Hike 1623: 9/15-9/16/24 Hancock Maryland Loops with Jenny Tull, Kirk Rohn, Professor John DiFiore, Diane Reider, Robin Deitz and Everen
This next hike would be one I'd been wanting to do for a while, the next in my series on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and Western Maryland Railway.
We'd had great trips on the canal so far. Last year, I did the first segment of two days with Joe Millionaire and John east of Cumberland, and it was really the perfect Summer trip because it was always so close to the Potomac River, with great swim spots.
The next one was this year, between Paw Paw, Little Orleans, and a point across from Great Cacoctin West Virginia.
This time, I planned two loops in two days, heading east and west using the town of Hancock as a home base.
The previous trip had been great because I was able to rent a huge cabin that was perfect for the entire group. I was hoping to find something like that for this trip, but there was nothing quite like that available in Hancock.
There were only really two hotels and one bed and breakfast. The bed and breakfast was close to the canal, but it wasn't big enough to hold the potential size of our group. The two hotels were both not great reviews, but the one that was better reviewed was the Wyndham Hancock.
The other one looked to be more rustic and was closer to the trails, but I didn't want it to be something lousy.
I finally decided on the Wyndham Hancock and reserved a room that opened up into an adjacent room that would work well for our group.
Jenny and Kirk carpooled down with me to the place. Kirk ubered to the middle of Easton to be picked up more easily, because it was much longer to get up to his house to the north in the morning.
It was a long drive, but not too terrible compared to so many other trips we've done. This was stuff we could have done as day hikes, but it was better for the drive to do two days at once.
One thing I did differently this time was not to stay out there the night before. I don't mind doing the drive in the morning. I can get up early easily, and that saved the hotel night necessity.
We could drive out in the morning, just stay one night, and then drive back home after the second day of hiking.
The meeting point would be the hotel lot. We arrived in the morning only slightly late, and I went in to make sure our plates and such were on the list of those staying. The staff were friendly, and there was no issue with parking.
I had already planned our route out on how to get down to the trails, and I planned to hike the Western Maryland Rail Trail west to where we had left off last time, then come back on the canal.
I had been having some trouble with the stroller just around this time. The bearings on the front wheel were finally going, and I replaced that component just to be sure I didn't have any extra issues. It made it far easier to push than it had been in forever.
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| John C. Durant, 1973 |
Rt 522 was very close to the east side of the hotel, and Limestone Road was a smaller road on the west side. Still busy, we had to take care in crossing this one. Creek Road was on an intersection from here, and we turned onto that, then left onto a road that leads into Widmeyer Memorial Park.
We headed downhill into this, and I let Ev walk for a bit. The park sits on the Little Tonoloway Creek, which is pretty. The little road crossed over a bridge in the center of the park, and we kept to the left, a little closer to the creek.
Already, there was a playground to the left, which of course we had to stop and let Ev play on for a bit.
I didn't want to be too insanely late on this one. I figured it was going to probably be a somewhat long day, but it would end up being quite longer than I was anticipating.
There was a small dam remnant on the left in the creek, and a few kids playing in it. It looked tempting to get in, but I held off initially.
I wore my really beat up red shoes for this day, which I reserve at this point only for the easiest of trails, because they might easily fall apart on me at any time.
I had to coerce Ev away from the playground, which was rather nice, but we had a long way to go. I hated to do it, but it was going to be a long day, and he'd enjoy it enough anyway.
We came to West Main Street, where directly across from us was "Video Biz". I can't remember the last time I actually saw a video store or rental place still in business, but somethings down this way are really a step back in time.
Of course, it wasn't open when we went by or I might have had to go in for a look, it was just weird that it was still in business at all.
Towering above us at this point was the Rt 522 bridge that spans the Little Tonoloway and roads in this part, and after a short earthen section, crosses over the Potomac River to West Virginia.
These are rare examples of pin connected hybrid Wichert Deck Trusses and deck girder structures. The style is named for its creator, E M Wichert of Pittsburgh.
One of the major oddities of this bridge was the presence of sort of straps and cables on its superstructure, each with a small digital box attached. The bridge appears to be digitally monitored in case of failure.
On one hand, with over 10,500 vehicles crossing daily, it's nice to know it is being regularly monitored. On the other hand, it is rather unnerving to know that this enormous bridge requires such a level of extra attention.
We took the little side road past the video store, under the bridge, and then to the south below the Potomac River Grill restaurant. Beyond that, there was an open lot with a couple of buildings off to the right. This was once the area of a railroad siding where a pulp wood facility once stood.
Straight ahead, there was a small path that led down a slight slope and onto the paved former Western Maryland Railway, just to the east of downtown Hancock.
The settlement is steeped in history.
The area is the northernmost point the Potomac River reaches, settled by colonists in the 1730s. It was named North Bend at a point, as well as Tonoloway for the native name, meaning "long tail" or "wild cat". That name is still applied to the creeks joinithe Potomac here.
One of the settlers here was Charles Polke, ancestor of later president James K Polk. Charles boarded George Washington when he was a young surveyor here.
