Hike #1302; Mifflintown to Lewistown

Hike #1302; Mifflintown to Lewistown

2/29/20 Mifflintown to Lewistown with Kirk Rohn, Professor John DiFiore, Diane Reider, Daniel Trump, Peter Fleszar, and James De Lotto

Da group!

This next hike would be a point to point, the next in our 911memorialtrail series, in this area tracing the Juniata Division of the Pennsylvania Canal.

The Juniata

As on many of the previous ones, I have taken many liberties with the trail route. Often, the official route is nothing but a road walk for long distances, like the bit through Lebanon County and Harrisburg. There are good trail bits, which we did, but opted not to do the long road walk sections between points, because I felt it would ruin the group if I posted such boring, pointless stuff. Instead, we took the northern route as our through route through St.

The Juniata

Anthony’s Wilderness, and rather than their urban route, this was our excuse to explore the amazing Union Canal.
Somewhat similarly, the Juniata Valley had the historic Pennsylvania Canal. The designated trail route sometimes follows closely to this route, but other times it does not. I’ve decided to forego some of the road walk and follow the canal as closely as possible, so we are sometimes on the official trail, sometimes not.
This particular hike was one I stressed over for some time, changed plans multiple times, and ultimately decided to go for it and try to trace the canal.

911 Trail completed as of this hike

The reason for the stress was the Lewistown Narrows, a section of ridges and that reach the Juniata River at a narrow bend for a matter of over four miles to the east of Lewistown.

Former Schweyer Run aqueduct or weir site

It looked as though we would have no choice but to walk lanes of the four lane combined Rts 22 and 322. With a limited shoulder, I didn’t even know if we could pull it off.
The official trail route isn’t terrible, on the opposite side of the Juniata River which has some nice big slopes along it looking over the river valley. But that road, Hawstone Rd/Rt 333 has traffic, and it would be a lot of pavement walking without really much to see save for maybe two overlooks.

I re-scaled the hike to use this route, but then felt I was really missing out because there is a good section of intact towpath trail on the canal along the north side....but to do this, I would have to either find another way through or walk the highway it seemed.
I scaled another hike that would include exploring State Game Lands above, but that would be a lot of off trail, a lot of unexpected terrain, and would require another full day of hiking out in this area. I do want to see just about everything, but I also want to push forward with this series. It could be coming to a questionable end anyway, as we approach needing to get back out to Johnstown and then Great Allegheny Passage.

The new foot bridge

Once we reach Johnstown, it is four days walking down to the Great Allegheny Passage, and then hundreds of miles to Washington DC. The amount of driving is too insane to be doing in a single day, so they will have to be overnight trips, and not as many will want to attend those. I however really want to do it. I feel very young, but I’m not getting any younger, and there are just too many things I want to see while I can.

Former canal route

I eventually decided to post the hike with my questionable but preferred route, and figured if there was a lot of snow on the ground, we would do the alternate route on the Rt 333 south side. It felt like a logical approach.
I picked up Kirk and Professor John in Easton and we headed out to the meeting point in Lewistown, the Giant food store on Charles Street.
On the way, I set up a then and now compilation on the highway using a historic photo that seems about right.

Lewistown Narrows historic image

Dan Trump was finally back out with us from a hiatus since New Years Day, as well as Pete, one of the Mid State Trail supervisors, and Diane and DeLotto who joined late.

The new scene

We shuttled in my van back to Mifflintown. I had originally planned to start across the river in similarly named Mifflin, but chose instead to use on street parking near where we did last time, on Orange Street on the north side of town.

Former canal route

Mifflintown is on the east side, and simply Mifflin is on the west. Mifflin was originally known as Patterson, probably for the same Pattersons who started the forts just downstream from here. It was renamed for Thomas Mifflin who was the first Governor of Pennsylvania.
We walked down Front Street from the parking area to Bridge Street, and then headed to the right across the concrete foot bridge that spans the river here. If we were following the official trail route, we would cross here and continue on the other side, but this time we only walked across and back to take in the views of the river.

