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.

ironton rail trail in the snow

Lydia was right. The IRT was plowed. For the most part it was dry. There were a few melty, icy parts. But we won't talk about those.

Lydia couldn't make it. The party-animal was out last night celebrating her 40th, and just woke up when it was time to leave. So it was Bonnie and I.

We arrived to a packed parking lot. It must be one of the few plowed trails. It was like rush hour. Of course the 40+ degree temps didn't hurt. But I think the big allure was the plowed trail.

Since we've been couch potatoes for the last two plus weeks, we planned to do 1.5 out, maybe 2, and then come back. But we turned right, and I knew we were doing all six. And we did.

Here's some scenes from the snowy trail.

 The train in the lot. Children climb on it and sit in it.

 An angel in the snow

 The creek.

 Have a seat. You better shovel it first.

 The kilns.

tamaqua

This morning we did a Volkssport walk in Tamaqua. I thought I was walking in south Bethlehem. Houses looked similar. Broken sidewalks. Bricks and slate and nothing at all. Though the hills might have been steeper. And the stores a little emptier.

The Tamaqua Train Station, the meeting point, is beautiful. They've done a lovely job of restoring it.  They were set up outside near some old, rusting rail cars.

One featured PP&L's old Reddy Kilowatt character. It drove us crazy trying to remember his name. Childhood was a long time ago. On the way home Bonnie called her husband. He quickly said Sparky Kilowatt. It sounded right. But the all knowing Wikipedia said it's Reddy. Actually, according to the Wiki, he was used by multiple utilities across the land. PP&L used it from 1935-1981. I think that's about the same time as they lost their &.

This "march" (that's what they call walks) was organized by the Susquehanna Rovers club. (That's Rover in the picture.) They were lovely ladies, and one gentleman, who like to talk. It was hard to leave! The 5K first loop was the town loop. Basically we went up one hill, down another, and back up again. One time we got to walk down 100 steps. There was steps everywhere to manage the hills.

The second loop was on a rail trail—the Schuylkill River Heritage Corridor. I looked it up online when we got home because it was awful not well developed. According to the website, it appears that the Tamaqua section hasn't been improved yet. But even for an not improved trail you would think that there would be signs. There were no trail markers near the streets. When you got to an intersection there was one, but it was facing the trail, not the street. And no parking. Most of the time the trail was one person wide. And there was nothing to look at —except for one intersection—other than weeds. I am so spoiled by the D&L.


We did find a few painted rocks, mostly hidden by weeds.And a lovely intersection with a flag pole and plastic flowers. Maybe that will be the trail head in the future.

When we returned to the train station, a little farm market had popped up. I got peaches and early apples. Bonnie also got peaches, apples, and tomatoes. It's always good to stash cash in your backpack.

After we returned home I took Pat and Sharon to the Russian church for the food festival. Lunch was probably on anybody's diet. I had kilbasa cooked in beer, sauerkraut, a fat roll, and a lager.

Because of the Tamaqua trip, I didn't get to Veg Fest.  Though I heard one of the vendors had an explosion. That's not good.

Tomorrow we will check out the new section of the Saucon Rial Trail, in Coopersburg.

irt

The plan, after the half marathon, was to return to short walks—three maybe four miles. But instead we find ourselves doing long distance walks to train for the D&L Half Marathon.

Today, we did the loop of the Ironton Rail Trail. Since I promised Lydia I would walk with her for the half, I stayed back with her, as much as possible. Bonnie moved slightly ahead, and kept looping back.

The Boy and Girl Scouts are the saviors of these trails. All the signage and decoration and benches have a sign attached to them. "Joe/Jane Smith, Troop 123, Eagle/Gold Project 2013".  There is no where that this is more obvious than on the IRT. I think every scout in Whitehall, Coplay, Hokey, and Northampton has worked on this trail.

Today was no exception. New signage on the western side, a couple new nature paths, and a "wildlife observation station", aka a bird blind. Boy is it nice. (That's my butt. Thanks Lydia.) You had to leave the trail and walk, maybe a block, to reach it.

We did about six miles in about 2 hours . It was warm and humid. Now, at 2 pm, it looks like the storms will be rolling in. The rain has already started. Got the laundry in in just the nick of time.

Tomorrow we are going to do about 4 miles on the D&L starting in Riverside Park and heading to Bethlehem.

tails back on the trail

I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I think I'm getting tired of the D&L! This challenge is tough.

The positives: It's relatively flat, groomed and scenic. The negatives: It's relatively flat, groomed and pretty much the same scene over and over. I should have realized that since I did the one-day hike on a canal path. Today we remembered the Deep Woods Off! so it was a much less buggy hike.

We met at "Trail Master Central" at 7, and arrived at the Allentown Trailhead to hike about 7:30. For kicks and giggles we checked the bathrooms and they were open! Two weeks in a row. Maybe Allentown got my memo? Also, the picnic pavilion was void of goose poop. Thank goodness.

Depending on the map you pick, it's 3.9 miles to Bethlehem, or 4.1 miles to Bethlehem, or Bonnie's watch said 4.9 miles and Dawn's said 5.1.  Clearly, someone needs a new measuring tape.