This was an early intersection of carriage roads, and taverns were establishing on the route early on, including John Donovan's Sign of the Ship Tavern in 1790.
The settlement was named for Edward Joseph Hancock Jr, who established the ferry over the Potomac here.
Of course, the first human transportation through here would have been the aboriginal trails, and these were used as the basis for the colonial roads that were developed through the area next.
There were several roads that came through to this area along the Potomac, but the first major historic route was one that we'd hiked portions of in the past, to the west of this location, the National Pike.
The National Pike was the first federally funded US highway, also known as the Cumberland Turnpike and several other variations. It follows natural opening in the mountains through this area and out to Cumberland.
George Washington had interests in this area as a young surveyor, and in later years had an Ohio Company for the western expansion of the transportation system. He pushed for the expansion of the canals westward during his presidency.
It was not until 1806 that Congress under Thomas Jefferson funded the construction of the National Pike, which began in 1811 to connect the Potomac and Ohio Rivers. Construction began in Cumberland MD. Expansion was stalled during the Financial Panic of 1837, and work ceased at Vandalia, Illinois, which was then the edge of the Illinois Territory.
Eventually, improvements and re-buildings completed the route between Baltimore and the Missouri border. During the rebuilding of the 1830s, the National Pike became the second Macadam highway in the US.
Macadam is named for Scotsman John Loudin McAdam, who is responsible for developing the paving process. McAdam developed roads overseas, and the first US Macadam road was the Boonsboro Turnpike, between Hagerstown and Boonsboro MD. When that project was finished, sights were set on the National Pike.
McAdam's technique involved compacting small stones and material, in an argument that large stones were not needed, and a surface "crust" would provide solid enough base for the roads if kept dry. Centers for roads were three inches higher so water would drain off. His Maryland roads were also the first to be rolled with a steel roller rather than compaction through usage.
The process of Macadam changed a lot over the years, especially with the advent of the automobile. The methods used for carriages no longer worked for how much the cars would kick up. The old style was designed with rocks in mind that would not effect carriage wheels. McAdam told his workers that they could measure the rocks needed by whether or not they could fit inside their mouth!
The use of tar to hold macadam together became more commonplace, and the industry improved.
The National Pike, over the years, became US Route 40. As time went by, larger and better roads overtook or replaced the old National Pike, and through this area came Interstate 68. Some sections of the old road are still now Rt 40, or "alt 40" variations, as well as Rt 144 and byway designations.
Not so many years after the National Pike was developed, the C&O Canal arrived on the scene. In fact, some of the original route of the National Pike had to be moved, at great expense to the canal. The canal took over the original route of the pike in some places we'd be walking.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal finds its roots with George Washington, who surveyed much of the land on the Potomac, and planned the construction of a canal through his Ohio Company. An early canal did open in the late 1700s, but never reached a really substantial point.
The first section of the C&O Canal opened about 1831, and was known as "The Grand Old Ditch" at times. The Principal cargo on this canal was coal from the Allegheny Mountains.
Progress on the canal was slow, and it stalled for a long while. At the same time, the Baltmore and Ohio Railroad was being constructed in competition. Both were stretching west to Cumberland, but despit having been started later, the railroad beat the canal to the destination in 1842.
The C&O Canal finally reached Cumberland in 1850. Plans to extend it further west never came to pass, and that job was done by the railroads.
The canal remained in use until 1924, when it was badly damaged by flooding. Another flood in 1936 sealed the coffin for the canal.
The route was eyed for a new superhighway to be built on its corridor, but Senator William O. Douglas stepped in and got it halted, and led a famous hike on the route to raise awareness. It became a national park, and one of my favorite ones at this point.
The third major transportation route closely involved with what we were doing was where we were at this moment, the Western Maryland Railway, which has been fittingly nicknamed the "Wild Mary".
The line was originally chartered as the Baltimore, Carroll, and Frederick Railroad in 1852. It was changed to the Western Maryland Rail Road by Maryland General Assembly in 1853.
Over the first decade of the line, westward expansion was doing well, but was halted due to the Civil War. It must have been pretty stressful times considering it was right there close to the Mason-Dixon Line.
Work started up again in 1868, and it reached Hagerstown by 1872, completing its East Subdivision.
The West Subdivision of the Western Maryland was from Hagerstown to Cumberland, and with the exception of bits at the east and west, that is now abandoned. The subdivision was completed in 1906 between the two locations, piercing through the Allegheny Mountains along the Potomac River. Bridges and tunnels were necessary to get this line through.
I'm a bit unclear on the times of abandonment for the segment we would be on. My understanding of it was that it was abandoned in the 1980s, but that Hancock was a cutoff point for many years.
It seems that west of Hancock, it was closed down earlier, but industries in town kept it open a bit longer from there and points west.
Still, the difference of time wasn't too long. The line was removed by a scrap train in 1988. Development of the Western Maryland Rail Trail also came in segments, and the westernmost stuff we'd done out of Little Orleans on our previous trip hadn't been a trail for all that long yet.