Historic bridge view

This used to be the site of an older bridge built in 1937, a nine panel rivet Parker through truss. Many are sad that the original bridge was not left and simply open to pedestrian use only.

Canal route

This bridge apparently replaced an older truss bridge on the site that dated back to at least 1910, but I can’t find much information on it other than one photo. It was probably a covered bridge or something before that, because there is a bridge shown on the 1877 maps of the area as well.
We crossed and came back, and had a nice view up through the town toward a church and the court house on the Mifflintown side.

Stone work on the hillside

This court house was completed in 1875, and replaced an earlier one built in 1833. That one was in use until 1873 when it was demolished in favor of the one that still stands today.
We turned to the right down Front Street to an access site down to the Juniata River. A grassy swath continues through town along the river where the canal used to go.
Schweyer Run flows into the river at this point, and as per maps, it used to feed the canal here. The maps don’t show an aqueduct or weir, so it must have just flowed in and had overflow spots nearby.

The old canal

We continued following the old canal route upstream. There were many old buildings up slope from it, with stone walls reaching down toward what would have been the edge of the canal.
The clearing went through what might have been someone’s lower yard, but we just continued on straight. Kirk held back to put some more layers on, because it was quite windy, and we waited up when we got to an area with undergrowth where no one would bother us.

The canal

A line of trees blocked where the canal became part of someone’s yard sort of area. It had a bunch of junk dumped in it, but the towpath was mowed ahead, the prism pretty clear, and a garage tent was erected further on the towpath. We opted to go up hill from here and follow the parallel William Penn Highway.

Along the old canal

We continued up the road a bit, and we could clearly see the old canal below us to the right. Soon, we came upon the Rt 22 Beer and Soda place and stopped in.
It was only 9:30 am, and the place officially opened at 10, but the owner was already there and let us in.
I was drawn right to the chocolate milk area, and they had some really high quality local stuff. I regret that I cannot remember the name of the brand, but it was quite good. Pennsylvania always has some of the best. Although I’d already bought a Gallickers brand at Sheetz on my way in, I had to get another. It was great.

A rarity

They also had the 12% abv Long Island Iced tea, which I’d gotten in this same series back when we were doing the Swatara Valley section. On that occasion, the next hike was also going to be a Long Island series hike, same as this time, so I got a four pack so I’d have one next week.
The owner was very friendly and appreciated our stopping by. We chatted with him about the canal, and about his own building. He had historic photos of it when it was still a gas station. He told us that this building and several other adjacent ones were once all owned by the same guy who now lives in a trailer a couple of doors down.

Abandoned

This area was quite depressed with several of the homes along the way vacant or abandoned. One of them was a large structure that resembled the lock houses on the Delaware and Hudson Canal. I could not find on any of the 1877 maps a lock in this area, but there is definitely one missing lock I have not accounted for as I’ve been doing research on this canal.
I know that further up, when we got to the park section where the canal is now a trail, we would find Lock #13. The last lock previous to that was on the second to last hike through Thompsontown, where the original Thompson tract contained Lock #7.

Vicinity of the old lock

I know there was a lock in farm land after that, and we visited one on the east side of Mexico. There was another just above Port Royal, and one more a bit north of where we were at this point before reaching Lock 13.

Old roadside spring?

If I were able to locate that missing lock, I could correctly identify all of the numbered locks between 7 and 13, but as of yet I have not been able to determine for sure where that missing one was. This spot was one that could have been it.
We continued on along the road past more abandoned houses. One had a pay phone on the front of it, which we all laugh about these days since we never see them anymore.

Lost Creek Aqueduct site

There was another house that was old and sat just above the canal that could also have been a lock house, and then a trailer park on the former canal site.

