Hike #986; Blue Mountain; State Game Lands 60 to Pine Grove

Hike #986; Blue Mountain; State Game Lands 60 to Pine Grove

11/15/16 State Game Lands 60, Blue Mountain, and Pine Grove with Pete G. Wilcox, James Quinn, Jennifer Berndt, Russell Lord Byron Rapp, Timothy Kovich, James De Lotto, Carolyn Gockel Gordon, Jennifer Tull, Jim Mathews (Mr. Buckett), and Eric Pace

Our next hike would be a point to point, almost loop, in the vicinity of Pine Grove PA.
I’d done some hikes in the area before. We had several on the series to cover the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania, and we also did a series to trace much of the Schuykill and Susquehanna Branch of the Reading Railroad, which paralleled Blue Mountain on which the AT sits to the north.

Little Swatara Creek

A lot of my hikes are pre-planned several in advance. In the case of the Appalachian Trail, I tried figuring out loops and point to point trips as far back more than fifteen years ago. When it came time to do that section, we just did it. Still, sometimes things don’t go as planned, and we have to make amendments. Such was the case with this section of the Appalachian Trail between Round Head and Rt 645.
Back in early 2010 it must have been, we had a hike that was intended to end at 645, but the snow on the ground that day caused me to change the route of the hike and make my intended point to point a loop. When it came time for the next AT hikes, I skipped to the next one, because I’d already connected the hikes by way of the parallel railroad bed. The AT section was less important to me, and so I didn’t do it.
Now, this section between Showers Steps Vista on Round Head and Rt 501 remains one of only a couple of tiny pieces of the AT I have never walked (I’m also missing a very short piece in Eckville, maybe a mile, and the road walk section through Duncannon I walked a parallel route).

Little Swatara Creek

We met in the morning at the Turkey Hill store in Pine Grove. We then moved cars to our end point, which would be an unsigned ball field lot to the north of town, along where the old Reading Railroad bed used to be, at a local fire department on Tulpehocken Street.
Once we had everyone together, we all piled into James’ big car to get to our starting area, State Game Lands #160 on Rock Road.
I’d hiked these game lands before, but farther inland. The Reading Railroad branch we had followed previously passes through. I even have a photo I took of it posted on the panoramio images on google.
This time, we would connect with the route we did that day, climb to the AT, follow the sections I’d been missing and more, and then come down when we finished to Pine Grove and look for Union Canal remnants.
Lots of people always sign up for hikes like this, just because it’s labeled “Appalachian Trail”. This a good section, but there are many hikes I’ve done on the AT that are mediocre compared to hikes on other trails, and people skim by them. We actually had less show up than signed up, but that’s typical.

Little Swatara Creek

When we got to the parking area, Delotto noticed his phone was missing, so James took him back to find it. They’d meet up with us on the Rock Road section just ahead, and the rest of us would buy them some time by following the paths within the state game lands.
We followed the trail that headed down hill slightly into the somewhat overgrown fields. It was surprisingly well mowed. We took the first right which skirted around the north side of the field to the end of the game lands, turned left, and then continued back in the direction we’d come from, only along the edge of the Little Swatara Creek. It was really beautiful.
We continued along the trail following the creek, passed the connecting trail to the parking area followed by another going the same way, and then reached the end of the mowed stuff. There was a slightly grown over field with an animal path along the side, so we followed that staying close to the edge of the Little Swatara Creek.
We soon entered woods and had to bushwhack a little bit, but it wasn’t long before it was more open and walkable. We continued on the shore for a while, and passed a vehicle ford site over the creek. We passed it, and the route got a bit easier by way of path and the road itself. Eventually, the road went up hill toward Rock Road, and we climbed a bit further along the creek until we cane to private land. We then cut to the left to make our way to the road.
We should have stayed going straight along the creek because it turned out to be a mowed area with no houses on it, and would have been easy to reach the road. Instead, we skirted a wetland, carefully stepping as not to sink. We then reached the outflow from under the road at a giant pipe. Tim decided to go through it, which admittedly looked fun but I didn’t want to mess up my nice green suit so early on.

