Hike #613; Coopersburg to Bethlehem

 Hike #613; Coopersburg to Bethlehem and Buckettfest 5

2/18/12 Coopersburg to Bethlehem with Shelly Janes, Jim "Mr. Buckett" Mathews, Tim Kovich, Joe Tag, Jason Itell, Megan Reid, "Commando Tom" Petrucci, Laura Cunningham, Eric Pace, Wayne Meiner, Shayna Michaels, Jack Lowry, Paula Scheyer, Chris "Cupcake" Kroschinski, Haobo Lai, Bobbi Landrock, Jamie Dritt, and Matt ?.

Group shot at the Walnut Street Pony Bridge, Hellertown

My next hike would be another point to point, this time between Cooperburg and Bethlehem PA. We met at the Dunkin Donuts on Catasaqua Road in Bethlehem near Mr. Buckett's house, so we'd be near for the annual Buckettfest event, the fifth year he's held it. We then shuttled as few cars as possible south to the Giant food store in Coopersburg. From there, Living Memorial Park was across Fairmount Street to the south, so we walked across it to Landis Street, then turned left briefly to the old Philadelphia and Reading Railroad right of way.

Abandoned Reading Railroad, Coopersburg PA

Abandoned Reading Railroad, Coopersburg PA

Abandoned Reading Railroad, Coopersburg PA

Abandoned Reading Railroad, Coopersburg PA

Abandoned Reading Railroad, Coopersburg PA

Nice farm view from old Reading Railroad, Coopersburg PA

Abandoned Reading Railroad, Coopersburg PA

Old culvert in Coopersburg PA area

Old Reading Railroad, Center Valley PA

Former railroad crossing site in Center Valley PA

Abandoned Reading Railroad, Coopersburg PA

Old signal tower

Switch box with a fallen telegraph pole on it, along abandoned Reading Railroad north of Center Valley PA

Trail in Upper Saucon Community Park

Trail in Upper Saucon Community Park

We had hiked this railroad before, it wasn't totally something new to us. Hike #300, on 8/12/7 was the first attempt to follow it from Quakertown to Bethlehem. It was okay from Quakertown for a while, but it then got insanely overgrown. I remember Guillermo saying he felt like a Rhinoceros going through the high weeds. It got even worse, when people were getting stung by bees, fighting through briars and blow downs, and more. By the time we reached Coopersburg on that one, it was so overgrown that it would have taken forever to keep with it. We ended up following the line north and cutting away to parallel roads, looking on at the rail bed that we could see so badly overgrown.That trip failed and we had to cut away from the rail bed at the village of Bingen. We then returned to complete the rail line on 9/30/7, following it from Bingen to the former junction site in Bethlehem and beyond. It was still terribly overgrown, but that section wasn't so bad. The tracks were still in all the way from Quakertown to the northern end of Hellertown, which just added to how tough it was to fight through.Within the past year, Jillane and I headed to Hellertown to visit the Family Thrift Store there, which has some incredible deals on clothing. I knew this was very near to the old railroad bed, and I saw somewhere on line that it was to be developed into a trail soon. In fact, I had proposed this old rail line to be used as part of the Highlands Trail when I was in running the scouting hikes for Appalachian Mountain Club. It was one of the priority routes I had given to Jen Heisey when she worked for AMC in Bethlehem (I miss her, she did great for promotion in AMC, and the HT Project seemed to be going somewhere. It now seems dead).When Jillane and I got to the rail bed, I was blown away to see it as a completely developed rail trail, complete with crushed stone surface, wooden fences, and no tracks at all. It really was a shock to see it so well done after having seen it in such poor condition, probably the worst state it was ever in.When we reached the rail bed in Coopersburg, we found that this section was not so nice as the one to the north. Google Maps showed it as a new trail, but it was not totally developed. The tracks had been recently removed, but all of the ballast rock still remained. There were also bright orange signs reading "trail closed" in both directions. I guess the trail was to go further south. I wondered if it would go all the way to Quakertown.We turned left regardless of signs and followed the rail bed north.The right of way left the proper town, and soon was skirting the Tumblebrook Golf Course on the right. We had previously hiked this and walked along the paved golf course path on the right. The rail bed then goes onto a fill, where we climbed up that time and Christina Manley got stung by yellow jackets. Memories came back to me as I walked the rail bed, and soon reached a farm where we had turned off, and the owners told us it was okay to walk through since the rail bed had been so overgrown.We crossed Jacoby Road, and then went through an industrial area. All of the roads we crossed had the orange "trail closed, no trespassing" signs on them, except for the ones right in the industrial site. We saw a police officer in Coopersburg, but none along the way. I was a little nervous about being on the trail when I suppose we weren't supposed to be, but we hurried through. There were so many of us in the group, and we were pretty far spread out, but I didn't want to wait around at a road crossing to regroup and have someone give us a hard time.