Old aqueduct site

We could pretty much always see the former canal route. Sometimes it was obliterated, sometimes we could see the towpath or berm side.
A little further on, there was an old beat up house with a metal roof that probably dated back to canal days, just a little south of Lost Creek. I think this just may have been a lock house.
There was a lock on the canal in this area south of Lost Creek, although I did not see any apparent remnants of it. It does appear to be in the correct location for the lock, so I know I was close.

The old canal

I double checked the historic aerials sites, and other aerial images with clear shots from 2003 and 2007 I think it was, and one of them shows that an area that might have been the canal and lock site was somewhat recently filled in. 1956 and 58 images show more of the canal holding water on the entire stretch we were walking, but not really anything showing where the missing lock might have been. The 1877 map certainly is missing some locks. The one in Mexico was shown on the inset, but not on the main township map.

Former canal route

Lock 13, similarly, was not shown on the Fermanagh Township map, so it would not be surprising that the lock is left off of the map.
I also went as far as to check the 1877 directory that named residents and their occupations. Surprisingly, I could find none that read “lock keeper”, although “lock house” is prominently labeled on the maps throughout the area and most doubled as stores. Perhaps as per census information, the lock keepers might have been labeled as store or inn keepers as to eliminate complication.

The old canal

We continued walking along the road, and passed an old stone wall on the right. It had a large arch built into it, which we assume might have been an old roadside spring from before the highway was widened to current size. This route would have been old Rt 22 and the old turnpike before that.

Lost Crek

In addition to the directory, I also read history from the atlas as written in 1877, which was quite humorous at times. It referred to “old fogies” who were not happy about when the turnpike came along about 1813, and how costly it was to drive up on it. Interestingly, the arrival of the canal drew insignificant opposition as per the atlas, and the excitement of its development could hardly be contained. It read that the arrival of the railroad quickened things more, but failed to bring about the same excitement as the canal did when it arrived in 1829.

The old canal

Soon, we crossed Lost Creek as we neared the settlement known as Cuba Mills.
The place name does not appear in the earlier maps of Juniata County, but there was certainly a settlement there. Even the school shown on the old maps still stands, a brick structure just upstream along the Lost Creek. I’m not sure what the settlement was called back then.
There was a path coming down to the creek from the west side, so Dan, Diane, and I headed down it first to have a look around. Of course, if the canal passed this way, it had to cross, and it’s big enough that it would have required an aqueduct.

Lost Creek Aqueduct site

We found just that a little further down. The west end of the aqueduct was almost gone, save for a few recognizable stones from the abutment, but the east side was in rather good shape, with curved wing walls similar to the ones we saw at previous aqueducts. We could clearly see where the wooden trunk would have crossed, and the people who live over there have wooden steps descending to the creek along it.
We climbed to the west side of it and could see the ivy covered towpath continuing through the woods toward people’s back yards, so we opted to head back to the road at this point.

The old canal route

Guante Café was right out near the end of this, and would be likely the only spot along the route for us to stop for a lunch break but no one was really hungry, so we just moved on.
After a short distance, the road came very close to the edge of the Juniata. At first, I thought the canal remained on the river side of the road, but I now know that it crossed for certain just around this point to the inland side.
We walked along and found remnants of the canal prism in a trailer park behind a little store called The Little Store. We walked it out to Quigley Lane, and continued on William Penn Highway west.

Lost Creek aqueduct remnants

Just ahead, we passed another business, and then reached the parking lot for The Bargain Barn. We did not know it at the time, but the canal went right through the parking lot of this.
We headed up into the barn itself to have a look around. It was basically a thrift store, which is hard to turn down.
I didn’t find much I absolutely could not live without, but I did opt to get a pair of black gloves for $2, since I neglected to bring any, and I wanted to hold a drink.

Canal towpath

We chatted inside with the proprietors of the store. There was an older lady and a pretty blonde who I think was her daughter. I asked them if they knew for sure where the canal was, and the lady said she was under the impression that it was on the other side of the road. The other girl knew next to nothing about it except that there was a historic site further up along the highway which we were heading to.
The older woman told us that she wished her father had been around to talk to us because he knew all of this stuff, but that it all died with him. It’s sad to hear that all of this knowledge is disappearing with time.

