Hike #442 9/12/9
Jason in a field in southern Berks County near Pottstown
9/12/9 Phoenixville-Saint Peter's Village with Jason Itell, Carol, and Rob Creamer
Train station in Phoenixville PA
Phoenixville PA
View of Pheonixville from an abandoned rail line
View from abandoned Pennsylvania Railroad, Phoenixville
Former Pennsylvania Railroad, Phoenixville PA
Former Pennsylvania Railroad, Phoenixville pa
New bridge in Phoenixville PA
Abandoned Phoenixville Tunnel
Phoenixville Tunnel
Phoenixville Tunnel
Phoenixville Tunnel
Phoenixville Tunnel
Phoenixville Tunnel
Phoenixville Tunnel
Phoenixville Tunnel
Phoenixville Tunnel
This next hike would be another arranged by Jason Itell, which I asked him to do because I wanted to cover the next section north of Phoenixville on the Schuykill River and areas closeby. He put together an interesting scouting trip. Joining Jason and I would be Carol and Rob Creamer. Jason, Carol, and Rob spotted a car in St. Peter's Village where we'd left off on the Horseshoe Trail on a recent hike and met in in Phoenixville on the former Schuykill Canal. We did'nt walk much of the canal, but rather crossed to the opposite side of the Schuykill and walked the railroad tracks near an old station (1) for a short distance to the abandoned Pennsylvania Railroad above. We had to climb a short bit (2) to get up there, and there was quite a nice view from the top (3,4). We followed the abandoned tracks heading west to the old trestle over French Creek I guess it was (5,6) and checked out the new bridge they'd just built (7), and then turned north to follow the abandonement to the north through Phoenixville Tunnel which was a mess. We got completely soaked!
Me after walking through Phoenixville Tunnel
Near Phoenixville Tunnel
Rail bed north of Phoenixville
Probably an old Schuykill Canal site
Rail bed near Spring City
Limerick Nuclear Plant from the rail bed
Along the rail bed near Frick's Lock
Along the rail bed near Frick's Lock PA
Blocked off railroad tracks near Sanatoga Preserve
Trestle over Schuykill River nearing Pottstown PA
Schuykill River below Pottstown PA
Railroad tracks just below Pottstown
YEAH
Bridge over the Schuykill in Kenilworth
Moo
MOOO!
Cow, probably Harmonyville Road
St. Peters PA
Still, it was worth it and we continued to the north of the tunnel, having to cut out to Cromby Road through someone's yard (7a-17a). We took Cromby Road to Township Line Road where we were able to get back on the rail bed heading northbound. Jason found a giant spindled and rolled it for a while (18-19a). We had to get off the rail bed and walk a lot of roads heading into Spring City (19b). We ended up walking some more roads out of Spring City, I think we used Pennhurst Road, and a cop stopped us and told us not to trespass on the abandoned state school property (our friend Wyatt had just gotten busted there recently). We agreed and were on our way. We used some sort of a service road to head down to pick up the old Pennsyvania Railroad bed which we followed for quite a ways (19c-19e).
I think I found an old Schuykill Canal lock down there too (20). The rail bed took us past a few abandoned houses, along a power line, and past some sort of old industry (21-24) until we came to a fenced off bridge. We were able to get right on through (25-27c) and to the other side easily. Tracks started back up and there were rail cars parked on them. We continued and came to another fence. I moved rocks and was able to crawl under, but Rob realized it was not locked and just opened the gate (27d)! We got to the edge of Pottstown on the rail bed (28,29) and then turned away. We made a wrong turn somewhere here, and I have no idea how we did it but got lost in some mess of land on what must have been the north side of the Schuykill. I still can't figure it out, but somehow we ended up in Kenilworth or something (30). We walked what must have been Rt 724 for a while, and had some pizza for only a buck a slice at a good place called Sal's. We then turned up Hanover Street from the intersection and let Rob and Carol leave us at Cedarville Road to go to the mall where we'd pick them up. Jason and I continued down Hanover passing farms (31-33). I can't remember now, but we must have taken Neiman Road to Laurelwood Road to Harmonyville Road passing through the farmlands (35). I know we were on Harmonyville Road because we passed a weird truck bypass along the way on it. Soon, we passed by a small preserve called Woody's Woods. We went in on the trail briefly but did'nt know that we would be able to get out the other side, so we opted to stay on the roads. I found out later that this was part of the proposed route for the Highlands Trail in PA! We must have turned onto Rock Run Road from Harmonyville to reach St. Peter's Village on the south side of town (35) to finish the hike. We met some people asking if we'd seen a huge barn fire, but we had'nt. That was really all that happened of interest there.
Jason in a field in southern Berks County near Pottstown
Me after walking through Phoenixville Tunnel
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