Hike #610; Gouldsboro to Moscow

 Hike #610; Gouldsboro to Moscow PA

1/29/12 Gouldsboro to Moscow with Tim Kovich, George DeLarche, Michele Valerio, Susan Eckhart, Chip Denis, Dave Finton, Teun Ott, Nicole Gfeller, and Betty ?.

Group shot, Moscow Pa

My next hike would be another point to point, this time starting where we'd left off around Gouldsboro State Park the day of the fire that took my home, and heading north.

This hike was a perfect example of how a day can turn out to be so much better than anticipated. What promised to be not the most exciting hike, with railroad tracks and easy trails, turned out to be quite nice, very scenic, and with a few unexpected but welcome sights.

Gouldsboro State Park, on Old Rt 611

Old Rt 611, Gouldsboro SP

This time, I met my group on Maple Street, in Moscow PA, a quaint little town in the northern Poconos, at a parking area for ball fields that was suitable for the end of a hike. We then shuttled as few cars as possible to the south, to Gouldsboro PA, at the off ramp from Interstate 280, at a service station on the corner of Main Street/Rt 507 and the Drinker Turnpike. We had quite a different group, with some who had joined me more recently, and some I hadn't seen on a big hike in quite some time.

Hiking abandoned rt 611, Gouldsboro pa

Old Rt 611, Gouldsboro State Park

Along Old Rt 611, Gouldsboro SP

I went into the service station at the beginning, and talked with some of the employees. A girl inside told me that to get to our starting point, abandoned former Rt 611, we need only walk across the street. This was good to hear. We had good parking, and were able to get some food before starting off on out trek.

Once we were ready to go, we crossed Main Street, and then sort of paralleled Rt 380 off to the left, heading south.

This picnic table was in the middle of abandoned 611, gouldsboro state park

Old Gouldsboro SP entrance road

Old Gouldsboro State Park entrance road

We followed the abandoned concrete slabs of road out through the edge of a woodland. There was immediately a connector trail to the left that headed off into woods. We continued south as the former road went into a wider open area, with some wetlands around us. After crossing the wetland, the former road headed up hill for a bit and into more woods. It also gained more distance away from the interstate highway. There was at one time a picnic bench set in the middle of the former road.

We stayed on the former road until we reached the former entrance road to Gouldsboro State Park. We had hiked to this point before, so I had now connected this with the previous section. We turned left and followed this abandoned road out to where it became a used road again, and then continued down hill toward Gouldsboro Lake.

Gouldsboro lake

I let Tim lead through this section because he grew up right in the area. He had the idea in mind of where to walk for this hike, down to the side of Gouldsboro Lake and then out past a boat launch and the beaches. When we were in good view of the lake, Tim pointed out barns across that were once part of a family owned farm. He told us many stories of growing up in the area, and how the lake had recently been drained, then refilled.

Gouldsboro lake, gouldsboro state park. Old railroad tower is visible across the lake.

As we walked by the main beach area, we could see across to the old Lackawanna Railroad tower near the Gouldsboro Station. We could see where the tracks were on the other side of the lake. We would soon get on them in Gouldsboro. That is one of the sections of the old Lackawanna line that I had not hiked yet, and would not on this occasion either. I wanted to get this section to Moscow out of the way before winter.

I tried to get a picture across the lake at the tower, but my camera phone wouldn't quite take a good shot. I had forgotten my regular camera, and was using only my camera phone and a small disposable one I'd had sitting around as a backup since someone donated it to me after the fire.

Information kiosk in gouldsboro state park

We continued to walk along the beach area, and then headed along a paved path that followed the shore north. There was a nice little display about snakes along the way. The paved path took us through picnic areas and then out to another parking area. Tim led us on through the parking area to the right, and then to another trail head. I believe this section was known as the Prospect Rock Trail. We followed this trail through the woods until it made a sharp turn to the left. From here, we continued to the right on an unmarked but maintained trail.

Gouldsboro state park

Gouldsboro Lake

Trail in Gouldsboro State Park

The trail took us across a small stream along the lake, and then emerged from the woods along a small development road off of 3rd Street in Gouldsboro. We followed behind a couple houses and to what appeared to be an old road heading down to the lake, now mowed as part of the yard of one of the houses. We saw by the time we reached the top that it was some sort of easement for drainage, as we crossed a catch basin.

Old Gouldsboro Station

Gouldsboro Station

We turned right onto Third Street and walked it out to town, passing by some kids riding ATVs on a circuit through the neighborhood, and by a big cross Tim pointed out where local congregations had services at times. When we reached Main Street, there was an old building straight ahead that Tim told us was scheduled to be torn down. I could see the roof was giving in a bit, but it's always sad to see historic structures from the beginning of a town's history go, and in favor of nothing or something aesthetically not pleasing.

