Hike #337 4/6/8
Group shot on an exit to abandoned Schuykill Expressway
This was another great milestone hike. New people joined us, old friends were back, and I was proud of Jason Itell for taking a basic idea of connecting a hike where I told him I wanted it to go, and he made an amazing route beyond what I would have imagined. The hike ended at the AMC award dinner they have where the top mileage hiker each year gets a "100 miler" mug and basically is honored by the chapter. This was my third year in a row getting top mileage hiker, and my first (and only) time to attend the event. We clearly had more fun than anyone else there and are still talked about!
4/6/8 Valley Forge-Lafayette Hills with Jason Itell, Cathy Fisher, "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Ryan "Peeps" Short, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, "DJ Ray" Cordts, "Naaron" Young, Jackie De Melo, Russ Moyer, David Noble, Dave "Captain Soup" Campbell, Bill "Guillermo" Fabel, Jason Kumpas, Irina Kulikovskaya, Denise ?, Tom Petrucci, Jason-Michael Flintosh, J Min, and Donna Morgan.
Starting out in Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge...in a santa hat...lol
Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge. Jason looks totally ready for a hike with his party hat and spongebob bag
Valley Forge area
Apartments near Valley Forge
Apartment area near Valley Forge
Crossing Valley Forge Road
Crossing Valley Forge Road
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Old railroad spur. Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge, we passed under this stream culvert to get to the Schuykill River.
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Creek near Valley Forge
Creek near Valley Forge
Somewhere near Valley Forge
Somewhere near Valley Forge
Somewhere near Valley Forge
Bridge near Valley Forge
Bridge near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Near Valley Forge
Stream underpass
Stream underpass
Stream underpass
Stream underpass
Stream underpass
Following a creek near Valley Forge
Following a stream in King of Prussia
Stream crossing
Near the Schukill in King of Prussia
Unofficial trail along the Schuykill
Pathway along the Schuykill River
Schuykill River
Somewhere along the Schuykill
Somewhere along the Schuykill in King of Prussia
Along the Schuykill in King of Prussia
Along the Schuykill in King of Prussia
Along the Schuykill in King of Prussia
Following an unofficial trail Jason Itell had cleared prior to the hike.
Ruins along the way
Pathway near abandoned highway
Trail Jason cleared before the hike
End of abandoned, incomplete Schuykill Expressway
Abandoned and incomplete Schuykill Expressway
Abandoned and incomplete Schuykill Expressway
Abandoned and incomplete Schuykill Expressway
Abandoned and incomplete Schuykill Expressway
Abandoned and incomplete Schuykill Expressway
Abandoned and incomplete Schuykill Expressway
Abandoned and incomplete Schuykill Expressway
Abandoned and incomplete Schuykill Expressway
Abandoned and incomplete Schuykill Expressway
Abandoned and incomplete Schuykill Expressway
Abandoned incompleted Schuykill Expressway exit
Exit on the abandoned Shuykill Expressway
Exit on the abandoned Schuykill Expressway
Abandoned Schuykill Expressway exit
Group shot
Group shot on abandoned Schuykill Expressway exit
Abandoned exit
Tracks near Bridgeport PA
Tracks in Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Wawa in Bridgeport PA...could you imagine opening a bathroom door to find a long haired crazy kid wearing a pink shirt and construction helmet ready to bound at you with a plunger???
Wawa in Bridgeport PA
Wawa in Bridgeport PA
Wawa in Bridgeport PA
Wawa in Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Found a weird stone tower in Bridgeport PA
Stone tower in Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
Bridgeport PA
East of Bridgeport PA
Schuykill River railroad trestle near Bridgeport
Trail along the Schuykill River east of Bridgeport
Trail along the Schuykill
Tracks
tracks
Stream crossing near West Conshohoken
Creek underpass below the tracks
Creek underpass below the tracks
Some sort of a spillway we crossed along the Schuykill near King of Prussia
Abandoned building, King of Prussia PA
Abandoned building, King of Prussia PA
Abandoned building, King of Prussia PA
Abandoned building, King of Prussia PA
Abandoned building, King of Prussia PA
Abandoned building, King of Prussia PA
Abandoned building, King of Prussia PA
Abandoned building, King of Prussia PA
Near the river in West Conshohoken
Remains of Plymouth Dam in West Conshohocken. It was removed some time later.
