Hike #97
Beginning at Minsi Lake
Hike 97
7/2/3
Another new hike, this time the next section of railroad stuff in our explorations
westbound in Northampton County’s north side. This time, I was joined by Tea Biscuit
and Skyler, as well as my good friend Ervin DeJesus, who I met at Wally Mart and bonded
with over our fondness of the music of the Beatles. He and I talked quite a lot at the store,
and I immediately invited him hiking.
Bear Swamp, North Bangor
Bear Swamp Archery Complex, North Bangor PA
We began at Minsi Lake, a Northampton County Park, which encompassed Bear Swamp
and the Archery Complex. We walked from the parking lot along the lake along the
L&NE Railroad right of way to the Bear Swamp Archery Complex, and walked a couple
little loop trails which took us around the area, over some puncheons. The trails were not
very well developed; unmarked and sometimes vague and difficult to follow. There were
some tree stands we climbed up as well. We crossed back over the road to the LNE right
of way, following it a short distance to the west until we reached another open area to the
north. We went in to a wildlife observation blind of some magnitude, and wandered
through some grassy areas near Bear Swamp. Just to the east of there, we found a
trailhead. It was tough to locate, but very well develped, with about a half mile of
boardwalks over Bear Swamp. This was the longest section of trail puncheons or bog
bridges we had walked to date on any of my hikes.
Bear Swamp Archery Complex, North Bangor PA
Bear swamp board walk
Tutle
Minsi Lake PA
Minsi Lake
Minsi Lake dam
Former LNE East Bangor Branch in North Bangor
Former LNE East Bangor Branch in North Bangor
Next, we came to the self guided nature trail which led us through woodlands past the
numbered stations (we unfortunitley did not have the guide book) weaving indirectly
before coming out in a grassy area to the road. We then crossed back into Minsi Lake’s
parking area. The shore of Minsi Lake was beautiful, with a view of the Kittatinny and
Blue Ridges, and the Little Offset which marked the end of Blue Mountain, as well as a
view of Kirkridge area.
We walked the trail around the perimeter of Minsi Lake, which could be muddy at times,
and took a side trail out on a peninsula on the lake. The bugs were atrocious on this part
of the hike; we could not see, to escape them for anything. We continued on the badly
blazed trail around the lake, sometimes losing our way, until we reached the south side of
the lake and a dam. We took a break here, and decided to walk out through fields rather
than stay on the perimeter trail because it was so badly overgrown with Poison Ivy.
I decided to walk Ervin back to his car while Skyler and Tea Biscuit waited behind. This
ended up being rewarding because I met an old fellow who knew about the East Bangor
Branch of the LNE Railroad. When I had hiked through Bangor previously with Bruce
and Charlie on the Upper Mt Bethel Hike the previous fall, we had found a map that
showed the branch, as well as a tunnel near the southern end. The old man at Minsi Lake
told me that he used to go “’Coon Huntin” along those tracks. He told me where exactly it
broke off of the main line, almost exactly where I left Tea Biscuit and Skyler luckily, and
that unfortunitely the tunnel was blasted away. Apparently, the tunnel connected two
quarries, but it was blasted out to make one large quarry. The man also told him of
relatives of his who built their house and driveway on the LNE main line, the section we
were not able to walk near Minsi Lake.
Former LNE East Bangor Branch in North Bangor
Along former LNE East Bangor Branch
We had to turn off of the East Bangor Branch into the evergreens to avoid thorns
View from the rail bed to the valley in East Bangor
East Bangor PA area
After we said our goodbyes to Ervin, Skyler, Tea Biscuit and I searched for the junction
with the former East Bangor Branch. I saw a basic outline of a right of way at what was
now just a farm entrance to a field. The right of way was completely farmed out of
existance, and we were looking at our feet to see if we could find any cinder dirt. After
crossing the field, we combed the treeline looking for railroad remnants, and we found the
right of way. It was overgrown, but the undergrowth varied differently than what was
around us. We soon reached another field where the tracks were again farmed out of
existance. We crossed this field to the road to Minsi Lake. We looked around for where
the tracks were, but could’nt see anything. We asked some kids if they knew anything
about it, and they told us they rode ATVs on it, and that it was just behind a few of the
houses. We made our way up past a few houses and to a long driveway, so we entered the
woods and made our way to it. We were able to follow it for quite a while clearly, and we
came to another road as I recall. I believe we first came out into a farm road built on the
right of way. We were a little leary walking through this farm, but no one stopped us. We
soon were looking for the next rail crossing site, when Skyler spotted the right of way’s
grade going across someone’s yard. We casually crossed the yard to the next part of the
right of way, which grew more and more grown over the further we went.
