12/27/15 Snowy Mountain to Gettysburg National Military Park with Jillane Becker, James Quinn, Jennifer Berndt, Grant Tamutus, Euin Gonzalez, Diane Reider, and Gary Paul.
This next hike would be another important connection for me to undertake.
Because I had completed the entire NJ Perimeter Series, I now wanted to get back to basics a bit more with the original mission I had devised with these hikes, to connect all of them.
For the most part, all of the hikes have always connected with a previous hike somehow, but I’d often get a little ahead of myself and post something just out of reach that did not yet connect, knowing that it would soon. At some point I went too overboard with that and had so many out there it was literally making me crazy. I had to connect these pieces and feel that physical connection to the ground.
I had recently connected the last missing piece between Shamokin and Sunbury PA, which left only hikes I’d done in Hancock NY and Gettysburg left to connect.
I started planning this hike months ago. I searched from several different angles on how I could connect Gettysburg with with everything else I had done. Nothing was really coming up looking good.
The first way I looked at was old rail corridors from the Northern Central Railroad we had hiked into Maryland from York PA. At Hanover Junction, a line went west to Hanover, from which point I could head on other tracks to Gettysburg. This however looked like at least two hikes worth of stuff, and almost the entire line to Hanover would be inaccessible or farmed out of existence. I still liked the idea because it was the route of the train President Lincoln took when he made the Gettysburg Address, but it just didn’t look great.
I then started looking at routes from my Appalachian Trail trips at South Mountain in Michaux State Forest. This was looking more promising, though the only reasonable routes looked to be long road walk sections. I came up with the Cold Spring Road area idea first, and also looked at one to the south, but the Cold Spring route seemed to make the quickest connection. The back roads looked as though they’d be pretty, so I opted to explore the route further.
I finally came up with a route that I’d liked, from Snowy Mountain where I’d hiked with Jillane somewhat recently, heading east to the western side of Gettysburg National Military Park, where one of the towers is overlooking the Eisenhower Farm. I chose that for a meeting point, a good point that everyone could enjoy at the end as well as beginning.
We could then shuttle to the beginning and utilize the abandoned Snowy Mountain Fire Tower I’d really liked on the last trip out there.
Jillane and I stayed over the night before at the Day’s Inn, and had a good, big dinner.
We met at the tower and shuttled in Jillane’s and Diane’s cars to Snowy Mountain Road, at the four way intersection with Swift Run Road, Rothrock Road, and Currans Road. I’m not really sure on the name of that last road, but that’s just what Google calls it. Some maps call it Chimney Rocks Road.
We parked at the intersection and headed along the road, gated off to all but pedestrian traffic, and followed it slightly up hill to the tower site.
Euin and James on the tower
It was terribly foggy at the start of the hike, so unfortunately there was no view at all from the tower, but we went up it anyway.
This is one of the sketchiest fire towers I’d ever been to because of how it rocks back and forth, and because the stairway on it does not remain within the frame of the tower. The final flight of stairs before the top goes to the outside of the tower and hugs the outside. It just doesn’t look safe. Furthermore, the tower is made of a galvanized looking angle iron that just doesn’t seem beefy enough to hold a good amount. Most of the state fire towers I go up are much more solid, and I can’t think of any that used galvanized material. Most are harder metal, and painted, typically red and white or something.
We headed down from the tower, and Grant did some hanging exercises from it, then followed along the woods road heading east. When we came to the unmarked side trail to the left, which crosses the Appalachian Trail, we turned.
Red Trail on north side of Snowy Mountain
Jillane and I had camped at the AT intersection here over the Summer on the short backpack we did to the Maryland line.
This time, we followed the connecting trail down hill to the north, to another woods road trail that also breaks off of Snowy Mountain Road, near the town of South Mountain. We turned right on this woods road trail heading to the east.
Diane had her official Appalachian Trail and vicinity map, which is somewhat newer than mine, but it’s still missing so much. It doesn’t show nearly all of the trails, including official marked ones we followed, and where it does show them it’s missing a lot of other stuff. The first thing missing on the trail we followed to the right was where it joined another woods road from the left. We just had to assume and follow the consistent red blazes along the way.