Dan in the canal

The blonde girl, after chatting for a bit, asked “Are you a teacher…because you know a lot of knowledge”, to which I had to restrain myself from laughing about. Pete pointed out the statement when we were heading out from there.
Perhaps they will end up seeing some of the posts on it, because I told them about Metrotrails.
We headed out and followed William Penn Highway west for a bit more, and crossed over Horning Run. Looking up stream to the right, where I assumed correctly the canal was, we could see some stone work that might have been the remains of a weir or aqueduct.

The Juniata

We continued along, and turned right on Arch Rock Road ahead to check out where the canal might have been. There was a big ditch on the other side, and so we followed it behind buildings parallel with the main road.

The canal

We reached a house on the other side, and there was a large watered basin in the back yard. I assumed this would have been the canal and began to photograph it. There were high walls where it had been quarried out behind it.
Across the street was the Midway Drive In Theatre, one of few such things left. It is still open seasonally, and the entrance looks original and in good repair.
Just past the house, the canal prism was very obvious on the land side of the road. A little beyond that, there was an old house with a stucco covered stone foundation, but a misleading newer section of cinder block in the front.

Rare drive in theatre

The canal would have gone through where the newer section was. I figure this could also have been a lock site possibly, but again I could find nothing of it.

The canal

Again, I know Lock 13 was coming up, but I don’t know where the missing numbered one is between it and 7. There did appear to be a rise in elevation, but maybe it was filled in.
We continued along the road, and houses were soon on the right. After that, we could see where the canal shifted to the river side of the road again. Sections of the prism were recognizable in yards at first, and then became much more obvious.

The old canal

There were little watered sections, and then a pond built right into it in someone’s yard. Just at the end of the pond, a long section of the canal appeared to be washed out into the river.

The canal visible to the left

The towpath just all of a sudden disappeared from the yards.
After the last house on the left, the towpath became very clear and obvious again along the river. The road moved closer to it, and eventually overtook it. We saw some stone work along the way that might have been some sort of structure, but can’t be sure.
It wasn’t very long in this stretch before we reached the Lewistown Narrows Canal Park. The towpath became obvious again on the left, and soon the lock itself, restored and in great shape, was just to the left of the road.

Lock 13 house

In 2008, PENNDOT and Federal Highway Administration completed the extensive repairs and restoration of the lock.

Lock 13 house now

The south walls were intact but the north had collapsed, and several feet of silt filled the thing. When the silt was removed, it was found that the original wooden base of the canal here was still in place, as well as the base of the miter gate lock. These were left in place and covered over for preservation.

Gate pocket on Lock 13 restored

I know there were a total of three locks within the Lewistown Narrows, and I figure this is the easternmost one. I’ve found a map showing one of the others, but I am not sure on the third.

Lock 13

Across from the lock was an old stone house built in 1860 as a quarters for iron miners coming down the Macedonia Run. In fact, the little settlement here once and other dwellings, and was known as Macedonia. The original lock house at the site was a double log dwelling, which probably doubled as a tavern. It is believed that the stone house probably served as lock house also from 1860 until the canal was abandoned following a flood here in 1889.
The Juniata Division was abandoned in stages. The first section, after being purchased by Pennsylvania Railroad in 1857, from Huntingdon to Hollidaysburg, was abandoned in 1879. The section from Huntingdon to Newport was abandoned after the Flood of 1889. The remaining bit of the division that remained in service up to Newport was closed in 1899.
The old house building had some extensive repairs done to it. It was apparently remodeled in the 1930s, and for a time was a completely abandoned shell of a building from the photos I can find.

On the canal

During the highway construction to upgrade 22 and 322, the lock house and lock were restored. I think Dan told me they used the building as an office during highway construction which lasted for year.
Pete also told me that PENNDOT had offered to surface out and create a trail all the way through the narrows, that Juniata County agreed, but Mifflin County said no to it.
DeLotto met up with us at the lock house here to finish the rest of the hike. This was really the last place to join other than a boat launch ahead.

