Hike #830; Harrisburg to Middletown

Hike #830; Harrisburg to Middletown

3/1/15 Harrisburg to Middletown PA with Gregg Hudis, Michele Valerio, Wilma Vargas, James Quinn, Mark Proper, Grayce ?, Noelle Bramblett, and John Discullo?.

The group near Harrisburg Airport

Our next hike would  be another point to point in the Harrisburg area. This one would be especially important to me in that it was the final connection needed to connect one of my previous Harrisburg hikes with everything else I've ever done. We had recently completed a hike at Entnoyer's Park in Middletown, and this one would connect Capital Area Greenbelt where I'd hiked before with that same park in Middletown.

At sort of last minute, Jillane and I headed out there the night before to stay the night, so we'd be there the next day. We visited some book stores and she bought me a few great railroad books.  We stayed at a hotel somewhat nearby and she drove me to the meeting point in the morning. It was snowing pretty bad when we got there, so it's a rather good thing we stayed the night I suppose. She decided not to do the hike, and instead went to book stores locally while I led the group. We shuttled in a couple of cars to our beginning point: Reservoir Park in Harrisburg.

We had a good group, with four participants being veterans of my hikes, and four newcomers with great attitudes. They truly fit into our group great, and it's really nice to have a contingent of new friends in some of the places that are farther away. Hopefully when we post more trips out that way they'll consider joining us again.

My plan for this hike was a little more exciting than what the weather would allow. There was already snow cover when I woke up in the morning, but I fought off feeling disappointed while I ate my waffles in the hotel lobby. I further fought it off when we reached Reservoir Park and pretty much all of the views I had looked forward to getting were not to be had because of so much fog. We headed up hill into the park, around a building and the amphitheater, then to a statue near the height of the land on the west side, of a nude woman posing with some strand thing.

View in Reservoir Park

There were some views of the city below, and we could just make out the profiles of the mountains where the Susquehanna River reaches it's narrows at Dauphin Gap and beyond. Blue Mountain and Stony Mountain, where it passes through, were somewhat visible. We continued along the top to a local government building, then descended down to the park road skirting the north side and continued on the route of the Capital Area Greenbelt.

I'd not done this little section of it yet. When Jillane and I hiked this section previously, we stayed above, and descended to Market Street and walked through a neighborhood of fine Arts and Crafts style architecture. This time we followed the actual greenbelt out of the Reservoir Park and onto Parkway Blvd next to some apartments. We continued down the road, the greenbelt route, and then continued on the abandoned road section along Spring Creek. The ice was incredibly slippery and I think we all fell at least once.

There were only a few other people out on the trail; we passed a nice family using it coming from the Paxtang section. I had wanted to hike parallel narrow trails along the entire section to Paxtang and beyond, but unfortunately it just wasn't going to work out that way with all the snow cover. We'd have to keep to the abandoned road if we were going to get anywhere in any reasonable time.

It was quite pretty walking through the valley with the feeling of seclusion. We reached Paxtang and turned left on Derry Street, then right underneath the railroad tracks on the greenbelt route. The trail broke off the road again on the other side next to an old spring house and then took a board walk bridge over Spring Creek, directly below the Rt 83 Capital Beltway. It was snowing pretty  hard here, so we took a break under the shade of the bridge for a bit and everyone caught up.

"The Spring House"

Interestingly, the "Spring House" was not built as a spring house, but rather as a primary residence for the Rutherford Family built in the mid 1700s. The Rutherfords once owned hundreds of acres of land in today's Harrisburg, and a borough near the center is called "Rutherford". Several streets bear family names.

Historic view, Spring House of the Rutherfords

The "spring house" was built directly over a spring along the Spring Creek so that the Rutherford Family would always have a good source of water. The Spring House is now one of the oldest buildings in the county. The greenbelt went up hill a bit from the underpass of Rt 83, and reached the former Rutherford Mansion. The handsome stone building, just up hill from the original "spring house", was built in 1858, and the Rutherford family lived there for many generations. They finally sold it to the county in 1920, and served as a Juvenile Detention Center until 1966, after which it was abandoned for twelve years. The building became "Capital City Late Start", a senior community center in 1978 and was re-named Rutherford House.

Rutherford House, built 1858

We walked by the stately mansion and continued to a right turn on Parkview Lane. There were some weird stores on the side there, like sort of laundromat and deli in one or something.We crossed Paxtang Street and continued on the trail on a level grade ahead. I think this section might have been a rail or trolley route at one time, but I can't be certain. Just before 28th Street, we took a side trip to a community garden area and I pointed out the stream restoration project I'd seen the last time I was there.

We crossed the road and continued on along the trail in a nice little valley and beneath 19th Street. It was pretty nice through this section, but I wasn't too particularly excited because I'd already walked this section.