There was a really good feeling stepping onto this rail bed. By the end of the next day I'd tie this together with the previous hike in this series, and also to the Tuscarora Trail series from the previous hikes.
The bridge over the Potomac, which we immediately passed over, carries the highway as well at the Tuscarora Trail across. I'll get more into that a little later.
We turned to the right to begin following the railroad bed westbound. We soon passed by mile marker 11 for the trail.
There was an historic marker along the path around this point denoting the former start of a siding track that lasted for two miles at a packing house, and served other industries through Hancock.
It became more apparent that we were down in western Maryland as we passed our first abandoned house on the right, up a grown over driveway that crossed the rail bed from nearby Berm Road.
Berm Road soon came in closely parallel with the rail bed, and we went from being in good shade to very open. There were splendid views out to the mountains in West Virginia, including a pretty round one that was prominent.
The rail bed shifted to the right slightly, and I understand the road changed to Locher Road. It soon turned ninety degrees to the right and crossed the rail bed. There was an intersection beyond, and another road continued to parallel the right side of the rail bed heading west.
A bent pedestrian crossing looked as though it read "Ah".
Pretty soon, another abandoned house came into view on the right. I decided to have a closer look at this one.
The place was wide open, with collapsing floors, and every single wall was busted so that air moved right through the entire structure.
Ev stayed in the stroller by Kirk while I checked out all of the rooms. It looked to have once been a sort of Cape Cod style home.
I headed out and back to the trail, and we headed east. The right of way opened up quite a lot, and there was a great view ahead of the mountain known as Round Top, which was the subject of much of the cement and lime industry of the past century.
The road that went past the house paralleled the rail bed, but then seemed to peter out to nothing. There was another abandoned building foundation out in the middle of the fields to the right, possibly once another house.
The fields on the right gave way to woods, and we soon emerged onto a more narrow shelf. The rail bed came closer to the C&O Canal below, and we passed through some dramatic cuts.
Hancock is kind of the border where the transportation corridors come out of the bigger mountains for a bit, and we were heading back into the deeper gorge areas.
Pretty soon, below us to the left on the canal were the ruins of the Round Top Cement Mill, but we couldn't see them really very well from our vantage point yet.
This was an important site for the canal. Opened in 1837, much of the mortar used in the canal structures such as locks and aqueducts was produced here.
The slopes above the Potomac River in this area contain Oriskany Sandstone, a fine material also used in the glass making process.
The useful materials were discovered in 1837 during the digging of the cut for the canal. Five mine tunnels were excavated to retrieve the material, two of which went all the way through the mountain. Some openings can be along the rail bed is what I understood.
The first mill burned down and was replaced in 1863.
The original mill buildings from 1838 stood between the canal and the Potomac River. When the mill burned for the second time in 1897, some of the one we see today was built on the berm side of the canal, between the canal and the Western Maryland Railway. Another fire occurred in 1903, and was rebuilt a final time.
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I figured the mill probably went out of operation about 1924, when the canal closed following a major flood, but it was reportedly closed soon after the 1903 fire, when one final fire put an end to it forever.
There was a good historic marker along the way for the Round Top Hydraulic Cement Company.
Pretty soon after passing the mill, there was a slight path to the right, and a gated old mine opening. It had similar to the gate covers we've seen in Delaware Water Gap NJ, where mines have been blocked off.
This stretch of the trail had some historic markers on it, but they were covered over with some sort of plastic. I couldn't figure it out, and assumed that maybe they revealed some sort of history they didn't want the public to know about.
Sure enough, the one that I pressed the plastic against to read told of the mine caves through the Round Top mountain above.
My assumption was actually wrong. The details on these things was not to hide the information. This was all to protect the signs from some sort of milling work that was soon to take place on the pavement on the rail trail.
Still, the revelation from the sign had me looking more closely at the slopes as we walked ahead.
Pretty soon, there was a slightly beaten down slope to the right, and so I decided I was going to have a look at it. I think Kirk stayed with Ev and the stroller while I went up, and then sure enough, there was an old mine opening.
I was able to go to the right, then left down into a portion of it, but this one too had bars inside, just a little further back in. It was still cool that I was able to get slightly inside it.
There was another mine hole I recall did not have bars over it, but I didn't dare go in. The rock looked far too brittle to trust anyway.
Historic photos of the area actually show that there were rock fall issues over the right of way in this section.
There used to be a railroad phone booth along the right of way in this section ahead, which I understand was pushed down the embankment into the canal or onto the slope, so it no longer exists. I couldn't see any remnant of it, but I think I spotted where it was.
We walked along a particularly beautiful section where the rail bed was on a narrow shelf above the canal. When it finally opened up into a wider right of way, where there was probably a siding, we passed the foundation ruins of the Round Top Sand Company and Maryland Glass Company, which were associated with the aforementioned minerals as well.
The railroad bed moved over quite a bit from the canal in the section ahead, in some very deep woods. The right of way was wider through this section, and the miles just passed away. We went by posts for 15 and 16 mile, and continued until we approached the area known locally as Seavolt.