Exiting Gouldsboro State Park to the north

Outdoor chapel in Gouldsboro

Wow! It's a handicap accessible merry go round...or is it?

Park in Gouldsboro

The Pledge of Allegiance in Gouldsboro PA...note they underlined "God". I have no problem with it, but I wonder if they know that "under God" was not originally in the pledge. It was added in 1942.

Historic structure in Gouldsboro ready to be torn down

Dave turned right to the tracks and went ahead for a bit, because he didn't want to be cold sitting outside waiting, while the rest of us turned left and headed over to the Boruta's Store I think it was. Tim told us it used to be across the street but had recently moved. I got myself a bag of chips and we had a little break before moving on to the right, to the railroad crossing and old Gouldsboro Station.

The station was very nice, and had been well restored. An historical society now maintains it. Tim told us he had actually worked with them on the building itself, and described how when it was constructed, the workers used whatever was available, which in some cases included pieces of older box cars!

Old Lackawanna Railroad along Snag Pond

Snag Pond from Lackawanna Railroad

Messed up utility pole, reinforced with planks in Gouldsboro PA

We turned left and began following the tracks to the north. We started walking on the right, along the edge of Snag Pond, a body of water that had a lot of vegetation growing in it. Then we switched sides because the left side had less ballast rock.

This was a really neat section, because the railroad was out on sort of a causeway surrounded by wetlands.

Former rail bridge over Larsen Lake, Gouldsboro PA

Snag Pond, Gouldsboro PA

Old pump house or something at Larsen Lake

Mile marker north of Gouldsboro PA

Old Lackawanna line in Gouldsboro PA

That would be me, on the old Lackawanna line in Gouldsboro

Larsen Lake

Pond along the old Lackawanna line with what might have been another spur line along it

Larsen Lake

When Snag Pond ended on our right, Larsen Lake appeared on the left. This was a much larger lake without all the vegetation in it. We could see homes on the other side with private accesses. Soon, the lake was all around us, and we were crossing it on a long land bridge. The railroad crossed over a bridge in the middle where water passed from one side of the lake to the other.

Once we came off of the causeway section, we entered a section of woods and saw an old building off to the left, still on the shore of Larsen Lake. We walked over to have a look, and it appeared to be an old pump house or something. The windows had been blocked off, but there was still a nineteenth century plaque on it.

Old pump house or something at Larsen Lake

From the front of the building there was a large berm heading away, along the lake shore. I at first thought it might have been the right of way to a railroad spur, but then realized it was more likely a buried pipe. I decided to walk it because it appeared to go right back toward the tracks further down. Sure enough, it did, and the pipe itself became exposed when I got close to the water's edge.

Buried pipe along Larsen Lake

Old buried pipe along Larsen Lake

We regained the railroad tracks and continued to the north. There was another small pond on the right of us before going into a bit of a gully. When we walked on a wide open spot, with a house on a hill to the right, we could see sets of foot prints. One set turned around at some point, and we no longer saw it, the other set was Dave's. When we reached the grade crossing of Lehigh Road, I tried calling him because I knew we were coming close to our first spot to turn off.

Lehigh Road, near the intersection of Freytown Road, was one of the many places where the Lackawanna Railroad was re-routed. Originally, it turned across near that intersection, and made a more sweeping turn to the right in a cut. This was how it was constructed in the 1850s, but in 1913, under the guidance of DL&W President William Truesdale, it was realigned in many spots. We couldn't get on this minor "cutoff" here because it went through someone's yard, so we continued ahead through the newer cut.

Original Lackawanna Railroad right of way prior to 1913

Once on the other side of the cut, it was obscure, but I could see where the original railroad right of way crossed the current one and turned away to the left. I was able to barely see Dave up ahead at this point. He returned my phone call, and then backtracked to rejoin us. We took a short lunch break here before continuing on the original Lackawanna right of way.

Original Lackawanna Railroad bed

The right of way was pretty clear, and definitely easy to follow. We walked along it as it moved off from the current tracks. Along the way, we met a kid doing some sort of hunting. He had a dead Opossum and a gun sitting with him, which was probably illegal, but we didn't bother him. We moved on by him, and the rail bed soon joined with the dirt surface Lehigh Road.

Former Lackawanna Railroad bed reaching Lehigh Road

For some distance ahead, the dirt Lehigh Road was built on the old Lackawanna Railroad right of way. This was a really beautiful and pleasant section to walk. It felt like we were walking a rail trail, but were were on a public road. I don't even recall a car going by while we were on it, though I'm sure they must have and I just don't remember it.

Dirt Lehigh Road, former Lackawanna Railroad

Lehigh Road, former Lackawanna Railroad

We continued along the road until the rail right of way turned off to the left. At this point, there was a private driveway cutting away to the left as well. The rail bed skirted it, and then headed into a cut parallel with it. I could tell by areal images that it ran close to the driveway for a bit, and plus it might have a missing bridge over a wetland.

