Hike #388 12/7/8
12/7/8 Philadelphia Area with Jason Itell, Jillane Becker, "Commando Tom" Petrucci, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, "Major Tom" Conroy, Kyle Zalinsky, Carolyn Wigmore, Eric Pace, and David Noble
Jillane and I xoxoxoxo
I think this is in Rittenhouse Square
Unfortunitely I lost the original journal entry to this one to the fire in Auguest of 2010. I'll try to remember it as best I can.
Rail bridge over the Schuykill north of Manua
Rail bridge over the Schuykill north of Mantua
Rail bridge over the Schuykill north of Mantua
North of Mantual along the Schuykill
Along the Schuykill by Lincoln Highway with old rail bridges
Old rail bridges north of Mantua
Old stone arch near Lincoln Highway
Tom Squad
Wandering through Wynnfield Heights
Wynnefield Heights area
Wynnefield Heights area
Wynnefield Heights area
WTF?
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Mr. Buckett climbing down the cemetery wall.
Mr. Buckett climbing to the rail bed from the cemetery
Abandoned rail bed near Manayunk
Abandoned rail bed near Manayunk
Abandoned rail bed near Manayunk
Abandoned rail bed near Manayunk
Abandoned rail bed near Manayunk
Abandoned rail bed near Manayunk
Abandoned rail bed near Manayunk
Abandoned rail bed near Manayunk, approaching the viaduct
Looking toward Manayunk Viaduct
Looking toward Manayunk Viaduct
Looking toward Manayunk Viaduct
Bad shot of me
View of Manayunk
View of Manayunk
Manayunk Viaduct
Manayunk Viaduct
Manayunk Viaduct
Atop Manayunk Viaduct
On Manayunk Viaduct
Manayunk Viaduct
View from Manayunk Viaduct
On Manayunk Viaduct
Manayunk Viaduct view
Manayunk Canal
Manayunk Canal section
View from Manayunk Viaduct
Manayunk Viaduct
Tying Jillane's shoes
Love for Santa in Manayunk
Manayunk Wall
David loves Santa in Manayunk
Manayunk Wall
In Manayunk
Steps in Manayunk
Along Schuykill River Trail near Manayunk
Falls Bridge over the Schuykill
Falls Bridge over the Schuykill
Falls Bridge over the Schuykill
Falls Bridge over the Schuykill
Along the Schuykill in Philly
Along the Schuykill
Along the Schuykill in Philly
Along the Schuykill
Along the Schuykill in Philly
Along the Schuykill
Along the Schuykill
View toward Falls Bridge
Along the Schuykill
Bridge over the Schuykill. I think it's Ford Road.
Along the Schuykill
Along Schuykill River Trail
Schuykill River Trail
Along Schuykill River Trail
Schuykill River Trail
Along Schuykill River Trail
Along the Schuykill
View from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the stairs Rocky ran up!
View from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the stairs Rocky ran up!
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Right out of a Rocky movie
The Rocky statue out of the movies, near where it was in the movies
Jillane was so happy on this day...
Tough break
Philly
Chinatown Philly
China town area
A store we stopped in
Benjamin Franklin' grave
Liberty Bell
Is this Rittenhouse Square? I'm not sure.
Philly
Philly
Philly
Philly
A flying sea yeti obscuring a portion of the picture.
Philly mural
Philly
Another one of those bada$$ shots in Philly.
Sunset over the Schuykill in Philly, southern end of Schuykill River Trail
Schuykill sunset in Philly
Schuykill Sunset in Philly
Schuykill sunset in Philly
Schuykill sunset in Philly
At the southern end of Schuykill River Trail, Philly
At the southern end of Schuykill River Trail, Philly
At the southern end of Schuykill River Trail, Philly
At the southern end of Schuykill River Trail, Philly. One of my favorite photos of the two of us.
So sad to find this along the Schuykill.
It would have been interesting to see looking back on it now, because Jillane and I had begun a relationship and we didn't know what to call it, and I was trying to excluse my feelings for her in the original entries, because I could'nt quite articulate what was going on.
We had seen each other during the week, not being able to stay away from each other. I was falling in love with her fast, something I'd always said would never happen again if things fell apart with Cathy. I couldn't believe what I was feeling, and part of me didn't want to believe I was feeling it, but I liked it too much to stop.
When Jillane and I couldn't see each other, we chatted on line until the wee hours of the morning. She even said she was going to drive to Washington and sleep in her car to be sure she'd be on time for the hike Sunday morning (she didn't though).
