Hike #372 9/21/8
Along Freehold and Jamesburg Railroad
9/21/8 Freehold and Jamesburg Railroad; Freehold-Sea Girt with Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, "DJ Ray" Cordts, Katie Smith, "Commando Tom" Petrucci, David Noble, and Andy Sutton.
Former Freehold and Jamesburg Railroad in Freehold
Freehold and Jamesburg railroad east of Freehold.
Nice graffiti
Nice graffiti
Freehold and Jamesburg Railroad bed
Former Freehold and Jamesburg Railroad
Former Freehold and Jamesburg Railroad
Me on former Freehold and Jamesburg Railroad
Along the rail bed
Farmingdale NJ
Structure in Farmingdale NJ
Farmingdale NJ
Abandoned house
Abandoned
Weirdness
Weirdness
Weirdness
Weirdness
Weirdness
Weirdness
Weirdness
Weirdness
Weirdness
Former Freehold and Jamesburg Railroad in Allaire State Park out of Farmingdale
Freehold and Jamesburg Rail bed in Allaire State Park
Rail bed in Allaire State Park
Bridge on the rail bed in Allaire State Park
Rail bed in Allaire State Park
Gold course at Allaire
Trail heading east from Allaire
Along the former Freehold and Jamesburg Railroad heading east
Bridge over the Parkway
The beach at Sea Girt
Beach at Sea Girt
Beach at Sea Girt
For my first hike since my dismissal from AMC, I decided we'd do an abandoned rail line, I think the former Freehold and Jamesburg Railroad heading east, and finish on the beach at Point Pleasant.
Our only newcomer, Andy Sutton, was one of the guys in charge of the NYC subway system which I was keen on hearing about. Unfortunitely I was such a mess at this point in my life that it may have scared him off a bit.
Where we started in Freehold, the tracks were still in. We'd walked a piece of this before when we headed north to Matawan on another line. Soon though, we were on new ground. There was tons of broken glass on the tracks which glimmered incredibly. Just as we were leaving town there was a bag on the left side of the tracks which we were scared was a dead body. I think we kicked at it a bit but I don't remember if anyone wanted to lift it up!
We continued on as the tracks became rather obviously unused. After passing under Rt 33 in particular I recall the line becoming very overgrown. There was also a point I just remembered now where we came uncomfortably close to a firing range. We were'nt sure where they were pointing, so we ducked and ran through!
DJ Ray gave me a big container full of heavy booze which I began to drink like crazy. I'd already brought a little wine, but I wanted more to get my mind off of everything. When we neared the town of Farmingdale I think the tracks showed up again. There was a large concrete silo and an active track going north/south. There was no sign of the junction, and we crossed over the tracks somewhere, then made our way along some weird back woods paths that took us somehow out to I guess Squankum Road. We turned right looking for athe rail bed. On the way, we spotted an abandoned house. This one looked like it was in pretty good shape so we all went around and checked out the back porch area. A window was busted so I went on in. DJ Ray followed, and I think David might have. This place was eerie. It looked like it was only recently abandoned, fully furnished with nice busts, desks, and all appliances. When I got into the kitchen I found that the refrigerator, though it was off, was full of beer! I took them all and loaded them into my pack! I then looked through some other things, like the desk in the living room to discover a satanic bible and other satanic documents. I took the satanic bible and loaded it into my pack to give it to a friend from Weird NJ. While I was in there, I got a phone call from the guys saying to stay put. A cop had pulled up to ask what we were doing, and I was the only one still inside. They somehow covered for me and I came back out when I was called back. That was a freaky close call.
We walked down the road and made a tun to pick up the rail bed again on Hurley Pond Road. We were now in part of Allaire State Park. The rail bed was nice and easy walking here for quite a while. It got a little complicated when we came to Interstate 195 which severred the rail bed. We did'nt let this stop us, and we dashed across the highway as fast as we could.
We crossed Atlantic Avenue and then continued to the edge of a golf course where the rail bed sort of ended. We turned right and bushwhacked out to the parking area. Since the railroad went right through the golf course, the trail was routed around it, paved at this point. It rejoined the rail bed on he other side and continued east across the Garden Stae Parkway on a high bridge.
When we got to Allenwood I guess it must have been, we stopped for a break. I was obliterated and layed down on the sidewalk where the trail came to it. I guess I was ahead and it looked suspicious so someone called 911 because they thought I was in trouble. Soon, a cop showed up and began questioning me. This is when the guys told me I became "Magic sober" and was able somehow to tell the officer what exactly we were doing, and he moved on. We then went into the mini mart and I passed out on the floor near the refrigerators I think it was. I don't remember this well, but the tell me about it often. The proprietor of the store I'm told instructed my friends to get me out of there or he was going to call the police.
I was really down at this point. I was trying to keep things good with Cathy at the time, and felt like I was doing things to help her but she couldn't take the steps to help herself, but she'd been unemployed for years and would'nt get a job, and was making me feel guilty. We had gotten ourselves to 15000 dollars in dept and it was getting worse. At this same time AMC kicked me out and it was eating at me something terrible. It seemed like a complete turn around from the previous year. Things were seemingly getting better with my relationship with Cathy, I was a successful AMC leader and the first dual chapter leader, not to mention top mileage hiker 3 years in a row,but my job at Taylor Rental was terrible and bringing me down. Now, I was happy working at Hunterdon Parks, but my relationship and my association with AMC were falling apart.
At this point I felt at my lowest and I just cracked. My friends were thankfully there to comfort me, but none of them knew what was bothering me or what to do. All I could do is walk ahead of them and try to force it out of myself.
We were now on part of the bikeway on the rail bed that led into Manasquan. I can't remember much of the end of the trail, I was so out of it. I remember walking mainly roads to the north, to where we'd finish the hike in Sea Girt. I think we all went for a dip in the ocean when we got there, but I was such a mess I can't even remember. DJ Ray drove Katie home because I was in no shape to drive, and Mr. Buckett drove me back. I'd recently bought his mom's old car from him so he was definitely familiar enough with it to drive me back.
I calmed down a bit, and I can vaguely remember stopping on the way back and Mr. Buckett forced me to eat a burger from someplace. I must have passed out for much of the ride.
That night I felt like I was going to die. I could'nt sleep at all, and I could'nt stop shaking. My heart was beating a mile a minute and the trembling was intense. Cathy slept through it all, but I thought I was going to pass out and never wake up. I decided not to drink any alchahol for a while following this day.
I did'nt know how I was ever going to get over this, but I came out stronger in the long run.
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