Hike #1076; Everett PA to Cumberland MD/Ridgeley WV
9/21-9/29/17 Everett PA to Cumberland MD/Ridgeley WV with Jillane Becker
It was time once again for our fall backpack, and I could not wait to get away. It was worse for me this time because I didn’t get to go in the Spring. We didn’t have it totally planned where we’d go until just before, but I had several of ideas of where I’d like to branch out. Near the top of my list is the Mid State Trail. We’d been doing the Mid State Trail for a few years now, and this would connect, even for Jillane, the first backpacking trip she’d done with me.
What we've connected together so far
On our first backpack in 2010, we hiked from Ashland PA to Lehighton in the Lehigh Valley. We did several other trips, and had hiked from Ashland through Centralia to Shamokin, then from Shamokin to Sunbury on another. We’d backpacked from Sunbury north and west into Bald Eagle State Forest where we reached the Mid State Trail. We took it on one trip as far as Penn’s Greek and beyond. Another trip we reached from Penn’s Creek southwest to State College. Another took us from State College to Everett.
Some of our past trips working west
We’ve covered a lot of diverse and interesting ground for sure. Jillane also hiked Lehigh Canal with me in two trips from Northampton all the way back to Phillipsburg. One good hike from Lehighton to Northampton and she’d have basically connected home to all these places. But, connecting everything is really my thing. We had done almost the entire southern half of the Mid State Trail, and I wanted to finish that part. Even greater, I wanted to connect through Maryland to West Virginia. We left on Thursday and I drove for over four hours nearly non stop. I was able to get us a room at Carolyn Courts Motel, which was directly on the trail so we could go right from there.
Everett PA
I had been eating way too much, and not getting the normal amount of exercise I normally would. It was disheartening not to get out for the Spring. I’ll drop twenty pounds on a backpacking trip, and starting the warm season out without that exercise really weighed on me literally and figuratively. The events of the previous Fall and Winter were horrible for me. Maybe eating more was my therapy? I don’t know really; whatever it was, I hadn’t felt as good. Once we were settled into our room, I was still trying to figure out a few starting details, and I went across the street to Sheetz to get some food. Once again, I went overboard and got three sliders, a super size appetizer order, a hot dog, and I don’t remember what else. Needless to say, I ate so much that I felt like crap the first night. I brought a couple of strong beers for us to have, but neither of us felt like having them.
DAY 1
I always wake up first, but in this case I had to wake up first and work things out with my car. I had gotten permission from Everett Better Business on facebook. Whoever it is that runs it owns the property associated with the dry cleaners on the far side of town, and I was allowed to park there for the week. Their local town park allows for parking for up to five days, but we would be gone for longer than that, so it wouldn’t work.
Along Mid State Trail
I went into the laundromat just in case to let those inside known what was going on and why they’d see my car. The woman who ran the place was very friendly, and was happy to talk to me. Soon, I was on my way back through town, and got my first laugh at a liquor store where a pedestrian walkway and do not enter sign was blocked by a beer distributor truck. The town of Everett is actually pretty beautiful. It’s also kind of run down, but they’re trying. Although there are no hotels other than Carolyn Courts, there are plenty of historic ones, they’re just not open. The town was originally called Waynesburg, then Bloody Run after a skirmish with local Native Americans. The local signs sometimes still read “Bloody Run”.
Everett
The downtown is really nice. There’s an old theater, but a lot of closed historic business fronts. The historic down town has a few struggling stores that I saw, but none were open. At the part of town we stayed in, there is the Sheetz, Family Dollar, and CVS I think it was, which still seem to get more traffic than the other stores. I got back to the room, and then went back out to pick up something for Jillane for breakfast. While I was out, I noted that there was a rack outside of Family Dollar with clothes on it. For whatever reason, I decided to go and have a look at what they had, and also bought a few tall bottles of water to carry with me.
Historic Everett Union Hotel
I found that there were actually some nice pairs of shorts for sale there. I really liked the material on a grey pair. I’d gone to the Family Thrift store the previous week to get some more shorts for this trip that wouldn’t chaff me, and this was just another good pair. I bought them and headed back to the room. Jillane got ready in the morning surprisingly early. It’s almost never before 11 AM that we usually set out, or often she won’t get up by then. This time, we were up and on the trail by 10:30. That’s a really good start for the day. I had high hopes that we’d get a good distance.
Everett PA
The trail goes down Spring Street, right in front of the motel, and then climbs steps to a berm beside the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River. I’d walked this bit to explore it on my own at the end of our last trip out there. It felt good to be back out to finish it. We followed the berm to the west for a bit, which gave us great views of the mountains around, and then turned to the left to cross over a bridge across the Raystown Branch. Once on the other side, the trail turned to the right and followed Black Valley Road briefly. It then turned steeply down hill past a catch basin, skirting the PA Turnpike Rt 70.
Mid State Trail
The route followed a chain link fence, and soon came to the Earlston Cinder Piles. Earlston PA is the south side of the Raystown Branch from Everett, and there was once a furnace there.
Earlston Furnace
The furnace was actually started in 1884, but it did not start producing iron until it was purchased by Joseph E. Thropp in 1889. The furnace had a number of issues to work with, including inferior quality local iron ore, and it never really recovered. The furnace was closed in 1923. Today, much of the site is overtaken by a maintenance area for the PA Turnpike.
Earlston Cinder Piles
The trail went over directly to the Earlston Cinder Piles, a very unique and interesting site. It doesn’t grow so much vegetation because it’s the furnace refuse. It reminded me somewhat of the Pequest Furnace back home. The trail was marked over what the guide book described as a “moonscape” using carsonite posts. We continued to the west for a bit, and there was a great view of a mountain to the right. To the left, as we reached the end of the opening, we came to some concrete ruins that might have had something to do with the furnace as well.
Mt. Dallas
At the end of the cinder piles, the trail continued into the woods on a rather narrow swath between the Raystown Branch and the PA Turnpike. The trail at first looked level like it was a railroad grade. As I had assumed, it was in fact a part of a rail grade, and it was partially overtaken through the construction of the turnpike. We walked along for a bit, went down hill a bit, went back up, and then passed beneath a former bridge site. I figure that must have been the railroad spur to the furnace that went under.
Historic map showing Earlston Furnace and rail spur
We continued back down a little closer to the river’s edge. I thought for a bit what was on the river might have been the railroad spur as well. It might have been, but it was kind of low.
Mid State Trail along Raystown Branch
It may be more likely that what the trail followed at this point was the old road route from before the highway. It eventually climbed rather steeply up to the level of the highway once again. The trail skirted the highway for just a little bit more when Jillane spotted some sort of foundation off in the woods to the right. I went back to look at it, but couldn’t place what it would have been. We continued ahead and soon reached a level grade. I then realized that this was the former trestle site, where the Huntingdon and East Broad Top Railroad used to cross over the Raystown Branch.
Huntingdon and East Broad Top grade
When I got on the railroad bed, I turned to the right, off trail, and headed out to where the south abutment to the bridge was. The rail line ran from 1871 until 1956, and was one of the last narrow gauge railroads. I really don’t know a lot about it as of now, but I’ve been looking at maps and want badly to hike it further to the north. The trail continued on the railroad bed from here all the way out to Ashcom, which was a very pleasant section. We crossed over a highway maintenance access, and then the right of way was well mowed for quite a while.
Huntingdon and East Broad top line, Ashcom
The right of way came close to the Raystown Branch at one point, and there was a rather bad washout. Jillane didn’t want to go down for a dip in the river here because it was steep, so we continued on, and moved away from the river for a bit. When it came back out to it again, and I saw where the Mid State Trail was leaving the rail bed, we took a break. We’d be going rather steeply up hill from this point, so it was a good idea to take a break before that. While she was sitting, I went ahead and found the best spot I could to bushwhack down to the river to lay in it. It felt great.
MST climbing from Ashcom
I climbed back up, and we were soon ready to go. The trail went up a connecting path, then turned left on Ashcom Road. The trail used to cross on Cornell Road to the east, and then climbed directly up the Tussey Ridge, but that section was abandoned. This was rather new. The trail passed beneath PA Turnpike on Ashcom Road, then immediately climbed up hill to the right into State Game Lands #97. The new trail section I understand skipped a quite difficult section on ridge top. Still, the first bit was steep, and the side hill was very loose and rocky. I almost slipped on my way up.
Old shed
We got to a more level section and switched between following old woods roads and new foot path. It was very obviously not heavily traveled. We soon descended past an old shed building and crossed a really beat up old bridge, then emerged alongside the PA Turnpike next to a billboard. I was surprised to have a close look and see that it was done with vinyl printout. The trail went into the woods to the left of the sign, and we wouldn’t be really in any kind of civilization save for two paved road crossings for the next couple of days. The trail led us sort of southwest for a bit. It was skirting quarry property, which we could sometimes see some of through the trees to the right. We would go up and down over disturbed lands, gradually ascending just a little bit along the way.
Old foundation
The gradual ascent came out to a woods road, and entered State Game Lands #97. We turned to the right and then reached a parking area for it. From here, Mid State Trail turned sharply to the right to climb the Tussey Ridge on the gravel surface access road to the top. It serves some cell towers and such. We climbed slowly to the top on the road, through an area known as Allequippa Gap I guess it was, and before we reached the crest of the ridge, the trail turned to the right onto another access road. This one was gated and grassy surfaced. On the way to it, a guy driving a utility truck stopped and let us know that there were workers up there. I guess he figured we were going to the very top direct. There is a view up there, but we missed it.
Along Tussey Ridge
At the start of the woods road turn off, there was a foundation, with a likely former house site just behind us. We started following the woods road to the south, which made gradual ups and downs and remained on the bench of the Tussey Ridge. The route was overall pretty easy. It passed through some herbaceous openings along the way, and at one final one, the woods road sort of ended and we headed into the woods on foot path. From there, the Mid State Trail started climbing steeply up the Tussey Ridge. There wasn't much of a switch back, just up.
Tussey Ridge view
We had hiked much of the Tussey Ridge before, and the section to the north of Everett was probably the worst we had come across. We did it in the Spring of 2016, and the weeds weren't as bad. This time they were getting worse as we went, because it was so inaccessible. The views were mostly facing to the east, and they were very nice. Occasionally the trail was easy and on some level surface, but then it went onto difficult knife edges. While beautiful, it was very slow going and taxing to keep going over them.
On Tussey Ridge
I watched the trail guide closely. I had assumed that we only had two rough days remaining on Mid State Trail and then some easier stuff before reaching it's end at the Maryland border. I thought we could just get through most all of it in two days, based on the distance. The sections of rocks on the ridge top, in miles, was less than sections we'd done to the north, because they were interspersed with sections of woods roads on the bench. I had to do math to figure out the miles for all of it, because the Mid State Trail and it's guide are all in Metric System.
Tussey Ridge view
There were some amazing rock outcroppings jutting out along the way. I loved the section, and I wasn't burnt out on it at all yet. My only real concern with this section was that we were both drinking more water than anticipated. The weather forecasts for the area were much hotter than anticipated for this time of year. I figured it'd be like the last time we were up, and maybe even get some snow. Strangely, the forecast was in the 80s most every day, and sometimes 90. I think only maybe one day was the forecast in the 70s. It was rather brutal.
I was sweating like mad. I'd worn a light plaid shirt, super thin, so that I could handle the heat but I wouldn't have to wear sunscreen. There were times I was barely able to handle it. After several breaks and what seemed like longer than a couple miles, we came to where Mid State Trail descended to the bench on the west side of the ridge. It was very steeply on rocks, and very hard to keep balance. I nearly slipped, and would easily have broken my leg if I had at one point here. The trail eased off, and then picked up an old woods road after a bit. We continued to descend, and then emerged into a grassy clearing, a loop at the end of a state game lands management road.
Our camp site
We didn’t want to keep going too much more, and it’s a good thing we didn’t. This turned out to be exactly where we needed to be for the night. We put our packs down and scouted around for spots to camp. Going way down off trail was not looking like a good idea. Up hill was not an option. We found really only a couple of places that would work, either in the bush hog turnaround at the end of the management road, or right in the middle of the trail/management road at a bend. No one was using this trail, and the road would be fine. We chose to just set up there, and get it done with before it got dark. There was no way we were making it to Buchanan State Forest on this day. I had just bought this new tent we were using, and had never set it up yet, so we needed the time and light. I figured it out pretty quickly, and it turned out to be pretty nice after getting used to it. It wasn't all that much wider, maybe just a little, than our previous tent, but it was definitely longer. We were both pretty exhausted and hungry. We got food for our dinner at the Sheetz earlier. I don't remember what I got for myself, but Jillane got a tuna wrap or something. When she went to eat it, it had sort of gone bad because of the bad heat. We had no fire or anything, just kind of fell asleep. I slept pretty well.
DAY 2
I woke up first and read for a little bit in the tent, but I couldn't totally relax. I was concerned that we drank so much water the night before, we wouldn't have enough to get us to the next god source. I always carry two power aids when we do this for emergency, and we were ready to start on those. Jillane was nearly out of water, but I brought about eight full bottles plus a couple other things. If the next day were anything like the first, we would need more.
Saving spring...
I decided when I got out that I would go and scout for water. I walked ahead, which I had also done the night before and found nothing. At the bottom of the hill, there was no sign of any water. As I started heading up on the management road on the other side though, there was some mud in the road. A little disgusting standing muddy stuff was in a tiny puddle no bigger than my fist. We weren't drinking that, but I figured it has to run somewhere. I tried following the gully down hill off trail, but I wasn't seeing any water whatsoever. It just looked worse. I came back up hill, looked at the mud, and figured it couldn't hurt to follow up hill. There was a mossy area surrounded by hay ferns, which is a sign of moisture. I had a small bottle that had Jillane's gatorade in it earlier with me. I soon found water dripping slowly from some moss. I figured if we were there a couple hours we could get some water that way. I went a bit further up, and then saw a tiny bit of water coming from the rocks. I got down on my hands and knees and moved a few rocks out of the way. I then dug out where the water was flowing a bit, and lined the lower rocks into sort of a flume. I got it deep enough so that I could lay the gatorade bottle flat and have water just barely flow into the mouth of the bottle. I could only fill the thing up to about a quarter full this way, but I kept doing so and drinking.