A small field, and then eventually a larger one on the right marked the approach to the Seavolt area.
We paralleled and then crossed Seavolt Road, and then passed closely behind a few homes on the left. The rail bed butted right up against the back yards.
After the houses, Seavolt Road came up close to the rail bed again, and intersected with Willow Road. We crossed Willow Road on a former railroad bridge heading west.
Deneen Road started at the other end of the intersection, and we'd be connected with that a few times over the next few miles.
The area we were passing through here was known as Cohill. There was supposedly an old station stop, although I have not seen any photos of what it looked like. This was also an old apple orchard industry location.
We continued along with some more pretty farm land views, and then crossed Deneen Road at grade as it made its way uphill to our right.
This is the section where I had made a mistake on the previous trip.
I had planned on going to Deneen Road on the last loop we did out of Hancock, which we sort of did, but we came to the first approach of the road and turned around. I had intended to come up to one of these others and turn around, and in doing so the first loop out of Hancock would not be ridiculously long. But I screwed that up.
We came to a point where Old Deneen Road used to come down across the rail bed, but was rerouted to the north at some point. It was barely recognizable as having been a major road.
We continued to the south and passed some more fields on the right.
The bugs in this entire stretch were the worst we'd endured the entire year. We had gotten pretty lucky with almost no biting insects. I'd not even been stung by a yellow jacket on a hike, while a couple of years before I got hit a lot.
These bugs were mostly mosquitos in the area, and really bad. If we kept on moving, we were okay, but for Ev, stuck immobile in the stroller, he was starting to get bit pretty badly.
Fortunately, I came prepared in case with had this situation. I had a bug net cover for the stroller with me, and I put it over it. Ev took a nap in this area, and so he barely even noticed he had the bug cover over him for most of this.
Up ahead, we came upon a replica of a railroad watchman's shelter on the left. This was close to the original location of such a shelter. It was an Eagle Scout project sponsored by Fort Frederick State Park a bit further to the east.
After some fields, we were mostly on a steep shelf, sometimes with large rock walls to the right of us again. We shifted from traveling south to traveling west, and the railroad bed came back to being directly above the canal for the final stretch we would be on it.
We could see some of the canal work below, including Lock 54 in pretty good view. We'd be passing that again soon on the towpath.
Deneen Road again came down from the ridges and appeared to the right of us. This was a big sign that we were just about to the turn around point.
We paralleled this for just a bit, and then came the path where we descended to get down to the C&O Canal to begin the journey back.
It looked like the towpath in the other direction from where we were going was open and repaired again. It had been closed on the last visit due to a broken bridge at a spillway area just to the west.
This site was the head of navigation on the C&O Canal from 1842 until the final 50 miles were completed in 1850, to Cumberland. Lack of funds, unavailable materials, and striking workers were among the problems faced extending the canal beyond this point.
The Paw Paw Tunnel itself, an engineering marvel, took a whole lot of time. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad extended west and beat the canal to the destination in this time.
The area is shrouded by trees today, which hold a lot of history.
As soon as we got down to the bottom, we were at lock 55. The fine cut stone lock was somewhat overgrown, especially on the upper end, but there was a good bridge over the upper end for us to cross.
Foundation of the lock house was on the berm side as I recall. The lock houses were built cheaply on the western portion of the canal, while the ones to the east were more made of stone.
This site is directly across the Potomac River from the settlement of Great Cacapon. This was the location of Dam #6 for the canal.
Adjacent to Lock 55 was Guard Lock 6. When I was here not long ago, I didn't exactly understand how all of this worked, because it seemed like the lock would have let out to the lower end of the dam.
I now know that the upper end of this lock is filled in, and that it would have connected to the Potomac at the upper end slack water, where it could have been used for trade in Great Cacapon.
Based on the wording in my guide book, Guard Lock 6 had been completely buried in somewhat recent years, and the National Park Service must have excavated and restored it. It looked to be in great shape.
It certainly had gate pockets, so it was used for navigation.
Dam 6 is mostly gone today, but either end of it can still be found and walked onto. It tied into the upper end of Guard Lock 6. The walls on the sides of it were in great shape, and could be looked down from. There are no barriers to keep anyone from falling off, so I didn't encourage Ev to run around here. I think he actually fell asleep around this time again anyway.
We took a short break here, and I went down toward the river below the dam to go for a refreshing swim.
On the last trip, I went down a steep path to a slanted stone facing to the dam base, where there was a very deep pool of water in the Potomac circling. It had been very refreshing, and I was looking forward to going to that again.
We had walked the entire section of the Western Maryland to this point, but there was no good water source or access to the Potomac. This was the first swimming opportunity.
When I got down to the water, it was not the inviting thing I found previously. This looked like a swirling cesspool of grossness, and I was not about to get in it for anything. Disappointed, I climbed back up to the top of the dam level.
Just as I got back to the top, I realized I had historic photos of Dam 6, taken from that lower location, so I had to climb back down to get those, then back up to the top again.
I did my couple of compilations at the dam site, and then we were all ready to move on back to the east.
