Hike #335 3/22/8
Group shot
3/22/8 Warren Railroad/Portland Hike with Fred Hafale, David Noble, Haresh "Hashish" ?, Dave Riedel, Christina Manley, Christine "The Tall One" Roach, Barbara Baranski, Jack Lowry, Pam Malone, Nicole Sisco, "Connecticut Joe" Bukowski, Scott "Tea Biscuit" Helbing, Wyatt Hassler, Paige Foley, Dave "Captain Soup" Campbell, "Major Tom" Conroy, "Naaron" Young, Chris Herbig, Russ Moyer, Elizebeth Forbath, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, "DJ Ray" Cordts, Brian "Scooter" Thompson, Josh Danesi, Richard Morholt Jr (RJ/Anders), Ron Phelps, "Amish Paul" Hassler, Cathy Fisher, Ron Lozowski, and Eric Pace
Columbia NJ starting out
Columbia NJ starting out
Delaware Water Gap view from the Portland Columbia Foot Bridge
In Portland PA
Former Warren RR in Portland PA
Bald Eagle's nest just off the tracks in Portland PA
Portland PA near the power plant
Portland PA
Delaware Trestle
Delaware Trestle
Delaware Trestle
Delaware Trestle
NJ side of the Delaware Trestle
NJ side of the Delaware Trestle
Delaware Trestle
Delaware Trestle
Delaware Trestle break
Former rail yard in Delaware NJ
Group shot in Delaware NJ
Group shot
Group shot in Delaware NJ
Group shot
Group shot right before David mooned everyone
Group shot
Group shot
Don't as me...
Former bridge site in Delaware
This was the house my Great Grandmother lived in growing up. It was torn down after a little over a year.
My great grandmother's old house in Delaware NJ
Warren railroad bed near Ramseyburg
Warren Railroad bed near Ramseyburg
Taking a break along the former Warren Railroad in Knowlton Township
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
At Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
At Manunka Chunk Tunnel
At Manunka Chunk Tunnel
At Manunka Chunk Tunnel
At Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
At Manunka Chunk Tunnel
At Manunka Chunk Tunnel
At Manunka Chunk Tunnel
At Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
At Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Manunka Chunk Tunnel
At Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Catherine's Run near Manunka Chunk
Near Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Taking a break near Manunka Chunk
Crossing Catherine's Run
Fields in Beaver Brook Wildlife Management Ara
Upper Sarepta Road crossing
Upper Sarepta Road crossing
Upper Sarepta Road break
Sand quarry near Bridgeville
Crossing Rt 46 in Buttsville
Former Warren Railroad
Trail section just north of Oxford
Former Warren Railroad bed
Former Warren Railroad, now a trail in Oxford
In Oxford
Amish Paul and I along Rt 31 in Van Nest Gap
Oxford Tunnel
Oxford Tunnel
South of Oxford Tunnel on the rail bed
Dinner at Dicolas
Dinner at Dicolas
Dinner at Dicolas
Dinner at Dicolas
This hike would mark 11 years since I first led the Portland to Washington hike my Junior year of high school. As I have done in the past, the night before I had my huge annual party, and we all decided to do the hike the next day. It was tough to get everyone up in the morning, but we somehow got to the meeting point, the Port Colden Mall, on time. We shuttled as few cars as possible to Colombia NJ at the footbridge and headed across. We of course had our moment of silence for our absent friend, the late Ron Short. Joining the hike this time were (at the beginning anyway) were Scott "Tea Biscuit" Helbing, Fred Hafale, "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Jack Lowry, "DJ Ray" Cordts, "Connecticut Joe" Bukowski, Paige Foley, Dave Riedel (with his dog that he brought on his first hike with me way back), Ron Phelps, David Noble, Christine "Tall One" Roach, RJ Morholt, Dave "Captain Soup" Campbell, Russ Moyer, Christina Manley, Chris Herbig, "Naaron" Young, "Major Tom" Conroy, and newcomers Harish "Hashish" ?, Pam Malone, Nicole Sisco, Barbara Baranski, Elizebeth Forbath, and Josh Danesi. As always, we got our chocolate milk at Port Mart, then headed down the tracks to the south. The group was quite interspersed right from the start, but not so badly. The group begun splitting apart badly on the Delaware trestle. Pam was having a hard time with the height, as were some others, so it took a while for everyone to get across. We waited for quite a long time, then headed into Delaware. The group was still very segmented as we crossed the Sanico yard. I got everyone together for the group picture on the bridge abutment just south of the main town area, and we headed to Smiddy's. When we got there, only a few stopped. The rest of the group headed on because we were taking so long. Only a few of us went up to the shrub of might this time as well. I ran to the top, and Wyatt made an attempt as I recall, but no one actually went up because of time constraint. We continued through Ramseyburg on the rail bed and eventually reached Manunka Chunk Tunnel. Fred led some of the group over, while the rest of us went through. I led the way with Paige as I recall, and Tea Biscuit, Wyatt, and I don't remember who else followed. The water was insanely cold, so by the time we reached the other side I knew I would'nt try Oxford Tunnel this year. When we got to the other side, we opted to walk the farm road parallel with the rail bed rather than the cold and watery rail bed itself. This probably saved us a bit of time. Also, Ron Lozowski met us at the south portal of the tunnel to join for a good part of the trip. When we reached Upper Sarepta Road, my girlfriend Cathy met up with us and brought us brownies and other goodies left over from the party.
