"OLD ABANDONED HOUSES" MAY NOT BE.............

[LPJR]

Oh man, reading about Farmingdale's Finest trek into the woods by Old Mine Road reminded me of what happened to my best friend and I in High School in of all places, Walpack.  I was going to wait to post this closer to Halloween, but here it is....

We were in our senior year and would always love to see how far and deep we could go going after good bucks, rabbits, and whatever we came upon in the mountain. One Saturday morning, we parked our car just up from the old Post Office and schoolhouse to head up the mountain to kick brush for some rabbits and whatever pheasants may have made it away from the orange army near the Flatbrook.

I remember that it was cold out and we could see our breath as we walked up the mountain to who knows where..After walking for perhaps 35 minutes straight up, we came upon an old farm in the middle of nowhere. Horse paddocks from perhaps 50-60 years ago were all dilapidated but you could still see it was at one time a beautiful farm. We never saw nicer cover for rabbits and birds and started kicking every patch of brush and grass we came to. Rabbits were flying left and right and we could not hit the broad side of one of the barns that were still barely standing on the property, even with our 12 gauge 870's mind you! 

The closer into the old farmstead we came, numerous pieces of old farm equipment, as well as old cars from the 30's and 40's began to emerge from under all of the overgrown weeds and trees. At this point we stopped, sat down and discussed what a farm this could have been back in the day. We took this time to have lunch. We were having a great time being so far away from anyone...Or so we thought. 

We had a couple of rabbits in our jackets and were assessing how many shells we had left, lol. We then walked further into the farm and came upon an old, really old, dilapidated farmhouse with a wrap around porch on it. The VERY FIRST thing we noticed when looking at the house was what appeared to be a wisp of smoke coming out of the chimney located on the side of the building. We started to walk closer, not sure if it was smoke, (and not wanting to believe that it was) and the closer we got the more evident it became that it was smoke indeed from a wood stove or fireplace inside. 

We were perhaps 75 yards away from the porch when we heard it. Now, anyone who knows me on this site knows that my son and I use a code word when we are hunting together to let the other one know when a buck or deer is coming in. It is Pineapple. For whatever reason, we decided upon this word during his youth hunts for deer, to let each other know we are not kidding or joking around and it still sticks to this day. So I will preface the next part of this with one word....Pineapple. 

We heard yelling, soft at first then louder and louder as someone was coming down or up stairs from inside the house...There was a person that sounded like Bigfoot coming onto the porch yelling at the top of his lungs "Get off my property! Get off my property! Get off my property!" We stood there in shock looking at each other like WTF is going on! Then we saw it...

A guy, looked like he was 150 years old at least, came out the front door yelling like his ass was on fire from the stove inside. He was holding a long gun that to this day could be best described at an old shotgun with what appeared to be a "trumpet" or horn at the end of the barrel. This nut job was holding the gun above his head and shaking it like we were kidnapping his dog or something. His beard was white as snow and fell well below his waist line. He was thin, very thin but looked like one strong son of a bitch. I looked at my friend, Fred. All I could see was his orange hat running through the pasture towards the top of the property. Well, I was not going to be captured or shot by this cuckoo clock so I ran after him telling him to wait for me! All I could hear was the screaming nut, yelling get off my property, nonstop. 

To make this long story longer, we ended up cresting the mountain and began to run down towards the Delaware which we could now see several hundreds yards below us.  We eventually came upon Old Mine Road just above the river and started north towards Thunder Mountain and Peter's Valley. 

A truck came along and to this day, I swear it was a vehicle out of a Cheech and Chong movie. The amount of smoke filling the inside from the driver stoned on weed was unbelievable. He asked if we wanted a ride somewhere and we both said simultaneously, nope we are good but thanks! We eventually cut back over the mountain and made it back to our car. 

