two bridges

Today I walked over the Hill to Hill and back the Fahy bridge, with a few errands in between.

I heart winter. I heart everything about it, except maybe snow days. We have to make those up, or I don't get paid. But it does add some challenges to walking.

As I was walking I thought (more times than I could count) that the city could raise all shortfalls by enforcing the laws. Mainly the one where you're supposed to shovel your sidewalk after it snows. For pedestrians it's beyond sketchy. There were more than a few times when I almost went down. I know that citation would be on my door the one time I didn't shovel.

Another problem for pedestrians is crossing the street. Even when the homeowner or business shovels to the corner the plow comes thru and closes it back up. If the property owner doesn't come back out and dig out, again, you get to scale humps of snow. Or worse, cold messy slush.

But if you are able to navigate those challenges. You get to see the frozen canal.

Or where cars have played spirograph in the empty parking lot.

Tomorrow we are to get another storm. I've heard everything from four inches to two feet.  time will tell. My snowshoes are ready.

volkssport bus trip to lackawaxen

Saturday Lydia, Bonnie and I took a bus trip to Lackawaxen. Exciting, I know. But they rarely offer walks in that area, and we needed Pike county! It was also a destination for the new Border Crossing special program.

The bus picked us up at the Quakertown Park and Ride. It was great not having to drive to Philly. We wouldn't have gone if we did.

We arrived at Zane Gray's house about 10:15. All the paper work was covered on the bus. We picked up our instruction and started walking. It was an odd route. Pretty much out and back, with variations. First we headed to the highway and crossed the Lackawaxen river. Then turned around and came back. We went past Zane Grays house, and headed toward the Roebling's Aqueduct. For those who went to public school like me, and never learned this stuff, my computer dictionary says it is a "a bridge that is constructed to convey water over an obstacle, such as a ravine or valley."

Crossing the Aqueduct we entered New York. We stopped to take this lovely picture. I look really thin in it. Note to self, stand in the way back! Bonnie and Lydia teased me all day about my hat. I really don't think it looks that bad.

In New York, we went under the bridge and out the D&H canal towpath. (Delaware and Hudson).  We turned around and came back and then back over the aqueduct. and back to Zane Grays house. Then we went into the house and did the little tour. Lots of books. Dick would have loved it. He loved Zane Grey novels. We walked about a 6K.

Then we went for a buffet lunch at the Laxawaxen Inn. It was horrible. Poorly organized, and perfect for 1965—tons of carbs covered with cheese and dressing, and meats, covered with calorie laden sauces. Not a single vegetable. Not a green thing anywhere. The plate were at least 12 inches if not larger. And they were piled high. I ended up eating two meatballs and some baked ziti. And the fruit from the ham. Then I went and got ham. The food sat in my gut all day. My body was saying WTF?

We went outside to wait and met this huge fella. If the almighty google is correct, he is a Cecropia Moth (Hyalophora cecropia). His wingspan is up to 6 inches! His life is two weeks. After mating, he dies withing three days. (There's a going out with a bang joke in there somewhere.) this guy wasn't moving much. I think he had his fun and his number was up.

Then it was back on the bus and off to Milton. The museum where we parked (They have Lincoln's blood soaked flag. Why is that not at the Smithsonian?) was having a special Boy Scout program and wasn't open. So we headed to Grey Towers. The last time I was there I was in a car. It's a three mile walk from where we parked to the top of the hill. And there was no time for a tour. We walked the ground and then headed back down. Through a bit more of Milton and back on the bus to come home.

It was 9:30 when I arrived home. And I had to start my online classes. I finished about 12:30, and got up this morning for a 5K.

fifteen turtle walk

Well, maybe they are tortoises. I'm not sure. But you'll need to wait to hear that story.

Lydia arrived about nine and we headed to Canal Park in Allentown. I get there you need exit Hanover Avenue right before the bridge, go under the bridge and cross the railroad tracks. Then go another half mile to the boat launch.

We arrived at the railroad tracks and the lights were blinking and the cling, cling, cling was clinging so we stopped. No gates here. In a few seconds we heard the train. But it seamed to be slowing down. Trains at this intersection are typically long because there is a freight yard really close to the park.

We could see the engine and it was getting slower and slower. It stopped right at the intersection. But did not block it. Now what do you do. Wait? What are the rules for a stopped choo-choo? We waited about 2 minutes. The engine never moved. So I put Geneva in gear and we crossed the tracks.

After parking we walked toward Bethlehem for a half hour and back.  Then we walked down to the boat launch.

We were only five minutes into the walk when we saw the first turtle. Then the group of six which reduced quickly to five. Clearly one is camera shy. Then another batch of two. Then another one. In total it was 14 or 15. The last one would not let us take his pix. He was huge. Maybe six or seven inches.