Schuykill River, King of Prussia
King of Prussia PA
Near the old dam site in King of Prussia
Purged Plymouth Dam in West Conshohocken
Ruins of a purged Plymouth dam in West Conshohocken
Path along the Schuykill in West Conshohoken
Mr. Buckett on a path along the Schuykill,West Conshohocken
Path along the Schuykill, West Conshohocken
Path along the Schuykill, West Conshohocken
Matsonford Bridge
Wyatt filming a Mr. Buckett monologue. It was good, I wish I could see it.
View of the Schuykill from the Matsonford Bridge
Taking a break on the other side of Matsonford Bridge
Schuykill River Trail in Conshohoken
Dirt pile along Cross County Trail
Dirt pile along Cross County Trail, Conshohocken PA
Cross County Trail
Cross County Trail
Cross County Trail
Cross County Trail in Conshohoken area
This section of Cross County Trail may have been along a section of the long abandoned Schuykill Navigation Canal
Along Cross County Trail
Along Cross County Trail
Along Cross County Trail
Along Cross County Trail
We considered walking through this culvert but there was a ton of water
My mismatched shoes
Along Mid County Trail
Wyatt is camoflauged
Mid County Trail
Mid County Trail parallel with Chemical Road
New Mid County Trail under construction
Along Mid County Trail
Mid County Trail
Future route of Mid County Trail beyond Germantown Pike
Taking a final break near the end
Swingers!
Peeps!
David put the "hello my name is..." tags on his eyes and made like he couldn't see...one of the funniest things I've ever seen. AMC people still talk about it to this day.
At the AMC Activities Social
AMC Activities Social
AMC Activities Social
Activities Social
After I got my award for top mileage hiker, three years straight.
Parking lot in Barren Hill
Barren Hill PA
Parking lot in Barren Hill PA
Barren Hill PA
Barren Hill PA after the social
Barren Hill PA after the social
My next hike would be a co-lead with Jason Itell; my previous hike on the Perkiomen Trail had ended at Valley Forge National Park, and the annual Appalachian Mountain Club Activities Social was scheduled to be at Barren Hill Fire Department in Lafayette Hills PA on this date. I had been looking at routes between Valley Forge and Lafayette Hills for this trip, but when Jason needed to do co leads for his leadership training I asked him if we could use anything he knew for the route. Jason came up with entirely his own route between these two points, and it ended up being an incredible section hike! We met at the end point, a small park in Lafayette Hills PA, then shuttled vehicles to Valley Forge where we began our hike. Joining this time were of course Jason who arranged the entire route, my girlfriend Cathy Fisher, "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, David Noble, "DJ Ray" Cordts, Jason Kumpas, Tom Petrucci, Ryan "Peeps" Short, "Naaron" Young, Russ Moyer, Jaque De Melo, Dave "Captain Soup" Campbell, Bill "Guillermo" Fabel, Irina ?, J Min ?, Irina ?, and newcomers Jason-Michael "Jamal" ?, Denise ?, and Donna Morgan. Since this hike was to end at the annual activities social, I decided we really needed to make this something crazy. I decided we should all try to wear something ridicules for the trip, and so I encouraged several participants to wear as much pink as possible, and/or anything crazy. In addition, I brought some weird things for people to wear. I had Peeps wear my tie died lab coat, as well as a fluffy Bar Mitzva hat I'd gotten in a Happy Bag from Wyatt; I gave Jason a Happy Bag with a party hat, and I also passed out a lobster hat to Naaron, a santa hat, some sort of weird bed cap hat, and I don't even remember what else. I wore a beat up, torn up pair of pajamas with my navy blue bath robe. The back of my pants had a tear that was coming apart badly the entire trip. I had to safety pin it during the trip several times. If all of this were not enough, DJ Ray went as far as to taking glass bottles of Samual Adams' Double Bock and painted them pink!!! We began walking from the large parking area where we'd finished the Perkiomen Trail hike and headed along a little trail toward the Pottstown Expressway, and then turned left under the bridge on a narrow paved trail. I'm not totally sure how we did it, but we walked up into some sort of a small residential area, passed some sort of sculpture things which of course Peeps had to climb on, proving that not much had changed since his absense in the Air Force. We continued down hill through the residential area to what I think must have been Old Valley Forge Road, turning left out to I guess it was Moore Road. We crossed West Valley