T'was A Gloomy Weekend

As of April 8, 2008 at 8:00 AM
Steps: 2,251,844
Miles: 945.59


Mill Grove

With rain threatening, I didn't want to walk to far from my car and get stuck in a deluge miles down the trail, so I took two shorter walks. One on the Perkiomen Trail directly across the Perkiomen Creek from Mill Grove and another walk on the canal near Mont Clare which is across the Schuylkill River from Phoenixville.

The lighting was not cooperative, but I think this picture of the house at Mill Grove has an eerie look to it.


Schuylkill Canal - The Oakes Reach Towpath

Located just downstream from Phoenixville is one of the few remnants of the Schuylkill Navigation System. This section of the Schuylkill Canal’s original name was Oakes Reach. A "reach" is the flat water of a canal between two locks. Thomas Oakes was the navigation company’s first principal engineer, and the canal’s designer in 1820.


Ruins of a House and the Canal Bridge

Near the halfway point of my walk, there are the stone ruins of a house and a bridge over the canal. I will walk over this bridge on my way to the Fitzwater Station.


Fitzwater Station

The Fitzwater Station had some nice yummy Chowdah, some hot coffee and a warm potty for a cold Real World Walker.

This tavern on the canal did a brisk business as the hard working, hard drinking canal bargemen made it one of their favorite hostelries on the long trip to and from Philadelphia and northward to the coal regions in mid-state Pennsylvania. Sitting on the patio overlooking the canal, I was briefly transported back in time.