Why are there so many turtles in this part of the trail? I have no idea.

On our way back from the boat launch, Lydia saw the railroad tracks and need to take a picture. Why that girl steps on live tracks is beyond me. In taking the pix I also managed to get the power tower. Clearly the choke vines are trying to choke it. It looks cool.

walnutport's canal trail

Today Lydia and I walked in Walnutport. We parked at the Slatington Trailhead for the D&L and walked across the bridge to Walnutport.

Sometimes the D&L follows the canal. Other times, it follows the old railroad bed near the canal. That is what happens in Northampton and Slatington. So both Northampton and Walnutport have canal paths that follow the canal. Saltington also has what they call a slate heritage trail.

I've never done Walnutport's path before. It was nice. It's divided by Main Street, and runs north for about 1.5 miles, and south for maybe 2 miles. So all in all it is a 10K round trip.

We walked on the one side to the first lock, then turned around, crossed Main Street, and went down the other side. We went past another lock and the lock tenders house, a totem pole, a waterfall and some white ducks.

Now I've walked all three paths in that area. Today we did a little more than 3 miles.

Before I went to Lydia's, I stopped at the airport to return my rental car. I was planning on rerenting without the insurance to get the cost down.

Previously when I rented a car, I reserved, I researched, I planned ahead. Clearly I don't do well with emergency renting. I returned the car. When I checked it out they told me there was a chip in the windshield.  When the girl examined it there was scratches at two places on the bumper. I drove it from their lot home and back. I did not look at it before I drove away. Stupid. Clearly the over priced insurance paid off. I am responsible for the "damage".  The one set can be buffed out. The other there is paint removed. Now either my neighbors are horrible at parking, or that damage was there when I took the car. I think it was the later.

I returned the car, and re-rented it. With the "damage" clearly marked. I didn't want to take any insurance because at $55 a day it's expensive. But clearly it just saved my butt. Normally I tell them I'll use my personal insurance. But I have a super large claim in right now. I don't need more complications. So I just took the smallest amount they have. Just in case something else happens.

The crappy weekend continues.

two bridges

Lydia took an old photo dump on Facebook Thursday. Let's call it Throwback Thursday, Extreme Edition. I told her about my walk thru the old 'hood Friday, and decided to show her our house. See, I told you it still looks the same.

The plan was to head over the Hill to Hill bridge, go around and come back the other side. Things don't ever go as planned.

We were walking under the bridge and decided to go to the historic district.  There still was some snow.

It was there where I saw this odd yellow sign. I have never seen one of these before. Have you? Maintenance? I've seen many a historic marker that was barely readable. I didn't know that they actually maintained them.

 From there we headed to Sand Island. Look, even after 60 degree days the canal is still frozen. That ice must have been thick.

Lyd headed for the restrooms. I headed for the pedestrian bridge. I wanted to check to see if that section of the path was open again. They were doing some construction there in late fall. It is done and the path is open. Now I'll need to go to the Hotel B this week and tear the detour tags off the Volkssport instructions.

Sadly plans to improve the west end of the park have been shelved. It was in yesterdays paper. That money was rerouted to the snow removal budget. Booooooo.

We headed up the stairs to the Fahy Bridge. Those stairs are narrow and steep. Lydia apparently hasn't been on the bridge since the sidewalk was closed. I wonder when they will ever fix it?

When we returned to the southside, we took a selfie with the Penn State Lion. This is the best we could get.

It took 2 hours to do 4 miles. Bonnie would have been getting antsy with all the stops.

this time we were on the delaware canal!

Today we went to Wy-Hit-Tuk Park in Williams Township to hike the on the D&L. We've hiked a lot of Lehigh Sections from Bethlehem north, but this is the first time south of Easton,  on the Delaware.

It's quite different than the Lehigh sections that we have been doing. It's narrow, rustic, and has minimal signs. One place was all grass. At one point early on, Lydia asked what trail we were on because not of the D&Ls "signage" was there. Not even the mile markers.


We started in the park. There were beautiful comfort stations. And walked down the parks nature path crossed a bridge and connected to the D&L.

This trail runs adjacent to 611. It is very noisy. There are no buffers. The motorcycles screamed down the street. There were many pedestrian bridges crossing the canal. But we saw no parking. There weren't many houses, but clearly access was being provided.

We did see a family of ducks. All the kids. No mama or papa.

And a blue heron or two. Hard to tell if it was the same one, twice.

We only crossed one street. We found a few cabins and a foot bridge but are clueless where one would park if they lived there.

Ground Hog Lock was supposed to be 3.4 miles away. Lydia's phone measured just over four. Bonnie's fancy watched measured just under 4. So total we walked about 8 miles.

At the Ground Hog lock, the D&L signage returned, plus a couple of state markers. The bathrooms were inside and nice from what i hear.