MST on management roads
I went back to the tent and got more water bottles. Using the gatorade bottle, I slowly was able to fill it to it's certain point, then pour into the other bottles until each were full. This was a very slow process, but it worked well enough that we were able to start this second day with more water than we started the first with. I tried to drink as much as I could while I was able to keep refilling so I wouldn't have a problem later. Jillane was up earlier than usual, and I think we were both on the trail and walking again by 9:30, which is extremely uncommon. The trail continued on the management roads through state game lands for a while. We reached a point where a management road goes down hill to the right, to an area known as Biddle Place. We turned left there, and continued to climb a bit more on more management roads. Eventually, when they became more indistinct, the trail turned to the left and climbed once again to Tussey Ridge.
Mating stick bugs?
We saw a LOT of stick bugs, or "Walking Sticks" on this trip. They're neat little bigs I'd not seen so often lately, but when I was waiting for Jillane to catch up to me on the hill, I saw something that looked like a two bodied stick bug. I soon realized they must be a mating pair. Female stick bugs are larger than the male ones, because there abdomens are larger for eggs. It looked like it was an odd different bug when I saw them together. It's an interesting fact that it takes Stick Bugs 59 days to mate! I definitely can't go that long.
Utility line view
The top of the ridge had a sign saying that it was an important Eagle viewing area. It was pretty obvious that not many were walking out this way. I was surprised to see that some of the trail was cut back in this area though, but that didn't last long. It got pretty tough again heading south.
View at the utility clearing
We came to a power line clearing with good views both east and west, and stopped for a little break again. In addition to the heat and the briars that were now growing in pretty badly on the trail, the bugs were getting awful. I couldn't stand still for long because I was getting eaten alive! The trail climbed steeply over rocks after the utility clearing. It then followed a foot path along the top of the ridge. It was tough to navigate the mess through this area, and I had picked up a walking stick I was using to knock down the weeds along the way to help Jillane behind me.
MST below Tussey Ridge
Because of the state game lands boundaries, the trail had to leave the very top of the ridge and dip down into the public land several times. The guide book states that this was the most difficult part of the trail to locate due to these issues. Some of the routes below the ridge weren't hard, but others were downright tough with rocks moving beneath our feet. The trail descended from Tussey Ridge to the bench one more time, where there was good land down below us. The descent and acent back up were rather hard. Especially going down was difficult on my knees. Once we were down there, it was an easier gently rolling route to the south. I spotted a black bear running away from us as we got near to our ascent again. There was a trail register in this area when we got back to the top, and it read that previous hikers had encountered a bear in that area that was not afraid of people and would not go away. I'm glad we didn't have that problem!
Knife edge
Once we were back on the ridge, I had high hopes that we'd have an easier time, because it had a good long section that seemed to have been very recently cleared. Unfortunately, that did not last long. It was only for a little ways south of where the trail register was. The weeds got back to fight through again, and the trail continued to dip on and off the ridge to the east again. It was rough. Despite all of the hard stuff, my opinion was that it was all worth it because the views were all great.
Tussey Ridge view
I suppose this section of the ridge wouldn't have been so bad before the Gypsy Moth deforestation that has been occurring. I could handle the rocks and such with no problem, but the abrasive plants made it hard for me to handle. I held back to help Jillane over some of the rocks. These were even noted in the guide books at BIG STEPS. At times, there was no trail, just orange blazed route over the pointing rock outcrops at the center of the ridge, or just below it to one side. Even though I was reading the guide book, it was easy to mix up with other places in it. I could have easily thought we were further along than we were at points, and at one point I was very afraid of that.
Rock outcrop walking
It mentioned in the guide that there was a woods road in view to the west of the trail, and I spotted one. A long ways later, I spotted another, and we were already really tired and it was getting late. I didn't mention anything about it, which is a good thing, because it was a false along and we reached the Wright Trail intersection, where the Mid State Trail enters Buchanan State Forest.
My cuts from Tussey Ridge
We took a little break at the Wright Trail. I really wanted to move on, because I wanted us to get to where we would find more water and camp, but a break was probably a good idea too. Even though we had started the day with more water than we started the first day with, we were down to my last bottle, and Jillane had drank all of hers already. I wasn't too worried, because I figured the chances of finding water in Rainesburg Gap, just ahead, was pretty good. If for some reason we found no water, I would have no choice but to either give up or change the hike completely. I was ready to accept that if we didn't find anything. We continued on the trail, which followed what was described as an early pioneer road. It led us along the border of state game lands and the state forest. We came to an intersection of an old cross mountain road, and then turned right to descend a bit more. We could hear the south of water from there, which was a good sign. The trail turned left at an intersection on another woods road, and gradually descended into Rainesburg Gap. It felt weird to see a paved road down below the trail, with the slow moving vehicles on the down grade occasionally passing by. This was still by no means a major road.
Camp site
The trail turned sharply off of the woods road, and then descended to Rt 326, Main Road. We crossed here, and the Mid State Trail continued on the other side along Garlick Trail, which follows along the edge of a pleasant little stream. I immediately filled some water from it to my left and drank. We continued ahead as it was getting dark looking for a place to set up camp. There seemed to be one spot off to the right, in what I think was the old road route at one time along the creek. We both went up stream a bit more to look for other options, but this one was clearly the best. We were able to set up the tent, and there weren't that many roots to bother our backs laying there. I refilled water bottles right away, and Jillane made us some raman noodles for dinner. She accidentally spilled the first bit of it all over the ground, which had me concerned with wild animals around, but we didn't have a problem. Jillane gave herself a shower trying to use some sort of portable shower thing she'd bought. It really didn't work well at all. I went into the creek and washed myself off as well. I had sweat so badly throughout the day that I really needed it. I didn't even bother to wear a shirt most of the day because it was just too hot. When we got into the tent, we used a cool new light Jillane had picked up to read by. She brought a great book on the coal industry called "When Coal Was King" and I read a lot of that, as well as the book I'd recently bought on the C&O Canal and Great Allegheny Passage. I slept pretty well after this long day, even though we only covered just about nine miles.
Day 3
I again woke up early and read for a bit. That's one of the great things about these trips. When I'm home, I always have something else I shoudl be doing. It's hard to get myself to write or read, because I won't often sit still for that long, or I feel guilty about it if I do. When I'm out, I look at the mornings as the opportunity to read, and I have no guilt because there's nothing else to keep me away. When I finally got out of the tent, I went and refilled all of the water bottles again, so we'd be starting this day once again with the same amount of water we had started the previous with. The stream flows from springs right out of the state forest land with no development around, so it's pretty certainly safe without treatment. Jillane got up and we packed everything up, then continued up the Garlick Trail section.
Sweet Root Road
The trail crossed the same stream nine times on rocks and such, and at times followed a very old road route along it's side. We climbed gradually out of Rainesburg Gap on the trail, and emerged on and old road called the Sweet Root Road near the top. The trail turned left and had a wonderful easy section on a gradual descent through Sweet Root Natural Area on the old roadway, which led into Sweet Root Gap. The road followed more springs, and I refilled my water a couple of times. I didn't want to have the same problem again, so I was going to use whatever clean spring opportunity I had to save water as best I could.
Spring on Tar Kiln Trail
At the bottom of a hill, the Mid State Trail left the Sweet Root Road and turned right on Tar Kiln Trail, which for the most part followed another old road route. As we headed up hill on this trail, there was a lovely little section of the brook with a deep spot, easy for filling bottles. I stopped yet again and we refilled. We continued gradually up hill on Tar Kiln Trail, which had an obvious reroute where a flood had washed away some of the original route. I could see some painted out old Mid State Trail blazes on it.
Tar Kiln Trail section
We crossed the brook to the left and continued slightly up hill. There was a sign for a spring to the right, but we'd just refilled, so we continued on. Mid State Trail turned on another trail called Verbal Trail, and had a bit more ups and downs along the way. It wasn't all that hard a section, with it's occasional woods roads and numerours water options. Buchanan State Forest reminded me more of the Mid State Trail sections we had done in Bald Eagle and Rothrock State Forests. We took a break when we got to where we were about to start ascending Martin Hill.
View from Martin Hill
This would be the single longest climb of this entire trip. At 829 meters, Martin Hill is the highest point on the entire Mid State Trail. That's about 2,719 feet above sea level. We started heading up hill, and soon crossed Martin Hill Road, a gravel surface road. Mid State Trail continued ahead on the other side on Basin Trail. This trail just went pretty much straight up the mountain. It was slow going even for me. When it turned to the left to do a switchback, it was already immediately superior to walk that more gradual incline. The trail went out to a sharp bend, and I was impressed that Jillane wasn't all that far behind me. With Martin Hill being the highest point on the trail, I figured if Jillane read that she would be disheartened and struggle to search the maps for a way around it. She went over the book and there's no way should could have missed that, so it was great that she pushed herself through. It was a rough up even for me.
Giant ground nest
The trail turned to the right which a much nicer section of switchback. It seemed almost level compared to what we'd just done. We made our way from there to an old logging road of some sort, then made our way more steeply up hill. There was a nice view to the south to Blue Knob and Broad Top. We then cut to the left on more foot path. I got ahead a bit again here, and I was fortunately watching my feet pretty well. In the middle of the trail, there was the largest nest of some kind of wasps, probably Yellow Jackets, I have ever seen. They appeared to be occupying a ground hog hole, and filled in the entire inside with their nest. They were flying in and out like mad. Had I not been paying attention, I'd have stepped over and surely gotten stung multiple times. I held back to let Jillane know, and we went around the nest to the right through weeds. I was afraid I'd kick up another one out there, but we fortunately did not. Just beyond, we came to the Martin Hill ATV Trail, where the Mid State Trail turned left, on an almost level along the top.
The trail passed beyond a gate where there was a microwave tower and a large concrete building. We looked around the outside for a hose hookup for water, but found nothing. We did decide to take a break because the south side of the building had a nice step and provided some shade. After the break, we continued on past the former site of the Martin Hill Fire Tower, now long gone. There is no view, and no sign. The highest point on the entire trail is an anticlimactic gravel road with shrubbery.
Power line view
The woods road where the tower used to be was kind of a loop, and I couldn't figure out which way the blazes were supposed to go. It didn't matter, both came out to the same place, where the trail started to descend gradually through woods. We switched to the left a bit, and after a short while passed beneath a power line. There was a bit of a view to the east I think it was, which the guide said we could see Sideling Hill cut for interstate 68 in Maryland, and Cacoctin Mountain in West Virginia, but it was slightly obscured to the right. We headed down hill further, switched back, then crossed the power line again. There was a slight view descending through a meadow from Martin Hill along the way, and we passed through a small, dry stream, the head waters of Wildcat Run. It was noted as a possible spring refill location, but there was no water. After the dip in the gully, we headed up hill a bit more, where there was a slight view across the valley around Martin Hill where we'd just descended, and the trail leveled off a bit through scrubby growth. The area was giving way to more pine forest.
Rough Green Snake
Jillane called me back just as it leveled off; she had spotted a very interesting snake. At first, I thought this was a Queen Snake, but now I realize it was a Rough Green Snake, which are native to the southeastern US. They are arboreal snakes, and they do live in the south Jersey Pine Barrens, which is the only other time I've seen them. I was surprised to see one in the mountains here, as this is the northermost area they apparently reach. The snake was climbing a nearby pine tree, which looked amazing. It's body was following the nooks between the bark on it's way up. When it detected us, it moved off to the right out of sight. This next section was the Carl Cessna Trail section, which took us on a very gradual down hill through a lovely area of pines. There was a lot of bear scat on the trail through this area, which had me a bit nervous about camping soon. We still had a couple of hours of daylight though. It wasn't long before we reached our first paved road crossing in a while, in Bean's Cove Gap. Bean's Cove Road was not a very busy road, but there was an intersection with a gravel road right there. The Mid State Trail led directly across at a big parking area and onto the Tussey Mountain Cross Country Ski Trail. This was a wide woods road section.
Tussey Spring
We crossed, and took a break in the shade. We went over the book, and the Tussey Spring was shown on the road just barely down hill from the crossing. We put our packs down and went to investigate. We found a great enclosed spring, but the problem was it smelled somewhat of sulpher, and it ran from a little swampy area. Boiled, the water would be fine, but I didn't really want to drink it when I had only just refilled completely before Martin Hill. There was still a good amount of daylight left at this point, and part of me hated to just stop, but there was a great little place to the right of the trail, in a little cove, to set up camp out of sight from the road. We'd be very close to the spring and could use it to wash up and for dinner. Jillane was right, it was best to set up camp while we could. The spot we had found, as I stepped into it, was soft, grassy, and perfect except that we scared up what likely was a bear as we stepped into it. It ran off into the woods from the site as we got there.
Camp site
I made a few trips back to the spring to get water for Jillane to wash up and for cooking, and cleared out the little fire pit that had already been used at the site. I started up a fire using sticks and paper and such we had in the bag. My old food wrappers actually worked pretty well to help ignite it. Jillane cooked up the remainder of our raman noodles we were carrying. I was pretty hungry at this point. We'd been doing some rough hiking and serious sweating now for three full days. It was still terribly hot. For all three of these nights, it was so warm that we never once had to put the fly on our tent. Only in the middle of the night was the sleeping bag even necessary. I started each night just sleeping on it, and moving into it later on. We sat up and read; I had my Buchanan State Forest map I'd obained at Bean's Cove Road, as well as the coal book and my C&O and Allegheny one. Jillane woke up several times during the night thinking a bear was close by, and apparently I pretty much slept through it.
DAY 4
I actually allowed myself to sleep in a bit more than usual on this one as I recall, and when I did wake up I finished reading the "When Coal Was King" book, followed by a bit more of my books. I got up and wandered around, back to the spring, to the road, etc. From this point, it was nice to see in the guide book that the route was mostly pretty easy on the way back. There was a gradual up where the trail follows the old Tussey Mountain Road, now the cross country ski trail.