The next day we met with a CO from that area and proceeded to let him know what or who is in the house. Turns out it was a squatter or hermit that had established residency in the old abandoned farmhouse for at least 5-6 years before we came upon him. When he was taken out, the basement was filled to the ceiling with deer, bear, yote, fox, every pelt or rug you could name living in Wapack's mountains. Further, there were old Louisville Slugger wooden baseball bats embedded with railroad spikes in the ends of them in the bat's sweet spot, leaning against trees in every direction surrounding the farmhouse itself. 

I cut my teeth hunting and fishing in Walpack as we used to have cabins across from the Walpack Inn. They remained until the Tocks Island Dam project took down many to most of the buildings and houses, although many still remain standing such as the squatter's humble abode. 

So, moral of this story is this....Next time you come upon an old, dilapidated, worn, weathered and creepy farmhouse, barn, or structure in the woods, you may not be alone......To this day I swear I looked up at the second floor window and saw the white beard filling it as we got closer. 

Something we definitely have remembered and now tell our kids.... 

Edited October 14, 2018 by LPJR

[MPSR]

I can attest this story is true and authentic. As his little brother he told me this every time we went out in the woods especially as it got dark.. Farm house still is In Place as well... lot of legends in the woods of Walpack. Bigfoot is also amoung one of them 2 this day still have sightings.

[Nomad]

Entertaining story thanks for posting Lou!

[Farmingdales Finest]

30 minutes ago, LPJR said:

Oh man, reading about Farmingdale's Finest trek into the woods by Old Mine Road reminded me of what happened to my best friend and I in High School in of all places, Walpack.  I was going to wait to post this closer to Halloween, but here it is....

We were in our senior year and would always love to see how far and deep we could go going after good bucks, rabbits, and whatever we came upon in the mountain. One Saturday morning, we parked our car just up from the old Post Office and schoolhouse to head up the mountain to kick brush for some rabbits and whatever pheasants may have made it away from the orange army near the Flatbrook.

I remember that it was cold out and we could see our breath as we walked up the mountain to who knows where..After walking for perhaps 35 minutes straight up, we came upon an old farm in the middle of nowhere. Horse paddocks from perhaps 50-60 years ago were all dilapidated but you could still see it was at one time a beautiful farm. We never saw nicer cover for rabbits and birds and started kicking every patch of brush and grass we came to. Rabbits were flying left and right and we could not hit the broad side of one of the barns that were still barely standing on the property, even with our 12 gauge 870's mind you! 

The closer into the old farmstead we came, numerous pieces of old farm equipment, as well as old cars from the 30's and 40's began to emerge from under all of the overgrown weeds and trees. At this point we stopped, sat down and discussed what a farm this could have been back in the day. We took this time to have lunch. We were having a great time being so far away from anyone...Or so we thought. 

We had a couple of rabbits in our jackets and were assessing how many shells we had left, lol. We then walked further into the farm and came upon an old, really old, dilapidated farmhouse with a wrap around porch on it. The VERY FIRST thing we noticed when looking at the house was what appeared to be a wisp of smoke coming out of the chimney located on the side of the building. We started to walk closer, not sure if it was smoke, (and not wanting to believe that it was) and the closer we got the more evident it became that it was smoke indeed from a wood stove or fireplace inside. 

We were perhaps 75 yards away from the porch when we heard it. Now, anyone who knows me on this site knows that my son and I use a code word when we are hunting together to let the other one know when a buck or deer is coming in. It is Pineapple. For whatever reason, we decided upon this word during his youth hunts for deer, to let each other know we are not kidding or joking around and it still sticks to this day. So I will preface the next part of this with one word....Pineapple. 

We heard yelling, soft at first then louder and louder as someone was coming down or up stairs from inside the house...There was a person that sounded like Bigfoot coming onto the porch yelling at the top of his lungs "Get off my property! Get off my property! Get off my property!" We stood there in shock looking at each other like WTF is going on! Then we saw it...