Lovely barn on Rock Road

I was wearing an olive green two pieces I’d gotten at Family Thrift while shopping with Jillane. I was wearing “hideous” clothing, and she wanted to go to dinner at a nice restaurant nearby off of 25th Street, so I purchased the suit, as well as a tie, shirt, and I think even shoes for about ten bucks, and changed into it right when I b0ught it. It’s probably the nicest green suit I own.
We turned right on Rock Road and continued walking to the east. Soon, Delotto pulled up in his car. Fortunately, he found the phone with no problem (and a good thing because he said it was under a vehicle tire!). I recommended he go back and park at the lot, and we’d wait for him to catch up, but he wanted to try going ahead to see if he could find something simply on our route. I doubted he would find anything, but of course he found a perfect spot, right along where we were walking by the corner of Rock Road and Covered Bridge Road.
Rock Road was lined with some beautiful old barns and an old farm house with a giant tree out front. We made the right on Covered Bridge Road, which led almost immediately to Zimmerman Covered Bridge.

Group shot at Zimmerman Bridge

The Zimmerman Bridge is a rather short one, only just over fifty feet long, spanning the Little Swatara Creek. It’s a typical Burr Arch Truss design, built in 1880. The builder of this one is apparently unknown, but it’s close to the Rock Covered Bridge which is only a mile away, so could be similar. We had visited that bridge on a previous hike.

Zimmerman Bridge

We passed through the bridge, then continued to the south. We had followed part of this road ahead on a previous hike focusing on hiking the Schuykill and Susquehanna Branch of the Reading, but we didn’t visit the covered bridge. We had come from another intersection we were about to pass from the east. We intersected our previous route, and then crossed the old railroad bed, which is on private land on both sides of the road. We then continued up Covered Bridge Road to a left turn at a fork, then just barely up hill further to a right turn on Trophy Road.
I was pretty far ahead talking to Pete, and Carolyn and Jenny were ahead of me. The others ended up making a wrong turn, or rather, not turn at all and continued on the road. James went back to tell them to turn onto Trophy Road when they didn’t look over as I called them.
There were a mess of barking dogs along the road by the intersection that might have made it hard to hear over.

Along the woods road

Trophy Road is a very nice dirt road, and we rejoined at a tiny bridge over a tributary. We then continued on the dirt road as it began to make a gradual ascent up the north side of Blue Mountain. There were a few homes along it, but all of them disappeared as the road entered State Game Lands. The AT maps show this in some areas as “Rock Road Trail”, and another road as “Pilger Ruh Road”.
I neglected to bring my AT map or guide book for this one, and it really doesn’t matter much anyway because they can be rather grossly inaccurate. There is a mess of woods roads up there, and we’d explored several to the east including Wert’s Path on a previous hike. They can be incredibly confusing.

Badly washed out old road

We followed Trophy Road up a steep ascent, and then came to a private woods road to the left. I couldn’t be sure if this was the intended route of Rock Road Trail at the time or not. It turns out it was probably not the way, but served us better anyway. We turned left to follow the woods road up hill. It was an easy incline along a dry wash, and seemed to end at an old camp clearing, where there was the foundation of a small block building. The road did continue from there, but was no longer accessible to vehicle (most walkers would not consider this “accessible”).
The old road was completely washed out. It was at one point over six feet deep down below the grade of the road. There was a dry wash to the left of the road between which was a faint path. The dry wash was certainly the route the water would have used when this road was still a feasible travel option.

View we first reached, but didn't realize was actually the starting point of the Kessel Trail.