Mid State Trail on Tussey Mountain Ski Trail
The problem was it was brutally hot again. It almost seemed worse than the previous day. When we got up and started moving, it was disappointing to find that the entire section I had expected would be very easy had smaller trees and provided little shade. The time of day we started was just when the sun was reaching it's highest, so we were in direct sunlight. I tried wearing a shirt for the beginning of the day, but it was just too much to bear. There were mile markers along the ski trail section, so we could at least keep an eye on our progress. It seemed like every time we got to the end of an up hill, there was more gradual up hill. We again were sweating like crazy.
"Big Pond"
The woods road changed names to something else, I forget what, after crossing a few other trails. We eventually turned to the left on Morris Trail, which MST followed down hill gradually. It was nice to be out in the shade, and we were pretty much done with up hill. The trail went rather straight to an intersection where we turned right on Sawmill Trail. We then passed an area where the trail had been relocated in 2009. The trail wandered through some nice woods, and we passed by a couple of large vernal pools. One of them was referred to as "Big Pond". I didn't get my hopes up about this because the guide book didn't note it as a water source. I was still okay on water, but we would likely run low.
Mid State Trail at the border of Buchanan State Forest
The trail turned again on a trail known as Dickens Trail. At first, it was barely a trail at all, just blazes through woods meandering around. It then turned to the left onto a more "built" trail. This was apparently a CCC built trail that had been revived for use as the Mid State Trail somewhat recently. The Dickens Trail section led us through more deep woods, and I spotted another bear running off to the right. The Dickens Trail ended at Burnt Mills Trail, where Mid State Trail turned left and began the final descent off of the Tussey Ridge area.
Box Turtle
We headed down hill, and Gap Trail was soon on the left. This trail had exited from Mid State Trail at Bean's Cove Gap, and Jillane was interested in following it instead. The trail however would have been more overgrown, and it would have involved ups and downs at creek gullies. While it might have offered water, we probably wouldn't have made it this far yet. The trail continued down hill partially on an old road route. I started to be able to see some of he openings of the farm lands off through the trees in the distance. It was in this area that for the first time I was getting phone service since before Rainesburg Gap (even Martin Hill had none).
I made a call to reserve a cabin in Flintstone MD for the night. We needed a good break, and it looked like we were going to make it. We headed down hill more, and then over a knoll to the left where there was a sign at the border of Buchanan State Forest. Just above the boundary of the state forest marker, there was the last trail register on the southbound Mid State Trail. I signed in. The registers are located along the way both to find people if they get lost as per where they checked in, and also to show use of the trail. We literally passed no other hikers the entire time on Mid State Trail this time as I recall, which is sad because it's such a beautiful route.
Mid State Trail in fields
At the crest of the small hill where the trail entered private land, Jillane spotted a nice looking Box Turtle in the leaves sunning itself. These are getting more and more uncommon. The trail emerged from the woods, which now had no undergrowth, to the edge of cleared farm fields, with a lovely view of a pond and barns to the right. The access drive, Bennett Lane, was now in view. The trail led us down hill along the tree line. We emerged on Bennett Lane at the edge of the wooded section, where the trail turned left.
Mid State Trail at Bennett Lane
We followed the gravel lane through a nice section of woods, with a small stream off to the right below Iron Ore Ridge. It then emerged into a lovely open area with a view to the mountain ahead. The farmstead soon came into view ahead. There was an old farm house, probably from the mid to late 1800s, and old barn buildings. No one appeared to be around when we walked by. I'd wished the trail passed through more places like this, but the deep woods is also nice.
Mid State Trail on Bennett Lane
We continued on and crossed over a small stream and by a cow pasture. It was so hot that the cows were down in the stream cooling themselves off. The trail reached South Black Valley Road, where a little routed sign pointed northbound hikers to the trail from the road. We turned right on the paved road and started heading to the south, toward the southern terminus of the Mid State Trail. Cars went by at fast speeds. It was weird to be back on the road again. Thre were lovely views of the farmlands along the way.
Cows cooling off
The stream we crossed was now followed by Blacks Valley Road, called the Armorine Branch. We continued gradually down hill and soon reached the Pennsylvania/Maryland State Line, and the southern terminus of the Mid State Trail. There were no signs saying anything about it being the southern terminus, and more alarmingly no blazes to show that the Great Eastern Trail continued south. There was just a sign on a tree reading "Bad Dog" toward a private driveway. This was the intersection of Black Valley Road and Gap Road, and Gap Road is supposed to be Great Eastern Trail route.
Lovely farm view on Mid State Trail
Our choices here were to either follow Black Valley Road, which went up hill and on a much busier route to Flintstone, or to take the trail route which should have been less up hill I figured and be more pleasant, even though it might be slightly shorter. The regular trail route was chosen for good reason, because it was pretty. We turned onto Gap Road, which continued to follow the Armorine Branch rather closely to the east slightly. Great Eastern Trail follows Gap Road onward to the intersection with Dry Ridge Road. It then turns right and heads up hill for a bit.
Southern terminus of Mid State Trail
Jillane stopped for a break at the bottom, in a spot that wasn't really that nice. I waited near the top of the hill, and then saw to my right that there was a very old cemetery. I cut off to it to investigate. The cemetery was known as the Lashley Cemetery, with graves dating from the mid to late 1800s. Although it was Civil War era, I don't recall seeing any Civil War veterans graves. There was also an excellent view and the mountains to the northeast of me. When Jillane made her way up, we continued on Dry Ridge Road to the south.
View from the cemetery
There were little bits of ups and downs on the road, which we really didn't need any more of at this point, but every step was getting us closer to a break. It was just too hot to enjoy being out on the open road like this. The roads were certainly different in Maryland; Dry Ridge Road had no guide rails along it for one stretch, with a very significant drop off to the right at one point. We went up hill after a lovely tree and estate entrance, and passed an abandoned house to the left. It was clear that this, like so many of the places we've hiked, is a rather depressed area.
Cemetery on Dry Ridge
At the crest of the hill, cell service came back. I was able to secure for certain the cabin for the night with a call back, and it was kind of a relief to hear the traffic from Interstate 68. We headed down hill on the road, and passed beneath the highway, which was on a high bridge. It was then a bit more up hill to reach National Pike on the other side. The cabins, 7 C's Lodging it was called, was a couple of miles to the west on the Natinoal Pike. The Great Eastern Trail continues across and Takes Gilpin Road, likely an earlier main road, a short distance before entering Green Ridge State Forest.
View along Dry Ridge Road section
The maps of Green Ridge State Forest, all topos, as well as the google maps with topos, make this look like a very pleasant section to pass through, which much of the trail route passing by camp sites, a lean to, and many water sources and streams. Seeing it from a distance though, I felt disheartened and like we were not ready to do it. The mountain ahead towered over us because there was a dip in the highway toward the next stream, so I probably let it get to me even more. We turned right from the designated trail route toward Flintstone, and I started thinking of ways we could change the trip to something a bit easier.
Old home in Flintstone
I'm not usually one to give in and try to make a hike easier, but we had been going at this point for four days, getting nearly dehydrated, and were just about out of food. Sure, we could buy more in Flintstone, but we needed to catch up. Just because we felt like our thirst was quenched, we were still slightly dehydrated and needed some time to get back to normal. I went over the google maps a lot during the walk on the highway heading west. Entering Flintstone, there were some old run down houses. One looked like it used to be a hotel or something. It was unclear whether anyone lived in it or not. There was another structure after that was some kind of "bar", but didn't really look open (even though it was). We took a break at an elementary school yard, where there was a sign stating that the "Warrior's Path" of five Native American nations crossed. It led between the mountains of NY and the Carolinas.
Helmick's Store
We soon reached the main intersection in town, and on the corner was a lovely old general store called Helmick's. We were tired and hungry, and Jillane wanted a Sprite something terrible. We sat our packs down on the porch, and I went in and got the drinks. I then purchased sandwiches. First, I had a turkey and cheddar cheese and an italian sub. Jillane had about a quarter of the sub and I ate the rest. We sat on the porch very happy for the food. I kept going in and out, and the young girl and boy working the store were probably annoyed that I kept going in. I'm sure I smelled none too good either. The guy was messing with the computer a lot, but was good about helping.
Our cabin
7 C's lodging was just up the road a bit. It had a restaurant in front, which seemed perfect. We would settle in, then get a nice home cooked meal without having to travel very far. The cabin was more than we'd have ever hoped for. It was like five star hotel accommodtion inside a rustic cabin outside. It probably ranks among the nicer of any of the places we’ve ever stayed over the years. The bed was extremely comfortable, it had rocking chairs outside, and a nice restroom. The water right from the sink tasted like delicious spring water.
View from the cabin
The porch overlooked the gap the ridge to the Warrior Ridge we had just walked through on the National Pike. We both showered, and Jillane said she felt like we needed to take at least four more showers before we'd actually be clean. We took a walk out of the place after an hour or two, to go to the restaurant, called "The Girls are Cookin'". Sadly, there was a sign outside saying they closed at five that night, though they were usually open till 8! We were still hungry, and had to do something, so we decided to walk all the way back to Helmick's store and bother those kids again.
7 C's Lodging
They had a menu of hot food that that made, so we'd have to get something there. I went overboard and ordered a hot dog, a cheeseburger, and a grilled chicken sandwich. Prices were really reasonable so I went all out. We ate at a table out on the porch, which was nice. The store is probably from the mid to late 1800s too, because it has that look. Unfortunately, I ate too much and felt too bloated to move the entire rest of the night. I'd thought we'd have the two beers I'd been carrying for days, but after all that food, it wasn't happening. We slept pretty well that night though.
DAY 5
I woke up pretty early again the next day. I did some more reading and wandered around a bit. The area has so much I'd love to see more of, but it's getting too far out of the way for me to do as part of one of my day hikes. The Warrior Ridge we'd passed I found out was a wildlife management area, and Green Ridge has so much more. Even Buchanan State Forest has so many more land holdings.
Pastaw Marinara?
I went over to The Girls are Cookin for some breakfast for us. I ordered chicken quesadillas, as I recall, and Jillane had some sort of breakfast type of thing. I think it was pancakes or something. The menu for the place was humorous. It was obvious we were south of the Mason-Dixon line not only because of the accents, but even how things are written in the menu. "Pastaw Marinara" had me cracking up. I finished working out my amended route for the hike between the night before and the morning. It was only about six miles tops from where we were at Flintstone to Rocky Gap State Park. They have camping as well as a Casino Resort Hotel. I realized we could stay for two nights, put our packs down, and do a local hike there for a day to make for a more relaxing trip.
Starting off again
I called them before we left and reserved a room for the night. It was expensive, but they assured that it was a full service hotel with plenty of amenities including an indoor/outdoor pool, hot tub, restaurants, and more. We could walk the old National Pike, including some of the earlier alignments of it to eliminate some bad road walk, and get there in rather short order. It was going to be another hot day, and so doing the distance over rough terrain would have been foolish. We walked from the cabins out to the National Pike and turned left briefly, where there was a store on the left side. We stopped for some refreshements and took a little break before going on too far.
Hometown Bar!
The next redneck thing we came across was the "Hometown Bar", which was simply an open garage bay door with a pool table and drinks for sale. There was no one else really around, so we sat at the picnic table for a bit. There was a "smoking table" and "non smoking table", with one lined with multiple ash trays. It's places like this where southern stereotypes come from.
There was a small tube television inside, not plugged in at that moment, which accepted dollars or coins to watch it. I'd never seen anything like this, and was surprised to see it in the bar. A guy pulled up in his pickup truck and asked us about where we were going. I told him where we'd been, and he complimented the beauty of the land. He also said it was rough going up there. I indicated that I was surprised to see deer stands up there (they were often just off the trail). It's quite a haul to get a deer down from the mountain should they have shot one. He didn't seem at all surprised at this, but rather that there were stands near the trail. "You're not supposed to have those up by the trail" he said. We made our way from here onto the National Pike heading to the west, which is part of a National Scenic Byway. Indeed, for a road route, it was quite pretty.
National Pike
This wasn't just any road route either, it has an incredibly interesting history. The National Pike was the first federally funded US highway, also known as the Cumberland Turnpike and several other variations. The natural opening in the mountains through this area and out to Cumberland. George Washington had interests in this area as a young surveyor, and in later years had an Ohio Company for the western expansion of the transportation system. He pushed for the expansion of the canals westward during his presidency.
Old National Pike
It was not until 1806 that Congress under Thomas Jefferson funded the construction of the National Pike, which began in 1811 to connect the Potamac and Ohio Rivers. Construction began in Cumberland MD. Expansion was stalled during the Financial Panic of 1837, and work ceased at Vandalia, Illinois, which was then the edge of the Illinois Territory. Eventually, improvements and rebuildings completed the route between Baltimore and the Missouri border. During the rebuilding of the 1830s, the National Pike became the second Macadam highway in the US.
Scene on the old road
I'd heard the term "macadam road" my entire life, and it's a term that's slowly fading. It was so commonplace that I never asked myself where the word ever came from. Macadam is named for Scotsman John Loudin McAdam, who is responsible for developing the paving process. McAdam developed roads overseas, and the first US Macadam road was the Boonsboro Turnpike, between Hagerstown and Boonsboro MD. When that project was finished, sights were set on the National Pike.
McAdam's technique involved compacting small stones and material, in an argument that large stones were not needed, and a surface "crust" would provide solid enough base for the roads if kept dry. Centers for roads were three inches higher so water would drain off. His Maryland roads were also the first to be rolled with a steel roller rather than compaction through usage. The process of Macadam changed a lot over the years, especially with the advent of the automobile. The methods used for carriages no longer worked for how much the cars would kick up. The old style was designed with rocks in mind that would not effect carriage wheels. McAdam told his workers that they could measure the rocks needed by whether or not they could fit inside their mouth! The use of tar to hold macadam together became more commonplace, and the industry improved.
The old highway
The National Pike, over the years, became US Route 40. As time went by, larger and better roads overtook or replaced the old National Pike, and through this area came Interstate 68. Some sections of the old road are still now Rt 40, or "alt 40" variations, as well as Rt 144 and byway designations. We followed this National Pike for a ways to the west. The interstate was close to us for a while. It was again brutally hot, and every time we had the opportunity with even one tiny tree, I stood under it. Jillane carried her umbrella open to block out the sun.