Forge Road here and then crossed a parking area at a large building, soon reaching an abandoned railroad track. We began following that northeast. We soon crossed West Valley Forge Road/Rt 23 again on the tracks and headed out to the active railroad tracks passing what maps show as "Impounding Basin Number Twenty Two". We did'nt stay on the active tracks for long, continueing up hill on of course a gradual graded siding immediately to the right. This line took us past some parked rail cars, which Peeps not surprisingly had to climb on, and Wyatt followed suit. We continued on along the railroad tracks, and eventually a road joined in from the right. We still continued on along the parallel road until Abram's Road came in from the right as well. Continueing along the parallel Abrams Road, we soon came to a creek underpass below the tracks. Jason told us that the area to the north was a superfund site. We made our way to the east side of the bridge, and then climbed down the concrete wall to alongside the creek. I help back to help everyone down, and we all stone hopped across the creek through the underpasses below the road and railroad. Once we got to the other side, we bushwhacked along the creek to an ATV trail on the east side of the creek. Jason likened this to an "Enchanted Forest" which is a term Cathy coined on the previous year's Somerville area hike, knowing she would like it. We began walking the ATV path which was very nice, and it led us out to the Schuykill River and paralleled it for some time. We continued out to where it must have been a gas pipeline or something, then cut across the railroad tracks again to the south side. We then began walking through a disturbed area near a place called Tyson's Dump, and then bushwhacked up hill. Jason had come out ahead of time and cleared a trail heading up hill. I waited behind while he led the rest of the group ahead. We soon reached a little ledge where we would ascend to the right, and an abandoned and incomplete section of superhighway came into view. My maps show this as being the "Schuykill Expressway". The pavement abruptly ended at this piece of woods. We headed out onto it, and Jason had the rest of the group wait up ahead. We walked this incredible piece of abandoned highway to an abandoned exit. We headed down this exit led us under Market Street, then we crossed Ross Road to a railroad track heading east. We soon crossed the road, then passed under another railroad line, then under Dekalb Street, then crossed Mill Street where we turned and went to a Wawa for food and drink...at least I think it was a Wawa. and We got some insane looks in there, with our crazy attire. We continued on, and crossed Depot Street followed by West Fourth Street. The track joined a main line track, and there was a weird high brick structure. I'm not sure what it was, but it was interesting. We continued on the tracks under Rt 276 and it made a turn for the south as the river turned. We followed a path toward the river and onto what might have been a canal at one time. We walked across and down along the Delaware for a bit, and then came back up to the tracks. We walked the tracks again for a bit of time, then ended up turning off on some sort of gas line or something again. It was'nt long before we passed an old dam site which was pretty cool. The old wooden crib work was visible. We soon came to an abandoned building of some sort, which we of course had to take the time to climb on a bit. After taking this break, we walked around a stream of some sort onto a paved path area along the Schuykill. We followed this to I think it was Matsonford Bridge Street. Once we got to the other side, Pete, Donna, and someone else, I forget who, decided to cut to the north to go to an AMC young members meeting while the rest of use turned to the left heading down from the bridge onto the Schuykill River Trail. We followed the Schuykill River Trail to a right turn on the Mid County Trail, an incomplete Montgomery County Trail. Both trails were paved, but rather nice. We continued on the Mid County Trail from Schuykill River, and all along the way in there we ended up climbing a big ATV trail hill, on some power line poles, and just goofed off a lot. Soon, the trail took us across a street, I think it was Chemical Road, and then it paralleled Chemical Road for some time. We were originally going to walk through a concrete underpass but we opted not to due to time constraints. Cathy and Amish Paul stopped at Barnes and Noble bookstore while the rest of us continued on for a bit. Pretty soon the trail was incomplete. No