We crossed Passer Road, followed by Flint Hill Road. Passer Road as I recall had a nice stone culvert next to the rail bed. We then entered the village of Center Valley.Station Road was the main road we crossed in Center Valley. Down hill from us on the left was a former bridge site, with "road closed" signs, where Station Road would have joined Rt 309. This site was very clear, and there must have been a railroad station on the site, though a foundation was not visible. We continued into more woods in the town, then passed through a cut before we were able to see a park on the left hand side. There was an old signal tower ahead on the left, as well as a switch box with an old telegraph pole fallen on it.I decided it would be best to have everyone wait here, out of sight from people, to regroup. The old Reading Railroad right of way would become the officially developed Saucon Rail Trail just up ahead, and I wanted us all to stay together because my map showed the trail itself deviated from the former rail bed.

After everyone had caught up, we turned left off of the rail bed and into the southern end of Upper Saucon Community Park. There was a path that closely paralleled the rail trail, and so we followed it north. Jack and I walked and sang the Beatles song "For No One" as well as John Lennon's "Look At Me".

Trail going under Preston Lane, Upper Saucon Community Park

Upper Saucon Community Park map

Trail in Upper Saucon Community Park

Trail in Upper Saucon Community Park

The trail continued through the grassy park, and there was an historic house across the field. Jason pointed out that one of the out buildings looked abandoned due to a good sized hole in the roof, but the main house looked quite good. We didn't bother going over at this point, and continued along the trail, which soon passed by the local library. It then turned sharply and passed beneath Preston Lane by way of a pedestrian underpass.On the north side of Preston Lane, the trail went through more ball fields. The rail bed was a bit to the east of us, on a bit of a fill.We continued on the park trail, which then took us past pavilions and such, and then had a split. There was fortunately a map there for us to look at, and so I decided we would follow the trail straight. Although it was not as close to the rail bed, I didn't know when we'd have the opportunity to follow this trail again, and it of course added some more diversity to the hike.We went straight, into a section of very nice woods. The trail then crossed a foot bridge over a small stream and passed through more fields. The Saucon Rail Trail ascended to the actual railroad grade by way of a ramp to the south of us, but we climbed up the embankment and through the fence rather than go over there.

Saucon Rail Trail, former Reading Railroad.

Saucon Rail Trail

Golf course view from Saucon Rail Trail

On the Bingen Road Bridge, Saucon Rail Trail

Crossing Saucon Creek on the old rail bridge, Bingen, PA

Saucon Rail Trail, Bingen PA

Saucon Creek from the Saucon Rail Trail near Hellertown

The rail trail headed north, and crossed Landis Mill Road followed by running parallel with Washington Lane and Spring Valley Road before crossing it.This trail was downright overdone, maybe more than any rail trail I had ever seen. It was wider than the Columbia Trail in NJ, which I used to work on. The crushed stone was the more expensive, good surfacing that many rail trails didn't go for. I was even more astounded when we got to the road crossings. There must have been some sort of sensors before reaching the crosswalks, with double gates at each. They made lights on the road blink to signal there were pedestrians coming. This must have cost the township a fortune to create.While walking, I got a call from Guillermo who was going to meet up with us. He got on the trail and began walking south toward us. He caught up with us around the stretch that closely paralleled Saucon Valley Country Club. I remembered that this section of the rail bed was so badly overgrown when we tried to hike it before that we ended up walking the parallel roads; we could see the tracks overgrown below us, between the houses on the road above to the east.We soon reached the bridge over Bingen Road. A new parking lot had been built on the right of the rail bed here, and it was where Guillermo parked. We crossed the road and continued on the trail ahead. This bridge was where we had accessed the rail bed during the 9/30/7 hike. Again, it was very strange to see it looking so much differently.