The towpath trail took us between Lock 55 and Guard Lock 6, and the channel at the downstream approach to the guard lock continued on beyond.
There was a large canal prism both to the left and right of us for a little bit, and then we approached the upper end of Lock 54.
This lock was immediately different than any of the locks we had passed before. It was filled almost to the very top with earth.
Apparently, when the National Park Service took over the canal, this one was deteriorating pretty badly, so they filled it in almost completely to the top to protect it from further collapse.
Each of the locks have a little brown sign that denotes the lock number.
The lock house used to stand on the berm side of the canal, sort of into the hillside, and some stone ruins are still in place. The building sadly burned down in 1981.
The feeder canal intersected with the main canal just at the base of Lock 54.
The towpath used to cross over the junction of the feeder to main canal on a foot bridge, and the stone abutments to this remain today. The trail dips down into the prism of the feeder and passes by this bridge site, then climbs up the other side again, with two tracks of tires where ranger vehicles pass through.
The lower walls of the lock were more visible and looked to be in nice shape and of fine cut stone. I don't think there are any more composite locks left on the entire canal eastbound. There was a handsome giant Sycamore tree just past the lock as we continued.
It didn't take too long walking along the towpath before Diane spotted some ripe Paw Paws. This was a surprise, because it seemed to be early in the season for them, but I was happy to have them.
I was trying to plan a trip where we could get some Paw Paws because we had enjoyed it so much last year, and I wanted to wait until a little later in the season, but this was a welcome surprise. We tried some right away, and they were quite tasty.
They taste different depending on where they're from, temperature, soil, and probably lots of factors. The taste ranges from being like a banana custard to a mango taste, to being more citrus. I think these ones were more like banana custard and mango hybrid. I saved the seeds in the cup holder of my stroller so that I could try to plant them at work.
We continued a short distance ahead, and then came to Cacapon Junction Campsite, with another good water pump right beside the towpath. We decided to have a little break here and head down to the edge of the Potomac.
We got down to the edge of the river, which was beautiful and wide, but shallow enough that we could wade across if we wished. The water looked crystal clear, and I wasted no time getting in and cooling off. The whole group came down to the river, and Robin, Diane, and Jenny sat and ate Paw Paws while the rest of us took a dip and Ev threw stones.
Directly across from this break spot was a beautiful view of the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridge over the Cacapon River. The line was originally built in 1848, and wrecked by General "Stonewall" Jackson during the Civil War. The stone arch we were viewing was completed after that.
We made our way back up through the campground, and Ev played with the water pump a bit. I got myself a drink. We were then on our way to the east again.
Along the way, at a point near Cohill, there was a concrete drainage culvert in the towpath that appeared to be made of concrete. Occasionally we pass drainage structures along the way.
There were also culverts, sort of small scale aqueducts, that guided the little side streams beneath the canal. These were rather often, and the canal itself was usually mowed and cleared all the way across at those spots to keep the root systems from undermining the structures.
After an expanse of wilderness with some great big trees, and the occasional whistle of a train on the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad across the river, we came to where Deneen Road comes down close to the berm side of he canal, below the Western Maryland line.
Pretty soon, there was a foot bridge over the canal, and an access down to the Potomac. I headed down to have another look at it, and I think I might have taken another quick dip again.
Back at the towpath, we continued to the east a bit. The access is called Cohill Station, and curiously, I don't know anything about there having been a Cohill Station on the railroad. I think there was, but I have not seen any photos of it, despite having photos on the website, www.wmwestsub.us
Deneen Road eventually moved off to the left further, and then Seavolt Road was parallel uphill a bit, but we could not see it because it was farther away.
Pretty soon, away from civilization again, we came upon Lock #53, which was also known locally as the "Irishman's Lock".
This lock was built by Patrick McGinley in 1838. The lock house is gone at this one as well, but the foundation still remains to the right on the towpath side. The shape of the building was delineated only by a sort of concrete rail, and the chimney base was still recognizable.
We continued on from the lock just a short distance, and then came to the Leopard's Mill Campsite. Just like all the others, it had a pipe and bench, and access to the Potomac. We headed down and took yet another dip in the river.
Relaxed and rejuvenated, we headed back up to the towpath and continued to the east and then north.
As we passed through the level between locks 53 and 52, we passed a handsome stone spillway structure beneath the towpath, used to drain the canal during active days in sections for maintenance.
As we walked, we got closer to the former cement and glass industry areas. We passed a sort of square concrete pad, which was part of the processing, where apparently water would be pumped up and used to purify the sand or something.
Soon, we approached the clearing for the old Round Top Cement mill. The ruins on the berm side of the canal are pretty impressive, with brick structure partially extant, and one brick stack.
Further down, there was a large line of kilns still in place which also served the mill.
The spot is very famous along the canal, but it goes by in just a couple of moments. I took a couple of then and now history compilations using some of the historic photos of the site, and we were off again.
There were large rock outcroppings on the right that were quite attractive, and interpretive signs about the mill as well as the geology of the area.
