Hike #370 9/14/8
Group shot at Lehigh Canal lock near Coalport
9/14/8 Lehigh Canal; Jim Thorpe to Lehigh Gap with Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, Russ Moyer, "DJ Ray" Cordts, "Commando Tom" Petrucci, Katie smith, and Jason Itell
I lost the original journal to this one too. If anyone has a copy please let me know!
Glen Onoko Tunnel
Glen Onoko Tunnel
Glen Onoko Tunnel
Nesquhehoning Trestle
View of the Lehigh from Nesquehoning Trestle
Old building near Nesquehoning Junction
Along the tracks
Old building
Old tower building
Old tower building
Old tower building near Nesquohoning
Lehigh Canal Upper Division just south of Glen Onoko
Lehigh Canal lock in the Upper Division near Glen Onoko
Lehigh Canal lock north of Jim Thorpe
lehigh Canal lock in Coalport vicinity
Lehigh Canal lock in Coalport vicinity
Lehigh Canal lock in Coalport area
In Jim Thorpe Market
Jim Thorpe Market
Jim Thorpe Market
Jim Thorpe Market
Jim Thorpe market
Little rail car near Jim Thorpe Market
The tracks south of Jim Thorpe
South of Jim Thorpe
Lehigh Canal south of Jim Thorpe
Lehigh Canal south of Jim Thorpe
lehigh Canal south of Jim Thorpe, Eastern Hognose Snake
Lehigh Canal south of Jim Thorpe
Rail bridges over the Lehigh south of Jim Thorpe
Lehigh Canal towpath south of Jim Thorpe
Along the Lehigh Canal towpath
Along the Lehigh Canal south of Jim Thorpe
Lower Lehigh Gorge south of Jim Thorpe
Narrow edge of Lehigh Canal below Jim Thorpe
Along the Lehigh south of JIm Thopre
Along the Lehigh south of Jim Thorpe
Lehigh Canal south of Jim Thorpe
Lehigh Canal and lock site near Weissport
Lehigh River at Weissport
Giant piles of dirt along the former Lehigh Canal entering Weissport
Weissport
Weissport PA
Weissport PA structure
Weisspot PA
Weissport PA structure
Weissport PA
Ruins in Weissport PA
Canal lock in Weissport PA
Weissport PA
Weissport PA
Weissport PA canal lock
Old Lehigh Canal lock site
This was a former Lehigh Canal outlet lock. Below points like this, the canal utilized the slack water of the Lehigh River. This is below Weissport.
A church turned convenience store
View
Weird tree...
Lehigh Tunnel
Old zinc company building out of Palmerton
Old zinc company building out of Palmerton.
Property of zinc co.
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Roof of the Old zinc company building
Roof of the Old zinc company building
On the top of the roof of the old zinc co building
Looking down from zinc co building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Old zinc company building
Tracks near the zinc co
Lehigh Gap PA
This hike was going to be the next section in the series to hike the entire Lehigh Canal. I'd last left off on it in Lehigh Gap, and so this time we'd do the section from Glen Onoko to Lehigh Gap, and it was a great hike!
We met in the morning in Lehigh Gap along the AT, and shuttled cars to east Jim Thorpe where we used on street parking. We started off the trip by visiting the abandoned CNJ Glen Onoko Tunnel which is always worthwhile We had to walk down to the river on the access road. I did'nt want to park down below in case we finished after dark. DJ Ray brought an entire container of Blue Hawiian, and Russ drove us to the beginning. I layed in the back of the truck and drank half of it myself before we even started hiking. This time I actually started the hike drunk from the beginning.
If that were'nt enough, I decided we'd do this hike in Wal Mart smocks!
I had posted this hike earlier in the week, and just after posting it I was informed by Appalachian Mountain Club that this would be my last AMC sanctioned hike as I was to be banned as a leader temporarily. They told me I had to go through a retraining process to lead hikes again. I was pretty insulted by this, and good friends of mine close to the executive committee of the local chapter tell me every complaint they had against me trying to have me removed as a leader was based on jealousy or heresay evidence. Regardless of what or who it was, I was out and I was stressed, so the Blue Hawiian helped, even if things such as that were the excuse given for removing me as a leader.
After fooling around here, we continued along the road/rail bed south along the Lehigh. When we got to the old trestle across the Lehigh, it was now decked as a trail bridge and open to public. We of course had to go and try it out. On the other side there was no where to walk to at this time though, and it was fenced off. We climbed the fence anyway to check out an abandoned building along the tracks on the other side.
After climbing around inside, we made our way back across the bridge (where the trail used the abandoned second track and excursion trains still use the other) and then came to where we could see the former Lehigh Canal.
We descended from the railroad fill and got on a nice section of towpath in beautful woodlands.
This section was part of the Lehigh Canal's upper division, the first part of it to be abandoned due to flooding way back in the 1800s. This section was used a little later because I think there was an interchange on it with the railroad.
We walked along the nice towpath and came out to a nice old lock site with beautiful stone work. If that weren't enough, we came out to a second old lock site also in very nice shape.
The towpath remained pretty easy to follow until the last lock. We actually seemed to lose the canal prism altogether at some point here, so we moved on up to the active railroad tracks. We followed this south to the Jim Thorpe market and stopped for some food and drinks.