The old highway
Studying the aerials, I found Wilson Road cut a corner taken by Interstate 68 and the National Pike. This was clearly the earlier National Pike. Grading was improved with the current route probably in the 1930s, and later improvements came about after. The road was cut off at the west end, but it looked like we'd be able to get through. It would be a good break from the major highway noise too. Sure enough, we got right on through, with only some difficulty. The road starts as a light residential road to the intersection with Street Road, which has some nice pastoral views. Ahead, the Old National Pike continues abandoned, skirting a quarry property on the right side. The edges of the old paved highway had concrete blocks in it, and it gradually ascended. There was one home below it slightly, but other than that it was quiet and saw no traffic.
View on National Pike
Near the top of the hill, the pavement entered some light woods, and then ended at a steep slope. The later highway, which was rebuilt and opened in 1957, cut off access to the old highway. We had to climb steeply up a talus embankment to get to the other road. It was a lot of loose rock, but not really worse than what we'd already done. I took Jillane's pack and carried it and mine to the top so she could use her hands better.
The old highway
The view where we stepped over the galvanized guide rail was spectacular, with the Old National Pike in view heading down through the valley. We took a break in the shade on the other side of the highway before continuing on, and I walked across onto a section of old highway, now sort of a parking spot and slightly overgrown. There was a plaque denoting the highway construction from 1957. I walked a bit of the old highway heading to the west, over what is known as Martin Mountain.
View on National Pike
Soon, another section of the abandoned older highway broke off to the left again. I walked over to it, and it was quite nice. There were good views throughout the area into the cultivated farm and wooded valleys to the south. It was quite a pretty section as far as roads go. We got on the next segment of the Old National Pike, again paved with the concrete block sides to it, and still used as the current utility pole right of way.
The old highway
This section took us around the edge of some rocks where the current highway cuts through them.
When we emerged from this section, the new highway had cut away the old one somewhat, and we had a rather vertical section of rock to get down to reach that road. We cut through the woods to the left, parallel with the new road, and were able to safely climb down that way. We came down hill on the highway, and soon reached an exit that came from Interstate 68, which emerged from a cut to the northeast of us. I had thought to follow this and skirt below the highway, but after the rough climb I decided that it'd be faster to just cross. Rt 144, the old National Pike, crosses 68, continues a bit, then crosses again.
View on National Pike
The views in the section were again breathtaking, if we could get past the fact that we were on the highway. Jillane was surprisingly in very good spirits for this, and really liked the highway section. I suppose after so many days in the woods, literally seeing no one, it is quite a sensory craze. We stopped at a bridge overpass and got truckers to honk their horns at us. The highway crossed over the Interstate again, and there was a road going off to the right, parallel with it. It only leads to an on ramp after a time, but it appears to back right up to the Rocky Gap State Park. I figured that might be a good route to walk, but again didn't really want to chance it unless Jillane did, because it could have been bad. We stayed on 144, which provided us some more really nice views as we approached the state park and casino resort.
Rocky Gap from above
The hotel from above looked prestigious and comfortable. I had high hopes for the place going into it. I was excited for food and relaxation for a bit, and for getting out of the blustery heat. There were paved pathways following the road on the way down, and the one to the left had nothing to say we couldn't walk on it. We followed it, in the nice shade for a bit, and a guy on a golf cart came by and told us we couldn't walk on it.
Lake Habeeb and Rocky Gap State Park
Like the only way to go was on the hot paved road to the right? He directed us where to go and we continued on toward the hotel. We headed onward to the front of the hotel, passing more golf carts and such, and entered through the front. I went in and paid for the room, and they told me I had one on the third floor facing the water. Jillane and I went outside to use one of the cart things to get our packs to the upper room, and a guy insisted on moving it for us, and said it was hotel policy. I really didn't want to have to tip anyone for something like that, but I relented. Also, when I asked if there was laundry services on the phone, the girl said "yes". However, when we got there we found that there were no laundry machines, now did they offer a service. They recommended driving to a nearby town, which of course we couldn't do. The girl then said there was a bus that went there sometimes. I was annoyed that I'd been mislead. Jillane was more annoyed that she had very few remaining clean clothes.
The Jeffrey
As if this were not bad enough, the room we were given did not overlook the water at all. It overlooked the parking lot. I felt gipped. I also found out that for the exhorbitant price, they had no continental breakfast unless we were on the sixth floor. We got cleaned up and relaxed for a little bit before heading down for dinner somewhere. We checked out the different establishments they had, and one of them with partial outdoor seating looked best. When we got there, it was weird to see that all of these people were seated, and the swimming pool was just behind glass to the left of us. Anyone eating could look on anyone swimming, and anyone swimming were pretty much overweight old folks who were there to gamble or play golf. It was a very poor layout for something like this. We definitely ate too much again for this one. We ordered an appetizer, I forget what it was, and then a pizza called "The Jeffrey", which had artichoke hearts and lots of other stuff on it. We couldn't finish it all right away, and had to bring some back up to the room with us. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to sleep really well after this one. The bed wasn't as comfortable as the one from the night before.
DAY 6
I woke up early again and did some reading. I went downstairs and used their business center computer, and there were two ladies in an office immediately adjacent to it. They sort of made it clear that they were annoyed I was using it. They wispered back and forth to each other in such a way that I knew they wouldn't have been doing if no one was in there.
Mmm crab dip thing
Jillane wanted pancakes, and so I went to see if I could find some. With all of the restaurants and twenty four hour places in there, NONE of them had pancakes unless we got their breakfast buffet. I wasn't doing that, so I figured I'd try to get her a breakfast burrito. Even that was expensive for a microwaved thing. When Jillane got up, we headed out for a little walk, and went over from the hotel to the beach. This was to be the hottest day of the trip, just over ninety degrees, which was one of my reasons for staying two nights instead of one, and doing a loop hike there along the way. We went in the water and got cooled off, which felt nice. We then walked back to the hotel where we got ourselves a nice lunch. We tried a crab dip bread thing as an appetizer, and then had something else, I can't remember if it was a burger or whatever. It must not have been that great since I don’t remember. Jillane wanted to head back to take a mid day nap, and so I used the opportunity to explore a bit more. I walked from the hotel to try to find the trail head, which in a couple of hours we would use to do the entire perimeter of the lake. Rocky Gap State Park started out with the first donation of land by Edward Habeeb, for whom the lake is named. The state purchased more lands starting in 1963 and continued through 1966. The lake was created in 1970. The resort was created in 1998 and failed to get the use it was intending to. An outfit out of Minnisota set up the casino that's there now.
Rock shelter trail
I found a trail leading from the west side of the parking area, which went down to the orange blazed trail on the waterfront, Lakeside Loop Trail. I opted to follow it a little ways, which took me to the "Touch of Nature Trail", the easiest and shortest route. I walked on to the main dam at the lake, which was cool, and then backtracked a bit to explore others. The path went through a maintenance area, and there was something below the dam which went down to an "Indian Rock Shelter". It probably wasn't any kind of native American shelter. It was just a rock laid path that went down below the dam to a little rocky overhang. I climbed back up and followed the maintenance road onward. Evitt's Mountain Trail went to the right next, which led to the former homesite of Mr. Evitt who was allegedly the first white settler in the area.
I didn't have the time to do that one, so I continued on and came to the Canyon Overlook Trail, which was a short loop. I walked that up some steps, and then on out to a lovely overlook into the canyon of the Rocky Gap Run. This was a really pretty spot. I looped back down, and then got to a parking area. To the right, I saw the Old Hancock Road, another former main road, which would provide us with a great walking route out of the park the next day. I continued to walk the access road toward the hotel again, and I spotted a sign for the 'Bucy Cemetary", with "cemetery" spelled incorrectly. The professionalism in this place seemed more deplorable all the time.
Bucy Cemetery
The Lemel Bucy Cemetery was used in the years after the Civil War, and had many marked and unmarked graves. It is likely that many died of some infectuous disease because some deaths were only days apart. The trail to the cemetery was on the map at the small parking area kiosk, but the map they gave us at the casino resort was garbage since it didn't have any of that on it. By this time, it was getting close to the time I was to meet to Jillane to hike the perimeter of the reservoir. I hurried back to the casino and met up with her in the lobby. We then headed through the lot the way I had done earlier to get to the orange blazes of the Lakeside Loop Trail.
Touch of Nature Trail
We did the section I had done before, which wasn't all that far, past the Touch of Nature Trail, and then out to the main dam. There were a lot of people on it here, mountain bikers and hikers. One family we kept slinkying with, that slowed down, sped up, and we'd keep passing each other. We reached the main dam with it's pavilion and a bit of a view. The spillway for the dam was cut out of solid rock, and was pretty cool to see. We then made our way across a bridge over it and up some nice stone steps. The first section of the trail had fishing piers and such on it, and it got more rustic as we continued.
Lake Habeeb
The north side of the lake became a nice foot path, still used by mountain bikers, and then gave way to lots of inlets. Other trails including "Rocky Trail", "Shortcut Trail", and "Settlers Path" were off to the left intersecting. We had various excellent views across Lake Habeeb and of the resort hotel along the way. The area was shaded on the north side, and so the extreme heat wasn't as bothersome there. We weaved back and forth around inlets, and there were signs up along the way, because apparently they'd had a biathalon there earlier in the day. Some of the cyclists we saw were probably stragglers from this.
Lake Habeeb
Jillane set a fast pace as we moved along, probably trying to stay ahead of the family that was walking behind us. We figured they'd turn back eventually, but they didn't. We eventually stopped and just let them pass us. When we got to one of the nice little coves, well out of the way and out of sight of the hotel and facilities on the other side, I went for a nice swim. The water felt great, actually very warm for this time of year. I swam around for a while, and the sun was getting lower in the sky. It caused a really nice visual effect on the lake. Some of the leaves were turning, but not all that much.
The spillway
The trail went by sections of the camp grounds, and little social trails joined in from the left. Thi section was pretty well used. The trail was well worn, and all crossings, whether they needed a bridge or not, were bridged. We continued along, and eventually came out to another beach complex where we took a little break. I walked around one of the buildings and found a vending machine that had Sprite or something that Jillane wanted. The trail through these open areas were not only marked with the orange paint, but with routed wooden posts vertically oriented. The park aspects of the place were really very well maintained. The only stuff that fell short for me out here was the hotel.
The casino resort
The trail cut into more woods on the waterfront; several little trails named after trees broke off to access the different loops of campgrounds, of which there was a second area to the north of the beach. The trail went over little footbridges and such, and approached the northern end of the lake. The trail emerged from the woods at the end of a parking area for Campers Hill Drive. There, we turned right on the road which took us across the inlet, Rocky Gap Run. On the other side, we cut into the woods to start heading south.
Lake Habeeb scene
Jillane noted in this area how different the vegetation was on the east side of the lake versus the west. The west side didn't have as much undergrowth, and had taller trees. The east side had scrubbier growth and a whole lot of understory vegetation. The trail took us through a pine plantation, and then out through an open area adjacent to Prosperity United Methodist Church. This appeared to be an old historic church, in likely an old community, but I could find no history on it. It was probably the main settlement from before the park and reservoir.
Lake Habeeb view
It was a good thing we did the perimeter of the reservoir in this order. It'd have been murder in the direct sun goign along the east side. The trail emerged into a parking area, and then followed a berm above retention ponds that skirted the parking areas to the west. We then passed through another section of woods, and skirted a cove where another swimming beach was.
Sunset
The sun was setting beautifully along the lake, and the temperature had dropped quite a lot. It was very pleasant walking here. We crossed through the little recreation area where we had been earlier in the day swimming, at the last swimming beach, and then made our way back out toward the hotel. We walked around there for a little bit, and sat by the fire pits along the back. I again forget what we had for dinner. I recall it wasn't bad, but Jillane at some point got some sort of dessert, and it was just some boxed thing, nothing fresh. The place claims to have such high quality everything, but really it's kind of crappy quality and service in a posh framework.
The fire pits
I got the second night at the hotel earlier in the day, and the guy forgot to renew my room card, so he gave me a new one, flagged me down later on when he saw me again. He was a nice, friendly guy, but they're really just not that professional. It seems like this is where high school kids come to work, like they would Shop Rite back home. Not knowing what else to do, I suggested we just go and wander through the casino, just to have a look at it. I don't like gambling or casinos really, but the lights and such are quite amazing. It's also a fun place to people watch and get free drinks or whatever.
Not playing. Nope.
Just watching everyone is annoying. All of these people throwing away their money at some random human manufactured chance escapes me completely. I tried putting some change I had in my pocket into one of the machines, and ended up losing it because they only take casino chips or some similar garbage. The one good thing that came out of it was that there was a free fountain soda machine in there. We refilled those a couple of times while we sat at nearby machines and didn't play anything. We finally drank the two beers I’d been carrying for the entire time because there was no way I’d pay the casino prices. Overall, apart from the annoyance and more disappointment in this posh hotel, we had a good enjoyable day. We got good sleep and had the relaxation we needed to put us through the next day.
DAY 7
My plan for this next day was to get us to the town of Cumberland MD. I wanted to make amends for the change in route and still acheive some of the goals I'd wanted from the start. Originally, the plan was to hike Great Eastern Trail to the Chesepeake and Ohio Canal towpath, then head either east to Hancock MD, or west to Cumberland, and then cross into West Virginia. The last minute change in trajectory eliminated the Hancock option, so we were now going to Cumberland. I figured out a good walking route that would get us there in just a little over eight miles, after which we could explore this very interesting town. I had not been there since I was only five years old.
Pool and hot tub
When I woke up, I went and used the computer a bit more as I recall, then headed over to the swimming pool and hot tub. The pool was really weird, because you could get in on the inside, then swim through a narrow opening to the indoor/outdoor section. It had a roof area that could open or close depending on the temperature outside. There was a slight chill in the area in the morning, with highs I believe only around 78 for the day, and the water was actually warmer than the air. I swam a few laps, got out, and then went and laid in the hot tub for a while.