We kept on the Red Trail across a gas pipeline right of way, and I was planning originally on following that. Had we followed it, there would be a lot of ups and downs as well as probably a lot of swampy lands. Looking at the map, I figured we’d make better time just staying on the trail to the south and making our way back up.
We stayed on the trail, which soon came close to Old Forge Road. It then turned right and paralleled it heading south. I had been in touch with Gary via phone, though service was spotty, and figured he could somehow catch us on the road. When we came to where the Red Trail crossed the road, there was fortunately a parking lot, and it worked out perfectly with timing for Gary to meet us.
This was one of those awesome chance meetings that doesn’t happen all that often.
Gary is an old friend from when I worked at Wal Mart in Mansfield, who I hadn’t seen in at least twelve years.
The group in 2003
Gary had recently found me on Facebook, and was tagging himself in the old hike photos.
I put up a status the night before that we’d be hiking in Gettysburg the next day, and although Gary had a late shift, he was going to try to meet up with us, since he’s not so far away (a Maryland State Trooper).
Timing was pretty perfect that he was able to show up very shortly after we got to the road. And so we got to spend a lot of time catching up on old Wal Mart memories. He knew just about everyone in the store, because even though he was in Lawn and Garden (at the time I was an “Inventory Control Specialist”), he was taught just about everything in the store from register to inventory, unloading, stocking, he’d be sent just about anywhere help was needed, and that’s how we met.
When he tried his hand at the hikes, he was the most energetic of the group, where even at the twenty fourth mile, he was hooting and hollering and taking off running ahead of the rest of the group, who were ready to kill him for his enthusiasm.
He didn’t have the same gusto on this particular hike, but handled the mileage with seemingly no problem!
Along the Red Trail
We looked around the parking lot briefly and found the red trail rather easily. It headed up hill, and then soon picked up the abandoned earlier route of Old Forge Road, which took a huge switchback that the current road does not. It had some impressive stone work holding up the side walls of the road.
When the old road came back to the current road, the trail turned down hill steadily to reach the Antietam Creek, which I’d been along before on the Appalachian Trail. This was quite a lovely section with a picnic bench and a nice foot bridge.
Red Trail crossing Antietam Creek
On the other side, the trail picked up an old woods road and began to follow it up hill to the left. The climb was steady but pretty easy.
At some point, the red blazes turned to the left although the main woods road continued straight. I figured it best to follow the red trail because it was actually sort of shown on the map.
The trail went slightly down hill before climbing again, and then passed by a pretty cool open boulder field, probably one caused by the heaving associated with rapid freezing and thawing, maybe due to past glaciation, or otherwise because of underground movement of water.
Boulder field on Red Trail
The trail took us up hill gradually from here, past yet another boulder field, but not close enough to get a good look, then leveled off as it reached another more open old roadway. I at first thought this might be High Rock Road, the next road I was planning to reach.
Ant Hill
We turned left on the road at first, thinking that it might be the right way, but I watched the GPS closely, and saw that it was taking us the wrong direction, so we turned back.
We passed a very large couple of ant hills along the way back, and we reached High Rock Road very quickly.
High Rock Road Wasn’t too much a drag to walk because it was dirt. It had a really really soft surface, but hardly any cars passed us the entire time we were on it. We simply followed that road to the north.
I had wanted to head to the right, and there was an opportunity on another red trail, but I wasn’t sure it would go through, and I didn’t want to chance adding a ton of extra mileage on if we didn’t need to. I wish now that I’d taken it because we found out it would have gone through.
There is really no good map of Michaux State Forest that shows all of these trails. They are marked, official routes, but none of the official maps include them.
We continued to the intersection with Cold Spring Road and turned right, at a sharp bend in the road. When we got to the gas line right of way, we turned right to cut a corner and then re-emerged on Cold Spring Road. Around this time we could see other trails coming out of the woods on the right, which would have been great to walk had I known we could hae cut this corner. Oh well.