We continued up hill on the road, which became more vague when the stream wash turned away. I was still able to locate the route pretty easily, and the grade got much more gentle. We soon reached a woods road, which I believe is likely the one shown on some maps as Pilger Ruh Road. The name “Pilger Ruh” is from the original settlers, and means “Pilgrim’s Rest”. There is a spring near Rt 501 that is given the same name.
After a short bit of hiking the road to the right, we came to the Appalachian Trail crossing. Here, we turned left, following the trail northbound. I had only done the trail as far as the intersection with Wert’s Path near Round Head, and so my plan was to hike this missing section as well as the connecting Kessel Trail.
“Kessel” is another old PA Dutch word meaning “Kettle”. The name was applied to a valley associated with the doubling gap of the Blue Mountain by Round Head. These doubling gaps are always very interesting features. There are not many closer to my home, as the Kittatinny Ridge remains pretty straightforward everywhere except for at Mt. Mohican and Upper Yards Creek Reservoir. The first doubling gap in Pennsylvania is where Blue Mountain becomes Kittatinny Mountain. It’s really just the same ridge for the most part, but the two sections touch each other and are known as the Big Offset and Little Offset. There is another one of these strange ridge spots at Hawk Mountain and The Pinnacle. Round Head is much lesser known, and not nearly as popular, but still quite awesome. The Kessel Trail went down into the “Kettle” between the two bits of the ridge and made for a loop option.

View on Blue Mountain near the Kessel

I wanted to use this loop as part of the hike, and I figured we would turn right on Kessel Trail when we got to the intersection, then return on the AT. I figured that way we would get most of the climbing out of the way and the rest of the hike will seem easier.
We followed the AT as it reached the edge of the Blue Mountain. We could see across to Round Head, as well as out to the countryside at a couple of spots, but the best one was a talus slope open area of loose talus rock. Everyone stopped to take in the view, but I knew we’d be coming back to this spot, so I told everyone to continue on.

Kessel View

Unfortunately, when I told them we’d be coming back to the spot, they didn’t realize I meant in a couple of hours. I got a call a bit later and had to tell them to try to catch up!
I got really far ahead of the group looking for the Kessel Trail. I didn’t see anything of it. In fact, I didn’t even see a sign of Wert’s Path, which I followed on the previous hike in the area. I wondered if the AT could have been rerouted and my guide was just too far out of date. I had read that somewhat recently, so I didn’t figure it’d be that off.
I knew I’d passed both intersections when I got to the Kessel Overlook. This is an overlook directly into the Kessel from a side path on the AT, at a lovely talus slope. I rejoined several of the others here and hung out a bit. We then moved on to Round Head at the Showers Steps Vista.

View on Round Head at SHowers Steps Vista

This was not exactly what I was intending, but it worked out well. We had our lunch break at the vista, and it allowed for the others to catch up while we enjoyed the view, and they still got time to relax as well.

Showers Steps

We could see out to a round hill that jutted from the ground in the middle of nowhere, to the Blue Mountain beyond, where we would be heading all the way out beyond Swatara Gap was clearly visible. There was also a secondary ridge to the left, or south, which is partially owned by state game lands. There’s so much more to explore.
From here, we had reached the start of the trail through The Kessel. The Showers Steps Trail descends directly from the overlook on Round Head, heading down the mountain extremely steeply by way of a series of five hundred stone steps.
There is an amazing little bit of history associated with the steps dating back to the first days of the Appalachian Trail and beyond. The area of Round Head was originally known as “Rund Kopf”, and was a beloved place of a man by the name of Lloyd Showers. When the Appalachian Trail was first being cleared and marked, Mr. Showers was heartbroken that the trail did not reach Round Head.

Showers Steps

Determined to amend the situation, Mr. Showers took it upon himself to construct a new trail with this five hundred stone steps to make for a connection to Round Head with it’s sweeping valley views.
The section of the Appalachian Trail through the area was built by the Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club, and is still maintained by that same group. Reading accounts and history on Showers Steps, many an angry hiker visited the site with disappointment, and somehow either lost the trail or considered it not to be proper “steps”. Of course, to anyone hiking the AT, this would have seemed maybe a bit nightmarish, but it was awesome.

Remarkable Showers Steps

The steps were rough. Many of them had degraded and fallen from their intended places, but the route was more than just walkable. It was steep, but very awesome, and gave us a few more views 0ut to the valley.