After a bit, we reached the White Rock Campsite. Unlike the other spots with river access, this one was a bit further inland, and so I didn't bother going down to take another dip.
At this point, we had already done over fifteen miles, so we were pretty ready to be done for the day.
It was just great to know that I'd have to do no driving, and we'd just get back to the hotel.
We knew when we were getting close to the end when the Berm Road appeared opposite the towpath. Pretty soon after that, we approached the Wichert bridge across to West Virginia.
When we got to this point, there was a small causeway across the canal, where we could walk over to the Berm Road. Initially, I planned to walk right into Hancock, but I decided to just head direct.
There was a sort of path beneath the Wichert truss/girder bridge, and so we were able to cross the Berm Road and simply get on that. I wasn't sure if it would get us through, but it was an interesting try.
The canal was watered from where we left it, and the berm held it back, but I'd see that more in the morning.
We continud on a steep sort of ATV path up beneath the bridge, and just continued under it for a bit. No vegetation was growing under it, so it was a clear walk.
We walked between the bridge supports, which had had graffiti on them, but had mostly been painted out with grey paint.
After a short bit, we came back to the Western Maryland Rail Trail near where we had come down in the morning. We went back to the right, and then left along where the siding used to be to the pulp wood place, and then along the gravel road we had taken in.
After going around a corner, up on a steep hill to the left, next to the edge of the Rt 522 bridge, was the restaurant known as the Potomac River Grill. It looked pretty good, so we decided to head up there.
There was a super steep ramp up to the restaurant from the lower grade below, which maybe might have been a rail spur at one time.
Diane and Robin rode together, and were not staying for the second day, so they said their goodbyes with a long ride home, and the rest of us headed up to the restaurant.
There was a good side room with almost no one in it when we arrived, which was great for us with Ev. He actually sat pretty well through dinner at the place.
I looked at what was offered, and there was a great looking tortalini alfredo with broccoli, and had to get it. There was some leftover of that same stuff at home that Ev's mom told me to bring with us, but I forgot it, and not only that, I knew we'd want to stop to eat somewhere anyway. It's part of the experience.
So, I was thinking about that exact dish anyway, and so that was what I ordered. I think I ordered Ev a cheeseburger or something, which he ended up not eating and instead had my alfredo sauce stuff.
It was a great, filling meal after such a long day. I felt incredibly stuffed but pretty happy.
We left the place, and I had to go very carefully back down the slope to the gravel road again. I had worn my really rough holy Asik shoes, which are only really good for level hikes we do, but they could have busted apart at this spot. I was also kind of sore in the feet.
We made our way back out past the video store place, and then through the Widmeyer Memorial Park once again, just as it was starting to get dark.
When we got out to Limestone Road, we went steeply uphill through the grass to get there a little more quickly. I went inside to check in to the two rooms.
We were supposed to get two rooms that opened up between each other to become a large sort of suite. I had tried to reserve it early, but that room was taken, so I waited a week, and then it was free. I reserved it, but then when we got there, one of the two rooms that I'd reserve was already taken!
My idea was that it would be a good social experience, but in all honesty, the extra miles made us all really too tired to continue on. Kirk, Ev, and I shared the one room, and Jenny and John were in the other.
After showering and laying down, Jenny came over to chat with us for a bit before we passed out completely. Ev fell asleep pretty quickly, even without his favorite blanket, so he was very tired.
DAY 2
We got ready to go in the morning, but I was a bit later getting things together. I had to load up my van with stuff that we wouldn't need for the day, and have Ev's stroller full of all that we would need.
This had been the first long trip I'd taken in my Honda Odyssey, which I really love. Even though there was the misfortune of having lost my Honda Element to an uninsured driver, this thing was great for carpooling and carrying stuff.
After I got all of the stuff loaded up, we headed down a slightly different want than we had the day before. We followed Limestone Road just down to Main Street, then turned right to reach the video store. We then got back on the gravel road under the Wichert Truss bridge again heading south.
We made our way past the Potomac Inn restaurant, and then to the former pulpwood place, and onto the Western Maryland Railway bed again, still paved in this section.
The wmwestsub.us website has great run downs on the history of each section, with plenty of historic photos I wanted to try to emulate along the way. That made this part of the hike take longer than others.
Right from the start, there was a historic view from the rail bed looking west of the highway bridge by John C. Durant taken in 1973.
We made our way to the east a bit, toward the grade crossing at South Pennsylvania Avenue, where there were plenty more shots to get.
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| 1988 Brian Paulus |
This would be entering the downtown area of Hancock. I wish we had the time to cover more of the town. I'd have liked to have done three full days or even more from here, but I wanted to get something done.
Tuscarora Trail passes through Hancock, and this starting point was where it turns away from the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. This particular trip would also be the next section of that trail that I'd not done.
When I started doing the 911 Memorial Trail series, I also said I would do all of the trails that connect between the two, which included the Tuscarora Trail from the Appalachian Trail to the C&O Canal.
I started doing the Tuscarora Trail as a series along with the Standing Stone Trail. These are both also part of the Great Eastern Trail system, which is another very long distance trail that might one day be longer than the Appalachian Trail.