I went along the rail bed to the mouth of the cut, and there was a very old metal sign that said "no trespassing" and something about "your own risk". The fact that the sign was basically illegible led me to believe we could probably hike through it, but overall it wasn't far out of the way to just continue on Lehigh Road ahead for a bit, so we did.

Old bridge near Hollister Reservoir

After walking a short distance north on Lehigh Road, another old dirt road broke off to the left. It was not posted, and was in poor condition. I believe Chip said he could handle it in his Suburu or something. We began walking this road down hill rather steeply to a successional meadow. There was a nasty dump spot out there, and clearly cars and trucks went no further, but ATVs did. We then came to an old bridge site in the middle of a meadow.

Old bridge near Hollister Reservoir

Meadow near Hollister Reservoir

Near Hollister Reservoir

The bridge was still sort of in place; the concrete body of it had completely collapsed into the small creek below, but still provided a dry crossing for pedestrians, but no vehicles. Maybe an intrepid nut on an ATV. Once on the other side, the path continued on as an ATV trail across a wide meadow. Tim told us that all of this was intended to be under water, but that the planned reservoir was never built. I could tell by the look of the old railroad grade on maps that it would have traveled atop one of the levees that would have held the body of water.

Pipe at Hollister Reservoir

We soon approached Jubilee Road, which sat above us on a high fill. This too was undoubtedly intended to be another holding wall for a reservoir. There was a giant pipe in front of us that went under the road. We walked through and back, and it was pretty neat. There wasn't much water on the other side, just what appeared to be a wetland. We then walked back down and parallel with Jubilee Road heading west. The path ended when we came to a wetland, with another big pipe above us to the right. We climbed to the mouth of it and passed through.

Hollister Reservoir

Wetland from Jubilee Road

Giant pipe under Jubilee Road

Once on the other side, there was a fantastic view of the Hollister Reservoir. This reservoir was  hardly what it was intended for. Tim explained to us that it was once a regular reservoir, but that the dam was purged and the water allowed to flow on out. He pointed to the north of us where we could see the spillway, now dry off to the right, and the water running through the opening of the dam on the left. The road would have apparently been one of the retaining walls for the water.

We had to climb steeply up to Jubilee Road from the north mouth of the pipe, over some loose rocks. It took everyone a while to get up them, but we were successful.

Old Lackawanna Railroad crossing site at Hollister Reservoir

We turned onto Jubilee Road to the west, and soon came to where the old Lackawanna Railroad once crossed. There was some sort of business or something just up hill from us, and one of the guys there stood out, partially into the road, watching us as we walked toward him. We of course turned off before getting to him onto the railroad bed. On the south side of the road, the rail bed was clear, but we weren't going to backtrack to see it this time. We headed north on a narrower right of way high above the waters of Hollister Reservoir.

Purged dam for Hollister Reservoir

We soon reached the dam site. I turned right here, and walked out onto the top of the earthen dam to where it was purged. It was quite a sight to see. It was apparent that ATVs would go down, and cross over the stream, then climb the other side and continue on the extant dam. I had thought that would be cool to do as part of a summer hike, but we wouldn't be doing that this time. We headed back onto the rail bed and continued to the north, where many more ATV paths turned away from it.

Old Lackawanna right of way south of Moscow, PA

It became a bit obscure where exactly the railrod went through this area. Certainly, construction and decommissioning of this reservoir took it's toll on the rail bed, rendering it unrecognizable at times. Still, we were able to head through this area and regain the rail bed which was slightly overgrown for a bit.

It didn't take long before we rejoined the active tracks and continued north.

Lackawanna Railroad north of Hollister Reservoir

Where we got back on the tracks, there was a nice old signal bridge. Ahead, the railroad took us up on a nice fill and through some lovely woods. We knew when we were reaching Moscow because of the sound of the cars that came from the left when Drinker Turnpike was closely parallel to us. I fell behind and caught up with the group as they had waited on the south side of town.

Moscow PA

There were several lumber cars parked on the tracks through town. The tracks were on a good sized fill that sat above the main street levels, and one residential street was along the edge of the tracks to the right. We continued into town and descended from the tracks when we reached Rt 690.

Moscow PA

Dave was waiting for us in a pavilion near the edge of Drinker Turnpike, having gone ahead again a little. We turned off of the tracks, and right onto Drinker Turnpike shortly. We then headed left on Church Street to Maple Ave. We were back at the cars in seemingly no time. We had finished the entire hike before 3 pm, and I was amazed at how fast we'd gotten done.

Aside from being amazed at our time, I was also amazed at just how interesting this little area was. It exceeded my expectations by far, and was an incredibly enjoyable day. I went home feeling healthy and very happy.