Hike #634; Wissahickon Green Ribbon

 Hike #634; Wissahickon Green Ribbon

6/24/12 Wissahickon Green Ribbon; Upper Gwynedd/North Wales to Manayunk with Jason Kumpas, Amanda Murphy, Jason Itell, Lyz Hagenbuch, Larry Butler, "Naaron" Young, Derek Baker, Greg Hudas, Morgana ?, Grace Paik, Terri Erbacher, Christina Castelino, Krista McKay, Carol Creamer, and John Bradford Ladutko.

Group shot in Ambler PA

My next hike was one I'd quite been looking forward to, but in light of my recent visit to the Emergency Room also dreading! I was barely able to move the day before, and would now attempt an over 21 mile hike to complete the entire Wissahickon Green Ribbon Trail in a day. I'd already done most of it, but would now complete the entire thing from it's northern terminus in North Wales PA to Manayunk.

I met my group in the morning at the Manayunk Diner, and we moved vehicles on up to the train station just up the hill from the giant stone wall. We then shuttled cars north to North Wales. On the way, we stopped for sustenance and had a dog run out in front of the car. A tiny thing, barely visible, kept running around and the girls chased it but couldn't catch it.We then continued on to North Wales to begin the hike just off off of Sumneytown Pike. There was a nice big lot and a paved trail leading through Parkside Place Park heading south through Parkside Place Park. We wandered a short distance and stopped at a restroom near a giant playground that was bigger than my new house in Great Meadows NJ area.We had a few newcomers to this hike, which was cool.The Green Ribbon Trail started at the lower part of the wide park area and headed into woods on a paved path. We followed it for a bit and it came to a development and turned right. This led us out to another trail that kept going straight, while we turned left on a mowed path along a field, then into woods to the left again. The trail was very well maintained and had signs with arrows every time it made an abrupt turn at a road or other trail crossing. There were no standard blazes, other than a few random green paint ones, but it wasn't badly needed on this one anyway.

The trail soon crosses springs, the headwaters to the Wissahickon Creek, on small bridges. There were others off to the right of us for a while. I reminded everyone that we would follow this tiny tributary to the Schuykill River, and it would be a mighty river itself by that point.The first larger creek crossing was a concrete stepping stone crossing. The trail then skirted some back yards and re-entered woods. I liked this trail a lot because it is so weird like others I follow.I was feeling alright, keeping to the front of the group. Considering I was in the emergency room until 9:30 the night before with shivers, cold and hot, fever, etc, apparently from some tick borne disease, and was hurting pretty bad trying to walk the previous Friday, I was doing good.

We continued through nice woods along the creek and crossed North Wales Road. The trail then crossed more stepping stones and continued downstream. After a while it again crossed, this time on stepping stones followed by a strange metal set of steps up to an upper level of earth higher above the creek. The contraption was made to float up during times of flood, quite interestingly. The trail continued from here on to a lovely spot with an old fire place and chimney, but no building. There was a little dam, and the trail continued up hill with a guide rope on steps, then high above on a slope. This was an outstanding, beautiful section. There were mile markers roughly every half mile letting us know how far we had gone. I was blown away at how fast the miles seemed to be shaving off.We crossed Swedesford Road and passed under Rt 202, then came to a big railroad trestle with old stone abutments capped with concrete. The trail as I recalled it used to go up to the Gwynedd Valley Station just above this point, because I walked down to this point the previous time hiking through with Conrad and Teresa. This time the trail was shown as a side trail, and we continued under the bridge next to the abutments. The trail then took us up at the end of a private driveway, and followed it to Plymouth Road. We then descended to cross the Wissahickon again on rocks. On the other side, the trail was a mowed, wide path following the creek for a while, and it passed beneath another old rail line, this time at a lovely stone viaduct. The trail passed through part of Penllyn Woods, and there were a few side trails which we didn't have the time to explore. The trail then came out at Township Line Road. It turned off of it to the right, stayed on the creek, then came back to it in a little bit and followed it to Penllyn Pike. We then turned left and followed the road to the intersection with Old Penllyn Pike, and followed that. We had met a guy with his dog that guided us to that point because my maps were not showing exactly where the trail went back into the woods. We followed him and got back on the trail as it headed on to skirt golf course property on the other side of the creek.The trail continued through woods and then seemed to just dead end at a road with a chain link fence. There was a flagged route through woods parallel with it which I assume is the future trail, but can't be sure. We took a little break, then I decided to follow the flagged path for a bit. It just paralleled the road, which was the abandoned section of Railroad Ave. We continued on that beyond the chain link fence that read "no trespassing", and then turned right on Mathers Road. As we passed through the fence a cop pulled up. He fortunately didn't have a problem with us being there.