Carpooling to this one was rather weird. It was bruatally cold out, and Kyle offered to drive us this time, which was nice because I usually drove. In addition, we picked up Major Tom and Mr. Buckett. We spent the entire car ride down there retreating to under a blanket to to avoid certain odors, which ended up working out so we could sneak some kisses.
The hike was another connector with previous ones, and this one I asked Jason to organize, as he'd done with other Philly area hikes that were so good. The plan was to connect Manayunk with the downtown are and do the first section of the Schuykill River Trail.
We met on the west side of the Schuykill River at a parking area in part of Fairmount Park I guess it was, and I think it was north of Girard Ave. We began hiking north on the trail (there are trails on both sides of the Schuykill at this point) and then Jason took us inland through a weird hidden gully. We then steeply climbed up the side of it which took us into an interesting apartment complex. I think it might have been Wynnfield Heights but I'm not sure.
We walked from here through a developed area that didn't look particularly special, and then into west Laurel Hill Cemetary which was really cool. We wandered through this and I tried to climb a cool big tree. The branches did'nt hold me and I fell off.
It was in this cemetary that I was trying to find the right way to tell Jillane how I felt about her, but she beat me to it, and just when I had mustered up enough courage she told me she loved me, to which I could assure her I felt the same. This was another one of those perfect moments in time, where for me the confirmation of mutual feeling from Jillane made me feel more deeply happy than I'd felt in what seemed like forever.
We then climbed down a steep wall on the north side of the cemetary to descend to an abandoned railroad right of way, I think part of the former Pennsylvania Railroad. We followed this to the east for a bit through a cut. The right side of the cut was pretty accessable and so we climbed up the rocks which gave us an interesting view of Manayunk ahead.
We soon approached the Manayunk Viaduct, a large concrete bridge over the town. Jason was originally planning on having us cross this at the end of the hike because it was high profile and considered trespassing, but I think he saw someone walk across it which made him change his mind. We kept our heads low and went on across, taking a few pictures along the way. On the other side we descended into town, on the main street heading back toward Philly.
The Manayunk section was pretty as always. David hugged a Santa Claus he met on the street along the way.
We continued out of Manayunk and passed the outlet of the Wissahickon Creek, then continued on the Schuykill River Trail south (the part on the east side of the Schuykill). This time went by incredibly fast for me, and if there was anything of particular interest along the way I might have missed it because I was so focused on Jillane. I remember we checked out the many interesting bridges along the way, and there was a section where a lower level walkway was right next to the river below the Schuykill River Trail, so we walked on that and I drank my weird liquour wine.
The next point of interest I remember was coming up on a series of very old houses along the river, each one seemed to be housing either a visitor's center or something. One of them was giving out free warm apple cider which was amazing and perfect for the weather. We continued on and turned away from the trail when we reached the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We checked out an abandoned sub way in the area, but none of us wanted to try to go in. From here we wandered around the grounds and then to the big steps made famous in the "Rocky" movies. I'd always wanted to run up them, and I started to holding Jillane's hand, but she wouldn't do the entire thing so I had to run up it myself. Even the Rocky statue was still there, though not where it was before, it had been moved to the base of the steps and to the right.
From here, we walked through some of downtown Philly. I really don't know what streets we followed at all. We stopped by a few places along the way for food and such, and we went through Chinatown in part which was neat. I think we went through a few of the square parks on Jason's route which was cool. I still don't know which streets we used though.
Somehow we made our way to the southern terminus of the Schuykill River Trail which I think was at the end of Lucust Street. It ended in a sort of weird cul de sac of a paved trail. Jillane and I got really far behind here and just enjoyed each other's company. We walked more slowly than everyone else all the way back on the trail as the sun set. We talked about anything and everything, and then somehow managed to pass David who was in pain. I think we may have passed a couple others or something too, I really can't remember at this point!
It was dark by the time we returned to the cars, and we all went out to dinner at the Manayunk Diner. Jillane bought me dinner, I think it was some kind of chicken, quite good. I didn't want the night to end.
Major Tom and Mr. Buckett were great for hitching a ride back north with Eric I think it was, to give Jillane and I more privacy. It ended up being pretty crazy because on the way back Kyle's right rear tire blew out and we were forced to pull off the busy PA turnpike. I was able to quickly change his tire along the highway (good thing it wasn't on the traffic side) and we were on our way back to Washington.
This was one of the most important days of my life. Maybe even moreso than when Jillane and I first met, because it was on this date that I first saw a future with her. I felt genuinely loved and respected, and I was ready to take an extreme gamble to see what potential this relationship could have.
Two years later I feel my decision has paid off, and Jillane and I still have more potential together to be explored.
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