Nice towpath section

There is about a mile and a half of good towpath trail ahead from this point, and beyond was the section I was very worried about.

Happy group on the trail

There was a sign even going into the cleared and maintained section that read “unimproved trail, continue at your own risk”.
The next piece of history was a big washout area that was the site of Waste Weir #10. There were 27 waste weirs, structures that allowed the canal to drain for maintenance and such, along the Juniata Division.
The section ahead was an absolutely beautiful foot path. It was only a narrow sort of foot path on what would have been a wide almost road route, but it was really a pleasant walk with beautiful river views. The canal prism sometimes held some water, and rip rap rock was still in place along the river side.

Lewistown Narrows canal

Soon, we emerged at the boat launch at the end of the trail section. We crossed the parking lot to the boat ramp right in time to watch a train go by on the former Pennsylvania Railroad on the other side. Like usual in this area, trains went by like every fifteen minutes or close to it.
We had a little break here, and then the tough part started.
There was an informal path continuing downstream from the boat launch, but really no evidence of the canal like there had been on the other side.

Dan is emulating a "Kenneth Lidman" pose

Just as we got into the heavier brush, we were hit by a mighty snow squall. It was very cold, but nothing was sticking to the ground. It just made the chill a little tougher to deal with. I was constantly switching from wearing my hat to not because of these winds.
We soon came to a culvert under Rt 22, which had segments to it that helped to fight against erosion. One of my plans was to go up through one of these and climb the mountain, but it was impossible this time without getting wet.

creek underpass

I didn’t want to do it anyway. I was in pretty high spirits, and I wanted to see all of the canal remnants I could.
The first section of high retaining wall holding back the highway showed up soon, but it wasn’t that hard to walk below it at all. There was a good level area, and it was somewhat clear enough. Dan found a yellow softball with his last name on it in there.
We continued along, and soon enough the canal towpath emerged from under the highway. It wasn’t perfectly clear, but it was great to see.

Dan found his ball

The stone rip rap walls were also in place to a great degree. They were eroded away in some spots, but some were looking outstanding.
The canal continued to get easier to follow, with more outstanding stone work. The next bit of awesome ruins was yet another waste weir site. This one was in surprisingly great shape for being out in he narrows. Both walls of it were somewhat in place, slightly collapsed. It is said that locks were built in the areas close to the weirs so that lock tenders could maintain both the locks and the weirs, so it is again possible that there is a lock site nearby, but I did not see evidence of it.

Old weir

We found an old wooden level where the bubble glass was not broken so it still worked, and Delotto checked out just how level the walls of the old weir still are!

Old weir site

We continued along the towpath, and then came across and outstanding huge Sycamore tree. It’s probably been growing there along the river since canal days.
The canal was just awesome for a long stretch. The prism and towpath were intact, and much of it was holding water. It was more than I’d have hoped for of this section, and hardly anyone knows about it.
Eventually, it did dip back under the highway partially, and we started following the bottoms of more concrete walls.

A giant Sycamore!

In many cases, the highway is being supported by the that old canal wall that has stood strong since 1829!

A surprising section of still watered canal!

Right below the highway, there was tons of garbage to deal with. We even found an entire Styrofoam sofa. We continued until we could no longer remain below, and then climbed up to the first level of concrete retaining wall. This was a bit unnerving. We were just barely out of sight from cars at most points, and at times the wall below us got to up to maybe thirty feet high. A fall from a dizzy spell or sudden wind gust would be deadly. I let everyone know after the first section about the seizures I’d been having as a result of the Lyme Disease or Erlichiosis in case I needed help.

Canal wall!