Mathers Road used to be a through route but there is no longer a bridge over the Wissahickon. The trail turns left off of the road near the former bridge site.We continued along the trail, then came to another stepping stone crossing made of concrete blocks. It took us out onto someone's  yard, then back into the woods. We were able to continue with no problems out to West Mount Pleasant Ave and across. This section was closed on my last visit, but still easy to walk through. We were able to follow it this time as a completed trail out to Butler Ave. From there, we opted to take a side trip into the town of Ambler for food and drinks. We were going to go to the McDonalds, but hardly anyone wanted that, so we continued into town and found a nice little pizza place with a name that had something to do with ticks. They were nice enough to let us sit on the floor and have a powwow. The pizza was pretty good too, especially for pennsylvania.

Once we were done, we continued on back to the trail, only losing one to unbearable blisters.Now with 13 of us remaining, we continued along the creek, then came to Ambler Rotary Bridge, a foot bridge over the creek. The area ahead was nice, with big woods and a lot of interpretive signs. Another foot bridge crossed the creek, and then after a bit we crossed on more concrete steppers. We then reached Morris Road and turned left. We crossed and followed the road only a short distance before the trail turned back in to the right, near a nice stone bridge. Jason Itell was the only one so far to stop and swim, back at Mathers Road. I wanted do at the bridge, but no one else was into it yet.We made our way along the creek, then crossed it again on a stone bridge that was part of Germantown Academy. From there we continued to Lafayette Ave and crossed the creek on the road bridge, under guard rails. The trail remained narrow and about the same for a bit, but we were entering Fort Washington State Park near Whitemarsh and the character would change a bit.The trail would now be a paved path for a bit. We passed beneath a nice stone old rail bridge, then continued to the south along the creek. There were a lot more people in this section as well. After a bit, we opted to take the "Nature Trail" to the left of the main trail. We had done the main trail a few times before, and the Nature Trail would be prettier, be by the creek more, and possibly offer us swimming. It didn't take long and we did find a nice quiet swim spot. It was really great to cool off for a bit, though not everyone got in. We continued from there on to the abandoned railroad right of way, with a newly decked bridge, and followed it until it turned off and rejoined the main trail again.We followed the trail, which became a crushed stone path mainly, on out to West Valley Green Road. The trail sort of ends with a missing link there. We got on the road and crossed an old stone bridge over the creek on Stenton Ave. We then followed the road south to Northwestern Ave and turned right. The trail resumed there parallel with the road. Carol Creamer came riding up to us with an insane look on  her face at this point. She had planned on meeting earlier. Brad soon followed behind on another bike. They joined us for a while.The trail took us along the road and on a wooden walkway, then on sidewalk to Germantown Pike. I guess the Green Ribbon Trail leads to Forbidden Drive, the former road turned trail through the Wissahickon Gorge just ahead, but this time we wanted to follow something different.We followed Germantown Pike to another trail section which remained on the opposite side of the Wissahickon from the one followed by Forbidden Drive.This side of the creek was very pretty, and the trail was outstanding. We made our way down stream, and we jumped in another time at a little cascade before crossing Bells Mill Road.It was tougher for Carol and Brad to follow with the bikes, because they had to be carried much of the way, but they made it on through (PARAMOUNT!). We passed by the only remaining covered bridge in Philly, and then went through a section with steps and such, down to another stone bridge over the creek. Walking the rugged side of the gorge was fantastic, but eventually Carol and Brad left to use Forbidden Drive. The rest of us continued on. There were some great spots with rock outcroppings, cuts between rocks, interesting stone walkways, steps, bridges, and one peculiar bridge called "the finger" because it has bends in the same way as a finger.We stopped along the way to check out "The Devil's Pool" below an old stone bridge with a small cliff jump. Jason Kumpas called it that I would love the spot. I of course took a jump on in, from the higher rock. It was surprising to me that such an easy jump wasn't being done by any of the other billions of people around. It was rather crowded, and there was way too much trash. Just a little ways away there was none again.We continued along the difficult side of the creek I think until we got to Kitchens Lane, or the trail that used to be the extension of the road down to Forbidden Drive. We took another dip in the creek there, or at least Jason, Lyz, and I did. The rest went ahead. We then hurried to catch up and followed Forbidden Drive. It was getting too dark to continue on the harder trails, if there were more.We made our way along and crossed the creek to the end of Forbidden Drive, then turned right on the trail continuing down the Wissahickon into Manayunk. It was a lot longer than I'd remembered it being. This was the first time I'd followed it south. The trail followed an elevated walkway, then crossed the creek once more, and continued through rock outcroppings. We were feeling it by this point. My right leg had a pulled muscle I'd got during moving, and I tried to run briefly but hurt it worse immediately.We caught up with the rest of the group, except a few who got way ahead, and continued on out to Manayunk. It felt great to get to that point on the main street, where the Schuykill River was just a stone's throw away. We had hiked the entire Wissahickon Green Ribbon Trail in a day. It wasn't anything much more than what we'd done many other times, but it was another long trail completed. It was a rather solemn feeling celebration. We were happy, but it was late, and I was over two hours from home.We had to walk up the street to get to the station where we had parked. That seemed like an eternity, but I power walked up hill to it. We didn't take that much time in the parking lot, just said our goodbyes and were on our way out. I'm sure most everyone had work the following day. I felt lucky not to have that. For so many years I was always one that had work very early Monday morning, but now having sundays and mondays off has turned out to be somewhat of a blessing at times.