Former Reading Railroad, Bingen PA, 9/30/7

Unlike so many other rail trails, the width of this one I'm sure had to do with the fact that the area was double tracked. They chose to remove both sets of track and widen the trail to their width.We continued on and crossed Old Mill Road, where I could see the old truss bridge over Saucon Creek, which paralleled us here. We had checked out that bridge on our previous hike as well. It's hard to believe that was nearly five years ago.

Saucon Creek from the Saucon Rail Trail near Hellertown

We continued north across Meadows Road, and then crossed the Saucon Creek on a trestle. I remember really liking this section when we walked it before. It was a part that was never really that badly overgrown as we approached Hellertown. I gathered the land owners on the left side of the rail bed were not amenable to the trail being there, because they had a generous amount of no trespassing signs bordering their property.

Saucon Creek trestle just south of Hellertown

There were nice views of the Saucon Creek from the old bridge. From here, we soon entered the edge of Grist Mill Park in southern Hellertown on the left, with some buildings appearing on the right.

Shayna and the pups

We reached West Walnut Street, with the old 1860 Walnut Street Pony Bridge on the left. I always loved this bridge, the last remaining cast and wrought iron bridge left in North America. We stopped there for a group shot before moving on.

Walnut Street Pony Bridge, only remaining cast and wrought iron bridge remaining in North America.

Old mill, Hellertown

Group shot at the Walnut Street Pony Bridge, Hellertown

Rite Aid in Hellertown

Rest stop at the Rite Ad in Hellertown

Saucon Rail Trail map in Hellertown

Saucon Rail Trail in Hellertown

Cupcake joins us

Trail in the Saucon Creek Greenway

Ruins along the Saucon Creek

Old bridge site over the Saucon Creek

Part of a masonry arch bridge that once spanned the Saucon Creek

Former bridge site over Saucon Creek, Hellertown

Across the street from the "pony" bridge, was the old grist mill, now home to an historical society. We turned right on Walnut Street briefly, and made a stop at the Rite Aid for some snacks. There wasn't anything else in regards to food that we could see, so we just got some junk food. We then took a break outside.It was here that Wayne joined up with us. We were soon on our way, back to the rail trail heading north. The rail trail skirted Lower Saucon Creek Park, and then crossed Fiedensvill Road. We stopped briefly on the north side of the road and waited for Cupcake, who joined us here.We continued on the Saucon Rail Trail ahead for a bit, but then turned off of it to the left and into the woods on another trail I had not yet done. There was only one marker at the beginning of the trail, which weaved around a bit through very nice young woods.

The trail came much closer to the Saucon Creek, and then there were some sort of ruins along it's edge to our left. Concrete foundations or maybe some sort of old bridge. None of us could tell. Just north of here, there was an old bridge site over the creek. Piers and abutments remained, as well as an elevated berm approaching the creek. On our side of the creek there was even a deteriorating masonry culvert build in, either as a relief drainage in times of flood or for an old mill race, maybe what those foundations were for.

Trail in the Saucon Creek Greenway

The trail continued very nicely through the woods, and had a narrow path breaking off to the left, on a steep slope of the creek, while a more prominent trail turned right through a field full of some sort of tailings and refuse rock. Google Earth labels this are a "Thomas Iron Works" site. Thomas Iron Works was one of the places we had explored along the Lehigh River near Coplay PA as well. I suppose this could have been part of it.

Old bridge over the Saucon Creek, Hellertown

Old bridge over Saucon Creek, Hellertown

A spring house ruin along Saucon Creek

A spring house ruin along Saucon Creek

A spring house ruin along Saucon CreekA spring house ruin along Saucon Creek

We soon reached Siedersville Road and turned left. The road was blocked off here, and the old truss bridge over Saucon Creek read "BRIDGE CLOSED". We walked across, as there were no signs forbidden trespass, and on the other side found what appeared to be the ruins of a spring house and/or ice house or Summer Kitchen. The building certainly had a spring bubbling up from beneath it, but it also had once had a second story apparently, as we could see from the windows above. We went down the steps in the front of it to see the crystal clear water along it's floor.