Heading out
There was no one eating at the restaurant area, so I didn't have anyone staring at me as I tried to swim. In fact, I had the place to myself. I got out and headed back to our room. Jillane got herself ready and we headed out. I wasn't going to spend another cent on breakfast or anything at the place. Although the staff was friendly and the place was clean, it still didn't make up for the fact that it was a rip off. At least we made the best of it while we were there. We headed out of the place and through the lot, back over toward the Lakeside Loop Trail, but then stayed on the access road. I wanted to show Jillane the Bucy Cemetery I'd found without her the day before, and it happened to be on the way we needed to take to get to Cumberland.
Old Hancock Road
The blue blazed trail continues beyond the Bucy Cemetery, which I didn't follow the previous time in. We headed up through it, then continued along the crest of a knoll, gradually descending to another old woods road. We turned right on that, and it took us to the parking area from which the other trails start. From there, we got on the Old Hancock Road, closed to vehicles, and started following it through the woods to the west. It was a beautiful route, and it was a pleasant temperature in the woods. We continued gradually down hill, and the road emerged at a gate at Rocky Gap Road. From there, Old Hancock Road continues, but is open to traffic and is paved directly across. We followed it up hill on the other side, through lightly residential area, then down hill.
Old Hancock Road
As the road continued down hill, it passed through a nice little valley with nice pasture lands to the right. We continued to Mt. Pleasant Church, at the intersection with Old Mount Pleasant Road. The road seemed to continue straight across, to the right of the cemetery. Maybe that was the original Old Hancock Road. We turned left at the intersection on Old Mount Pleasant Road past the church, and then headed gradually down hill with dogs barking at us from within houses.
Old Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
The road took us through more light residential area, and then skirted the edge of a very steep gully, with more houses below us to the right. We were approaching Rt 144, the Old National Pike again, and could hear it before seeing it. We could have reached it quicker if we were able to walk people's private driveways to the right, but we had to go to the left to take the gradual descend to the intersection. We then turned right to follow the National Pike again. Further from Interstate 68, it wasn't as busy here.
Old National Pike
We followed along the edge, and I switched to the south side due to better shade. We had to switch to that side when we got to the bridge that took us over 68 again. There was a truck stop and a Sleep Inn there, but we continued on along the former National Pike heading west. | It might actually not have been the National Pike at this point; it's possible that 68 overtakes it from here. Either way, we went further on Rt 144 on the south side of the highway. On the way, we stopped at a farm stand. Jillane got some nectarines (she corrected me when I referred to them as peaches a few times I think it was) before we continued on, and we took a break when we got to where the road crossed the Evitt's Creek, named for that same early settler. On Google Maps, I could see something on the other side of the highway that read "Folck's Mill". I googled it and I couldn't figure out anything on it initially. It was shown like an historic site, so I wanted to see what it was all about.
Historic image of Folck's Mill
While Jillane was having a break, I put my pack down to search for this fabled mill. I took to a path that went down to Evitt's Creek, and then waded up stream beneath the Rt 144 bridge, then further on beneath the Interstate 68 bridge. The water got a bit deeper and it felt really nice to walk through.
Evitt's Creek at Folck's Mill site
Once I was on the other side, I checked the edge of the creek for where the mill should be, as per the google maps, but could find nothing but a likely former mill site. Now, reseaching the mill is a bit easier, and I've found some much more interesting info. This was the site of the Civil War battle of Folck's Mill. In 1864, there was a major skirmish between Union and Confederate armies at the site of the original covered bridge that crossed where we had stopped. The Folck Family farm with homestead, barns, and the old stone mill were used for cover, and the Union Army succeeded in holding off the Confederates from sacking Cumberland as they had Chambersburg. After the last of the Folck family had died off, a later owned named Eddie Wolfe acquired and tore down the old mill. It was said that it had a cannon ball hole in it from the battle, and local farmers refused to plow certain fields because they might find unexploded ordinance. They are working on some sort of an interpretive trail at the site now, reportedly. We continued on past a tempting looking pizza place, then turned to the right under 86, then turned left ot stay on 144. We skirted a creek, passed some on ramps, and then came to a strip mall on the right with a Dollar General. We could cut through the parking area out to Shades Road, which was our route to walk south into Cumberland.
Cumberland Cemetery
Sheetz was just on the corner, so we decided to stop here for a late lunch. I ran as quickly as I could to the Sheetz and got Jillane a wrap that she likes, and I got one of their giant burritos. We sat in the shade of a truck, in a lot where buses made to look like trolleys for tourism were parked. While she rested, I also went across to the Dollar General. Jillane had no more clean clothes, and I made sure our next stop, the Ramada in Cumberland, had laundry, but I needed to get some detergent. Dollar General would be the cheapest place to get that.
Cemetery in Cumberland
I went in and picked that up, and found a nice green shirt for a couple of dollars on clearance sale. I had been wearing a black shirt that was kind of hot, so I changed into the green one as soon as we were done.
Cumberland
From there, we started walking Shades Lane to the south. Jillane commented on how much elevation the road had, but it wasn't too bad. We walked to the right on the grass for a bit, crested the rise, and started descending. There were abandoned houses and an abandoned garden center on the right. This was just the first of some of the run down stuff we'd see getting into Cumberland. It wasn't all that bad heading down hill, just not the most up scale neighborhood. We reached the intersection of Frost Avenue, with the scenic cemetery on the right side, and we cut to the right here. This would cut a big corner and give us a more scenic walking route into town. Jillane decided to take a break under a big tree, and I climbed ot the highest hill in the cemetery to get some photos. It was an amazing cemetery and vantage point; there were plenty of neat family plots, with the roads going around, but it had some other oddities. This cemetery was interspersed between homes. It was as if they ran out of room after they'd already started developing around it. I'd never seen cemetery layout like this. When Jillane was up, we continued across the cemetery and crossed Yale Street. Another section of cemetery had an access road that took us down through a lovely older section, with an entrance gate off of Goethe Street. From there, we walked into a more town environment, with some run down houses. We headed down from here on Baltimore Avenue and entered the main part of town. It went from looking run down to a bit more tourist friendly, and continued to improve as such as we walked. We soon came to the railroad tracks, crossed over, and turned to the left to reach the Ramada. We checked in, and rode the loud old elevator up to our leve, I think sixth floor. I then took all of Jillane's clothes to the laundry area to get them done. Unfortunately, it was already in use and there was only one. I waited on line, and soon others showed up. It was a good thing I got there when I did. It actually ended up being a pleasant experience. Everyone else that wanted to use the machines was a trail user. Cumberland is at the point where the C&O Canal meets the Great Allegany Passage, a series of rail trails, and so they are heavily used. Cumberland is a very popular hub on the route. I chatted for a long while with a man named Kurt Watson, who was cycling the route, and had done sections of it many years ago. We exchanged our unique trail stories and got on really very well. Each time another person came along, it was this trail mentality. When at last I got the laundry finished, I brought it back to Jillane. She wanted to rest some more, so I headed out on my own into Cumberland. I called my grandfather while in the hotel, because when I was there last, it was with him when I was only five. I seem to recall that this was right before I started Kindergarten, and that it was near the end of Summer vacation. I remember asking what would happen if I wasn't back in time for my first day of school.
Old Cumberland Station
My grandfather remembered it well. He mentioned a tunnel under the tracks, which we didn't use because there was no train, but we had crossed the same spot, and he mentioned the West Virginia border, as well as the fact that there was a George Washington Headquarters there with a push button recorded disseration of history. He said there was a mannequin of Washington inside. I started to remember some of this. He didn't think we stayed at the same place, but I think it might have been. It used to be a Holiday Inn years ago. He remembered the train tracks and the station, and so I decided I was going to go off and find the things he remembered. I headed out of the hotel and back into the town. The main street had been shut off to vehicles, and was now just a pedestrian route with restaurants and businesses along the way. They were all mom and pop stores except for one CVS. There were a lot of people around, and eating areas with tables set up in the old street. It was quite beautiful. At the end of the street, there was a mock waterfall, and then a railroad crossing ahead. As I walked just a bit further ahead, I realized I was crossing the Great Allegany Passage, the name applied to the trail that connects Cumberland to Pittsburg PA. I want to do the trail badly, and I most certainly will within two years or so.
Historic 1917 image of Cumberland Station
I walked across the station's platform, and it all seemed very familiar. I heard beat a little faster, as I was getting that feeling I get when memories come back to me like a gift I forgot I received.
My photo of Cumberland Station
I walked up the platform, then off to the right where there was a pedestrian bridge over the Will’s Creek. The view was amazing into the town with the station there.
I got on the station platform to the left, which was the Western Maryland Railroad station. I headed across and turned right through the grass, and there was a mock up of an old stockade fort to the right from the French and Indian War. My grandfather had mentioned this as well. Just beyond, and off to the right, there was Washington's headquarters. This was George Washington's first military outpost. He'd been in Cumberland surveying for different properties starting in 1748. He was involved in the skirmish that started the French and Indian War as a young commander, and fought his first major battles in 1755. He went on from there to command the Virginia army, and was already a seasoned veteran by the start of the American Revolution.
Everything was just as my grandfather described it, from the look of the tiny cabin from Fort Cumberland, to the push button audible history lesson, which sounded like it was probably the same recording used when we were there in 1985. The only difference was that there was no mannequin inside. I seemed to recall there being one too, but now it was a bust of Washington's head in the window. I thought to call him back and tell him about it right away, but I instead waited until our trip was over and I'd gotten back home.
The Potomac
I turned back the opposite direction from Will's Creek, and headed toward the bridge over the Potomac River. I've long had a fascination with the Potomac. It's huge, has several branches, and has a lot of hiking by way of the main trunk trail and plenty of side trails. This would be the first time I'd ever connect to it by foot. I wanted to wait for Jillane to get up to cross into West Virginia, but part of me thought she might not get up, we'd get a ride back in the morning and not get there.
West Virginia entry
Also, it was a sort of personal thing after talking to my grandfather. I didn't want to rope her into all of my reminiscence from when I was five years old. I remembered one thing very clearly, stepping from Maryland into West Virgina, a little cross being the border marker. My grandfather remembered that as well. I walked out onto the bridge, and at the center I saw it, still the same one from when I was five, in the middle of the bridge as I stepped into Ridgeley, West Virginia. I only went to the other side of the bridge and back, then returned across Will's Creek to the station platform. I did want to save the rest for with Jillane.
C&O Canal western terminus
I headed down the steps from the station through a brief tunnel and came out in what was probably a lower rail yard at one time, as well as the western terminus of the Chesepeake and Ohio Canal. The canal was originally intended to connect with the Ohio River, but it was never completed. By the time they got to this point, the railroads already were opening up passage to the west, and the antiquated means of travel could not justify further expansion. The station was the visitor center and mini museum for the canal and Allegany Passage. It was closed by this time, but I figured I might come back the next morning, or I'd wait until the next time in town.
Downtown Cumberland
I walked from there back to the main drag, which was well lit up heading back. The sun was starting to go down, and I figured I'd make my way to the parking garage across from the hotel for the view. I reached the hotel, then hurried up the steps. There were some girls posing for a model shoot on the steps, which I ran up on rather quick and probably startled them. I went by, then got to the top in time to see the sun going down. Some older folks were up there checking it out as well. They commented something about it being the best view in town.
Parking garage view
I hung out up there alone for a while after they left, and looked at all of the buildings and mountains in all directions. To the east, I looked at the Potamac Valley, and imagined hiking the C&O Canal, and to the northwest on the Allegany Passage on the rail beds. All of the mountains around probably have outstanding views I'd love to see. I called Jillane, when I'd figured out by counting windows what room she would be in. I'd hoped she'd come to the window so I could get her picture from across, but she wasn't into it.
Ironically mild package
After a little bit, I made my way back to the room to read a little bit more, and when Jillane got up we headed back out again. I hadn't eaten anything since the burrito, which stuffed me earlier, and she found out there was a Taco Bell not too far away. We decided to walk over to that first. The guys running the place were really very friendly and helpful. We had some tasty food, and the guy behind the county asked me if I wanted one of those freezy things (Jillane already had one). I looked at him with a questioning look and he assured me "Free!". I thanked him and took the drink, which was rather good. We were going to try to go to a Seven Eleven by crossing the active tracks to the north side, but there was no good walking route to get over there. We went to cross, but it would have involved climbing under trains that could move at any time. From here, we headed back toward the hotel, and then to the main street area. It was much quieter this time around; the dinner settings and tables had been removed and areas were open and quiet. An occasional kid on a skateboard went by, and there was the sound of the little waterfall at the south side. I showed Jillane the way I'd walked earlier over the Western Maryland Railroad station platform. This line is still used for excursions, while the other line on the other side of town is still heavy frieght and Amtrack.
Crossing into West Virginia
We crossed the foot bridge over the Will's Creek, and I showed her the Washington Headquarters, then we headed back onto the road and crossed into Ridgeley, West Virginia. We continued on from here, and followed Ridgeley Street out to Knobley Street. Every step we took was the furthest contiguous westward I'd ever hiked. We walked along the streets, and met some stray cats. There was a very friendly one as we wandered back through toward the bridges another way. We continued to the east to the grassy flood prevention berm. The flood walls that were created in Cumberland much obliterated the original C&O Canal's terminus and probably other industrial ruins.
Tunnel
We climbed up the flood wall and started walking it back toward the bridge to Maryland. We crossed the railroad tracks and then reached the bridge back. Once on the other side, we headed back down through the tunnel from the Western Maryland station, then headed back via the main street again. We checked out some of the old business fronts as we walked by, and then as I recall we headed over by the McDonalds to the west. We just sort of wandered a bit more; we went up to the active AMTRACK track, and walked through the tunnel that goes beneath the tracks. This was the one I went through with my grandfather years ago as well. We watched a train go by as we made our way back, and then we headed back to the hotel.
DAY 8
The last day was a big guess as to what we'd do and in what time. We had to figure out our ride back to Everett to pick up my car. I was assured when I called people and when I checked on line that the Cumberland area was a fine place to end or start a trip because of the abundant public transportation. We'd have no trouble finding a ride anywhere out there. So, I didn't worry about it at all. I woke up and figured I'd go down to the business computer at the hotel and look up what the options were for a ride back. I figured I'd make it simple and just called the first taxi cab service on there. There were two taxi services in town. I called the first one and they told me they did not have anything available for a couple of days. This was disheartening. I called the second one, and they told me they had to keep their taxis in town for the entire weekend.