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| J. W. France Collection |
The more than sixty mile Standing Stone Trail joins the Tuscarora Trail at Cowans Gap State Park, and we completed most of that first, then the Tuscarora.
I had already done the first bit of Tuscarora years before, and then returned to it for five or six hikes or so. We finished the last bit at the turn around point we would reach on this day.
The Tuscarora Trail was devised as a replacement for the Appalachian Trail.
In the 1960s, the Cumberland Valley section of the trail in particular was starting to face encroachment from development between the neighboring towns.
It was decided that to protect a hiking corridor, it was going to be necessary to create a new trail a little further to the west where it had not faced the kind of development that central Pennsylvania and northern Virginia had faced.
Then, when these plans were already in motion, the National Trails System Act passed in 1968.
When the act passed, it preserved the existing Appalachian Trail and a buffer around it, and so the backup plan route was not really needed.
With much of the land needed for this trail already in place, it was decided to put another trail in anyway.
Half of the route was called the Big Blue Trail, and the other half was called the Tuscarora Trail, for the tribe that traveled north in the parallel valley when they were expelled from the region.
After many years, they were consolidated and referred to solely as Tuscarora Trail.
I am told the north half is the toughest of the entire trail, and most of that is well out of the way now. It would have been nice to add a third day and walk the Tuscarora Trail into Hancock. Some of it is back roads, so I could bring the stroller, but I was glad to get done with what we got done.
At South Pennsylvania Avenue, off to the right and between the rail trail and the C&O Canal, there was an odd little business. It was the C&O Bicycle and chainsaw store. It seemed like a very odd combo. It was also a small general store.
Kirk was so intrigued by the concept of this that he had to take photos and go in to patronize the place.
While he was doing that, I focused on getting more then and now compilations using historic photos by Brian Paulus.
There were more historic markers along the way on this one, covered over by the plastic, because there was some work being done on the trail in this area and I found out they didn't want the signs getting wrecked by flying asphalt.
The area through downtown Hancock area was all double tracked or more because of all of the industries the railroad used.
Apparently, to the west of here was only active until about 1975, but that pulp wood facility we passed was used later, and regular service to that ended in 1987. The last train through in 1988 was to remove the rails.
There were a lot of images of the area that I just could not figure out where exactly the vantage points were. So many of the buildings had changed, and although I'd intended to go over the historic ones more the night before, I was too tired to do so, so what I got was much more on the fly.
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| 1952 |
We continued across Williams Street, and then Taney Street. The photos of the old buildings through this section were barely recognizable from the older ones, but they appear old, so they must be the same ones, although altered.
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| Don Biggs, 1977 |
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| Jim Coshun photo |
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| Jack Brown photo |
One in particular, an apparent old hotel building on the left, seems to have lost all of its highest story.
We continued ahead just a little bit more, and there was an historic marker, on of many through the town, denoting this the former site of the station.
I did my best to identify the exact site of the station in the present day parking lot and did several then and now history compilations before moving on ahead.
The station was a combination passenger and freight depot. It served passengers until the early 1950s, and it remained in use as a freight station until 1976. Sadly, the building burned down in 1983.
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| 1936 Arthur White image |
Ahead, there were several more historic markers about the Gettysburg Campaign, and other historic sites.
We crossed Church Street, and there was an old through truss bridge that carried the end of the road, pedestrian only now, across to the canal towpath a short distance away. This was originally the through route to the bridge over the Potomac before the 533 bridge.
Directly ahead and on the left of the trail was a very interesting little place.
Buddylou's Eats, Drinks, & Antiques, is another of those amazing and odd places along the trail. It seems that along the C&O and Western Maryland, these places are rather celebrated for their oddities.
I had a look at the decor, and it was quite interesting, but we had to continue on.
The was also a porta-john next to the place, whcih was painted up with balloons that read "come to the potty". Quite a strange place indeed.
We continued on the paved trail to the east, in a section that apparently began construction in 1997. It's interesting to think that my group just started early that year, when this trail was being developed on the railroad bed.
Pretty soon, on the left side and visible from the rail bed was the Hancock Presbyterian Church and cemetery.
The present brick church building was dedicated in 1848, for the congregation that was established in 1841.
This is the angle of the church that took hits of cannon fired shells from General Stonewall Jackson, during the Civil War in January of 1862.
We continued along the trail to the east. We were still well within the limits of the developed part of Hancock, and there were several homes and businesses just to the left of the right of way.
We soon came upon a sign reading that there had been a siding and a coaling trestle along the line, with an historic photo of it to the right.
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| 1997 wmwestsub.us |
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| Ray Wongus Collection |
It was nearly all overgrown and covered in vegetation, but the sign made me look to it.
This coal trestle was one that unloaded onto trucks along a long gone road that would have been beside us to the right.
We continued on beyond this point, and there was an access to parking for the trail on the eastern end of town to the right.
We continued a bit to the east, and soon came to some bowls sat by a mile marker for the trail.