DeLotto similarly watched his sugar level just in case we had any issues. This was a place where we had to look out for one another.
Even when we were walking the wall, remnants of the canal wall were visible, which made it even greater. This high wall just made it easier for us to handle more distance faster. The rocks below got to be kind of tough to get over.
For only one stretch did I go up to the level of the highway, but even then, I only walked on top of the regular concrete barrier. I was hell bent on walking on section of this highway after we’d done so well with it so far. I could have remained on the other side of the barrier on a nicer ballast, but it looked like fun, and would likely dismay the drivers wondering what the hell we were doing on there.
At the first good opportunities to get back down along the canal, I did so, although some of the group opted to follow more of the high retaining concrete walls.

Amazing Lewistown Narrows

The next time I tried to get down, I slipped on some of the loose rock and slammed my hip into them. That was pretty sore for a few days. I also became much clumsier after this fall.

super fun happy wall from heck

It knocked something out of me, and I fell several more times on silly things. I was out of breath and trying to get through the stuff and I suppose just getting slightly frustrated by it. I think I slightly cracked my phone a little more when I dropped it at one point.
I was not nearly as bad as what Dan had happen. He dropped his off of the really super high retaining wall onto a rock. It basically put a hole right in the middle of the screen and ruined it. He couldn’t even turn it on in any way anymore.

Canal towpath walls

He was actually a great sport about it; not angry at all, he said he breaks at least one a year, if not hiking, working on locomotives (his job). He actually ended up laughing quite a lot about it. He was either euphoric from the Long Island iced tea I gave him, or from finding these very obscure old canal ruins, or more likely a combination of the two.
Across the river was a little settlement, a Patch Town as they call them in Pennsylvania, where there was a quarry mining operation. This, like the ones we had encountered when hiking the Mid State Trail in different places, were Ganister quarries, which were used to make fire brick. This particular town was known as Hawstone, and the quarries are no longer in operation. Pete told us that the narrow gauge railroad grades that went up the mountain can be seen if we look closely. I looked, and I could barely make out those grades he mentioned in the slopes. Very interesting.
After Hawstone, the canal came out from under the highway yet again, with more beautiful sections of stone retaining wall holding the towpath.

The old canal

I climbed down first, and the others made their ways down soon after just up ahead.
We reached a spot where there used to be some sort of little camping settlement or something. We could see remnants and such out along the river of something that’s long since vanished. There was even a small building, mostly covered in vegetation, built into the towpath. This is the type of stuff that no one sees out there.

Old marker...

Also in this stretch, Peter found a very nice fire brock with “HAW” written on it. Of course, this was a Hawstone brick.
The watered canal was nice for a time, but more overgrown than any sections we had come across before. We headed back up and started climbing more of the concrete retaining walls. This was some more unnerving stuff because these walls went up in elevation along the way. It was really frightening when there was either a small tree that had to be moved out of the way, or a little pile of QP stone that had been dumped. The stone gives a lot and could force one to slip off of the high wall.

High walls!

I would break into a run reaching them to step up slope, then carefully step back down onto the concrete wall. As of this writing, my hands are sweating terribly thinking about it.

Spillway or something? Probably close to the lock site

After a bit, the canal emerged yet again from the edge of the highway, and I climbed down the first good chance I had. It looked like it raised in elevation at first, and I know there was a lock somewhere in this area, either #14 or 15. It is shown on the 1877 map. I did not see any lock remnants, but lots of good towpath wall.

Old cable ferry

The canal moved away from the highway again, and it was all pretty good from here out. We wandered around looking for remnants, but didn’t find much. It turns out this was a trailer park through the fifties and sixties.
I spotted something in what would have been the edge of the towpath with a letter “P” on it. Closer inspection showed that it read “PC”. I thought immediately that it could stand for Pennsylvania Canal. It was a stone marker, not some sort of new concrete one, which makes it all the more likely. As I started to think about it more, I just disappointed myself because it could have stood for “property corner”. Someone quipped that it could have stood for “porn collection” and we should have gone back to dig it up.

Old towpath wall

Just ahead, it was more obvious we were on the canal, because the prism and towpath became more obvious, and there was what might have been another stone weir.