In the station
I was getting worried, so I called the outfitters. One after the other turned me away. They gave excuses like I needed to arrange for a shuttle six months to a year in advance. This all sounded crazy. A lot of these people have others dropping them off to do these trips, not relying on shuttles, from what I gathered at the hotel. Clearly, I was lied to when I was told I'd have no trouble. Only one outfitter told me they'd call me back if they found some sort of way. I made one other call to one final service, Platinum Coach. This was more of a limo service, but I figured I would give it a try anyway. The lady I spoke with was very friendly and accomodating. The had initially told me that she could get it done at night, and I told her I'd pretty much take anything at that point. She then called me back saying she could have someone pick me up in the early afternoon. I felt so much better. I had spent hours trying to figure this out, and the patiant man, I think his name was James, behind the counter at the Ramada was infinitely helpful and accomodating. Jillane came down and we checked out, and we were allowed to leave our packs at the lobby until we were picked up. We decided to use some of the time to do a little more exploring.
Old National Pike marker
We walked down into town, and checked out an old department store called Peskin's, now closed. It had all the old fixtures inside from what we could see from the window. We then moved on further through downtown to the Western Maryland Railroad station. It was open this time, so we went in to have a look around. We also went to the upper levels to look at all of the exhibis. I purchased a book on the C&O Canal from their store in the place. I really enjoyed this one; Jillane had wanted to go to the northern part of town to look at more abandoned buildings, which I was willing to do with her, but then she stayed with me at the museum. As we finally left to start walking up that way, she spotted the Allegany Museum as well. It turned out to be open, so we went in to check that one out as well. This museum was great. They had a lot of exhibits, including a Conestoga Wagon they were working on refurbishing. We went through at the second story through every room and exhibit they had. There was an entire section on the production of tires, one on old style fire fighting with wooden conduits to carry water, an old bar, a register from the C&O Canal, an exhibit on the Whiskey Rebellion, and a very nice bit on the National Highway which included some authentic original highway mile markers.
The board room
The building was once some kind of court house, and a former congressional court room and board room make up some of the places you can visit inside. When we'd explored the entire museum, we headed out and into town again. We then headed down a side street randomly, and found a hot dog place where we both decided we wanted to get a bite. The place was Curtis' Famous Weiners, which bragged of a famous Coney Island sauce. We had a seat inside and Jillane ordered something, I ordered two plain with onions. We didn't think anything of it, and they were really good tasting.
Curtis' Famous Weiners
When we were just about done, the owner came up to our table and let me know I was doing it all wrong. He said "When I heard they say they wanted two plain, I said ahh nah, they don't know". He explained that their special sauce was what they were known for, and so we both agreed to try them the way he recommended. They were actually very good. I should have gotten that good stuff to begin with. The owner was very friendly, and stayed and chatted with us for a long while. He was the third generation of hot dog makers for this particular business, with close to one hundred years open. He said he's not passing down the business and that the secret recipe dies with him. After this interesting meeting, we headed on along the street to the west until we got to the St. Patrick's Church. The old church looked to be closed, with new buildings around it used by congregations and such. We walked past the building and out to Queen City Drive where we turned to the right (Cumberland is known as the "Queen City" of the Alleganeys). We continued back through town, and then crossed the railroad tracks to the north side.
Interesting...
We walked through a few neighborhoods, passed a launderomat that sells beer like a bar, and then continued down to the railroad tracks. There was a nice little memorial with a welcoming sign, burt warned not to loiter. As if that were not enough, there were serious metal spike strips on the tops of the walls to keep people from sitting on them!
At the end of the trip...
We hung out and watched as a train went by from here, then made our way back to the hotel. It wasn't that much longer before our ride showed up, an SUV, to take us back to Everett. It worked out with good timing because they had an airport drive to do next. The lady who drove us didn't have much to say really; our past taxi drivers were usually very interesting and nice people to talk to, but this one was quiet. We arrived in Everett in surprisingly short time, and I was only charged fifty dollars for the ride. This was just great, and I'll be better prepared for shuttles on our next backpacking trip. I was able to drive us home with no problem from there. This had been a trip that was almost entirely not as expected, but we made the best of it and really saw a lot. It was a great mix of challenge and relaxation, even though the quality of the spaces left some to be desired. With this trip, the entire southern half of the Mid State Trail we had completed, we'd connected to West Virginia and many other trails, and we got through most of it without really fighting or anything very bad. I wasn’t ready for it to be over, but I also wanted to see the cats. We’ve branched out so far , and I can’t wait to see more.
I HAD REWRITTEN T HIS JOURNAL THINKING IT WAS LOST....BUT FOUND IT. So here is what I rewrote....
Hike #1076, Everett to Cumberland Backpack
9/21-9/29/17 Everett PA to Cumberland MD/Ridgeley WV with Jillane Becker
This was a journal entry that was very sadly lost to the changes in Facebook along with many others. I thought I'd found them again, but now they seem inaccessible because they were too long. Somehow they "published" but remained in "drafts" and they seem to be gone. As such, I have to try to remember well enough to rewrite them all.
My goal on this was to continue south on the Pennsylvania Mid State Trail and Great Eastern Trail. I absolutely loved this trail, marketed as "Pennsylvania's wildest trail" for good reason. I loved the diversity of it, the seclusion of parts of it, and the challenge of it.
Previously, we had gotten on the trail at RB Winter State Park at the central section and hiked down to Penn's Creek area, then a second trip took us from Penn's Creek down to Everett, and we had one more to do from Everett down to the Potomac River.
The previous sections were hard, and they got more difficult when we made our way onto the Tussey Ridge, which was a lot of it from near State College on.
We had finished the last one at the Caroline Court Motel in Everett, at the time the only lodging available there. I wanted to start right there, and Jillane wasn't happy about it, but I was able to book a room and got permission to leave a car there for the week.
Day 1
We got up at Caroline Court, and the Mid State Trail goes literally right by, down the street and up onto a flood retention berm of the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River.
There's a Sheetz right across from the hotel a bit, so we could get something to eat as I recall for breakfast. The hotel wasn't one with a continental breakfast, although they had a little breakfast and lunch place in part of the building that served that. I had to go there to return keys.
There's a Sheetz right across from the hotel a bit, so we could get something to eat as I recall for breakfast. The hotel wasn't one with a continental breakfast, although they had a little breakfast and lunch place in part of the building that served that. I had to go there to return keys.
The trail turned left off of the berm onto the street and went across the Raystown Branch on a through truss bridge to Earlston PA on the other side.
I thought the first day was particularly interesting where we started. The trail went down immediately from the bridge and skirted the PA Turnpike, and then passed along what the guide book described as a "moonscape". This was the cinder piles associated with the former Earlston Furnace.
I don't remember all of the history of the place I included in the original journal unfortunately.
Since we took this hike, much of the cinder pile area has been completely obliterated, and the trail temporarily rerouted, which is kind of sad.
The trail used to go across the PA Turnpike on an old road bridge, but that had been removed some time shortly before we took this hike.
We continued across the cinder piles following posts guiding the way and passed some concrete footings for something. We then left the cinder piles and went beneath abutments of a former rail spur of sorts. The Pennsylvania Railroad I think it was had a branch on the south side, and there used to be a bridge over the Raystown Branch to the Huntingdon and Broad Top Railroad, which we had walked part of on the previous hike on the Mid State Trail.
Since we took this hike, much of the cinder pile area has been completely obliterated, and the trail temporarily rerouted, which is kind of sad.
The trail used to go across the PA Turnpike on an old road bridge, but that had been removed some time shortly before we took this hike.
We continued across the cinder piles following posts guiding the way and passed some concrete footings for something. We then left the cinder piles and went beneath abutments of a former rail spur of sorts. The Pennsylvania Railroad I think it was had a branch on the south side, and there used to be a bridge over the Raystown Branch to the Huntingdon and Broad Top Railroad, which we had walked part of on the previous hike on the Mid State Trail.
The trail didn't at first seem at all like a railroad bed, and I now feel it must have either deviated from it for a bit, or the superhighway was built over some of it. The trail was on a side hill of sorts, and then eventually picked up what was more obvious railroad bed to continue to the west.
It was basically an ATV path like so many other rail beds we follow, and it led us through a meadow area where they must use it for storage or something for the highway, and then became a more wooded trail.
The right of way took us rather close to the Raystown Branch again, and it was getting really warm. I'd already worked up quite a sweat, and so when Jillane took her next break, I took the opportunity to go straight down to the river and take a dip in it. That got me feeling totally fresh again.
The trail remained on the railroad bed on the shelf above the river for a time, until there was an access to the left where the trail ascended to Ashcomb Road.
We went up, and then the trail turned left to follow the road beneath the Turnpike. Immediately on the other side, it climbed very steeply at first up slope and above the highway.
I kind of expected it to be really steep for a long while, but it went up really nice side hill work to an abandoned road and passed an old run down shack. We went over a tributary and then emerged into a clearing behind a billboard that overlooked the highway.
The trail still didn't climb after passing behind the billboard. It skirted a fenced in larger property for a while on what seemed to be a somewhat more recently cleared path. The property below was that of a quarry, and at some points it was not far away that there was a clear dirt road, but we couldn't use it.
We went up, and then the trail turned left to follow the road beneath the Turnpike. Immediately on the other side, it climbed very steeply at first up slope and above the highway.
I kind of expected it to be really steep for a long while, but it went up really nice side hill work to an abandoned road and passed an old run down shack. We went over a tributary and then emerged into a clearing behind a billboard that overlooked the highway.
The trail still didn't climb after passing behind the billboard. It skirted a fenced in larger property for a while on what seemed to be a somewhat more recently cleared path. The property below was that of a quarry, and at some points it was not far away that there was a clear dirt road, but we couldn't use it.
Eventually, the trail emerged onto a dirt road that goes uphill and accesses State Game Lands #97. From there, we turned onto it to start climbing the Tussey Mountain.
A ways up, the trail turned hard to the right on a woods road where it looked like there once used to be a house, because there was a block wall or foundation.
The secondary woods road was grassy and soon had a barricade across it, so we'd see no vehicles beyond.
The trail remained on the woods road for a while, and eventually came to a dead end where the foot path continued. It led us to the very top of the ridge, and soon we were traversing more rocky terrain with views to the east.
It was really pretty, but also really rocky and weedy. The segment is terribly hard to maintain because it's a full day commitment to get out there to cut anything, so it seldom gets done. There were amazing rock outcrops and stunted growth pines along the ridge, and no sources of water.
I always come with more water than I'm going to need on these trips, and then in my backpack I usually carry between two and four gatorades for emergency hydration.
This day was so hot and the terrain so hard with the full backs that we were blowing through the water like crazy.
Eventually, the trail started descending the rough rocks down the west side of the ridge again. This took us to another woods road section.
Often, State Game Lands doesn't own a consistent ridge top or area just below it where it would be easy to route the trail, so it meant putting the trail in some really rough and difficult patches.
We walked the woods road for a bit, and as it started getting dark, we had to set up to camp right in the middle of the woods road.
I walked ahead a bit more looking for another water source, and there appeared to be a dry spring a bit ahead, but it was nothing we could use. I don't know that we had any dinner really this night, I can't quite remember.
A ways up, the trail turned hard to the right on a woods road where it looked like there once used to be a house, because there was a block wall or foundation.
The secondary woods road was grassy and soon had a barricade across it, so we'd see no vehicles beyond.
The trail remained on the woods road for a while, and eventually came to a dead end where the foot path continued. It led us to the very top of the ridge, and soon we were traversing more rocky terrain with views to the east.
It was really pretty, but also really rocky and weedy. The segment is terribly hard to maintain because it's a full day commitment to get out there to cut anything, so it seldom gets done. There were amazing rock outcrops and stunted growth pines along the ridge, and no sources of water.
I always come with more water than I'm going to need on these trips, and then in my backpack I usually carry between two and four gatorades for emergency hydration.
This day was so hot and the terrain so hard with the full backs that we were blowing through the water like crazy.
Eventually, the trail started descending the rough rocks down the west side of the ridge again. This took us to another woods road section.
Often, State Game Lands doesn't own a consistent ridge top or area just below it where it would be easy to route the trail, so it meant putting the trail in some really rough and difficult patches.
We walked the woods road for a bit, and as it started getting dark, we had to set up to camp right in the middle of the woods road.
I walked ahead a bit more looking for another water source, and there appeared to be a dry spring a bit ahead, but it was nothing we could use. I don't know that we had any dinner really this night, I can't quite remember.
Day 2
I woke up early as I always do, and rather than sit around, I decided to set out and see if I could find a water source.
At the point just a little ahead of where we camped, where there seemed to be a water course that was dry, I checked a bit downhill from the trail. I found nothing.
However, I went just above the trail a bit, and found a little wet spot. I moved some rocks out of the way and dug down in enough that there was a bit of a little pool collecting water. I allowed the water to settle a bit, and then started using my smallest water bottle to fill larger water bottles. I had some of these collapsable things that worked well enough to collect.
I filled up as many bottles as I could this way, going back and forth, until I was sure we'd have enough to get us to the next source location.
The trail the at first the second day followed very pleasant old woods roads with hay ferns and grasses. It went up and down a bit, but it was mostly very easy. We also checked out some cool stick bugs.
The trail eventually turned from the woods roads and climbed to the top of Tussey Ridge again to a small overlook called Eagle Watch Station. I was shocked to find that the trail was completely cleared, somewhat recently, and free of all weeds. I made the assumption that it would be like that the rest of the way, because they either had to come in from the way we came, which had tons of weeds, or from the way we were walking.
This was not the case. The trail was really cool on rocky ridge again, and had several more terrific east facing overlooks, but it got weedy again. The trail descended the ridge a bit again through some pleasant woods, and then climbed back up to the top once more. It was again really very rocky, but had tons of really nice views.
We eventually came to a point where it reached a woods road and entered Buchanan State Forest. This was the point where things started to get much more pleasant again. By this time, we were all cut up from the abrasive vegetation that covered the ridge top. Both my arms and legs were in horrible shape from it. It was so great to get out of that.
The trail was now a very pleasant woods road making a gradual descent into Rainesburg Gap.
