Hike #58; Lower Water Gap

 Hike #58

Along the DL&W tracks at Slateford Junction

6/18/2

 

For another weekday hike, Cathy and Eric Pace joined me for another try at the Lower

Water Gap hike starting in Hainesburg.

At the former Hainesburg Station site, NJ

Former LNE railroad bed in Hainesburg NJ

Paulins Kill Trestle on the former LNE railroad, Hainesburg

Fields in Warrington

Former LNE rail bed, now municipal road department, Colombia NJ

Train climbing in Portland PA

Train climbing in Portland PA

Along the former Lackawanna Railroad, Slateford PA

We began at the Paulins Kill Valley Trail parking area and followed the NYS&W railbed

passing the station site and under the viaduct. When we turned onto the LNE right of way

at the junction, we fought through some heavy weeds on the way to the through truss

bridge over the Paulins Kill, then continued west to Colombia, across the footbridge, and

then north on the DL&W. Cathy and I climbed onto a parked train for a bit on the way.

It was a particularly clear day, which made for nice views heading up Mt Minsi, as well as

from the DL&W through the gap. In addition, the Mountain Laurels and Rhododendrons

were also in full bloom, which was incredible.

Lackawanna Railroad in Delaware Water Gap

Delaware Water Gap from the Lackawanna Railroad

Under the Rt 80 Del Water Gap Bridge

Delaware Water Gap from Council Rock, Mt Minsi

On top of Mt. Minsi

After descending and following dirt roads back in towards the Delaware, we opted not to

take the Arrow Island Trail and cut down to Rt 611 on a power line to make it easier. This

ended up being difficult because Eric kept kicking rocks onto us as we tried to steeply

descend through dirt, rocks, and weeds.

Near the top of Mt Minsi on the AT

As we walked into the little town of Slateford, Cathy and Eric could not go on, so they

both waited in a local bar. The sun was beginning to set, and there was little time to reach

the car before dark. Still, I decided to run the remaining distance. I headed down to the

Lackawanna Cutoff, across the Delaware Viaduct, and through the cuts and fills on the

way to Hainesburg. I was pretty nervous, especially in the cuts, where if I’d disturbed a

bear it would have few places to escape, and might attack. Fortunitely, I did not run into

any wildlife, and reached the car, returning to Slateford in under an hour!

 

“The guys in the bar were saying ‘I feel sorry for her’, because of all the energy you

have. Eric was like ‘They’re buying me cokes?’, and I said ‘Yes Eric, they’re buying you

cokes’. Their jaws dropped as you ran through the door in under an hour. They just

could not believe it.” -Cathy

Here's where you can see all of the pictures from this hike...

http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q13/sneezehorse/hike058/

View of Colombia and Portland from the top of Mt. Minsi