Again like we did on the CNJ in the Lehigh Valley, Skyler and Tea Biscuit were usually
looking for an easier route above the right of way’s shelf while I was adamant about
staying on it. I did the best I could to stay on the right of way, straying only a bit, when I
finally agreet to climbe the hillside above with Tea Biscuit and Skyler. I could’nt find my
way to them immediately as they had ascended quite a ways. I reached a nice view of East
Bangor Lake as I fought through weeds. I finally spotted Skyler and we joined back up.
The three of us descended to an abandoned quarry area, with a few abandoned buildings,
which we of course had to enter. Inside, we found a lot of junk, as well as an 80s model
pickup truck. After leaving the building, we tried to get over a fence to a road before any
cars could come and we’d be spotted trespassing.
Abandoned building, East Bangor PA
Abandoned building, East Bangor PA
Bangor PA
DL&W right of way near Ackermanville
DL&W railroad right of way near Ackermanville
DL&W right of way near Ackermanville
DL&W right of way, Ackermanville
DL&W right of way, Ackermanville
DL&W right of way, Ackermanville
Along the Lackawanna right of way near Ackermanville PA
DL&W right of way north of Ackermanville
Another turtle
LNE right of way in a field, North Bangor
We could not find the remainder of the East Bangor Branch, which would have only been
a short distance, and we went down to the DL&W line through to Bangor where we
stopped at the 7-11 I think it was. The line through town was prettier than I’d
remembered, travelling close to the Martin’s Creek.
We continued south along the active line toward Martins Creek looking for another
branch of the DL&W which headed north to the LNE line at Pen Argyl. We did’nt
immediately see the junction site, as we reached the site of Martins Creek Station (I did
not see any ruins, but the track was very close to the road here.), where there was a tall
trestle. I knew according to the Metro Northampton County Map that the trestle was
south of the junction site, so we continued back to find the junction. We soon came to the
site, the remains of a cut obscured by shrubbery. We fought through weeds to the right of
way, which soon took us out to someone’s grassy yard.
Continueing on, we were able to follow much of it, at first through some weeds, but
opening up later on into an ATV trail. The grade took us behind many people’s houses
alogn the back yards in Ackermanville, and there were a couple little tie bridges along the
way which were cool. The right of way followed a small creek who’s name I can’t
remember heading north, through an area called Delabole. We found some Gun Club road
which we used to route around one little section as I recall, and we found the right of way
going into the woods. I was playing with some Nunchukus that Cathy’s mom had given
me as we wandered along the grade. At one point it reached a power line and was very
easy to follow. We finally lost the right of way when we neared Pen Argyl and the several
enourmous piles of slate south of town. The right of way ended almost immediately when
we reached a heavily washed out area. We had to follow ATV trails, some of which were
surely rail grades, but probably not the ones we were looking for. We looped around in all
sorts of directions, not sure which way we were going, until we came out in a quarried
area of some sort. We walked out an access road which took us into Pen Argyl, PA.
We stopped at a Turkey Hill store or something as I recall, and Skyler got this Blueberry
Tea drink he was fond of, and we searched for the Lehigh and New England main line. I
think I found the old junction site, as there was a place where a grade turns away from Rt
512, heading toward teh LNE. While at the store, some kids pulled up and asked if we
were selling Weed. Somehow, I thought we were asked twice on this hike, but I don’t
remember.
We were able to see in Pen Argyl where the LNE went, sometimes built on with new
homes, but other times accessable. If we could’nt walk it, we were not more than a block
away. When we left Pen Argyl heading east, we were able to follow the right of way
clearly. There were only a couple of uncomfortable spots where we were crossing peoples
yards. There was an older woman walking near the right of way who was very impressed
by our efforst to hike such long distances.
The right of way was suprisingly well preserved to the site of the junction north of
Roseto, and we continued on the LNE main line back toward Minsi Lake. When we
reached the field section just east of Rt 191, there was now corn growing in the field
which in all previous visits was overgrown. In the last few miles, the three of us caught
our second wind and jogged quickly toward the camaro. An amazing burst of energy that
we all remember fondly.
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