We eventually turned off of the woods road and descended to cross Main Road in Rainesburg Gap on Garlic Trail, another trail the Mid State was routed on.
Once across, it was starting to get pretty dark. We needed to get to a spot to camp as soon as possible. The Sweet Root Creek flowed through the gap, and from the south, and the trail went along it for a bit.
Jillane picked out a camp site with a nice rock to sit on nearby, and it was just about dark by the time we got set up.
It was good to have water source nearby that we could boil for food and cleaning off. We'd had quite a tiring day, and we could wash the dried blood off of our arms and legs.
At the point just a little ahead of where we camped, where there seemed to be a water course that was dry, I checked a bit downhill from the trail. I found nothing.
However, I went just above the trail a bit, and found a little wet spot. I moved some rocks out of the way and dug down in enough that there was a bit of a little pool collecting water. I allowed the water to settle a bit, and then started using my smallest water bottle to fill larger water bottles. I had some of these collapsable things that worked well enough to collect.
I filled up as many bottles as I could this way, going back and forth, until I was sure we'd have enough to get us to the next source location.
The trail the at first the second day followed very pleasant old woods roads with hay ferns and grasses. It went up and down a bit, but it was mostly very easy. We also checked out some cool stick bugs.
The trail eventually turned from the woods roads and climbed to the top of Tussey Ridge again to a small overlook called Eagle Watch Station. I was shocked to find that the trail was completely cleared, somewhat recently, and free of all weeds. I made the assumption that it would be like that the rest of the way, because they either had to come in from the way we came, which had tons of weeds, or from the way we were walking.
This was not the case. The trail was really cool on rocky ridge again, and had several more terrific east facing overlooks, but it got weedy again. The trail descended the ridge a bit again through some pleasant woods, and then climbed back up to the top once more. It was again really very rocky, but had tons of really nice views.
We eventually came to a point where it reached a woods road and entered Buchanan State Forest. This was the point where things started to get much more pleasant again. By this time, we were all cut up from the abrasive vegetation that covered the ridge top. Both my arms and legs were in horrible shape from it. It was so great to get out of that.
The trail was now a very pleasant woods road making a gradual descent into Rainesburg Gap.
We eventually turned off of the woods road and descended to cross Main Road in Rainesburg Gap on Garlic Trail, another trail the Mid State was routed on.
Once across, it was starting to get pretty dark. We needed to get to a spot to camp as soon as possible. The Sweet Root Creek flowed through the gap, and from the south, and the trail went along it for a bit.
Jillane picked out a camp site with a nice rock to sit on nearby, and it was just about dark by the time we got set up.
It was good to have water source nearby that we could boil for food and cleaning off. We'd had quite a tiring day, and we could wash the dried blood off of our arms and legs.
Day 3
I got up early, had whatever breakfast bar I'd brought with me, and washed in the creek a bit.
The trail remained along the creek for just a bit, and then turned away from it for a bit before reaching Old Sweet Root Road in Sweet Root Natural Area of Buchanan State Forest.
The trail eventually left the Sweet Root Road and then made its way toward the base of Martin Hill, with a very steep climb.
A little ways up, the trail crossed over Martin Hill Road, and then ascended very steeply, almost right up the thing until an abrupt right turn that felt like a major reprieve.
The trail went to the right a bit, and then banged a hard left on a switchback toward the final ascent.
I waited for Jillane on this final turn because I was thankfully astute enough to notice a giant hornets nest in the ground in the middle of the trail. They were incredibly active, and I'd have walked right over them. We both circumnavigated the spot by going through the weeds to the immediate right.
The trail came out on the top of Martin Hill, the highest place on the entire Mid State Trail, which was surprisingly quite level.
The trail remained along the creek for just a bit, and then turned away from it for a bit before reaching Old Sweet Root Road in Sweet Root Natural Area of Buchanan State Forest.
The trail eventually left the Sweet Root Road and then made its way toward the base of Martin Hill, with a very steep climb.
A little ways up, the trail crossed over Martin Hill Road, and then ascended very steeply, almost right up the thing until an abrupt right turn that felt like a major reprieve.
The trail went to the right a bit, and then banged a hard left on a switchback toward the final ascent.
I waited for Jillane on this final turn because I was thankfully astute enough to notice a giant hornets nest in the ground in the middle of the trail. They were incredibly active, and I'd have walked right over them. We both circumnavigated the spot by going through the weeds to the immediate right.
The trail came out on the top of Martin Hill, the highest place on the entire Mid State Trail, which was surprisingly quite level.
Elevation profiles on this are quite odd, because it doesn't look to be anything like the rest of the Tussey Ridge formation. It's supposed to be one of the highest elevations in the northern hemisphere in fact. I just would not have expected it to be so level on top.
The trail follows gravel roads for a bit on top of Martin Hill, and passes by the former site of a fire tower that apparently no longer exists.
The trail descended next to a pole line and then meandered through pleasant woods of Martin Hill Wild Area. The more sparse canopy in the area provided for some better scenery, and we even spotted a Smooth Green Snake scaling a tree near the south end.
The Carl Cessna Trail section was the next bit, and it meandered through very pleasant terrain and evergreens making its way toward Beans Cove Gap.
It was starting to get late by the time we got to Beans Cove Road. It was a good area, and Tussey Spring was close by to clean off with and cook with the water.
Just across on the Mid State Trail, which follows closed Tussey Mountain Road, now Tussey Mountain Ski Trail, we found a little cove of grass to the right where we were able to set up our tent.
We collected water and settled in for the night, in a little more relaxing place than previously.
I didn't like the fact that it was so near to the road, and that the sound of bros in their lifted trucks would blow by all night long, and the fact that bears were known to be very active near the road.
It worked out alright and we had a pretty good night's sleep. I don't recall what we ate at this spot, but probably the normal ramen or something.
The trail follows gravel roads for a bit on top of Martin Hill, and passes by the former site of a fire tower that apparently no longer exists.
The trail descended next to a pole line and then meandered through pleasant woods of Martin Hill Wild Area. The more sparse canopy in the area provided for some better scenery, and we even spotted a Smooth Green Snake scaling a tree near the south end.
The Carl Cessna Trail section was the next bit, and it meandered through very pleasant terrain and evergreens making its way toward Beans Cove Gap.
It was starting to get late by the time we got to Beans Cove Road. It was a good area, and Tussey Spring was close by to clean off with and cook with the water.
Just across on the Mid State Trail, which follows closed Tussey Mountain Road, now Tussey Mountain Ski Trail, we found a little cove of grass to the right where we were able to set up our tent.
We collected water and settled in for the night, in a little more relaxing place than previously.
I didn't like the fact that it was so near to the road, and that the sound of bros in their lifted trucks would blow by all night long, and the fact that bears were known to be very active near the road.
It worked out alright and we had a pretty good night's sleep. I don't recall what we ate at this spot, but probably the normal ramen or something.
Day 4
We woke as usual, but we didn't have so much to worry about this next day. The trail on old Tussey Mountain Road would be far easier than any of the stuff we'd been doing the previous day.
I do recall it being a bit longer uphill than I had been anticipating, but it was very gradual.
I do recall it being a bit longer uphill than I had been anticipating, but it was very gradual.
Carnes was just a meandering path through the woods. We passed by "Big Pond", which was a sort of permanent vernal pool. I was hoping for a spot for a dip or water refill, but it wouldn't be that.
Dickens Trail was actually a much older trail that I think dates back to the CCC, that was recently rediscovered and reopened. The Mid State Trail had been rerouted onto it somewhat recently and it was a pretty nice section to use.
We eventually came to the Sawmill Trail intersection where the Mid State Trail turned, and we began the final descent of Tussey Ridge. There was another trail that came in from the left to join the Mid State, which might be a future route of the Mid State down the road one day.
Sawmill Trail passed through more sparse understory than we'd seen recently on its descent from the ridge. Soon, we reached the sign letting us know we were leaving state forest land, and fields came into view to the left and the right. We spotted a Box Turtle in the grass through here.
The trail soon skirted the left side of some fields before reaching unpaved Bennett Lane and followed it downhill more gradually.
The trail followed Bennett Lane to Blacks Valley Road, and crossed a stream called the Amorine Branch just before getting there. There were cows cooling off in the brook as we went by.
The official southern terminus of the Mid State Trail was at the Mason Dixon Line, on Blacks Valley Road on the PA/MD border. From there, the Great Eastern Trail continues, but is unmarked on the road walk toward Green Ridge State Forest MD. My plan was to continue on that route to the south from here.
We had just officially finished the entire southern half of the Mid State Trail and we still haven't returned to do any of the northern segments, which I am told are much better.
We turned onto Gap Road from here and continued southbound. I got ahead of Jillane at a big hill and checked out a splendid little old cemetery with a great view to the north. It was known as the Lashley Cemetery, and had some nice old grave markers.
We continued south from here over another hill, and then down beneath US Rt 40 on Dry Ridge Road.
We then turned left on the old National Pike.
We went to the awesome Allegheny Museum, where there was a new exhibit in the works, but they let us in to the rest of the place where we were basically the only ones there. There were historic rooms like a ball room, former court room, old registers, artifacts, stuff on the National Pike, on the railroads, and so much much. It was an outstanding museum.
We headed back to the hotel to get our stuff, which we'd left in the lobby when we checked out so that we could wander the town free of our backpacks.
There were so many other things to see, but we didn't have time to do everything.
I got us a taxi back to where we had started in Everett to finish the last trip in our Mid State/Great Eastern Trail series, although I'd wanted to get back to do the section in Green Ridge of Maryland.
I wouldn't get back to Cumberland for another four years, and we'd connect so much other stuff by then that it would not be in the way I was expecting to do any of it.
For the future Pennsylvania trips, Jillane and I would make our way back to the Mid State further up on the Mid State where we had passed through Williamsburg, and then head west on the Trans Allegheny route from there, to continue across the state rather than further into West Virginia because there aren't as many connections there. The only close one I saw was Big Savage Mountain, and that would probably be an extremely difficult one, so I kind of ruled that one out.
I thought this was a really fantastic trip, with really the best half and half mix of struggle and relaxation.
The trail soon skirted the left side of some fields before reaching unpaved Bennett Lane and followed it downhill more gradually.
The trail followed Bennett Lane to Blacks Valley Road, and crossed a stream called the Amorine Branch just before getting there. There were cows cooling off in the brook as we went by.
The official southern terminus of the Mid State Trail was at the Mason Dixon Line, on Blacks Valley Road on the PA/MD border. From there, the Great Eastern Trail continues, but is unmarked on the road walk toward Green Ridge State Forest MD. My plan was to continue on that route to the south from here.
We had just officially finished the entire southern half of the Mid State Trail and we still haven't returned to do any of the northern segments, which I am told are much better.
We turned onto Gap Road from here and continued southbound. I got ahead of Jillane at a big hill and checked out a splendid little old cemetery with a great view to the north. It was known as the Lashley Cemetery, and had some nice old grave markers.
We continued south from here over another hill, and then down beneath US Rt 40 on Dry Ridge Road.
We then turned left on the old National Pike.
The National Pike was the first federally funded US highway, also known as the Cumberland Turnpike and several other variations. It follows natural opening in the mountains through this area and out to Cumberland. George Washington had interests in this area as a young surveyor, and in later years had an Ohio Company for the western expansion of the transportation system. He pushed for the expansion of the canals westward during his presidency.
It was not until 1806 that Congress under Thomas Jefferson funded the construction of the National Pike, which began in 1811 to connect the Potamac and Ohio Rivers. Construction began in Cumberland MD. Expansion was stalled during the Financial Panic of 1837, and work ceased at Vandalia, Illinois, which was then the edge of the Illinois Territory. Eventually, improvements and rebuildings completed the route between Baltimore and the Missouri border. During the rebuilding of the 1830s, the National Pike became the second Macadam highway in the US.
The National Pike, over the years, became US Route 40. As time went by, larger and better roads overtook or replaced the old National Pike, and through this area came Interstate 68. Some sections of the old road are still now Rt 40, or "alt 40" variations, as well as Rt 144 and byway designations.
We walked a bit down this, and we came upon the historic Flintstone Hotel in Flintstone, Maryland, along. We hiked by this in Sept 2017, and had no information at the time.
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We continued on down the National Pike to the west for a bit into the main part of Flintstone, and came upon Helmick's Grocery Store. This was literally the first kind of anything open we found since the start of the hike, after camping the past three nights.
We went inside and pigged out on all sorts of stuff. Our eyes were probably bigger than our stomachs because I seem to recall that we got a whole lot of stuff. I got both a burger and a chicken sandwich I think, and maybe a deli sandwich the next day. I think also chocolate milk.
Just a bit down the road from this point was the Seven Cs Cabin rentals. This was one of the nicest places we've ever stayed on one of our backpacking trips.
The fully furnished and finished cabins had at kitchen, comfortable bed, and a great view of the Warrior Ridge from the lovely front porch.
We got washed up and wandered back over to Helmick's for more food as I recall before turning in for the night.
We went inside and pigged out on all sorts of stuff. Our eyes were probably bigger than our stomachs because I seem to recall that we got a whole lot of stuff. I got both a burger and a chicken sandwich I think, and maybe a deli sandwich the next day. I think also chocolate milk.
Just a bit down the road from this point was the Seven Cs Cabin rentals. This was one of the nicest places we've ever stayed on one of our backpacking trips.
The fully furnished and finished cabins had at kitchen, comfortable bed, and a great view of the Warrior Ridge from the lovely front porch.
We got washed up and wandered back over to Helmick's for more food as I recall before turning in for the night.
Day 5
We got up in the morning and I went to get us some food at a breakfast and lunch place on the same property as the Seven Cs cabins, called "The girls cookin'". I looked at the menu and everything was quite inexpensive, but it was obvious we were below the mason dixon line.
One of the things on the menu was "pastaw marinara".
The food was all cheap but very good in the area. We ate well and were on our way again.
The trip plan changed at this point. The forecast was insanely hot, and we were looking from the porch over at the Warrior Ridge, which the Great Eastern Trail climbs, and decided we didn't want to do it just yet. If we had, it would have been a three day walk to Cumberland, which was a place I'd been wanting to reach, and I figured we could do it a bit more quickly and relaxing.