So lets call it 4 miles. The round trip would be 8. Lydia needed to go to a picnic at noon, so we parked her car in Bethlehem, and mine in Allentown. They were going one-way. Bonnie and I round trip. Most of the hike was in the shade, but it is so humid, you can cut the air with a knife. Bonnie made the executive decision that this was a one-way walk.

Three quarters of the walk was done next to busy railroad tracks. When we reached Bethlehem, we finally dumped the train and heard birds singing. That was nice.

The pixs below were taken at the Bethlehem lock, about 3/4 away from the Hill To Hill Bridge.

Tomorrow, we are headed up to the slate belt to do more of the D&L. This time, 8 miles for sure. Bonnie is picking me up at 6, then we'll get Lyd about 6:30 and start hiking at 7. Hopefully it will be a little cooler. I have no idea what the shade is like up there. The mountains were stripped of vegetation with the zinc mines. We'll see. If we need to cut it short again we will.

But the Biggest Loser Half Marathon is only 6 weeks away. I haven't gotten Lyd up to 10 miles yet. We're running out of time.
We'll have a break from it next week with the Biggest Loser Off-Road Challenge on Saturday. Then Lyd and Dawn need to get their Passport rubbings in Martins Creek and Jacobsburg. That's on tap for Sunday, probably.

three walks and the day has just started.

Busy morning.

At 6:30 I was on Bonnie's doorstep to walk in South Allentown. I had seen a stray trail in Trout Creek Park and wanted to see where it went. She was game.

Trout Creek Park is under the Susquehanna Street Bridge and goes to about 8th Street. The main trail there is in rough shape. There is a comfort station, but it's locked. There is a great playground there, and plenty of places to fish. The park is used heavily. I guess you bring a pee jar.

We were the only ones in the lot. It was 6:45 am after all. We headed toward and under the bridge until we came to fallen trees. We couldn't really go much further. So we turned around and headed to 8th street, down to Dixon, and back toward South 4th Street. When we arrived at the "humane" society, we headed into the little development. We're walking toward the back of the shopping center when we met a woman out walking. We said hi. She walked past and stopped. "Are you walking to Price Rite?" "Yes." She told us about how she walks in the development, and has gotten creeped out a couple times by Price Rite. We told her to walk with us. Her name is Stephanie and she drives school bus, so she's off for the summer. She's about to turn 50 and wants to lose the weight. Sound like anyone we know?

When we arrived at the shopping center I asked how far she was going and she said she usually goes to McDonalds, then heads back. The same direction we were headed. So then I asked if she wanted to walk with us—we were headed to the bridge and under it to pick up the car. We'd drive her home. She hesitated — she didn't think she could go that far—but said yes.

While crossing the bridge we found another trail on the other side of the creek. When we returned to the creek, we investigated and found the trail head. I wonder if that new trail replaces the one with the fallen trees and over growth?

It was fun having a new person to walk and talk with. We gave her some hints and website. We exchanged contact information. If we're ever in Allentown we'll let her know. She walked a total of a mile with us.

After dropping Bonnie and Stephanie off, I headed home. Lydia had already arrived. After getting Adonis settled in we headed to the Tail on the Trail (link is for FB pg.) event at Canal Park on the D&L. We were coming down the hill from Hanover Avenue and encountered a train. It was long. Probably took 10 minutes to go thru.

We registered and they had sunscreen in a glue stick form. Very cool. Much easier to apply to the face. The also had apples, oranges, and a trail-mix making station. Since the event was sponsored by St. Luke's, the trail mix making supplies had no nuts available. They did a pretzel, multi-grain Cherrio, banana chip, dried cranberries and raisin mix.

It was a group walk. The Facebook page says about 100 participants. I would say mostly walkers, a handful of bikers, and a couple runners, including the president of St. Luke's Allentown. If you walked to Bethlehem and back it's 8 miles. They were monitoring two miles out and back. Four miles was plenty for me. It's a nice shady trail. That's good to know for when we do the Bethlehem to Allentown and back walk in a week or two.

On the walk, the canal was muddy. A couple people were fishing. You couldn't see fish, you fished on blind faith. We encountered turtles twice. The one in the image above is a mom and child. You might have to click the pix to see her. She's above mom on the tree trunk.

THE BATHROOM WAS OPEN. First time in the 6 years I've been going to the park that it was open. I was so astonished I had to take a picture.

It said on a sign that was tacked up, that the pavilion was rented for today. It was beyond disgusting. Everything —tables, seats, floor—was covered with goose poop. If they are going to rent things like that out it should be cleaned first. Really? Lets talk food safety. I would have left.

We returned home we headed out for my third walk. This time with the furry man himself, Adonis.  He was a hot and tired puppy when we came back. Lydia mowed the lawn and I made lunch.

Tomorrow we are going to Slatington and doing the D&L toward Palmerton. I'm picking Lydia up at 7 am. Looks like another early morning.

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News Flash!
Lydia was logging her Tail on the Trail miles last night and discovered "other" as a location. There is a drop down menu with all the trail heads listed. The last one is "other". It looks like as long as you do 165 miles and tell them the location, you're good. The woman making the announcements today eluded to it also. Logging is on the honor system.

Though I'd like to do all 165 miles on the D&L, realistically I can't commit 10+ miles to it every week. "Other" takes away some of the burden.  I am planning on going back thru the blog, and write down total miles for any trails we walked on.

I might make the 165 miles after all.