Plaque at the base of Showers Steps

Lloyd Showers had left in his will that his steps be maintained in perpetuity, and some say the route should be abandoned because they have outlived their purpose, but I wholeheartedly disagree.
The steps are still outstanding, and with a connection to Rt 501 below it provides alternate access to the AT at the already over crowded parking area at the top.
Some of these die hard AT guys can really come across as bullies, imposing extremely stringent “Leave No Trace” ideals to a point that it’s incredibly annoying. It’s these people that have looked at my photos from Delaware Water Gap on line and said they would skip this portion of trail because too much civilization can be seen.

AT symbol put into the pointing of the mortar!

One guy recently got into it with me on line because I said I burned garbage I’d found at a camp site. He insisted that I pack out all of the trash even though I was backpacking and carrying forty pounds already. There is no arguing the fact that the AT has become a camping party destination used by locals just about anywhere you go, and it’s simply not feasible to carry out that much trash, especially while backpacking. The ass hole then went on to tell me I shouldn’t be carrying forty pounds, and what I should be carrying.

Abandoned Kessel Trail

It was slow going heading down Showers Steps, but absolutely beautiful. It was definitely worth it.
At the base was a plaque for Showers Steps, erected by Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club in 1929. The trail was clear beyond heading to Rt 501, but I could not see the Kessel Trail that was still on my map dated 2010 at home.
We took a break there, and Pete spotted that the mortar on the edge of the plaque base had “AT” put into the pointing, which is pretty cool.
While looking around, I spotted a faint blue blaze on a tree next to the plaque, and barely an animal trail going into the woods behind it. I decided to have a closer look, and it turned out to be the Kessel Trail. It’s been unmaintained a long time.
We continued on this trail as best we could. I got ahead of everyone trying to follow the faint blue blazes, which were such a light blue they could no longer easily be seen. Others had the trees grown around them so much that they were large and spread out. It’s my opinion that the trail was probably already abandoned by 2010 when the map I purchased was printed, just neglected to be removed.
I lost the blazing and had to bushwhack a little bit, and soon reached a sort of woods road. I turned left on it, and another path went ot the right a bit. I figured this must have been the trail route. There were “no trespassing” signs along the way, which I figure might have been put over the blue blazes. The rest of the group went the wrong way again, and I had to call to them to come back and meet me.
When I could see them all again, I made my way further on. I finally found another blaze after a long stretch with none after a couple of down trees and an end to the heavy undergrowth.

Abandoned Kessel Trail

It was very hard to keep following the trail. I had to watch very closely for the next blazes at all times, and zig zag to make sure I was on it. There really was no grading to this trail, just paint marks on trees that have long since faded. Some of the paint blazes had been painted out with a brownish or greyish colored paint, and so I was also looking for the cover up blazes. The route eventually led us to a difficult climb up a talus slope...but I thought it was awesome.

View on Kessel Trail

Everyone sort of found their own route up the talus slope, but Pete and I pretty much followed the traditional route of the trail up in front of everyone else. It didn’t take too long and we were back to the AT above.

The AT joined at one of the little view points we had passed before, looking directly across the Kessel. I looked more closely, and I could see the end of trail blaze on a tree that would be incredibly easy to miss.
We took a much needed break at this little overlook after the crazy climb and bushwhack. I wasn’t intending for anything quite so arduous on this hike.
We moved on along the AT, and it soon turned away from the edge of the ridge, still heading to the west. We crossed over the woods road we had joined on, and continued through rocky woods heading toward Rt 501.

Rt 501 shelter

This section seemed particularly long. The AT actually parallels Rt 501 for quite a long time, because the road takes a gradual ascent of the ridge and crosses over with as gentle a grade.
Mr. Buckett and Eric were to meet up with us at Rt 501, and so we saw this as an opportunity to check out the Rt 501 shelter. I’d never been to this one before, and I try to make it a point to visit all of the shelters. It would give Mr. Buckett a chance to catch up with us, because we accidentally sent him to the wrong road crossing because google maps was not showing us the numbers, only the names of roads.