After we finished, we took the BOGO coupons that we earned doing the Passport to Fitness, and rode the Josiah White II at Hugh Moore Park. It takes about 40 minutes to go less than two miles. We learned a lot about life on a river boat, how the canals were built, and the identity of some of the ruins we've been looking at over the past couple weeks.

The tickets included the museum and the lock tenders house. We didn't have time to do  either of those things. We'll take the tickets and go back another day.

.

saturday morning

Bonnie and I picked up Lydia and headed to the D&L. We did the section heading north from Northampton. It went past a camp ground, and the canal full of algae.  What was cool was the remnants of a canal barge at the side of the canal.

Since we're doing the Electric Run tonight, we only did three miles. It was humid and buggy.

lost and found trails and ticks

I had a brilliant idea last night. Let's walk this morning from Allentown's Canal Park to Hanover Township. Turned out to be not my best idea, but it was an adventure.

I've walked the section from Allentown to Bethlehem numerous times, but never the other direction. Thank goodness Bonnie has a sense of humor.

We headed out at about 7 am. To beat the heat, humidity, and Hanover Avenue traffic. We headed over the Hanover Avenue bridge and down the ramp to the Canal Park. Half way down the ramp we saw a trail head sign. I said "Oh look, you can get on the trail here, too. It must join the regular trail." But why would you? There is no place to park.

We parked in the lot at the park, and went down to the trail head. The way to Bethlehem was obvious. The way to Hanover Township not so much. So we followed what looked like a trail in the right direction. It got narrower and narrower, and downright skinny. (See photo above.) We searched for the exit. When we found it, we moved out to the road and walked along the canal. There was an opening in the woods. It was not an entrance. So we doubled back and headed up the ramp. There was a "sidewalk".

When we finally reached the trail it was beautifully paved and straight uphill. It was away from the canal, and a mule would have never made it pulling a boat. Then it leads to a steep downhill. We arrived at Bradford Street and nothing.

We decided to go back to the car, this time walking in the street and not on the crazy disappearing path.

Bonnie wanted to test my theory about Allentown park bathrooms, and they were indeed locked.

We got in the car and headed to Hanover Township. We decided to go from that end and see what we did wrong. The Hanover Township Canal park is beautiful. Much more developed since I was there the last time. The trail there was grass. Ultimately it lead us to Bradford Street. Clearly, you are supposed to walk on Bradford. Mostly without sidewalks. At rush hour on a Monday. No thank you.


As we got in the car, Bonnie saw a tick on her leg. We then did a tick check. I had Pat do another when I got home. I am so used to walking in the city and bike paths, that I've totally forgot about ticks. Bad Girl Scout. There is now Deep Woods Off in my bag keeping the sunscreen company. Now I have to wear two gross products. I'll be glad when the Tail on the Trail challenge is over. We won't be walking as much in the woods.

Today was an adventure to be sure. More of one than I expected. Last night I checked the trail map. Clearly, I read the wrong thing. I thought it said it was underdeveloped. It actually says "Planned future linkage and trail development". Ooops. Actually, it wouldn't take much. Mow the area we were walking, wider, on a regular basis.  Add some signs, make a walking lane on Bradford street, add even more signs. Signs are a really good thing.

The next section goes from the park to Northampton. I know the Northampton end is barely passable. I've walked a few feet on it with Lydia. Next Monday we will try the Hanover Township Catty end and see how far we can go before it gets nasty. The trail map says "Unimproved, open, travel at your own risk".

Wednesday night I'm going to a walking clinic. No Zumba for two weeks.

put our tails on the trail

Today we (Lydia, Dawn, Bonnie and I) began the "Tail on the Trail" challenge. The challenge is to walk all 165 miles of the D&L tow path before the end of October. Today we started in Slatington, and walked two miles south, turned around and came back.

As we train for the Half-Marathon, we'll be doing longer and longer walks. Sometimes leaving the car in one town, and taking a second car to the other end. Then driving back for the first car. Much like we did for the Allentown to Easton walks while training for the 3-Day.

For example, Slatington to Laurey's Station is 6.9 miles, and then another 4 to Northampton. We could park in Northampton, drive to Slatington, and then walk back to Northampton. Grab the car, then go pick up the other car. Or leave one car in Northampton and have someone drop us off in Slatington. Do you see how it works? It take a lot of logistics. I think one of the Volkssport walks, runs on the D&L — the New Hope one. I'll have to check the site.

Here's Lyd modeling out new "participant" backpacks.

I'd like to see if maybe Angel and Bug want to take the bikes on the Delaware side. We can cover more miles.  Bonnie want to get a bike too, but she keeps hurting herself. I think biking might be out. At least for a while.

windy walk

Lydia called last night that she wasn't walking today. Then Bonnie called and asked what time and where. We talked for a while about possibilities, and Bonnie said, how about the trail we use for the Firecracker 5K. (Palmer Bike Trail). We decided to go at 11.

