows the driveway a bit8.) This is where the trail leaves the driveway8a.) Along the trail (FH)8b.) Along the trail (RP)8c.) Bridge crossing over the inlet to Lake Towhee (RP)8d.) Along the trail at Lake Towhee (RP)8e.) Along Towhee's east shore (RP)9.) Rich and Mr. Buckett on the east shore of Lake Towhee9a.) Along the east shore of Lake Towhee (FH)10.) Lake Towhee's south side near the dam10a.) Another shot of the dam (FH)10b.) The group along the shore of Lake Towhee (FH)10c.) The dam of Lake Towhee, panoramic (FH)11.) The group walking through the camp site area on the south shore of Lake Towhee11a.) Walking through the camp area near Towhee (FH)11b.) Bikes passing by us along the road (FH)11c.) Heading to an intersection where we rested (RP)11d.) Resting along the road (RP)12-13.) Resting alongside the road north of Lake Nockamixon13a.) More cyclists going by (FH)14.) Lake Nockamixon14a.) More of the lake (FH)14b.) Russ on a rock! (RP)15.) Taking a break in a picnic area along the shore15a.) Wyatt and I swimming in Lake Nockamixon (FH)15b-15c.) The group resting (FH)15d.) More of Wyatt and I in the water (FH)16.) My Wal Mart team!16a.) Rich taking a picture of us in the Wal Mart smocks (FH)16b.) Rich's picture of the group! (RP)17.) Getting ready to go...17a.) Another one of the lake (FH)17b.) Along the lake...(RP)18.) Fred and I, while I was on the phone with David Noble19.) Skyler along Lake Nockamixon20.) DJ Ray along the way21.) Along the paved bike path section of the trail22.) Ruins of the dam at the old Stover Mill site along the lake22a.) The group at the old mill site (FH)22b.) At the dam site (RP)23.) Crossing a tributary where another dam was just upstream of the Stover Mill dam23a-23c.) More of the second dam site (FH)23d.) Ascending onto the second dam site on the trail (RP)24.) Taking a break along the trail24a.) Along the trail (FH)24b.) The trail (RP)24c-24d.) Lucy and I on the trail (RP)25.) DJ Ray on the trail26.) Pretty trailway along the north shore of Lake Nockamixon26a.) Paddler on the lake (FH)26b.) The group resting where the trail approaches the water briefly (FH)26c.) Takin' a break (RP)27.) Lovely little scene along the way28.) Some of the group ended up down below in this meadow when we got split up29.) There's the rest of the group below in the meadow29a.) Skyler on the alternate trail along the meadow (RP)29b-29c.) Along the meadow heading back toward the rest of the group (RP)30.) Another little view along the way31.) The Rt 563 bridge over the inlet31a.) Another boater (FH)31b.) Me on a rock overlooking a lake inlet talking to David on the phone (FH)31c.) The group at the little rock along one of Nockamixon's inlets (RP)32.) View of the lake from the road bridge32a.) David Noble joins the group (FH)32b.) Still on the bridge (FH)32c-32d.) View of the lake from the bridge (FH)32e.) Still on the bridge (FH)32d-32e.) On the bridge (RP)32f-32k.) More pictures on the bridge... (RP)32l-32m.) Heading down below the bridge (RP)33.) Along the trail below the bridge heading southwest34.) Taking a break at one of the parking areas35.) Ascending Rock Hill on the gas line35a.) Ascending Rock Hill (RP)36.) Still ascending on the pipeline through the weeds36a.) Having a look from the top of the pipeline (RP)37.) Russ reaching the top of the pipeline on Rock Hill37a.) Russ on top! (RP)38.) On the top38a.) Crest of the hill (FH)38b.) Descending now...(RP)39.) Descending on the other side of Rock Hill, looking west39a.) Still descending (FH)40.) Descending toward the railroad tracks40a.) Descending toward the tracks (RP)41.) This is where we had to use some of the driveway to head down the hill42.) The group at the bottom of Rock Hill near the railroad tracks43.) Passing under the former Reading Railroad43a.) Railroad underpass (RP)44.) Heading north on the former Reading line45.) View south on the tracks45a.) Another south view (FH)45b.) View north on the tracks (FH)45c.) Wyatt on the tracks (FH)45d.) Another view south (RP)46.) Heading north46a.) More of the group heading north (RP)46b.) The tracks making an interesting arc (RP)46c-46d.) Swampland south of Quakertown (RP)47.) Just south of Quakertown PA48.) Wyatt on the stairway to nowhere along the tracks49.) With some trains in Quakertown49a.) Quakertown Station area (RP)50.) Wyatt on one of the trains50a.) Trains (RP)51.) Quakertown Station51a.) Quakertown Station (RP)52.) Trains in Quakertown53.) Russ and Fred in Quakertown54.) In downtown Quakertown55.) Mr Buckett washing his hands at the pizza place56.) Fred!57-58.) At the pizza place</p><p>Here's a link to all of the pics from this hike</p><p>
http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj93/sneezehorse1/hike311%2010-14-7/
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Lunch break at Lake Nockamixon
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Lake Towhee County Park
Lake Towhee
Lake Towhee
Lake Towhee County Park
Lake Towhee County Park
Lake Towhee County Park
Lake Towhee County Park
On the way to Nockamixon State Park
Lake Nockamixon
Nockamixon State Park
Nockamixon State Park
Lake Nockamixon
Nockamixon State Park
Nockamixon State Park
Nockamixon State Park
Nockamixon State Park
Nockamixon State Park
Nockamixon State Park
Nockamixon State Park
Lake Nockamixon
Lake Nockamixon
Lake Nockamixon
Bridge crossing a finger of Lake Nockamixon
Nockamixon State Park
Rock Hill
Rock Hill
Rock Hill
Rock Hill
Railroad underpass south of Quakertown
Former Reading Railroad
Former Reading Railroad
Former Reading Railroad
Quakertown PA
Quakertown PA
Fred having dinner in Quakertown
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