Hike #575; Northampton County Abandoned Rail, Pen Argyl to Wilson
8/4/11 Pen Argyl-Wilson with Jason Itell, "Commando Tom" Petrucci, Corrin Dylnicki, Amanda Rosenblatt, and Randy Melick.
The group on Plainfield Township Rail Trail
My next hike would be another fun night hike, this time between Wilson area of Easton PA and Pen Argyl, near Wind Gap. Only a short section at the beginning was new to me, the rest was stuff I'd already done, but this was a different spin on it.
My plan was to meet at the Home Depot off the 25th Street exit in Wilson, but I ended up getting out of work later than expected, and so I asked the others to get together on their own, and I would meet them at the beginning of the hike, a lot I was still not sure how to get to. Fortunately, I found it and we were able to get together about the same time.
North end of Plainfield Township Rail Trail, actually not a rail line here.
There was a parking area off of Buss Road in western Pen Argyl I had found on Google Earth and on my phone application. The lot was actually built on or right next to the former right of way of the Lehigh and New England Railroad's southern of two branches. The line had two east-west routes in the area of Pen Argyl and Wind Gap, presumably so the northern line could be like an express route while the southern one made the connections with other south bound tracks. The trail followed this very shortly into the woods and then turned right onto a cleared path. The path went around a big landfill area which now overtakes the original railroad route. The first time I hiked the Plainfield Township Trail, my brother Tea Biscuit and I ended up getting pretty badly lost out among the slate piles and such, years ago.
Interesting signage along the trail heading south from Pen Argyl
The route had some funny signs with truck symbols on them, when it was obvious no truck has been or will be on or crossing that trail in the near future. I suppose it must have been there for some legal reason because there was a gate in the chain link fence to the left with a rough roadway leading to it, quite overgrown.
The trail soon reached the former railroad line it would follow 6.7 miles to Belfast. This was originally the Bangor and Portland Railroad, constructed in 1880. It served Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western in Portland until it finally merged with it around 1909. It was taken over by Conrail in 1976 like most of the lines, and then abandoned in 1981.
Plainfield Township Rail Trail just south of Pen Argyl
The first section of the trail was really very wooded and nice. I'd forgotten how secluded it really was here. The trail soon gave way to some development and crossed a few roads. It skirted some back yards, and one could see that there were yuppies living near by because of signs off to the far right saying "This is not part of the rail trail" and such.
Plainfield Township Rail Trail
We had some laughs as we walked about the definition of vulgar terms, and we passed along through the group until one could properly define them for Amanda and Corrin. Randy, Tom, and I were at a loss, but Jason's way with words was the source of an informative and hilarious answer. He went on to comment on an event he'd been quite happy not to receive an invitation to...
Pink/Purple things along Plainfield Township Rail Trail
We continued along the trail to the south, and were passed by many cyclists. We stopped for a little break when we got to where Rt 191 passed over the rail trail and Bushkill Creek. It was cool following the Bushkill Creek for almost this entire hike because it started off as a tiny trickle along the edge of the trail near the land fill, and then slowly became Little Bushkill Creek. At the bridge, it was a good place to wet my butt.
Bushkill Creek at the underpass for Rt 191
Tom's drum solo in Plainfield Township PA
Is that a BIG Bandit wine???
Just beyond, we passed the little metal sculpture along the left side, and Tom went up and pretended to play drums on it. We continued on laughing and having a good time, and compared Tom's bandit wine box with the things hanging from trees meant to defend against the Emerald Ash Borer bugs that were beginning to spread into the area.
We continued on and soon reached the southern terminus of the rail trail in Belfast Junction. Here, another line went to the right out toward Nazareth, and straight ahead the rail line continued. We went straight following the grassy path behind people's yards. It was already unofficially used as a rail trail.
We made one pit stop at the little bar in Stockertown for PACKAGE GOODS. Tom got some beer to go because they didn't really have anything else, and he shared with everyone, which was very nice. We then continued on the rail bed south through Stockertown, across a few driveways as well as the one larger road at the Rt 33 on ramp.
Soon, we came out in a little park in Stockertown where we took a break, and used the swingsets.
In a park in stockertown
After our break, we continued on a block along the rail bed, and then had to turn right a block out of the way because the railroad bed was blocked off by some business as well as a scrap yard. The tons of cars I remembered being in the scrap yard before were now pretty much gone, and it was much more open.
View in Stockertown from the top of a trail
View atop the tanker car
We turned left onto the active tracks that led back to the one we had been on, and I climbed on top of one of the rail cars. I walked the tops of the tankers until I got to the last one and climbed back down.
We followed the tracks to where the one we'd been following crossed. At this point it was now part of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The section to the south of here across the bridge over Bushkill Creek was in good shape for now. I went down to the creek and soaked myself a bit. We then continued on the tracks, which were severely washed out, although they were still in place. This section washed out in a flood in late 2004. I had walked this section when it first had happened back in 2004.
Washed out railroad just south of Stockertown
This photo is one that I took on that hike, with my buddy Chris Jones standing on the recently washed out track. Today it is completely overgrown.