Old spring house ruin

A spring house ruin along Saucon Creek

Abandoned Saucon Creek bridge

Another old spring house along Saucon Creek

Another old spring house along Saucon Creek

Cupcake in my old Ranger hat from Hunterdon.

Old Cemetery near Hellertown

Mirror shot

Mirror shot in Hellertown

Mirror shot in Hellertown

From here, we turned right back into the woods on a lesser used path, following the Saucon Creek down stream (which was actually north). After a short distance, we came to another spring house, this time much smaller. The front door was open, and inside was the small trough where water could have been scooped out.We continued on from this site as the path continued to get more obscure. There was a steep slope along the river forming with no discernible path close to the water, so we started heading up hill. It wasn't very long before I realized that we were coming up on people's back  yards, so we abruptly turned around and headed back to Siedersville Road.We turned right onto Siedersville Road heading up hill to Creek Road, across from fields of the Lehigh University Campus. We continued along Creek Road to the right, where we got some silly group pictures into one of those mirrors people have near the ends of their driveways.The road led us from here to the corner of William Street where there were some historic buildings.

Mirror shot in Hellertown

Old home near Hellertown

Old cabin near Hellertown. Do you think the doors are new?

One building was an old stone farm house, and the other was a log cabin that had new doors making it look more like the entrance to a 7-11. We turned right on William Street which took us down hill to an underpass below Rt 78. I'd used this route before on hikes, as there was a way of getting up South Mountain from here, but I didn't want to use that way this time, opting instead to go right on College Drive into Saucon park.

Rt 78 underpass

Rt 78 underpass near Hellertown

Rt 78 underpass near Hellertown

Rt 78 underpass near Hellertown

Old fireplace below Rt 78, Hellertown

We cut to the left under the Rt 78 bridge, a huge long one over the Saucon Creek, park, and roads. As we passed beneath the highway, there was an old brick fireplace nearly beneath the highway, for reasons unknown.We soon reached Fire Lane Road at Saucon Park, and crossed directly. We then walked onto one of the ball fields, and then came to the long canal like waterway that stretched to the south through Saucon Park. There were things that looked like masonry bleachers built out in one of the fields, and I wondered if these were reused ruins of some forgotten industry. It makes me wonder if this canal thing we were following was revitalized old industrial ruins or if it were just early park design from a time when their development was outlandish.

Saucon Park near Hellertown

Saucon Park

Saucon Park

Saucon Park

Bridge in Saucon Park

We followed along the edge of the little canal area out to the Saucon Creek, which through the park had some nicely lined stone walls on it's edge. We crossed the creek once again, this time on a foot bridge into the proper part of the park, and turned left past a pavilion. We had walked through here during the annual Musikfest hike the previous Summer, when the park was full of partying families.We continued on, and passed some fishermen walking in the creek, then came to the nice suspension bridge back over the creek again.

Saucon Park steps

We crossed the creek on the bridge, and reached the large set of steps that made their way up the hillside to the west. I had walked up these steps with Jason Kumpas and Amanda Murphy the previous Summer as well, but we never explored up above the power line.

Bridge in Saucon Park

Trail leading up South Mountain from Saucon Park

This washed out trail once had wooden steps, some of which are partially visible.

Seasonal view above Saucon Park.

Ascending from Saucon Park

Trail heading up from Saucon Park

Cemetery

We hiked up the steps, and had a nice view of the bridge we had just crossed. After the top of the steps, the old trail became rather washed out. I didn't remember noticing during my summer trip that the steps once continued up the hillside, but the path had been washed out on one side, leaving the exposed wooden steps of the trail left, hanging to just rot.

We continued up hill, and Mr. Buckett found a sweater sitting there. It was actually rather nice, but it wouldn't fit him so he left it there. We then made our way up to a power line. From there, the path turned right along the power line and would come out on Lynfield Drive near a field area, but instead we cut into a cemetery directly across and made our way up hill a bit further on one of it's access roads. It appeared to have some old head stones in it, and most of them were Russian or Slavic types of names.

