Hike #4
11/27/97
Once again, interest began to build on my hikes. I was now a Senior at Warren Hills High
School, and very involved in many clubs and extra curricular activities, not to mention I
was Vice President of the Senior Class. I spread the word for the upcoming hike and quite
a few were interested. As the date neared however, colder weather, as well as a bad
forecast for the day I had planned led to people cancelling out. The night before I went to
the movies with Jenna, her younger brother Aaron, who I met on Prom night, Bret
Jorgensen, and there might have been a few others, I don’t remember.
Goofing off in Wal Mart the night before the hike where we recruited Jay and Pete
We went to the Regal Cinimas in Easton Area because at the time all the theatres in
Warren County were closed. We wandered around Wal Mart for a while, Bret pushing me
in a cart and crashing into displays, knocking things over yelling “Oh Jesus!” frantically.
Jenna stayed with employees to help clean up. After exerting our energy we met up with
Pete Mastro and Jay Erker, both members of my class. I told them what my plans were for
the following day, and they were both surprisingly enthusiastic!
Jenna was considering going, but backed out. This time, Jay and Pete, Aaron Marques,
and Jamie Pene, who I’d known from Horizons Art Class for some time, joined. It was a
dark cloudy day, and I was worried that the hike would be doomed, as I had not tried to
lead one yet in inclement weather.
Delaware Water Gap from Portland Colombia Footbridge
Despite the cold and cloudy atmosphere, everyone was in high spirits, and soon after
beginning down the right of way, Pete pulled out a harmonica and began to serenade us
with some tunes. This set the mood for the rest of the trip.
Pete plays harmonica along the tracks
When we reached the NYS&W rock cut when we passed into NJ, Jay immediately began
climbing the vertical cliff with ease. To our complete and utter surprise he scaled the
monstrous crag very fast! Very few I’ve seen have ever successfully climbed this rock.
Ramseyburg area
Around Ramseyburg, a small forgotten village where County Rt 609 (Ramseyburg Road)
connects with Rt 46, it began to rain. We were all very cold, making use of our jacket
hoods. It rained continueously until we reached Manunka Chunk Tunnel. We hustled to
get into the refuge of the usually dank unwelcoming shelter of the tunnel. Passing through
was rather muddy, and Pete quickly realized that wearing white jeans was a mistake! We
did’nt have a flash light (I don’t usually bring one), so we were trying to help each other
through. Jamie had someone grab her butt in the tunnel, I don’t know who. It was’nt me!
Manunka chunk Tunnel
The south portal was wet, but we made our way through; it’s always easy to walk on a
little berm that has formed where plant roots hold the soil between two sections of water.
By this time all the furniture that was near Upper Sarepta Road was now gone. The best
news of all at this time was that it stopped raining for the remainder of the hike!
Muddy floor of Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Muddy floor of Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Navigating Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Cut at the south side of Manunka Chunk Tunnel
We met a guy that worked at Steamtown, in Scranton PA (on the same Lackawanna
Railroad much further north) and threw large pieces of wood and rocks off the Beaver
Brook fill laughing histarically at the thuds they made at the bottom.
After crossing Rt 519 in Bridgeville, we passed by a recently fenced area which forces
walkers to pass around the right of way to continue on. There were also new posted signs
which read “No Huntin’, No Trespassin’, No Nothin’. This applies to friends reletives,
enemies, and YOU. Violators (crossed out and written “Survivors”) will be prosecuted.”
Jay was interested enough in the sign to make his way into the weeds to steal one.
Debris pile near the sand pit, Bridgeville NJ
Approaching the sand quarry from Bridgeville
As we neared the Sand Pit, there were people working. The right of way was a bit torn up
as each time we passed by, the quarried area became closer. Most noteably, there were
huge mounds of dirt piled on top of the right of way for quite a distance to the north of
the sand pit. The area just north of here was also adorned with outlandish wooden no
trespassing signs. As we made our way out of the Sand Pit area and back to the right of
way, still recently disturbed by heavy machinery for several hundred feet, a worker spotted
us and began pursueing in a bulldozer. He caught up with us just before we were to cross
a mound of dirt leading us away from the Sand Pit property. We were informed that we
were trespassing and not to pass through again, and he was on his way.
The hike continued on without incident into Oxford. At the Busy Bee, Jamie picked up a
big cup of French Vanilla Cappucino to carry along. When she could’nt finish it, she gave
the rest to me, and I loved it! From this point until the end of 1999 I drank a lot of French
Vanilla Cappucino regularly.
This time, another unanticipated difference was the shorter days. Though we walked along
Rt 31 rather than using the Oxford Tunnel, it was getting quite dark by the time we had
reached the south portal. There was a storm in 1997 which took down several trees which
blocked the entire mouth of the tunnel, and blocked several spots of the right of way with
downed trees.
Though we still had to make our way back to Washington, Jamie decided to smoke a
“Victory Cigar” she had brought and carried the whole way prematurely. Just after she’d
lit the thing, not even half of it gone, she walked head first into one of the branches and
fell hard to the ground. I helped her up and she, like a trooper, continued on to the end.
We kept with the tradition and stuffed ourselves with Dicola’s (Spaghetti House) Pizza.
Now, we knew that weather could be dealt with, and we can still have a blast regardless of
the forecast.
Here's some comments from participants...
“Hey Mike! Looks pretty good. I don't remember Pete wearing white jeans on that hike. I
am pretty sure he had squeaky clean bright white sneakers. I also remember Pete
stepping in mud while in Manunka Chunk and his whole shoe came off. We had to stop
and search around for it, I thought because noone had a flashlight. I could be wrong but
I remember someone losing a shoe at some point. Didn't that hike take us like 10-11
hours to complete, it was pretty long I believe?” -Aaron
Oh yeah! You’re right! That hike did take a while, and I recall Pete losing his shoe! The
camera I was using from the fourth through ninth hikes was a Canon Sure-Shot WP-1
waterproof camera, which had a delaw with the flash, and we would use that to try to see!
“Mike, this is a fantastic recount of the hike!! So much stuff i didn't even remember!
Was this the same hike where we threw stuff at the abandoned houses? I don't
remember.....I miss your hikes but i still work every sunday, and i'm in terrible shape :(
This recounting of my first hike made me fuzzy...also now I have a sore spot on my
forehead...what's that about?” - Jamie
Oh Yeah! That’s right, I forgot that we threw stuff at the abandoned house in Oxford this
time! I guess we did that pretty much every time until they ripped the old place down in
the summer of 2000. Oh well. Put some ice on that head!
Pete plays harmonica along the tracks
Manunka chunk Tunnel
Muddy floor of Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Muddy floor of Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Navigating Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Cut at the south side of Manunka Chunk Tunnel
Debris pile near the sand pit, Bridgeville NJ
Approaching the sand quarry from Bridgeville
Ramseyburg area
Goofing off in Wal Mart the night before the hike where we recruited Jay and Pete
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