Cold Spring Road orchards
The road continued down hill through light residential areas and through some woods. It then opened up into a lovely orchard area on some rolling hillsides. The whole area was well manicured, and many of the trees were still holding apples!
Amazingly, some of thise apples were still good to eat as well. No one seemed to care because they were all going to waste by this time of year.
It made the whole day seem kind of strange. It was hot; seventy something degrees only a few days from New Years, and we were picking apples. It felt like a Spring day more than a Winter one.
We stopped for a break at Mt. Carmel Road intersection before moving on. All of the fog from the morning had dissipated by this time and the temperature was getting warmer.
The road continued to go up and down some pleasant hills among the nurseries as we continued to the east. It was actually a great road to walk.
Along Cold Spring Road
After the last of the orchards, the road headed into the woods again, and had one more short up hill section. At the top, a spring was on the right side of the road, walled in a bit. This was the head waters of the Rattling Run, a creek that would grow in size as we continued to walk down hill.
Pond on Cold Springs Road.
The road weaved around quite a lot as we headed down hill. There were other springs that fed into the grownig Rattling Run along the way. I figure these springs must be the ones that the road takes it’s name for.
At one point, the main run went underneath the road by way of a giant pipe. I decided to try to climb through it, but it went from being wide to too small on my side to fit through, so I came out. On the other side, it was interesting that the level of the creek was actually higher than the level of the road for a bit. We walked on down hill and soon the woods opened up into farm lands. A deer on the left side watched us closely, but remained only maybe twenty feet away, watching us for a while before running off.
Along Cold Springs Road
On the left side of the road was a small dam structure that apparently must feed the pond just beyond. It was a lovely little spot.
The road continued down hill from here through farm lands, with some lovely old houses and views across the valley. We passed by a really pretty old stone house with a sitting area on the roof top, then crossed over the active railroad tracks out of Gettysburg. Just beyond here, we cross the creek again on a road bridge, and then crossed over Carrolls Tract Road, a busier and larger road. Cold Spring Road continued on the other side, but only smaller and lesser used.
Cold Spring Road leaving South Mountain area
We crossed over and climbed another smaller hill on the rod passing fields full of cows. Most of them were afraid of us, and one somewhat curious one moved a bit closer, but not close enough to pet it.
We headed through another section of woods, then crossed Muddy Run on another bridge.
After the crest of the next hill, we descended to the end of Cold Spring Road at Rt 116, Fairfield Road.
Knorr Road
The next part to me was the crappiest part of the hike. The road was just too busy to enjoy, and we had to stay way off to the side.
There were still some really nice bits, for those of us trying to notice. One was the Lower Marsh Creek Church, a Presbyterian Church erected in 1790, off the road to the left.
We really didn’t have all that long to go on the road before our next right turn, on Knorr Road. This road weaved around and would take us back toward where we were parked in Gettysburg National Military Park. Jillane waited behind to catch up later, and the rest of us continued on the road ahead.
We went around some nice bends, and passed a couple more old buildings from the 1700s before the road changed names to Scott Road at a ninety degree bend.
Sunset on Scott Road
I was way ahead of the rest of the group by Scott Road, and they all cut the corner across the field to catch me. The sun was setting as we were at the highest level on Scott Road, and I really wanted to make it to Sach’s Covered Bridge before dark.
Grant’s father came to pick him on on this section of road, only a short distance from the end.
Looming clouds
There were also foreboding clouds looming over the fields as we walked by.
In the morning, I saw a forecast that showed only forty some percent chance of precipitation before the hike was to end, but Euin checked it again in this area and it had changed to ninety percent. We had to keep on moving or we’d get soaked.
The road soon closely paralleled Marsh Creek in a pretty little section, and everyone was having conversations about their favorite songs as I recall. It didn’t take long before we reached Pumping Station Road. I didn’t recall this alignment on the maps, but to get to the covered bridge we had to continue straight.
Sach's Covered Bridge
Sach’s Covered Bridge is considered by many to be the “most historic” covered bridge in Pennsylvania.