Cemetery on the east side of South Mountain with a view

Cemetery view

Cemetery view to the east

Cemetery view

Construction site for a new development

Construction site view

Construction site view on South Mountain

We made our way up through the cemetery with some rather impressive views out to the east. We could see a power plant, Rt 78, buildings, and lots of farmlands.We crossed over Williams Street and followed a new development road directly across up hill. The very last houses in the development were still being built, so we cut through the construction site into the woods and bushwhacked up hill for a bit. This soon led us to a vaguely white blazed trail. Once we were all together, we turned right on it. Commando Tom took the lead because he jogs these trails very often.I was considering going to Iacocca Hall again, but we were running short on time and didn't want to take in too much extra mileage.

View from South Mountain

Seasonal view from South Mountain

The trail made a gradual up hill ascent. There was one trail that went off to the left, which I believe we followed previously to Iacocca Hall. This time, we would explore the lower one along the edge of South Mountain. There were some really nice seasonal views of Bethlehem from the entire route as we headed west.At one point, there was a trail that headed down hill from here to the right, but I'm not sure where it went to. Guillermo pointed it out to us, and it probably led more directly to South Bethlehem, but we would have to explore that another time.

View from South Mountain of Bethlehem Steel

Megan helped carry a dog down the power line

It's rare to find a big insulator like this unbroken

Bethlehem view

We continued along the ridge, and got some nice seasonal views of the coke furnaces of Bethlehem Steel below. Our plan was to get down South Mountain and to come out at St. Michael's Cemetery in South Bethlehem. We continued along the trail, until we got to a power line right of way, and turned to follow it steeply down hill. It's likely that if we had continued on the trail that it would have taken us to Sayre Field to the west.The power line was tough to follow because there was so much loose rock on it. Megan carried one of Shayna's dogs to help get down the hill safely. The power line started going into people's back yards from an adjacent street, so we had to head into the woods to the right of it for a bit. I found a perfectly good insulator from one of the poles, not something you find often, and carried it down before realizing that I didn't want to carry it the rest of the way.

View of Bethlehem

We came out on the corner of 8th Street and Ridge Street and took a bit of a break. It took a bit for everyone to catch up to those of us who were in the front. I think it was Guillermo, Matt, and myself. This corner had fantastic views again of Bethlehem Steel and the city, as well as the Martin Tower off in the distance.

Martin Tower view, Bethlehem PA

View of Bethlehem

St. Michael's Cemetery

Bethlehem View

Cemetery descending into Bethlehem

along South Bethlehem Greenway

Scrap sculpture along South Bethlehem Greenway

Shayna and the pups

Interesting art bus stop in South Bethlehem

Artsy bus stop shelter, South Bethlehem

Hill to Hill Bridge

Fahy Bridge view from Hill to Hill Bridge

Along the former LNE Railroad along Monocacy Creek

We turned down Ridge Street for a block, then went steeply up Seventh Street to the right for a block, then turned left onto State Street. It wasn't long before we were along the west edge of St. Michael's Cemetery, a nice  historic cemetery with more great views of the Bethlehem area. It was here that Andrea and Andrew were supposed to meet up with us. We didn't realize it, but they had walked into the cemetery and went all the way to the top of the hill where they found some nice historic graves. I had thought we would come out in the cemetery, but was wrong. I think it was Andrew who said that he heard us coming by, and they hurried down to meet up with us.

We followed State Street down hill to Third Street, and then turned left and were soon on the South Bethlehem Greenway. There, Andrea and Andrew seemed to appear out of nowhere. I looked back at my loyal group of followers to see them walking among them as if they were with us all day! We crossed  Hayes Street where Mr. Buckett and Eric were ahead, waiting at a bench. They decided to cut out here because Mr. Buckett wanted to get ready for Buckettfest, and help DJ Ray set up his equipment.

