Hike #433 8/14-8/15/9
8/14-8/15/9 Bethlehem/South Mountain/Allentown with Skyler Jermyn, Kyle Zalinsky, Laura Cunningham, and Stephanie Skyriotis
Love this shot Skyler took at the end of our hike.
This was the hike that Kyle and I used to refer to as the pinnacle of the Summer. The energy reached it's maximum with all of the parties, hikes, and whatever else was going on. We spent this hike exploring all over Bethlehem area, and after Kyle joined in the craziness continued...swimming, jumping trains, hiding from police, clubbing...it seemed like it was never going to end. We knew at the end of the night we were nobility in our own world we created, we made the best of every situation that came our way and the spirits were always high. Although the craziness would eventually die down a bit from this high point, as it of course needed to, I feel like the spirit of this Summer continues on and I never lost the youthful feeling that this time replenished in me.
Stephanie and Laura up at Lehigh U
Our favorite steps to run up at Lehigh U
Skyler on South Mountain
Hiking a trail on South Mountain, Bethlehem
On South Mountain, Bethlehem
View into Bethlehem from along Rt 378
Classic McDonalds in South Bethlehem
Night hiking along Lehigh Canal Towpath
OUCH. This is what I get for trying to cross a swollen flooded river on a dam.
My scraped side from swimming in the swollen Lehigh
Scraped side from the dam, swimming in the swollen Lehigh
Along Lehigh Canal in Bethlehem after jumping a train
Lehigh Canal night hike, Bethlehem PA
Hanging in a Lehigh Canal lock after jumping a train
Along Lehigh Canal, Bethlehem
Along Lehigh Canal
Chilling at the Lehigh Canal lock, Bethlehem
Chilling at the Lehigh Canal lock, Bethlehem
Along Lehigh Canal, Bethlehem
Me on Hamilton Street Bridge
More scrapes
Downtown Allentown
Downtown Allentown
My next hike would be another spur of the moment one, this time so that I could bring Skyler out for one more crazy hike before he had to return to his new home in Plano, Texas. Skyler and I both started out on back streets near where Laura Cunningham lived in Bethlehem, then walked the roads heading south toward the Hill to Hill Bridge. We called Laura and she planned to join us with her friend Stephanie. First thing on the south side, Skyler and I went into a pharmacy and got drinks, and then we went into Wendy's I think it must have been and got more food. We stuffed up pretty good, and then headed up parallel with Brodhead Street through the Brodhead parking lot into the Lehigh University Campus. Like we'd done on the recent Bethlehem hike, we walked up the series of staircases.
Laura and Stephanie went ahead and we were trying to catch up with them. Soon enough, we found them, and we all hiked along and got to the steps for another race, which I of course won (1,2)! Laura and Stephanie had to cut out early, so when they turned back, Skyler and I cut into the woods and found several small trails, all unmarked, and started following them (2A). They looped around quite a lot before leading us to anything we'd recognized from the previous trip. We knew where we were when we finally came to the giant above ground resevoir we'd seen recently (2a,3). This time, we continued on these trails, and when we tried to head down a bit on them, they came to back yards so we could only go up. Up, we hit an old woods road which led to another more main road we were able to cross directly onto a developed trail (4). Next, we crossed over Rt 378 (5) and headed into a small older developement.
At the end of a cul de sac, we opted to bushwhack into the woods and look for more trails. Unfortunitely, we could'nt find any more real trails and it was starting to get dark. We made our way to where the woods was getting too thick to cut out of, and we were far too close to neighboring properties. In addition, we also had our pictures taken by someone's trail camera! That was rather funny. A house owner nearby apparently came and talked to Skyler about how he was'nt supposed to be back there, and Skyler did a good job of pleading ignorance. Fortunitely, Skyler had google arial images on his phone and it had built in GPS so he could tell right where we were to get out. We ended up walking south to the top of the mountain, the cutting along the edge of someone's huge yard to get out! We began walking Rt 378 south, which afforded a couple views between houses (6,7). We also went into a strip club but we were'nt going to pay the cover charge so we left. We continued walking down 378 back into Bethlehem passing a classic looking McDonalds (8,8a) and then crossing the Hill to Hill Bridge. I'd spoken to Laura on the phone and she and Stephanie were going to rejoin us again. Skyler put on his ipod and we spent about an hour dancing in the street on the Lehigh Canal bridge where Musikfest had been in previous weeks. When Laura showed up Skyler and I were both still dancing! She parked and we took to the canal towpath heading west. We made it maybe a couple miles when Stephanie freaked out and Laura had to take her back to the car. Skyler went with them, but I was joined by Kyle Zalinsky and continued ahead toward the guard lock site at the Allentown Dam (9).
When we reached this site, Laura and Stephanie dropped Skyler back off with us, and we went down to the fish ladder and dam for a swim. We climbed into the fish ladder and let it spin us around, then jettison us out into the river. We tried crossing the river on the concrete blocks that go across, but the current was too strong, the water was high, and it went over the blocks. We soon gave up. I tried getting over it, but I got caught on top of it as the river was sweeping me down. Fortunitely, Skyler was there to catch me when the current was too strong for me to handle. I cut my side up pretty bad on the concrete, and it stung like crazy for some time (10-12).
We got out of the water (13-16) and a train was going by, so we ran after it and jumped aboard! Someone must have seen us, because shortly there was a cop there looking for us. We ran away and hid down in the old canal lock for him to leave (17-20)! One the police were gone, we were already near Kyle's car and could easily have quit for the night, but none of us wanted to.
Instead, we made our way up to the top of the bridge and crossed into Allentown. Once on the main drag in Allentown, there were people walking the streets and all, but it was around midnight and not much was open. The first place we came to was some sort of club/bar. We went in. Inside there was loud music blaring away. There was supposed to be a cover charge but we were not charged. The first room was a bar, but the second room was a stage and floor, and there was a hardcore metal show going on. We went up front, and there was a guy trying to mosh, running around and punching us! The band was barely understandable at all (20a) and not particularly entertaining to us, but this different scene was enough to pique our interest for a little bit. We opted to leave before we lost any teeth. Heading down the street, we saw a few people, but mainly just took in the sights of the town at night (20-22) and climbed on the statue in the center circle. We turned back here and headed back along the south side of the same main street we'd been following. Along the way, we met some guy and asked him where the party was at. He told us Croc Rock I think, a place in town with a down stairs night club. We went in, and Kyle did'nt have his ID, but they let him in anyway, and again the cover charge was waived for us! Down stairs in this place it was dark and there was a lot of dancing. Kyle did his best Mick Jagger moves while I looked like a hippy and Skyler did his best modern moves. We must have stood out like sore thumbs (22f,22g). We stayed until a tall black woman stepped onto the floor and dropped her pants, revealing that she was in fact not a woman at all. At this point we opted to leave, realizing this may have been a gay club! We walked back down the street and found some sort of club that was mostly latin. We again did'nt want to pay a cover so we left, and the guy called us back and waved us in anyway! The latin heat atmosphere was loud and there was again a lot of dancing. Kyle did some moves, but we could'nt really get into it very much, so we soon left (22g). While walking back, we found a giant Luna Moth and I kept picking it up and trying to get it to fly off (22h). We continued back across the Lehigh on the road (22l-23) and soon reached Kyle's car to finish yet another totally crazy night. We certainly gave Skyler a great last night in NJ! On the way home, Kyle and Skyler did the "bro fist" move (sort of like a high five) on Rt 22 side by side at 85 miles per hour! Skyler and I had some McDonalds and were on our way home.
Love this shot Skyler took at the end of our hike.
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