Now the PBT is about 6 miles and goes in a horseshoe. It starts behind Aldi on 25th street and runs parallel to  Easton Avenue. Right before 33 it takes a sharp left and heads downhill. That's where the 5K does the turn around. Bonnie's never been on the other half of the trail.

This morning I thought, let's do the other half. And Bonnie was game.

We headed down 25th street to Palmer Riverside Park and picked up the trail. I've walked this section many times, the first section is part of the D&L. It's flat and paved and runs next to the river. At about 1.5 miles the PBT turns right and heads up the hill. The D&L goes straight. We kept on the D&L and walked past the split, the dam, the dock, and to Rt. 33. Then turned around and came back.

I'm guessing it was about 4 miles. Maybe a bit more.

Then, when I returned home Adonis was there and I took him for a half-mile walk. Then again later for another one.

canal street park heritage trail

Lydia, Sharon and I went walking today in Northampton. (Bonnie was on her way back from the wedding.)

I thought we should check out the Canal path and head toward Catty. But the web said that trail was unfinished. So then I thought we'd head to Walnutport.

We picked up Lyd at her place and she mentioned on her way into town she wanted to stop at the Siegfried train station to take pixs. It is her name after all. So we did. But instead of going to the trail head many blocks away, we just went across the street, and picked up the Canal Street Heritage Park Trail. It's exactly 1 mile long. It says start and end. And is marked every quarter mile. Sadly, it does not have any signs talking about the heritage.

It does, however, have one of the exercise courses on it. I tried a few things but the metal was really cold! Near the end of the trail was a playground. We hit that on the way back.

After the "end" post, we saw the D&L marker.  One side shows the mileage to Allentown, the other to Walnutport. Walnutport might be a good training route for later in the summer before the next half marathon.

We left Sharon there and she headed to the playground to wait for us.

The path continued to a footbridge over the Hokey Creek, and then the trail was totally ungroomed. It was pretty clear, I think because it is used heavily. But it's clearly unfinished.

We walked a little longer then turned around and headed for the park. These "little" girls like swings! And it's a full body workout. If you haven't tried since you were 10, give it a try. It burns about 200 calories an hour. I don't think I can last 15 minutes!

 We played 10-15 minutes, and then headed back towards the car. Total mileage about 3 miles. Mybe a little more.

When we were leaving the Tri-Boro Rod and Gun Club was advertising an ugly sweater 5K on Dec. 8. Sounds like fun. But I think you need to be a member. Couldn't find much online. Though there is one in Louisville.

canal path, easton

I picked up Zahra and we stopped at Walmart for Sharon's meds. On the way to Easton she told me that they go to the square for the farmers market and she loved to walk. On to plan B!

I parked at the canal towpath, and we hiked down toward 25th street. At the bridge, we turned around and came back. Not sure how far we waked. I was more than a mile. She'd like to go along to Hawk Mountian.

Then we headed to Lafayette, and took a mini tour of the campus and the Tiffany windows.

The Eid celebration was okay, and it didn't look like they had enough food to feed all the people, so we packed up and went to Spice India. I think they made hers mild and mine extra spicy. Oops.

She was hoping that classes would be cancelled tomorrow because of the storm and they are!

canal walk

This morning Lydia arrived to walk with a waffle iron.

When I told Pat we were walking today she told Lyd to bring the iron. Clearly she was hungry for waffles. Odd, because she is never hungry for anything. And she didn't eat a waffle!

We should have walked first and ate second. Dang it was hot humid.

We drove to the canal entrance in Freemansburg. We didn't see the canal at first and I new where the towpath was. I has been filled in with weeds as tall as it's walls. It's 100+ years old, I fear the weeds may destroy it forever. At places on the path we couldn't even see remnants of the canal.

Because the locktenders house and the mule barn were east, we headed to Bethlehem Township. That took about 90 seconds. It was only .1 miles away. Once in BT we headed toward Palmer. I figured we'd walk about a half hour and turn around and come back. We met lots of bikers, and several forgot about passing on the left.

About 15 minutes in, we found the swimming hole. There was evidence before and after, but this is clearly the place to climb, hang your rope and jump in the river.

In what I thought was 30 minutes, I don't wear a watch, I had Lyd check her phone and we were at 1.5 miles. We turned around and started the return to Freemansburg.

I had thought about heading towards Bethlehem a bit. But when we started to walk to Bethlehem we encountered the orange sign. "Caution Towpath Closed —Storm Damage". Must be washed out places. People were walking/biking so it must be clear-ish. The storm was almost a year ago. Guess there is no money in the budget to fix it. That's a shame.

This bit of the canal was less weedy and had tiny bits of water in it.