We instead walked west on the old National Pike. I could see that there were segments of it that were not superhighway yet, and even some abandoned ones. We could make a pretty good hike of it.
One of the things on the menu was "pastaw marinara".
The food was all cheap but very good in the area. We ate well and were on our way again.
The trip plan changed at this point. The forecast was insanely hot, and we were looking from the porch over at the Warrior Ridge, which the Great Eastern Trail climbs, and decided we didn't want to do it just yet. If we had, it would have been a three day walk to Cumberland, which was a place I'd been wanting to reach, and I figured we could do it a bit more quickly and relaxing.
We instead walked west on the old National Pike. I could see that there were segments of it that were not superhighway yet, and even some abandoned ones. We could make a pretty good hike of it.
We got walking on, and then came upon the Garage Hometown Bar. There was literally a bar in a rollup garage, with a pool table and a banner for advertising. They even had a television that accepted dollars to make it play.
We didn't try having a drink at this place, and instead just continued walking the highway to the west a bit.
We took Rt 144 which was the National Pike route to the west when the highway veered away, and then took West Wilson Road. It is soon called Old Baltimore Pike, and it is only old concrete slabs remaining from the old highway.
It becomes very beat up, and then completely abandoned heading west until it dead ends at Rt 144 on a giant fill circumnavigating the Allegheny Aggregates quarries. We had to carefully climb up the talus scree slope to get back on the highway where we turned left.
There was soon a pull off area where the original highway alignment again turns left.
We took Rt 144 which was the National Pike route to the west when the highway veered away, and then took West Wilson Road. It is soon called Old Baltimore Pike, and it is only old concrete slabs remaining from the old highway.
It becomes very beat up, and then completely abandoned heading west until it dead ends at Rt 144 on a giant fill circumnavigating the Allegheny Aggregates quarries. We had to carefully climb up the talus scree slope to get back on the highway where we turned left.
There was soon a pull off area where the original highway alignment again turns left.
The old highway again veers away in an abandoned route with good views on what is known as Martin Mountain. We followed the old paved road around the outside of an outcrop that the later highway has blasted through.
We continued down a steep slope to the edge of Rt 144 again, and then followed it across Interstate 68 on a bridge ahead. There were some good views in this area, including ahead to Rocky Gap. We soon crossed over 68 once again, and then after that reached a settlement once known as Yonkers where there was a side road into Rocky Gap State Park and Casino area.
The casino that operates within the state park has a hotel in it, and this is what I eyed up for the next night to give us a bit of relaxation.
We got a room, cleaned up, and then had a pizza at the restaurant in the place called "The Jeffrey", which had artichoke hearts on it. It was quite excellent!
It was going to be really hot again, and so it was a good thing to have a nice spot to rest.
We continued down a steep slope to the edge of Rt 144 again, and then followed it across Interstate 68 on a bridge ahead. There were some good views in this area, including ahead to Rocky Gap. We soon crossed over 68 once again, and then after that reached a settlement once known as Yonkers where there was a side road into Rocky Gap State Park and Casino area.
The casino that operates within the state park has a hotel in it, and this is what I eyed up for the next night to give us a bit of relaxation.
We got a room, cleaned up, and then had a pizza at the restaurant in the place called "The Jeffrey", which had artichoke hearts on it. It was quite excellent!
It was going to be really hot again, and so it was a good thing to have a nice spot to rest.
Day 6
I had originally wanted to just continue on, but we instead had the idea that we would remain at Rocky Gap State Park a second night, leave our packs, and instead hike the entire perimeter of Lake Habeeb in the park.
Rocky Gap State Park started out with the first donation of land by Edward Habeeb, for whom the lake is named. The state purchased more lands starting in 1963 and continued through 1966. The lake was created in 1970 and the resort was created in 1998.
We would get up somewhat earlier and have some lunch at the place, and Jillane promised to take the hike with me if she got a nap first. We did take a bit of a walk out to the beach area and into a picnic area earlier, and then in the afternoon headed out to do the perimeter of the lake. I spent some time while she was sleeping exploring some of the lands to the west of the hotel.
I checked out a rock shelter area along the west side along trails, and then found the old Lemel Bucy Cemetery which was used from around the Civil War by the same family until about 1900, and the land became that of the state in 1964.
Jillane and I started hiking around the lake in a clockwise fashion, which had some nice trails and such. A lot of people were using them where we first got on, and by where the Old Hancock Road comes into the west side of the park, and near the main dam. There was a nice bridge over the spillway and a good views of the resort from across the lake.
There were a couple of nice peninsulas out onto the lake along the west side before the campgrounds that were really nice, and I took the opportunity to take a swim there.
We then continued on Lakeside Loop Trail as it skirted the campgrounds. There was a nice beach at the campgrounds, and then we went along the north side of the lake. On the east side, the trails were much less used as the sun was going down. We had a view of an old methodist church off to the east, and we followed foot path along the shore line parallel with golf course. The sun was just going down as we got back to the resort.
We wandered around through there again, and went through the casino area, which felt really out of place. We then had dinner in the restaurant in the place, which was quite nice.
Rocky Gap State Park started out with the first donation of land by Edward Habeeb, for whom the lake is named. The state purchased more lands starting in 1963 and continued through 1966. The lake was created in 1970 and the resort was created in 1998.
We would get up somewhat earlier and have some lunch at the place, and Jillane promised to take the hike with me if she got a nap first. We did take a bit of a walk out to the beach area and into a picnic area earlier, and then in the afternoon headed out to do the perimeter of the lake. I spent some time while she was sleeping exploring some of the lands to the west of the hotel.
I checked out a rock shelter area along the west side along trails, and then found the old Lemel Bucy Cemetery which was used from around the Civil War by the same family until about 1900, and the land became that of the state in 1964.
Jillane and I started hiking around the lake in a clockwise fashion, which had some nice trails and such. A lot of people were using them where we first got on, and by where the Old Hancock Road comes into the west side of the park, and near the main dam. There was a nice bridge over the spillway and a good views of the resort from across the lake.
There were a couple of nice peninsulas out onto the lake along the west side before the campgrounds that were really nice, and I took the opportunity to take a swim there.
We then continued on Lakeside Loop Trail as it skirted the campgrounds. There was a nice beach at the campgrounds, and then we went along the north side of the lake. On the east side, the trails were much less used as the sun was going down. We had a view of an old methodist church off to the east, and we followed foot path along the shore line parallel with golf course. The sun was just going down as we got back to the resort.
We wandered around through there again, and went through the casino area, which felt really out of place. We then had dinner in the restaurant in the place, which was quite nice.
Day 7
I got up early and went down to use the swimming pool. It was part indoors, part outdoors, and I could swim from one to the other.
We started the day refreshed again, and I took Jillane to the Bucy Cemetery that she'd missed the day before.
From there, we walked the old Hancock Road to the west out of the park. The abandoned and closed road was quite a nice route to take us in the direction we needed to go to get to Cumberland.
The road became used again at the next intersection, and we continued to walk it west.
The road was as beautiful as other roads we'd walked that were parts of official trail systems, through hills and around lovely pastoral settings.
We reached Old Mt Pleasant Road and turned left at the Mt Pleasant Cemetery and the old Mt Pleasant Methodist Church.
We started the day refreshed again, and I took Jillane to the Bucy Cemetery that she'd missed the day before.
From there, we walked the old Hancock Road to the west out of the park. The abandoned and closed road was quite a nice route to take us in the direction we needed to go to get to Cumberland.
The road became used again at the next intersection, and we continued to walk it west.
The road was as beautiful as other roads we'd walked that were parts of official trail systems, through hills and around lovely pastoral settings.
We reached Old Mt Pleasant Road and turned left at the Mt Pleasant Cemetery and the old Mt Pleasant Methodist Church.
We turned to the right on the National Pike again, which was a huge highway at this point. It took us down to Rt 40 and Rt 68 and I recall going by a Love's travel center and I think I went down to get us more drinks and maybe a snack while Jillane waited back at the road.
We continued from there across and to the south side of 68 heading west.
We took a break when we got to the bridge over Evitt's Creek. I took a dip in the river, which felt pretty nice and Jillane waited in the shade. On google maps, there was something called Folck's Mill that used to be on the north side of the highways, so I walked beneath the National Pike and then beneath 68 looking for any kind of mill or dam remnants, but I didn't see anything.
Just beyond the creek was an old tavern called the Six Mile or Plummer Tavern House, still standing and now I think an Italian restaurant.
We continued on along the road, and turned right at the next intersection on Christie Road under 68, which was also Rt 144. We turned left on Naves Cross Road on the other side, the next bit of 144, and then passed a park and ride where buses made up to look like trolleys were parked.
Jillane took a break in the shade again, and I went ahead a bit on the road to the Sheetz where I was able to get us some snacks and such.
We ate in the shade before continuing south on Shades Road toward Cumberland.
There were some abandoned buildings along the way, and it was a rather steep up followed by a relaxing down. We turned off of Shades Road when we came to the St Luke's Cemetery at Frost Avenue.
We headed into the cemetery and up a little hill a bit, and then meandered across its landscape across Yale Street. We continued through the cemetery past some lovely family plots, old grave markers, and some lovely giant trees to reach an old entrance at the dead end of Goethe Street.
We followed the street more into Cumberland proper at Baltimore Ave to Baltimore Street.
There was nice architecture, historic markers, religious radicals with Jesus stuff painted on their tail gates, and ghetto atmosphere. It was getting more interesting.
When we got to Baltimore Street, we crossed the still active former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad tracks, now the Capital Limited passenger line, and on the left was the Ramada Hotel.
I could have sworn this was the hotel I had stayed at with my grandparents when I was five years old, and we did a week long tour of West Virginia.
I have very vivid memories of the trip I took with them despite being very young.
I remember there was a monorail that was out of service in town, although we saw no sign of that this time. There was Washington's first headquarters, which in the window had a George Washington Mannequin sitting at a desk. I remember the tracks we crossed had a tunnel beneath the tracks that kept us from waiting if a train was going by. I remember looking for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, because my grandfather and I were on many Morris, Delaware, and Lehigh Canal hikes, and finding out that they had filled in the canal through Cumberland. I also remember walking across the bridge to West Virginia from Maryland and standing in two states at once, which my grandfather was making a big deal of even though we'd done that with Pennsylvania many times.
A modern frame of reference to extensive memories I'd had of this place was of great interest to me. I was very elated to be there.
Jillane was very tired and so when we got the hotel room, she stayed in to nap. I couldn't wait around. I of course showered and got cleaned up, but then I set out on my own because I couldn't take the chance that I might not look around this town otherwise.
The rest of Baltimore Street was closed to all but pedestrian use. I made my way to the eastern terminus of the Great Allegheny Passage, a huge trail that had long been on my list to do. This trail would lead us uninterrupted all the way to Pittsburg, and I was excited to do just that.
On the other side of the street from there was the western terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, marked by a spot on the now paved over area. Despite the canal being long gone, there is a trail that traces its route up until it is accessible again.
I made my way onto the platform of the Western Maryland Railroad station, a beautiful structure just to the east of the street. Great Allegheny Passage mostly follows this line for the entire section out to Connellsville Pa.
It was such an impressive spot. I admired the architecture and looked around, and then headed out on the pedestrian platform and across Wills Creek just before its confluence with the Potomac River to toward the West Virginia border.
I couldn't hold out, and I had to call my grandfather right then, and tell him where I was standing. He was impressed that I'd now walked a line all the way from home to Cumberland Maryland, and surprised I remembered as much about it as I did.
He also remembered a lot about it, and how the site was the first headquarters because it was Washington's first command assignment. The figure was no longer in the window, and my grandfather recalled that there was a button on the building that read an audio dissertation on the site when we went. That was also no longer working, but there were so many historic markers I didn't have the time to even read them all.
I walked across the bridge into Ridgeley West Virginia, connecting by foot to my seventh state contiguously. I wanted to wait for Jillane to do it with me, but I figured she might not get up and insist on not walking around and just get a taxi or something back.
I walked back across, content just to connect, and then meandered through historic markers, past a museum, and then back through town where I climbed to the top of a parking garage for the views of the sunset. I also had a view to the hotel room and called Jillane to see if she'd look out the window, but she wouldn't.
When I got back to the room, Jillane was content to go out and walk around, so we did much of what I had already done together, plus some other stuff along some different streets. We walked to Taco Bell and got some food there, and we went back to the Western Maryland station, across Wills Creek, to Washington's Headquarters, and then across the bridge to West Virginia. We walked a little loop over there along some tracks and back streets, then back over to Cumberland. I don't quite remember what roads we walked for sure, but I thought we might have come back across on the railroad bridge.
We wandered back through the town, and we went under the tunnel beneath the Baltimore and Ohio that my grandfather reminded me about. It was a really great close to the day.
Day 8
For our last day out, we just had a look around Cumberland a bit more and meandered the town.
This was possibly the best end day to any of the trips we've ever done, because we actually DID the town, and the stuff there was to do there. We went to a little eatery where they had some special recipe for hot dogs or something, which we tried. The owner sat with us and chatted for a bit about his family recipe and heritage that's been passed down.
We went to the awesome Allegheny Museum, where there was a new exhibit in the works, but they let us in to the rest of the place where we were basically the only ones there. There were historic rooms like a ball room, former court room, old registers, artifacts, stuff on the National Pike, on the railroads, and so much much. It was an outstanding museum.
There were so many other things to see, but we didn't have time to do everything.
I got us a taxi back to where we had started in Everett to finish the last trip in our Mid State/Great Eastern Trail series, although I'd wanted to get back to do the section in Green Ridge of Maryland.
I wouldn't get back to Cumberland for another four years, and we'd connect so much other stuff by then that it would not be in the way I was expecting to do any of it.
For the future Pennsylvania trips, Jillane and I would make our way back to the Mid State further up on the Mid State where we had passed through Williamsburg, and then head west on the Trans Allegheny route from there, to continue across the state rather than further into West Virginia because there aren't as many connections there. The only close one I saw was Big Savage Mountain, and that would probably be an extremely difficult one, so I kind of ruled that one out.
I thought this was a really fantastic trip, with really the best half and half mix of struggle and relaxation.
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