It's a struggle for me to describe what exactly I got out of this day. I suppose the best thing I can say is "reassurance". A lot had just changed for me, and a lot of trauma had happened again. Although it wasn't as terrible as 2010 had been, almost losing my eye, then Kyle's death, then losing my house, cats, all possessions and almost my life, then my job. I still feel like I can take anything after that.This was different, but I had just been moved from my home at White Lake, likely the most incredible home I'll ever have, had a tree fall on my head, had a badly sprained ankle, and now some sort of tick disease that is still unidentified. I had been feeling broken in so many ways. It's sort of like the hardships from 2010 never ended, because there have been so many tough things happening along the way. But there was a lot of good in between. I had a period of almost two years in a great place that changed my life.Now, after all this mess I'd been in, I have the reassurance that I can still hike over twenty miles (this would have been 22) with relative ease. My physical ability is still pretty much what it was at 17 and I'm happy about it.This hike was also reassurance that the group and the hikes will go on. The hike was everything that all of the past ones were supposed to be. It fit in. We had great friends, both old and new again, and it included a few newcomers who handled it very well. It was also great to see Larry again after too long.We moved along at a good clip, but we also stopped to take time for swimming and enjoying the interesting little things along the way, though mayby not as much as we usually do. It was also something new that branched off of what I had done, further out. I had moved away from some of that for over a month. It seemed like so long I was just leading hikes around White Lake. It seemed like an eternity.It's time to branch back out to new places, revisit some of the other past great places, and grow as an organization based on the ideals it was founded on. Although this one was slightly longer than what I would normally plan, overall it was everything I want the hikes to be as we move on. A reassurance that the magic is still there despite all of the craziness.