Rt 501 Shelter

The trail led to the north from right at the Rt 501 crossing. We turned right and followed it over a crest of the ridge, then over a driveway, and surprisingly found a fully enclosed little lodge!
There were enough bunks to sleep probably twelve or so people, as well as a table, coolers, a skylight, and plenty of other stuff. This is without a doubt the nicest Appalachian Trail shelter I’ve ever seen.
We had a very nice break here, and before leaving the care taker, who lives in an adjacent house, came out and said hello to us. He directed us to refill our water bottles using a spigot on the side of the house, and told us more about the area.

Rt 510 shelter

He told us that the Kessel Trail had in fact been closed by the land owner there for quite some time, and that the maps were not made to reflect that change. He was also cool enough to say “Well...I won’t say nothin’!”
He belonged to the Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club, and told us a little about them, about the other trails in the area that make for loops with the AT, and about how this was the nicest shelter on the entire AT. He also invited us to come back and spend the night, but to start a couple of roads down as per the rules for it.
He went on to tell us that the shelter was originally owned by a potter, and that where the skylight is now is where he used to fire his pots.

Kimmel Lookout

We said goodbye and walked the trail back to the AT. It was there we met up with Eric first, and Mr. Buckett was soon to emerge from the trail to the north of us. Together, we crossed the road and continued down to the amazing Kimmel Lookout.

Hang Glider View

The trail was a mob scene here. The parking area was completely filled up it seemed, and there were people everywhere. A great many of those walking through were in no shape to be hiking at all. I heard voices saying “Are we on the Appalachian Trail?” and other stuff. There were also a lot of Pennsylvania Dutch folks with bonnets and modest but nice dress. They were very friendly and asked us where we were going. We didn’t hang out for long at Kimmel Lookout because there were so many people around, so we continued on to Hang Glider View. That one had even more people at it than Kimmel Lookout, so we again continued on.

Fisher Overlook

I had wanted to get my group photo at one of these overlooks, but there were just too many people around, so we continued on with hopes that the last overlook, Fisher Overlook, would be less crowded.
That paid off, because there was no one that ventured as far as the third vista. We got there as the lighting was quite perfect for the view, but not quite as good for people.

The group at Fisher Overlook

The AT was actually very easy in this section. Everything from Fisher on to Rt 645 was pretty soft surface, like maybe it was a woods road at some time or something. Whatever the case, it was really a good and relaxing last legt of the AT for the hike.

Rt 645

From here, my plan was to turn right on Rt 645. I had already done the AT to the west of here. In fact, I’d already done everything from here to 50, but only by myself. On the previous AT trip, when I had made it a loop in 2010, our friend Amish Paul went ahead of the group and missed the rest of the group turning. We then went to the end point and I jogged the entire stretch from Rt 645 to 501 to find him. I found him just a little ways east of 501 that time. It was nice to actually see the stretch in the daylight!
We headed down 645, which was far less busy than Rt 501, but still a little more than I’d have wanted. We were careful and kept to the side heading north toward Pine Grove.

Goat friend

As we were walking 645 and got away from the State Game Lands, we passed a private property with a black and white goat just up a slope. It turned out to be incredibly friendly, and ie ran right on down to greet all of us. Much of the group was already ahead and waiting, but we had a problem with this little goat carelessly running back and forth against the road. The cars were coming around the corner far too fast, and we had to do something. The only choice was to try to coerce it up the hill again. We tried coaxing it up, but it would just come back down again and again. One lady came by and came really close to hitting it. I grabbed the goat by the horns and Delotto tried to slow people down. He then went up on the hill and called the goat to him, and it fortunately went.
He couldn’t come back down and join us, the goat would just follow him, so he started leading it back toward the house. Every time he tried to turn away, the damn goat would just keep following. I think the land owners must have come out and took care of the situation, because from afar I saw Delotto give a wave as he walked toward us, this time without a goat.Super

Super moon rise at Pine Grove

We continued walking 645 to the north, parallel with Swopes Valley Run. There was a crummy farm property to the right, with a camp fire going, and guys riding ATVs around while another guy graded something with a red tractor. The road sides were lined with signs reading “Trump”, never the blue “Trump/Pence” signs with the stars we saw everywhere else, but makeshift signs and plywood boards with spray painted “Trump”. Never in my life have I seen a campaign so one-sided in terms of roadside signage.
We continued walking into Pine Grove, and before we crossed over the Swatara Creek, the “super moon” began to rise. This was the biggest the moon is said to have appeared in I forget exactly how long, but we were going to get to see it.