Spring Creek

When we reached South Cameron Street, we got off the greenbelt to begin heading southward. Although the rest of the hike would be mostly urban walking, this section was the part I was really looking forward to. It was exploring all new territory to me, and connecting with where we'd left off in Middletown. The route I wanted to try to trace was also part of a series I hope to one day complete (among my never ending and growing list of series'): the Pennsylvania Canal system.

Pennsylvania Canal is much more complicated than other canals. We've already hiked the entire Morris Canal, Delaware and Raritan Canal (save for the section to Bordentown), almost the entire Lehigh Canal, much of the Schuykill Canal, some of the Union Canal, Susquehanna Tidewater Canal, but Pennsylvania Canal is almost like a generic term. There were several divisions of the state owned Pennsylvania Canal.

The section we would be walking was part of the Eastern Division Canal, opened in 1833, stretched 43 miles from Duncan's Island near Duncannon down to Columbia on the east side of the river. On the north, it connected with the Susquehanna Division Pennsylvania Canal, the Juniata Division, and the privately owned Wiconisco Canal. On the south, there was a crossing of the Susquehanna where boats could enter the privately owned Susquehanna Tidewater Canal from Wrightsville to Havre De Grace MD.

At the point we reached the road, the canal is probably filled in, and would have been along or somewhat near the west side of the street. We headed down the road, into the town of Steelton. There, we stopped at the first little place we came across for snacks and drinks. It was a totally random store on the left side.

Historic overview of Steelton

In the store, there were gloves and hats and such, but also canes, snacks, clothing, just all sorts of random crap. We all wandered around inside because it was pretty entertaining. I got some junk food and a drink. After our break, we continued on for a bit with views of the stacks of the former Pennsylvania Steel company, later operated by Bethlehem Steel. James met up with us and parked along the street to finish the rest of the trip. I was surprised he made it out with all the snow.

As we continued, the Eastern Division Canal appeared to the right of Front Street, still watered. It was nice to see the historic canal still in existence.

Eastern Division Pennsylvania Canal

Railroad tracks crossed the road and canal ahead, and the canal remained easily visible on the other side of tracks to the right of Front Street. We passed by some really nice old stone stairs on the left side of the road as we continued walking south. The canal diverged from the road to the right, and we continued to the town of Highspire. To the left we came across Pete's East End Pub and stopped for a lunch break. They had a couple of strong craft beers I tried while hanging out and I forget what I had to eat if anything. I think Michele couldn't finish the whole pizza she ordered so I had some of that.

After eating, we continued and passed beneath the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Just after, we turned right on Mumma Street. Highspire was supposedly named after "Speyer" in Germany, but some say it was because the town lacked a spire, probably meaning it had no church spire. There was a large concrete silo in plain view as we walked. We turned right onto Charles Street, then left as it descended to cross over an abandoned railroad spur, followed by little used tracks, then beneath the heavily used Amtrack tracks by way of a handsome old stone culvert.

Underpass

Underpass

We passed beneath, and the road cut to the left. Straight ahead was a blue painted pipe thing for drainage, which I simply couldn't resist crawling through. Fortunately, all of the water going through it was mostly frozen so I was able to shimmy on my hands and knees through it without getting too soaked. When I came out on the other side, I was closer to the river. I looked around for signs of the canal, but didn't realize at the time that it would have been a bit further up, closer to Charles Street. I turned left and headed to the boat launch area where the rest of the group ended up. There were great views here up an down the Susquehanna River. The Pennsylvania Turnpike bridge was in plain view just upstream from where we stood.

PA Turnpike Bridge

The hike would again become more like a woodsy hike from here. We left the parking lot and began walking parallel with the Susquehanna through the woods. Again, I thought maybe this might have been the canal route, but it was not. Actually, I found it quite interesting that it was not along the river at all at this point. I had looked at a park with a trail through it when I planned this hike, thinking I'd use it as the through route, but for whatever reason didn't. The canal went right through it and is probably part of the trail, which means I'll have to go back.

Historic map of Highspire

We continued along the river and reached the outlet of the Laurel Run. We crossed carefully without falling through, but not without falling. It was slick. There was another underpass beneath the tracks a bit further up, but it appeared to be a dry one, maybe for floods or something, or a seasonal only creek. The woods we were walking through was pretty easy to navigate, partially because the snow had knocked down any abrasive vegetation we might have otherwise had to fight through. We still had to push some stuff out of the way and watch that it didn't flick us in the face as we looked down at our feet in the snow.

We continued on the other side until eventually we came to a boat launch access road. I took a walk down to the river to check out the views, then we headed out the road, which took us beneath the railroad tracks once again by way of a lovely old stone bridge. The road led us out to Industrial Ave, which is called Aviation Way to the right where we turned.

Beneath the tracks

We followed the road despite sings saying "no outlet", and it led us out to Elizabeth Street and Martin Ave. We followed the back streets out of Highspire and back to the main roads. We passed a car dealership using a lovely  historic stone house as it's office, and then checked out a really cool old mid 19th century cemetery on the left of the road.