pavement was done yet, but trail bridges were in place. We continued parallel with Chemical Road to the end where it hit Germantown Pike. From here, we continued straight across on a sewer line right of way, the proposed route of the Mid County Trail. We followed this for a ways, and somewhere in there we made a turn to the right up into a developement area. We walked some developement roads for a bit, and somewhere cut through a piece of parkland or school property or something on the home stretch. We soon came to the park where we met in the morning, Miles Park. Most everyone got in their cars from here and headed down the road to the Barren Hill Fire Company Building where the social was being held, but Wyatt, DJ Ray, Peeps, and I opted to walk down Germantown Pike to the fire department...having some beers along the way since this year was a non-alchaholic event. We're so bad... Russ waited outside and changed his clothes a bit because he did'nt want to be seen walking in with the pink posse. When we all got inside, Jason had already begun putting seating together for us all, moving tables together. The social turned out excactly as I wanted it to, our core group sitting together, laughing and carrying on, and obviously having much more fun that most anyone there. I'd heard complaints later that we were "Rowdy" at the social, but I think it just really showed that we were having fun. It was brought up that a lot of the participants that were recognized were not AMC members and that next year they would not be recognized, but this year they got their mugs for having completed so many miles. Unfortunitely, I was jipped of about a hundred or so miles because supposedly I was on a "probationary period" due to complaints from participants, namely Jaye Berman and Dave Stein during the course of the year. When any one of our regulars' names were called to go up and receive their AMC coffee mug, we would hoot and scream like crazy. David actually put those "Hello my name is" tags on his eyes and started screaming and flailing about yelling that he could'nt see, which was hilarious. When Dave Stein's name was called (he was sitting a table away from us), Cathy, Amish Paul, David, and Wyatt began hissing, which was funny, but I tried shutting them up. Fortunitely, I did'nt get in trouble for it. On several occations, Bob Savron, who was acting as a sort of MC, had to shut us up for being too loud. When he was announced as Chapter Secretary, Mr. Buckett shouted out "WHERE'S YOUR DRESS?". It was hilarious. He also accused my group of eating all the food, which was not the case; we were the last table to get up, and Cathy and I barely ate anything at all. I think Bob was just joking, in fact I'm quite sure of it, but some of the AMC people were not happy because they took it seriously and blame us for eating all of the food I'm sure. I was also recognized for leading the second most hikes within the chapter, which is pretty cool. For that I was given a hike leader t shirt. I gave my t shirt to Jason since he was a new leader. The mug I gave to Peeps because he had hiked with me so much in the past. We hung out for a while more, and then finally said our goodbyes. Ira Rubenstein was there, and he told me this was the most fun social to date. I counted 90 participants at the social as well, which was one of the highest numbers ever. We hung out in the parking lot for a while afterwards, and some of the others went out to eat and have a few drinks afterwards, but Cathy, Peeps, and I just headed home. Great day!
Photography by Mike Helbing, Paul and Wyatt Hassler (PH, WH), Jason Itell (JI), Ryan Short (RS), and Cathy Fisher (CF)
1.) The group getting ready to go at Valley Forge National Park1a-1n.) Getting ready to go at Valley Forge (WH)2.) Peeps, DJ Ray, Wyatt, and Guillermo in their pink attire3.) Jason with his happy bag preparing to go4.) On the trail heading out in Valley Forge NP5.) Peeps is climbing an eagle statue in an apartment complex near Valley Forge PA6.) The group with a happy sign in the apartments near Valley Forge6a.) Goofing off in the apartment area (PH)7.) DJ Ray crossing the street on Valley Forge Road I think7a.) DJ Ray crossing the road (PH)7b.) Me (PH)7c.) Pete Fox (PH)7d.) Crossing the road (PH)7e.) Guillermo7f.) DJ Ray and Guillermo (PH)8.) Crossing a parking lot near Valley Forge9.) On the tracks near Valley Forge10.) Walking abandoned tracks near Valley Forge10a-10c.) Railroad car along the tracks near Valley Forge (PH)10d.) On the tracks (J11.) Peeps and Wyatt on the rail car11a.) On the rail car (WH)11b.) The group