A guy, looked like he was 150 years old at least, came out the front door yelling like his ass was on fire from the stove inside. He was holding a long gun that to this day could be best described at an old shotgun with what appeared to be a "trumpet" or horn at the end of the barrel. This nut job was holding the gun above his head and shaking it like we were kidnapping his dog or something. His beard was white as snow and fell well below his waist line. He was thin, very thin but looked like one strong son of a bitch. I looked at my friend, Fred. All I could see was his orange hat running through the pasture towards the top of the property. Well, I was not going to be captured or shot by this cuckoo clock so I ran after him telling him to wait for me! All I could hear was the screaming nut, yelling get off my property, nonstop. 

To make this long story longer, we ended up cresting the mountain and began to run down towards the Delaware which we could now see several hundreds yards below us.  We eventually came upon Old Mine Road just above the river and started north towards Thunder Mountain and Peter's Valley. 

A truck came along and to this day, I swear it was a vehicle out of a Cheech and Chong movie. The amount of smoke filling the inside from the driver stoned on weed was unbelievable. He asked if we wanted a ride somewhere and we both said simultaneously, nope we are good but thanks! We eventually cut back over the mountain and made it back to our car. 

The next day we met with a CO from that area and proceeded to let him know what or who is in the house. Turns out it was a squatter or hermit that had established residency in the old abandoned farmhouse for at least 5-6 years before we came upon him. When he was taken out, the basement was filled to the ceiling with deer, bear, yote, fox, every pelt or rug you could name living in Wapack's mountains. Further, there were old Louisville Slugger wooden baseball bats embedded with railroad spikes in the ends of them in the bat's sweet spot, leaning against trees in every direction surrounding the farmhouse itself. 

I cut my teeth hunting and fishing in Walpack as we used to have cabins across from the Walpack Inn. They remained until the Tocks Island Dam project took down many to most of the buildings and houses, although many still remain standing such as the squatter's humble abode. 

So, moral of this story is this....Next time you come upon an old, dilapidated, worn, weathered and creepy farmhouse, barn, or structure in the woods, you may not be alone......To this day I swear I looked up at the second floor window and saw the white beard filling it as we got closer. 

Something we definitely have remembered and now tell our kids.... 

That was great and I am glad my experience yesterday prompted you to post your story!

[Rusty]

Great story Lou.  

[The Buschman]

Great story!

[Buck154]

Nice story Mr Pineapple 

[electric10162]

Cool stuff in those hills. We hunted off old Dingmans Road growing up with much of the same old farmsteads and abandoned buildings. Amazing how the land just takes everything back eventually.

[birdshotnj]

That's an awesome story. I would've $hit my pants lol.

[YurytheRed]

That's a great late night campfire story.  

[toxo]

I LOVE the Walpack area!   Years ago we found an old farm on top of a mountain in Walpack.The only thing left was the chimney. The state was growing crops up there and stocking it heavily with pheasants.No state signs anywhere.The guys that knew about the place would come up the Mountain from the other side where no one could see where they parked. It was a little fishy! My friend and I thought we saw a UFO there in the dark one morning going Deer hunting.It was a large white light that flew silently over our heads.My buddy said "what should we do!!!??",I said to him,"if they are smart enough to fly all the way to Earth,there is nothing we can do!" lol

Edited October 14, 2018 by Dinger

[Merkel]

Great story !!

[Sgt Joe Friday]

Old mine road is that state ? Or federal ? 

 

Ps great story 

[Farmingdales Finest]

Old mine road is that state ? Or federal ? 
 
Ps great story 

Both. Worthington State Forest is at the bottom by route 80. Then several miles north you will see entering the the Delaware Water Gap national recreation area and that’s federal. Then I believe it goes back and forth further up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sgt Joe Friday]

I have seen that street sign by Layton going to dingmens bridge  bridge must be hell of a long road to reach route 80 

Edited October 14, 2018 by Sgt Joe Friday