It must have looked pretty funny, this group wandering through with the old Wal Mart happy faces and "how can I help you" vests. We goofed off here for a bit and then moved on down the tracks to the south. The towpath was son below us, but it did'nt look clear enough for us to walk.
Pretty soon there was a sewage treatment plant just off the tracks to the right. Just before it was the ruins of a Lehigh Canal lock. We walked around the perimeter of the treatment plant around some fences. It appeared as though others had done the same thing by looking at the treadway, so we did'nt worry. On the other side began a beautiful cleared section of the old towpath. We followed it south under the railroad tracks we'd been following (they crossed the river) and into a nice secluded but preserved section.
We started getting warm so us guys went with the Wal Mart smocks without under shirts.
Along the old canal there was an observation deck above with a nice view up and down the Lehigh. I was quite impressed with this section. There were also a few lock sites in pretty good condition. Pretty soon the canal even became water filled again.
The next town we came to was Weissport, where the canal was still in pretty good shape. We passed a few stone ruins on the left, one of which must have been an old root cellar or something. Very interesting. Eventually as we reached Lehighton the towpath sort of ended as the canal spilled off into the Lehigh. The section from here to Lehigh Gap was pretty obliterated due to the construction of Rt 248. A few sections the canal poke out from under 248 but not many.
We walked into the towns along the way, and stopped at a mini mart that was a converted church. That was really a neat stop. Somewhere in here DJ Ray and Katie cut out to get food.
We continued south trying to stay close to the canal for a bit, but we ended up following the former CNJ railroad tracks toward Palmerton. We soon were skirting a chain link fence on the right hand side. Behind it were some huge buildings, apparently all part of the former NJ Zinc company. The place was massieve and there were many holes in the fence at this time (though the further we got toward civilization the more secure the fences were). I tried to convince the others to go in and explore with me, but they did'nt want to have anything to do with it. I had to get in though.
I ran across the open area to the right side of the building, then made my way along it's edge through the Ailanthus shrubs as not to be seen. This wing of the building turned in to my left and opened up into an old garage or wide recieving bay of some kind. The lower part of the building was here, while the highest part was to the right. I walked right in through the receiving door. First, I checked out this low area, walking the perimeter of the concrete floor. I then made my way through a series of doors which led to the base of the main large building. There were a few staircases and a lot of machinery around. I made my way up the first flight of stairs I came to with cyclinder shaped things with cone tops around me, sort of like giant funnels. On the next floor things were much more open and I could see a bit more of the next level I'd be getting to. I took another set of steps and they took me up where there were walkways around the outsides of the machinery. There were slightly higher levels of these as well and I continued to make my way up. When I got up high enough the walkways had some metal bars welded across them in places, but still access to the floor via other stairs going down. I still can't figure out why two sets of stairs would lead up but not have an alternative way down. There was really no apparent reason for those cross bars. Still, I continued up, and one of the last levels I got to had an old fan in the wall for ventilation. One more slightly higher level platform led to a metal ladder going straight up through a hatch in the roof. Whether it was the wine I was drinking at this point or the fact that it was just so cool I don't know, but I was'nt too scared I went up, and my hand slipped. I dropped my bottle of wine which fell and made all sorts of sounds as it made it's way far down to the bottom. I was more annoyed than scared at this point.
I made my way out of the hatch, and to my great satisfaction found myself on the flat part of the roof facing sort of west. The view was outstanding. I walked over to the edge to see my friends below waiting patiently...or at least waiting, while I was up there. They must have been pretty surprised to see me appear on the roof.
This still was'nt good enough for me. There was a higher level to this roof. The triangle arc of the roof was directly behind me, with a sheet metal base. I walked right up it and stepped over a couple of vertical pieces. I was now in the center of the peak of the roof of this incredible huge abandoned building. Nothing could beat this view, and the sun was setting making it all the more incredible. I came off of there and went back to the edge and the other guys were trying to get me to come down. I slowly made my way down, taking tons more pictures along the way.
I only went back inside the old building once more after this time, with my friends Alex and Chrissi in the Summer of 2009. It was tougher because it was more secured with chain link fences, and we had to squeeze in. I ended up drawing marks in the dirt so we'd know which way to go to get back out when we were finished. Again I went back up on the roof with them and was glad to be able to share it with somewone, because in the Spring of 2010 the building was demolished.
We continued on with the hike, and I believe there was a security camera on the road entrance to the property. We avoided it stepping off the railroad tracks at that time. We continued walking along the tracks heading southbound, and I think as it started getting darker we stepped off. Russ had gone ahead, but we soon met up with him again. I think we walked the road to an access point just north of Lehigh Gap, and I think the gate was open where we could go through and pick up a spur from the Lehigh and New England Railroad that wrapped around the north side of Blue Mountain. I'm pretty sure we followed the rail bed back to the cars, and I seem to recalll DJ Ray jumping out of the weeds to scare us along the way. We finished at the AT parking area just after dark.
This finished my last AMC hike. I did just about everything I wasn't supposed to be doing, and I never turned in the trip report. So there!
Though I acted like I did'nt care much of the time, this bothered me deeply, and was just another piece of stress added to my ever growing pile.
Jim Thorpe Market
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