below the rail car (WH)11c-11d.) Peeps on the rail car (WH)12.) Peeps and Wyatt on the rail car12a.) Coming down from the rail car (WH)12b.) Peeps (WH)12c.) The rail car (WH)12d.) The tracks heading east (WH)13.) Climbing down a bridge along the tracks and a road13a-13n.) Making our way down from the bridge (PH)14.) Walking under the bridge14a-14c.) Under the bridge (PH)15.) Under the bridge16.) On the north side of the bridge16a-16b.) Heading into what is probably a superfund site along the Schuykill (PH)17.) Cathy going under a fallen tree near the Schuykill18.) Along the ATV trail along the Schuykill19.) View downstream on the Schuykill River19a-19e.) Waiting for the group to get back together (PH)19f.) Heading along the pathway (PH)20.) Old stone structure near the tracks21.) Guillermo on an unofficial trail that Jason cleared heading up from the tracks22.) Nearing an abandoned incomplete highway, probably Scuykill Expressway23.) Abandoned Schuykill Expressway24.) The group coming down to the highway abandonment25.) Peeps on a cone on the abandoned highway25a.) On the abandoned highway (PH)26.) Heading along the abandoned Schuykill Expressway27.) Peeps on the highway abandonment28.) On the abandoned highway29.) Nearing the abandoned exit29a-29b.) On the abandoned exit (PH)30.) Me on the abandoned exit (CF)30a.) me on the abandoned highway (PH)30b.) The group on the old exit (PH)31-32.) On the abandoned highway (CH)33.) On the abandoned exit34.) On the tracks near Bridgeport PA34a-34b.) On the tracks, Bridgeport PA35.) On the tracks in Bridgeport35a.) Tracks in Bridgeport PA35b.) In Bridgeport36-37.) Tracks in Bridgeport38.) Wyatt with a toilet plunger in the Bridgeport Wawa store39.) DJ Ray at Wawa40.) Naaron and Wyatt at Wawa40a.) Cathy at Wawa (PH)41.) DJ Ray, Peeps, and Wyatt at Wawa42.) David is rocking a couch along the tracks in Bridgeport42a-42b.) Along the tracks in Bridgeport43.) On the tracks heading east from Bridgeport44.) Some sort of stone structure along the tracks east of Bridgeport45.) Heading east from Bridgeport PA46.) Me on the tracks in Bridgeport (CF)47.) Guillermo and Cathy on the tracks48.) View of a railroad trestle over the Schuykill from the other tracks49.) On a path parallel with the tracks east of Bridgeport50.) The tracks east of Bridgeport51.) Peeps climbing on a rail car52.) Wyatt at a stream underpass53.) A spillway or something of that sort along the Schuykill54.) In an abandoned building along the Schuykill I think in King of Prussia PA55.) Abandoned building along the Schuykill56.) Amish Paul, Cathy, Mr. Buckett, and David taking a break57.) Wyatt and Peeps on top of the building we found58.) More at the abandoned building59.) The Pink Posse on top of the abandoned building60.) Amish Paul walking along a fenceline along the Schuykill61.) An old dam on the Schuykill River in King of Prussia62.) View downstream on the Schuykill63.) Cathy64.) Group shot at the dam (CF)65.) DJ Ray overlooking the dam66.) Trail along the Schuykill in King of Prussai PA67.) Mr. Buckett along the path in King of Prussia68.) Along the path in King of Prussia69.) Path along the Schuykill70.) Matsonford Bridge I think71.) Wyatt filming Mr. Buckett talking72.) View upstream on the Schuykill from Matsonford Bridge I think73.) The group near the bridge taking a break74.) On the Schuykill River Trail passing under the railroad bridge in Conshohoken PA I think75.) Big hillside we were trying to run up76.) Along Mid County Trail at an urban area where we considered walking through this tunnel, but did'nt77.) My mismatched shoes78.) Jason on the Mid County Trail79.) Wyatt with his special camoflauge...80.) Along Mid County Trail parallel with Chemical Road81.) Along unfinished Mid County Trail near Chemical Road82.) Along Unfinished Mid County Trail83.) Wyatt and DJ Ray along the trail84.) Future route of Mid County Trail east of Germantown Pike85.) On future route of Mid County Trail86.) Wyatt with a couch along the road87.) Swinger!88-89.) At dinner, David pretending he can't see with "Hello My Name is..." tags on his eyes! AMC Activities Social.90.) David and Peeps at the activities social91-92.) DJ Ray and Amish Paul92a-92b.) Cathy and I at the social (PH)93.) Capt. Soup, me, and Guillermo at the social94.) Outside after the social95.) Cathy outside the social96.) Jason K after the social97.) I think this is Capt. Soup pulling out...98.) Video of Mr. Buckett going to his car while Wyatt is screwing around...with a funny ending99.) Mr. Buckett and Wyatt100.) Mr. Buckett with beer!
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