We continued south, crossing the road, paralleling Ledge Road, then crossing Sarepta Road. This section went much faster and easier. We continued on across Harmony Crossing Road, and when we reached Rt 519, Fred led some of the group down the highway at Bridgeville to walk to Hot Dog Johnny's on Rt 46. I was'nt going to do this, so we all crossed the sand pit. Fred thought people would be working, but I figured the day before Easter was unlikely. I was of course right, and we crossed the sand pit with ease. We decided not to go down to Hot Dog Johnny's, and Cathy brought Paige, Mr. Buckett, Dave R, Pam, Nicole, and Scooter back to their cars (though I don't know how she managed that!). The Tall One and RJ left a car in Buttsville where they cut out. Cathy parked in Buttsville and continued south with us along the rail bed across the Pequest Viaduct. We entered Pequest Wildlife Management Area and walked the very nice section out to Pequest Road. The group was in two segments at this point. Fred and Tea Biscuit had the group up ahead while I had the group behind. We continued on into Oxford only a few hundred yards behind the rest of the group, but they continued on faster so we never saw them. When we reached Oxford, Cathy, Ron, and Elizebeth cut out early. The rest of us continued on the highway to the south portal of Oxford Tunnel, since it was far too cold to go through. Highway walking is always a drag, but we managed. We continued down the old ATV trail to the tunnel, and there we met up with Eric Pace, the 31st participant in this hiking, pretty much making this my largest number of participants to date. We continued south from here. We passed by the tree of three, and had a look at our old walking sticks, some of which had been there since 2000. We crossed over Jackson Valley Road and then came to a bad spot where the rail bed was very wet. Major Tom and Eric opted to take nearby roads instead of trudging through the water. The rest of us continued on despite the wetness. We were so tired, but we kept going. The rail bed was a bit different this time for us, as the entire field near the high school was now plowed over and turned into more athletic fields. We continued on into Washington and descended from the rail bed to Dicola's pizza where we had some dinner. Ct Joe brought us some beers, a real nice gesture, and we all had dinner to finish the hike. Quite a tiresome day, but happy!
Near Sarepta
Group shot
0a-0b.) Getting ready to go (FH)0c.) View of Del Water Gap from the footbridge (FH)0d.) In Portland PA (FH)0e.) Heading south on the tracks in Portland (FH)0f.) Bald Eagle next I think in that tree there in Portland (FH)1.) Wyatt picking up a sign he found on the tracks south of Portland1a.) Wyatt with the sign (CR)2.) On the Delaware Trestle2a.) Crossing Delaware Trestle (FH)3.) On the Delaware Trestle4.) On the Delaware Trestle4a-4e.) On the NJ side of the trestle (FH)5.) On the rail bed in Delaware NJ6-13.) Group shots14.) Movie of Dave and Pam being all lovey15.) Picture of Dave and Pam being all lovey15a.) Heading out from the bridge site in Delaware (FH)16-17.) Old brick house in Delaware where my Great Grandmother grew up, scheduled to be demolished18-19.) On the rail bed south of Delaware20.) Laying around along the rail bed21.) Fred at Manunka Chunk Tunnel22-23.) At Manunka Chunk Tunnel24.) Video of Paige pretending to be a cat...?25.) DJ Ray on top of the mantle of Manunka Chunk Tunnel26.) Amish Paul in his usual pose27.) Some of the group at the tunnel27a.) Picture of rocks (CR)27b.) RJ at Manunka Chunk (CR)27c-27d.) Manunka Chunk Tunnel (CR)27e-27n.) At the north end of the tunnel (FH)28.) Inside Manunka Chunk Tunnel29-30.) In Manunka Chunk Tunnel30a.) Looking out the south side of the tunnel (CR)31.) South portal of the tunnel32.) The group resting at the south portal33.) Catherine's Run near Manunka Chunk34.) Ron L, Russ, and Wyatt near the south portal of the tunnel35.) Paige and the Tall One36.) Crossing Catherine's Run on planks37.) In the fields of Beaver Brook WMA37a-37c.) At Upper Sarepta Road taking a break where Cathy brought us some goodies (FH)38.) Crossing the sand quarry near Bridgeville38a.) Crossing Rt 46 in Buttsville (FH)39.) The rail bed in Pequest WMA near Buttsville40.) The rail bed40a.) On the paved trail section in Pequest WMA, Oxford Twp.41.) Wyatt between bollards on the rail trail, Oxford Twp.42.) Cathy heading off to her car in Oxford, Lower Denmark Road43.) Amish Paul and I along Rt 31 along what would have been the former Warren Railroad grade actually...(1856-1862).43a-43b.) South portal of Oxford Tunnel (FH)44.) Heading south on the rail bed from the tunnel area45.) Dinner break at Dicola's Pizza46.) David and Wyatt47-48.) Dinner break
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