It was also getting dark this time, so it made it even tougher to get around the washed out area.
Washed out railroad south of Stockertown
Washed out railroad south of Stockertown
The tracks all the way south from Stockertown to Tatamy were in pretty rough shape and badly overgrown. We made due as best we could, and soon came out in the middle of the little town area, in an industrial place. We had to go around where the railroad came in, and then cross the street to the beginning of the Palmer Bike Path section of the rail bed.
Nice old road bridge in Tatamy
The general store where I'd usually stop to get chocolate milk was not open at this time, but there was a pizza place there. Amanda had been talking about pizza like crazy since the week before because she missed having any at DJ Ray's campout party, so we had to stop. We had some pretty good mushroom pizza before moving on. I guess we were laughing a little too hard inside, and the guy who owned the place said he didn't care because there weren't other customers, but normally he would. We were probably keeping him from closing though.
He told me the place had been there for five years, and I remember thinking that I didn't remember seeing it. I then realized the last time I walked through this section was no later than 2006.
Washed out rail line near
Here's what that washout looked like back in in November of 2005, which was probably the last time I walked it.
Washed out rail line just north of Tatamy PA
It was still pretty clear. I think I might have seen it since then at some point, but it was never as bad as this time.
After having pizza, we moved on down the trail. This section was paved, and therefore really easy for night hiking. I prefer them unpaved, but at this point it was helpful. The trail followed along the edge of the creek, and then came to an industrial area where it turned left. As I recall it wasn't paved for a while here. It went around buildings and seemed to have some alternate routes. As we walked, a police officer was pulling through on the trail. Jason took off straight ahead, and I moved off to the right to get back on the trail route. Corrin followed me and we hurried ahead along the path to stay away from the cop. I had drank a bunch of travellers vodka again and didn't want to have a problem.
I guess we must have gotten far ahead, and somehow passed Jason. I think the only spot we held up was where the rail bed went past the new development where there was a pavilion.
When we reached a park along the Bushkill Creek much further south, we turned left and waited at the dam in the creek. Somehow, the others got way ahead of us and went on down through the park to below a trestle where the rail bed crossed. This section was not yet trail, and so when we caught up we had to climb up via a small path. The bridge was undecked, but it was easy to walk the old metal walkways on the side.
After the bridge, we came close to more houses. Jason pointed out that a light went off and people were watching us from one of them. We came to another grade crossing, and when a car came by we ducked into the high grass. After it had passed, we hurried across the road and immediately onto another little trestle. I waited up for Randy because he'd hurt his leg somewhat.
The next section was mostly clear, but there were branches hanging low over the rail bed so we had to do some ducking. I made sure Randy was alright behind me without a flashlight, and we eventually came out at an office building that I think was owned by Mars snackfoods. We could still see the old rail sidings in the pavement. Jason wanted us to go down a path to the left toward the creek, but I knew up ahead was fine. We continued out across a small paved road, directly across a bridge from Bushkill Drive. Randy was hurting bad, and so he was able to get a ride from the corner on Bushkill Drive. We were in the northern part of Easton now, which is where he lived (it was actually his last few days living in Easton, as he was moving to Bethlehem).
The rest of us moved on down the rail bed which was a trail again, but we had to turn right off of it up hill to Upper Hackett Park. The town had to negotiate with an industry, I think a paper mill or something ahead, to have the trail constructed around their site. They paid to have it done in exchange for the rights to the rail bed in their land.
The trail took us up into the open fields of Upper Hackett Park, then past the frisbee golf area, across a road, and then down hill on an abandoned road that switched back before crossing Rt 22 on the pedestrian bridge to Lower Hackett Park.
We then continued on as the trail paralleled Wood Ave, and then crossed. On my last visits, the trail terminated at Wood Ave, but now it went across to regain the railroad bed above near the Wonderbread distributor place. We continued across Northampton Street on what was now paved as an official trail, and turned right to make a pit stop at Taco Bell. The inside was closed, and only the drive through was open. I tried going up to the speaker, but they would not acknowledge that I was there. So I went up to the window, with still no answer. I knocked on the window and the lady told me there were no walk ups allowed. She then suggested that I ask the next guy coming through in his car. I wasn't about to do that this time, and so we continued down the trail to 25th Street. Where there used to be a bridge, and where the Walgreens was built over the rail bed, this time a new paved trail went around it's outside. I was impressed that they went this far. A security guard sat in the parking lot to our right, so we moved along quickly. When we reached the next road, which I think was Freemansburg Road, we crossed to the left and exited the trail to the Home Depot parking lot, our end point.
I think this was one of the best night hike routes we could have done. What a great night.
The group on Plainfield Township Rail Trail
North end of Plainfield Township Rail Trail, actually not a rail line here.
Interesting signage along the trail heading south from Pen Argyl
Plainfield Township Rail Trail just south of Pen Argyl
Plainfield Township Rail Trail
Pink/Purple things along Plainfield Township Rail Trail
Bushkill Creek at the underpass for Rt 191
Tom's drum solo in Plainfield Township PA
Is that a BIG Bandit wine???
In a park in stockertown
View in Stockertown from the top of a trail
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