Former LNE Railroad in Bethlehem

Monocacy Creek Trail

Some new decking on an old rail bridge along Monocacy Creek Trail

Delotto rescues some of the hikers on Illicks Mill Road, Bethlehem

Andrea at Buckettfest

Buckettfest

Buckettfest

Naaron

Delotto executes a rock star slide

Tired Tim

Buckettfest

Buckettfest

Buckettfest

In the Buckett dump room

Buckettfest 2011

Buckettfest 2011

Joe after doing a Buckett dance

Buckettfest 2011

Buckettfest 5 Dance

Buckettfest 5 Dance

Buckett Pong

At Buckettfest 5

At Buckettfest 5

At Buckettfest 5

At Buckettfest 5

At Buckettfest 5

Buckettfest 5 Dance

At Buckettfest 5

At Buckettfest 5

At Buckettfest 5

At Buckettfest 5

At Buckettfest 5

At Buckettfest 5

At Buckettfest 5

Buckettfest 5 Dance

Buckettfest 5 Dance

We followed the South Bethlehem Greenway west, crossing over nine more blocks of streets through South Bethlehem. When we were finally near the end, where there were still rails in the New Street crossing, we were joined by our friend Paula, who had been planning to join us late all day. She parked her car at a nearby hotel place and finished the rest of the hike with us.We followed the rail bed out to Third Street and then crossed the Hill to Hill Bridge over the Lehigh River into Bethlehem. We took the steps down on the other side to Conestoga Street, and continued north along the edge of the Monocacy Creek. It started to drizzle a bit while we were walking in this section. Shayna told me earlier they were calling for possibly some rain, which I found surprising, since the forecast all week was saying it should be good.We started walking the tracks a little bit, the former Lehigh and New England Railroad, north to Union Blvd. We realized here that were were missing some people! Guillermo, Matt, Commando Tom, Laura, Jason, and Megan were all missing. My phone was dead, so I had others trying to call them. Apparently everyone made it out okay. Like so many of the hikes that end at festivals and such in Bethlehem, people drop off near the end, sometimes without any notice!The rest of us continued on across Union Blvd, and turned left across the Monocacy Creek again (we crossed it once on the railroad trestle). We followed the Monocacy Creek Trail north along the nice board walk section, and then out across the old rail bridge. This time, they had started re decking the bridge, as on our last visit it had been completely washed away, or destroyed somehow.The trail took us on across another former LNE railroad branch, and then to the Burnside Plantation, the historic Moravian farm preserve. We turned right and followed the greenway parallel with the creek and out to Schoenersville Road, then across. The trail then took us through more woods and along what appeared to be former quarried walls. Cupcake and I checked out a side path that we thought might have gone to some sort of a cave, but it was just a fire pit.

We continued along the trail to the north, and came to a bit of a clearing to the left. We headed up hill. Formerly I believe this was a golf course. We headed on to a parking lot and recreation area, part of Monocacy Park I think, and then made our way out to Illicks Mill Road and turned left.We followed the road along the sidewalk for a little bit, and the rain continued to grow stronger. When things were starting to get worse, our old buddy Jim DeLotto showed up! He had been planning on meeting up with us earlier for the hike, but part of the problem was that my phone was dead. I told him in two phone conversations about where we'd be, and somehow he managed to find us. While it was late to join in on the hike, and it was pretty much all road walking back, he was able to take everone back to the cars who drove to Coopersburg, as well as Naaron who could shuttled them back. That was a huge help because the car shuttle could get done quicker (as it turned out, they got lost and apparently had a more difficult time than anticipated). So Shayna, Shelly, Joe, Haobo, and Naaron got in with Delotto and the rest of us continued on.It was getting much colder out, and dark. The rain was starting to come down heavier all the time, and we were all getting pretty wet. We followed Illicks Mill Road out to Schoenersville Road, very near to the  intersection of Catasaqua Road, which Mr. Buckett lived two blocks south of.We called Eric up to come and rescue some of the remaining hikers and figured out the rest of the driving necessary to pick up the people who had parked in other locations that were still with us (Wayne, Cupcake, Andrea and Andrew, Paula), and everything worked out.We got to Buckettfest pretty soon. Mr. Buckett had prepared a few trays of baked ziti that were quite good, and DJ Ray made some incredible chicken stuff that was very popular. The equipment was all set up when I arrived.

As it always is, Buckettfest was a great get together with lots of friends old and new, dancing and silliness.Strong...like el burro...el burro fuerte....