Historic cemetery

We continued on along the road toward Middletown, with the Harrisburg Airport on our right coming up. There was a giant splitting bridge crossing the road, and we kept to the side as best we could when the main road became busier. Soon, there was a large dug up area on the left that apparently used to be a parking lot. I noted steps going down from behind a chain link fence to the left, which must have been a public pedestrian access to the airport at one time. We continued on just slightly when I saw a pedestrian access on the road just to the right. It appeared not to be used, and no one ever walks this section of highway. We went over to check it out, and the steps were completely covered in ice.

I carefully made my way down, almost slipping and falling down because of the slipperyness of it, but the tunnel led out to Airport Drive, where I wanted to be. It was only blocked off at the old parking lot direction. The tunnel went under the road and then beyond under the railroad tracks.

Tunnel at Harrisburg Airport

Everyone carefully made their way down the steps, and we walked through the tunnel to get us to the airport. It's still a public through way with no signs saying to stay out, but apparently no one knows or uses it. We turned left on Airport Drive and continued until Olmstead Drive went to the right. There were abandoned rails along the road, going into a pile of dirt off to the left, covered over by the highway. After studying historic maps, I found out that Olmstead Drive, which at the time I concluded was probably a former rail line, was actually the historic route of the canal. It was probably also rail too, beside it. The canal probably turned off of the road at some point, but I'm not sure exactly where.

Soon, we passed by an air force installation and went by the guard shack. We were all looking at our phones for GPS, especially me because I was trying to find a way through. There were signs clearly saying "no photographer" which must have caught someone's attention. When the road ended at chain link fences, another went up hill to the left. We followed it, and it then followed along more fences. We didn't get too far when we heard some sort of loud sound and we were being motioned by by air force security.

We all turned around and went back, and let the two guys know what we were doing. Everything was totally find, and this was a routine security type of stop. The two guys were very friendly and even showed us exactly where the canal used to go over the property. They said that it had been moved also at some point because of the military installation and the power plant for it which used to be in a vacant fenced off field adjacent to it.

The air force guys told us that it was perfectly fine to be back there but that in twelve years there they'd not seen anyone ever walk by! We thanked them and moved on the direction we were going, but  unfortunately the route did not go through. We could have scaled the fence at the end to get through, but that would not have worked out because not everyone was prepared to do that. We turned around and went back out the way we'd come in, and up Olmstead Drive until we could eventually go right to Airport Drive. We continued on the road toward Anne Street.

While walking this section of road, another police officer pulled up to us for questioning. He'd heard the security call out of the base, and explained that it's just a routine thing they had to do when such is called in. It's usually nothing, but when the time comes that it's something they have to follow protocol. This officer was nice also, and he was very interested in what we were doing. Of course, this, like most of our hikes, was not like something people regularly do, and so it catches people's attention. I gave him my business card, and he gave us some direction on how we'll easiest get back to our cars.

From these officers we learned that Middletown used to be home of the largest air force base in the world. The entire town at one time was part of a military operation. They told us that the large building on the hill was once their administration building, although I think it have other uses before that. I didn't initially find information on the history of the building we saw off to our left on the hill, though it might have been an orphanage.

Middletown was founded about 1755 and named so because it is the middle point between Lancaster and Carlisle. It has lots of historic homes from many eras.

We continued across a swath of open area near where Anne Street broke away, and we turned right on Grant Street, which led us to the other side of the chain link fence we didn't climb over before.

We turned left on Mud Pike, then went down State Street to Fisher Ave. The canal would have gone along or very near to State Street, because we know that the aqueduct that carried the Eastern Division Canal over the Swatara Creek lined up with State Street only a few blocks to the east from here.

Canal boats being manufactured in Middletown

Middletown was also where the Eastern Division Canal joined with the Union Canal, one of the most historic canals in America.

The canal was first proposed by William Penn in 1690, and work began on it during the George Washington administration in 1792. Work stalled due to lack of funds, but resumed and eventually the canal was completed between the Schuykill and Susquehanna Rivers in 1828. This connection made Middletown a very important canal center.

We turned left on Susquehanna Street and soon reached Entnoyer's Park where we had met in the morning. There was a lot more snow now than when we started, and it was still coming down pretty good. We had also finished in quite good time considering the poor weather conditions. I suppose it was the right hike to do on this particular date, because walking such distance on trails would not have been easy during these conditions.

Jillane picked me up where James had parked his car, and we went for a nice back road drive around the area before heading on home.

I was very happy to have finally made the connection to Harrisburg; now, the only listed hike that is currently unconnected with all else I've done is Hancock NY, and I've got three hikes planned to make that connection by way of an abandoned railroad route. The pieces continue to fall together and there is a lot more to look forward to!