🥶 Bracing for the cold – off ramps for this weekend as needed

JJ

February 3, 2026 at 8:29 pm #74851

This weekend is looking particularly frigid.

We aren’t cancelling the walks, but we’ll leave it to our walkers as to how you’d like to join, noting that as always we are balancing the dance between pushing our boundaries and honoring them.

A benefit of challenging ourselves to walk in inclement weather is both the opportunity to practice resilience, and to experience the landscape in unusual ways. (There’s definitely going to be some ice formations out there!)

And while we all undertake the walk at our own risk, it’s never worth frostbite, dangerous slips or hypothermia.

This is why we label all of the walks as “from [start] towards [destination]” rather than “to” a destination. The walk *is* the destination and when the conditions are too adverse, it’s ok to honor one’s boundaries and take an off-ramp!

You can peel off anytime, but here are a few notes for our weekend 1 walkers who opt to come out despite the chill:

Saturday Feb 7 Group A – Penn’s Landing towards Bridesburg:

You could walk just up to Spring Garden St, and already you might have made a new discovery with the new trail and River Soundings public art installation behind the new Rivermark Apartments or all the way to Penn Treaty Park, and it’s pretty easy to peel off via the L, trolleys or bus.

Beyond there starts to get a bit more remote, but there’s still bus and rideshare options from Northbank. By that time you should have a feel for whether you’re well equipped for the day, how the snow and ice on the ground are treating you, and how much further you want to keep going. The group will have to make some route choices, and the terrain and transit access will inform our decisions. There are bus options throughout Port Richmond and all the way up the Delaware into Bridesburg, but fewer warm spots to stop in for a break if we end up in the industrial zones.

Saturday Feb 7 Group B – Penn’s Landing towards Navy Yard:

You could walk just as far as Spruce St Harbor Park, and already have seen some good ice adventures. Or continue on down past Washington Ave Green towards the Wal Mart, where there’s warmth, bathrooms and several bus options. The next logical break spot beyond that is the IKEA, and beyond that things get pretty remote and industrial. Adventurous souls might make it down to Windy Point, or all the way around into the Navy Yard. If going the Pattison Ave route, unfortunately the secret nut factory is closed on Saturdays, but it looks like you could stop in the seafood market. If you make it all the way to the Gatehouse Cafe, you will have earned that warm meal! Ending at NRG station or absolutely anywhere before that is a million percent fair game too!

Sunday Feb 8 Bridesburg towards Torresdale:

Many of us will be coming in on the regional rail train, but in the bitter cold others might not want to sit waiting for the train on that platform. From this start point, we generally make a first pit-stop at the Wawa at Harbison & Tulip St before heading towards the river so walkers not taking the train could await us there at the start as well.

From there our route along the river passes the Tacony & Holmesburg regional rail stations, and there are busses that get you to the Frankford Transportation Center or Broad Street Line (thank you SEPTA) – Lardner’s Point Park, Pennypack on the Delaware, and Pleasant Hill Park will all be good spots to check in on comfort and off-ramp needs. Adventurous souls making it all the way to Torresdale will find that Glen Foerd will already be closed, but we might be able to warm up at the Three Monkeys Café, but if they’re packed with Super Bowl viewers and the next train or bus isn’t for a while, we’ll just share some rideshare cars to get ourselves somewhere warm!

Monday Feb 9 Group A – Torresdale towards Somerton:

This day is looking a little bit less bitter cold than Sat & Sun, but will still be quite cold. We’re grateful that our friends at Glen Foerd have offered to host us at the start with coffee & donuts in the mansion there! The first place for a quick pit-stop to make sure folks are sufficiently geared up for the cold is at Frankford Ave & Hegerman St, where there’s both a dunkin donuts and a sunoco gas station. From there it’s a ways of residential before the next break, and will depend on choices made by the group and how the terrain looks, but there’s an option to stop & warm up at the Franklin Mall. From there there’s potential for the perimeter to get quite a bit more remote, but again if we need to pop someone in a rideshare car to get them somewhere warm we’ll do it. This is a long stretch where we sometimes cut a bit of a corner at the very end, and no matter what if we make it all the way to Somerton we’ll be quite happy to find some warmth and tasty treats at ASR Market or another local business.

Monday Feb 9 Group B – Somerton towards Bridesburg:

After starting with coffee & donuts at Glen Foerd, we’ll be doing the inverse route of Sunday’s group. That means options to check in at Pleasant Hill Park, Pennypack on the Delaware and Lardner’s Point Park, and rail options at Holmesburg & Tacony, along with bus options along the way.

We have on occasion stopped in the PICC carceral facility and used the bathroom there, although that requires thoughtfulness and tact as the folks who are in the waiting room there to see their incarcerated loved ones are not on the same kind of adventure trek that we are having (although we would also love to invite them along and provide stipends to help support their loved one’s reentry as we’re able when that occasion arises.)

Maybe this group will stop for lunch at Curran’s Irish Inn and/or end with dinner at Lakako Cafe?

MORE IMPORTANT than the route specifics:

Regardless of how long or far one walks, or what route one takes, the most important thing with this kind of freezing weather is prioritizing safety and planning ahead.

Planning ahead means really gearing up for the weather with layers upon layers, gloves upon gloves, hats upon hats. And packing things like chemical hand warmers, thermoses of cocoa, etc. It’s also good to remember that phone batteries will run out quickly in the cold, so bring your charger with you and a backup battery pack if you have one, and maybe keep the phone in an inside pocket near to one of those handwarmer packets.

Planning ahead also means tracking where you are and how you’re faring and how much walk you think you have left in you. Because waiting for transportation in the cold isn’t ideal, it’s better to start planning your off-ramp strategy while you still have at least an hour of energy left in you so that you can get home safely.

And honoring our boundaries means it’s also totally fair to say “not this time” and sit this one out. Although for whoever makes it out there in the cold, the perimeter is sure to have some special sights for us 🙂

Warm wishes,
-jj

 

 

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