Frank in the deserted village of Walpack NJ
From: dje@mail.bellcore.com (Don Eilenberger) Subject: Fandango part Deux (Episode 6 of several) LONG!
Although this tale is getting sorta long, we've only just finished lunch in Monticello NY after being regaled by a very vocal waitress.. we retrieved our bikes from the severely slanting parking lot - made a bit more interesting by how close Frank likes to park to me.. and headed back to Rt. 42, heading south this time.
Although we'd been on Rt. 42 before, it was a section a bit south of Forestburg (and Monticello), so this ride took us past the Monticello public schools, the town do-it-yourself carwash, several summer resorts (complete with "Filted Pool" - their spelling, not mine!) and back to Forestburg, where we now headed east, on the same road that we'd taken from Pond Eddy to Forestburg and back.
My map indicated that this road would lead us to Rt. 209 at Otisville NY, although when we got to Rt. 209, I could see no real sign of a town. The road itself, was again a great motorcycle road, twisty, hilly (very hilly in spots). Rt. 209 in this area is not a really great motorcycle road, but is an `acceptable' motorcycle road.. not too much traffic, but the traffic that there is moves faster than Frank likes to go, so we ended up being passed several times.
We finally arrived back in Port Jervis, and left it heading back towards the very northwest corner of NJ. I was looking for a road that was only shown on one map that I have (the official NJ giveaway map.. previously given out at NJ welcome centers. The one I had I got about 3 months ago at Waterloo Village - it is FREE - but had a picture of Tom Keen on it, a twice removed governor of NJ. If you can find these maps - they are far superior to ones you have to pay for - more back roads are shown).. anyway, as soon as we left Port Jervis, I realized we were misdirected[1].
After a quick (more or less) stop for directions, we found we had to return to Port Jervis NY to get on the road in NJ - which is Sussex County Rt. 521, heading down along the east side of the Delaware River.
I knew about Rt. 521 (but not where to find the start of it) from several summers in the late 1960's working in the area. About 1950 something, a LARGE flood came down the Delaware River, killing about 50 people, and washing away entire villages along the shores. The reaction of the federal government at the time, was that of the Army Core of Engineers - dam up the river.
The plan was to build a giant dam at a point in the river called Tock's Island (named for an island in the middle of the river). The dam would have created a lake of about 50 miles in length, and a few miles wide at it's widest point. The water in the reservoir was going to be used to provide water for New York City - whose own Catskills reservoirs were being depleted by a four year drought in the mid-60's.
In anticipation of building the dam, the Army Core of Engineers (ACE) proceeded to condemn and vacate all the inhabitants of the area to be flooded. This was not done in a way that pleased the residents, and in many cases, force was needed to evict residents and families who had lived in their small towns hundreds of years. Land exceeding that actually needed for the reservoir was taken - the plan included building `recreation areas' - complete with marinas, hotels, etc.. all around the water - at federal expense.
Eventually - a society for `free-rivers' started working on stopping the Tock's Island project. They demonstrated the damage that the dam would do to the wildlife of the area, and that it would cause a loss of water drawn from the river by Philadelphia - due to salt infiltration upstream at times of low flow.
Congress - in what was one of their few acts of wisdom[2] canceled the entire project by simply canceling the money (billions and billions of dollars) the ACE expected to use to build the dam and recreation areas.
The condemned properties sat vacant for about a decade - eventually some squatters started moving in. Finally, the entire condemned land was turned over to the National Parks Service - and is being retained as a wilderness area, with very limited use.
What's this got to do with the ride?? Unspoiled wilderness, great river views, great road with NO traffic at all - this describes Rt. 521.
Frank and I traveled about 15 miles on Rt. 521 until we reached what had been the village of Walpack (which when I worked in the area was still inhabited). The village is now technically deserted, but perfectly maintained - several of the homes in the village are used for housing for the Park Rangers. The post office finally closed just about 6 months ago (sign on the door), the church is still there - boarded up, but maintained by the Parks Service. The one room school - still there, boarded up, but perfectly maintained.
The village - which I remember having real residents, now only has a few rangers living in it. We stopped to talk to a few who were holding up their trucks (by leaning on them).
After a bit of chatting - they became friendly (one asked about the BMW, and opted that he was considering one), and told us that a historical society is working on building a museum in the deserted church.
About this point - we had to make a detour[3] off my intended route on 521, which would have continued through the deserted villages of Flatbrookville and Millbrook.., so I'll continue (and hopefully conclude) the tale of day two of Fandango part Deux in the next episode.
[1] Being Misdirected - I never consider myself "lost" - since I usually know EXACTLY where I am.. right here, even though it might not be where I want to know where I am.. so, in this case, we were misdirected. Once again, Frank suggested asking someone.. first he suggested flagging down a pickup truck coming down the road - until I pointed out that it had Vermont plates on it - and it was as likely to be misdirected as we were.
So - his next suggestion, was to ask the nice man at the lawnmower shop across the road.. which I tried to do. I realized, when I saw the empty six-pack on the gent's desk (it was 1AM, so I guess the sun was over the yardarm somewhere) that he might not be in the best of shape to give directions, but I persisted.. He told us to go (actually he told me.. Frank couldn't hear a word he said) back into Port Jervis, and turn left after the Ford dealer.. and he was correct, he just left out a few turns. He was also kind enough to give us yet another NJ map, making my onboard collection a total of 4. NONE of them agreed about where the road I wanted could be found, so I followed the gent's directions. After a while, we were redirected - and on our way.
[2] Congress and Wisdom - a great quote from Mark Twain, more or less illustrates my feelings on politicians and wisdom: "If I was a fool, and you were a politician - OH, but I repeat myself!"
[3] Walpack detour - as we were sitting on our bikes in Walpack, Frank started making fuel noises again. I got off my bike to take a few photos, and suggested to Frank that he actually OPEN the tank and look in. He did, and was not satisfied that he had much fuel.
It had only been about 100 miles since we last filled up. My bike and Frank's Suzi had been getting about the same fuel mileage (about 44-48 MPG) - and I *knew* that he had at least 50 miles left in his tank.
Frank has an odd habit - at least odd to me - he always runs his bike with the petcock on the reserve position. I asked him why, and he said so he doesn't run out of gas while crossing an intersection. I tried pointing out that if he did run out of gas while crossing an intersection with the petcock on reserve - he was REALLY out of gas. This has had no effect. Frank still (1) rides on reserve (2) believes his faulty fuel gauge over his eyes. Next trip we take, I'm taping over his damn fuel gauge.. it was as close as we came to a real disagreement on the trip.
We left Rt. 521 at this point so we could find Frank gas.. the detour really puzzled Frank since it consisted of some unpaved roads through the back of Stokes State Forest, and through the middle of a Boy Scout camp.. this route came back to me somehow after not being on the roads for almost 30 years.. and we came out on State Highway Rt. 206 just above Culver's Lake right where I expected to.
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Don Eilenberger (dje@mail.bellcore.com)
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'79 R65 FrankenCycle - der Beemer
'87 535i BOHICA - der Bimmer
'75 25' Hunter - das Boot
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DOD#1177, BMW-CCA#104316, BMW-MOA#64000
President - New Jersey Shore BMW Riders
NJ-DOD-Cycles, Fossil Riders of NJ Inc.
"A glutton for clubs.."
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