Also known as “Sauck’s” Covered Bridge, as well as Waterworks Covered Bridge, is described to be a Town Truss covered bridge.
Sach's Covered Bridge
Town Truss bridges are supposed to be sort of like a lattice style frame, of which Sach’s Bridge did have characteristics of, but it also had a beefier truss in the inside that I saw, which would be more of a Queen Truss style bridge.
Whatever the case, it was a lovely bridge.
The bridge was constructed in 1854, and it’s historic claim is that Brigades of Union Army troops crossed the bridge on July 1, 1863, during the Battle of Gettysburg, and that the Majority of Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army retreated over it following the battle. The bridge was given the designation of “Most Historic Covered Bridge in Pennsylvania” in 1938.
Sach's Covered Bridge.
Once through the bridge, I was determined to go for a swim. It’s not often we’ll have a seventy degree day in December, especially after Christmas. This would be the latest time in the year I’d ever gone swimming, so I had to go for it.
The water really wasn’t all that cold to me, and it felt great at the time. I don’t recall getting cold afterward either, and we’d get stuck walking in some rain anyway.
Late December swim
After my enjoyable swim, we continued along old Waterworks Road.
The covered bridge and road to that point was open to pedestrians only. The bridge was nearly replaced at some point in the sixties because it needed repairs, but rather than undermine the historic character of it, it was decided to make it pedestrian only.
We headed along the creek on the road a short distance and then reached a scenic arced dam. This was the waterworks area where most of Gettysburg had gotten it’s water. There are apparently still wells at the site as well.
Marsh Creek view
It was getting darker, otherwise I’d have probably tried to walk across the top of this scenic dam. We instead continued on. I texted Jillane the turn we would be making to get her to the cars more quickly.
We headed further down the road, came to an intersection past some houses, then passed another historic former civil war hospital.
Dam on Waterworks Road
Another road for vehicle access went to the north, and we continued on the soon abandoned Waterworks Road again to the crossing of the Willoughby Run.
The bridge here was built in 1886 and named for John Eisenhower much later, when President Eisenhower purchased the adjacent farm. The bridge itself is unique in that the struts are pipes on the trusses. Few examples of such exist.
John Eisenhower Bridge
I assume the bridge was named after the son of Dwight D. Eisenhower who purchased the adjacent farm in 1950. Eisenhower donated the property to the National Park Service in 1967. John Eisenhower was an Army officer and later a Military Historian.
We crossed the bridge and turned left, which took us back to the Pumping Station Road where we turned right. It had already started raining when we passed the dam, but it wasn’t too heavy yet.
Sunset from the tower
We hurried along the road heading up hill. We could see the outline of the tower in Gettysburg National Military Park near the intersection with Confederate Drive, where we were parked.
We had to stay on the road although it connected just barely to the north of the tower, then we turned right on the parallel trail and followed it to our end point. I hurriedly ran to the tower and all the way to the very top to try to get a good sunset photo before it was gone.
There wasn’t a lot to see, the the camera I had recently gotten is not as good as the previous one I was using, as many photos end up blurry and the night shots are crap.
Everyone soon caught up, but no one came up the tower with me.
There was a roof on the thing, so I didn’t notice that it started pouring down rain heavily while I was up there until it was audible. I then headed down to catch the rest of the group. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to everyone, as I jumped into James’ car. I couldn’t get a hold of Jillane, and just hoped she made her way to the covered bridge. It started pouring really heavily, so we headed out to look for her, and she was in fact in the bridge.
We probably covered about twenty miles from the South Mountain area to Gettysburg, and finally had connected one of the last pieces of stuff I’d done that remained unconnected. Only one more remains, up in Hancock NY, and I already have a hike scheduled working toward connecting with it. This one though, was the one I stressed out most over.
The accomplishment hasn’t quite set in yet, and there are so many more exciting things coming up very very quickly. I also ended up getting very sick after this hike, from night in Gettysburg through the entire remainder of the week. It’s been pretty difficult to focus on anything...but I’m sure I’ll have plenty to say in the near future!
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