Old Union Canal route west of Pine Grove

The only disappointment for me with this hike was that we would not be able to see all of the historic canal and railroad remnants I had intended walking into Pine Grove. The Union Canal was right along the opposite side of the bridge over Swatara Creek from us, and we turned off of the road to walk a stretch of where it used to be. The prism really was not visible at all except on the other side of the Pine Grove Fish and Game property. We cut off of the grass on the other side of that property onto Rt 443, and then walked the road to the north. Also in this area, the Schuykill and Susquehanna Branch of the Reading Railroad followed along the canal. It must have gone through the back parking lot of the Pine Grove Fish and Game property.

Bridge abutment that once carried Reading Railroad over Union Canal

We followed 443 to Peach Street. This was on or parallel with some of the old railroads. There was another branch of the Reading that went to the north, and Pete pulled out his phone to display an historic USGS map. We could easily see there how so many little branches went off everywhere. Apparently, there were many branches in this area. This branch was still the aforementioned main line, which was parallel with the road. We continued to follow it, and came to a single masonry bridge abutment. I had noticed there was a ditch to the right of us, and assumed that might have been the old Union Canal feeder. After researching, I now realize this was the bridge that carried the S&S Branch of the Reading over the Union Canal.

Union Canal

Just ahead, the Union Canal is still watered in a beautiful little municipal park. There was an old army tank displayed at the park entrance, and we crossed a green to reach the edge of the canal. We followed the watered route to the right.

Union Canal in Pine Grove

The Reading Railroad closely paralleled this old canal. To the north, both the Lorberry Branch and the Lebanon and Fremont Branch continued. The Schuykill and Susquehanna Branch went west and becomes Stony Valley Rail Trail in Saint Anthony’s Wilderness. Pete and I agreed we have a ton more exploring to do.
The Union Canal is actually incredibly interesting, and one of America’s earliest canals. Construction began on it in 1792 during the George Washington Administration! In fact, Washington himself turned the first shovel of dirt to dig the canal.
Several miles and about five locks were completed by 1793, but financial difficulties fell upon the canal, and the main route between the Schuykill and Susquehanna Rivers was not completed until 1828.

Union Canal

The original canal had 93 locks, and utilized the oldest transportation tunnel in America, which is south in Lebanon PA.
What we were walking was the Union Feeder Canal. This 22 mile route was completed in 1832, not only as a water supply for the main canal route, but to make connection to the coal which was necessary to the canal’s success.
There were a few years of prosperity on the Union Canal, but the same company also reserved the right ot build a railroad, and although their Lorberry Roadlroad started as a horse drawn simple line, it was later leased to other lines and was using locomotives by 1850. The canal could not keep up with the railroad, and closed in 1881.

old Reading Railroad crossing

We passed the north end of the watered pool that remained of the Union Canal, and continued to the north tracing it’s route rather closely on Spruce Street.
I stopped to answer nature’s call, and spotted a section of rails still intact in the pavement. This would have been the main Schuykill and Susquehanna Branch making it’s way west. It was probably used as a spur later than much of the rest of the line.
We continued walking and made a left turn into town. I’d have loved to have tried to trace more of the railroad lines through town and along the Swatara Creek, but there was nothing much we could really see.

In Pine Grove

We continued when we got to Tulpehocken Street to the north, and could sort of see where the railroad would have passed through business lots and such. It’s possible that the place we were parked was actually part of the old railroad as well.
We stopped for dinner at a place just north of where we finished, Buddy’s Log Cabin Inn, which had some delicious food. After the workout, we really needed it. It was also great to spend some more time with Eric and Mr. Buckett, who hadn’t been out with us in some time.
Every time we do another hike, there are only more places we find that we need to explore. Pete and I likely found a way we could do a loop railroad hike just to the north of Pine Grove using the Lorberry and other branches of the Reading Railroad.