Canal

This one had a major washout beneath it, and some exposed stone work that looked like a wall along the river.
There was a spot just beyond that rather obviously went up, which I actually think is the old lock site. Again, I can’t say for sure, but it seemed more obvious an upgrade than before.
There was a rather good ATV path that formed on the old canal in this stretch, which surprised me, but it was quite welcome. It had terminated at a point where such a machine could not continue along the highway, but it stretched for over two miles, which was great.

Ruin on the canal towpath by Hawstone

The highway came closer to us again, but we were able to stay either in the prism or on the towpath pretty well. A truly beautiful section.

Juniata narrows view

Just ahead, we came across an abandoned old cable ferry with spools overhead for the cable, and a set of old metal steps down the steep slope of the former canal wall to the river edge.

Towpath

The canal disappeared mostly under the highway one more time, but the towpath remained totally clear as the ATV track for a while.
We continued on it directly, and had a nice little break under a Sycamore tree in this section.
Soon, we made our way out to a trailer park where one of the roads is built directly on the old canal route. It appeared to be completely vacant, although there were a few campers still parked there with no one in them.
We continued to the other side, and canal and towpath continued into the woods. There was not a good path along this section of it like we had just gotten spoiled with.

Canal in the campground

We just pushed on through.
Some of the canal was still holding water, and we had to shift back and forth to keep following it and avoid the weeds.
Soon, we came out to another yard area and a sort of driveway that went by a trailer or two. We quietly moved past it and then checked out the road, which went right to the river edge at a beautiful little spot with a natural flat rock shore. From there, we could see canal retaining wall secured on it still in good shape, but it was hard to climb back up to it.

Along the Juniata

We backtracked and got on it from the driveway bit, and then pushed through some high grasses to reach a large cinder block building that had been constructed on the canal route.

Along the Juniata

We went around the building to the left. I wish we’d gone inside, because it looked like there was a way in, but I thought it might still be used. Once we got around to the other side, it was obvious this place was totally vacant.
We headed out through their lot to William Penn Highway, almost across from Jacks Creek Road. We turned right on that road, because we wanted to check out an historic stone arch bridge that dated to the 1813 and the Harrisburg-Pittsburg Turnpike. The odd bridge has no keystone, interestingly enough, and surprisingly very little structure holding the top of it with its strange rolling grade.

Abandoned

We crossed the very old bridge on a trail route that brought us right back to the current highway, and then turned right. The canal would have crossed Jacks Creek on an aqueduct, but we couldn’t see remnants from the road bridge.

1813 Turnpike Bridge over Jack's Creek

We continued ahead, and could see down to a utility line that might follow the old canal route. It’s hard to say.
I climbed down the slope to the right and followed a woods road that looked like it might have been some of the canal, but it certainly moved to the other side of the road, or was buried by the road, just a bit ahead. I did find a beautiful giant Silver Maple tree down there while the others walked the road.

1813 bridge

It did seem that following the road, the canal shifted either under the road or off to the right of it, next to ball fields followed by a waste water plant.
I climbed the driveway back up to the road, and we moved on along Rt 22 here with the apparent old canal to the right, until we got to the exit ramps for Charles Street and Hale Street. We crossed the bridge, then went down the grassy slope to the intersection of Charles and Hale. Kirk noted that there was some railroad rail in the pavement. It turns out that this was a spur to the former Glamorgan Iron Company and furnace off of the Millroy Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Giant Silver Maple I found

The tracks went right up the streets here. It turned off to more industrial area where the Burger King and other businesses are today.
Just as we had come down from the highway, another snow squall hit. They had been happening on and off all day, but this was the heaviest one, just as we were reaching the end.
We walked Hale Street directly back to the Giant store to finish up the hike.
We chose to have dinner at the Guante place in Mifflintown, same as last time (I wonder if the little place we passed in Cuba Mills were the same owners). We had a great dinner there, after a really tiring hike.

The canal heading into Lewistown

HAM