There was a cat colony in this area, but unfortunately, they were all too scared to let me get close.
Only one of them let me get somewhat close, and then ran away.
We continued ahead just a little bit more, and then reached the trestle over the Tonoloway Creek.
We had crossed over the Little Tonoloway Creek in Hancock, as soon as we got on the rail bed. This, the Tonoloway, is sometimes referred to the Great Tonoloway Creek, to differentiate between the two.
I took some then and now compilations here of the bridge before and during the creation of the trail.
From the bridge, to the left, we had a good view of the bridge carrying Rt 144, East Main Street across the Great Tonoloway.
To the right, we could just barely see the Tonoloway Aqueduct that carried the C&O Canal across.
The location name here for the railroad, historically, was Stanley. It was about the point where the three mile long double tracked section heading west toward Hancock began.
We continued ahead and crossed an access road that goes down to the canal and other stuff, including the local museum in an historic home.
As we continued a little further onward, there had been another siding to the left of us. I spotted some sort of ruin up in the trees, which looked lik a metal frame ladder thing that must have been used for accessing rail cars at one time, but it is pretty well overgrown now.
This area was apparently a refrigerated commercial building, something like the Maryland Railway Apple cold storage facility.
We continued ahead, and we could see to the left where this side right of way would have broke off. There was an historic photo of this as well, which I composed a modern view of.
The bugs got to be really bad again in this area, probably because of "Little Pool" on the canal below us just starting up ahead. I had to put the bug net back on Ev's stroller.
Around this time, Interstate 70 moved in very close to the rail bed, so the remainder of the walk on that was quite noisy, with traffic lanes being pretty close by.
We continued through pleasant woods ahead, and pretty soon, views of the Little Pool on the C&O Canal appeared to our right.
This is an interesting bit of the canal, because rather than dig a separate trench in the contours of land along the Potomac, there was an island in the stream with a side stream. They dammed either side, and then used the side stream of the river, with added water, as the canal.
This crated a long basin in the canal, with wide water stretching just a little over a mile. A similar tactic was used on the canal a bit to the east at a location known as Big Pool, but we wouldn't see that until the next trip out this area.
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| 1988 J. W. France |
The name of the area we were passing through, which historically had a block signal, was "Hood", but it doesn't look like it was ever much of a development or anything.
We did see a couple of spots where the signals stood with concrete footings remaining.
We continued above Little Pool along the trail for a while, and when we reached a point near the eastern end of it, there was a trail that crossed over, from a parking area just off of an I-70 exit.
The trail makes its way down from the parking area to a bridge over the canal and towpath.
This side trail connection has been in place since before the railroad was ever abandoned, because the site I had been referring to had an historic photograph of the site, so I emulated it.
The next point of interest we came along was "Millstone and Moffet", and there was an historic marker denoting the site.
There used to be a settlement at this location that was originally known as "Millstone Point", and was later changed to Millstone, along the C&O Canal.
General and later President Andrew Jackson, known as "Old Hickory", had a meeting with folks from Hancock here when there was blasting taking place for the developmetn of the settlement.
During the Civil War, Maryland Infantry were stationed at Millstone Point to protect the C&O Canal against Confederate attacks.
By 1909, the settlement had 100 residents, stores, post office, school, and all of the normal stuff a town would have.
The Moffet Station was developed near this location, and there was once a grade crossing over the right of way at this point. It might have been the road that went to the settlement of Millstone. Amazingly, not a single building from that settlement remains today.
The Moffet Station was nothing more than a little shanty structure, and I assume it took its name from some railroad executive.
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We continued on from this site, after I got a couple more then and now history compilations, including one from a past issue of Trains Magazine.
As we walked, there was another one of those small wooden shanty structures along the trail. I figure this was probably another scout project like the one we had seen before sponsored by a scout troop and maybe Fort Frederick State Park.
There was no historic marker by this one at all.
We continued walking, and got pretty close to Interstate 70. At some point, the old grade of what had been the National Road was down below us to the right.
It was so badly overgrown; we wouldn't have noticed that it was such an important road at all.
The National Road was originally not in this location. It had been build further downhill, closer to the Potomac River, but it was to be destroyed when the C&O Canal was built. As a result, and at great expense to the canal, the National Road was rebuilt uphill from the original route.
We continued walking to the east, and passed some large rock outcroppings on the left before leveling off and having Rt 70 immediately to the left and within view.
There had been a mile or so long passing track in this area to a location historically known as Parkhead.
There had been a major derailment accident near the steep section in this area in 1970, which was really well photographed, but I couldn't quite figure out the spot, so we just continued on.
Pretty soon, we came to the parking area for the Western Maryland Rail Trail on the right side. This was the spot we finished the last Tuscarora Trail hike.
I was quite happy to have connected to where we left off on that trail, because we'd committed so much time to doing it.
I really wanted to continue with that series, but this will likely be the last one I'll do involving Tuscarora for some time, at least until Ev is old enough to do harder hikes.
A road passes between the rail trail and the canal in this area known locally as "Mile Marker Road", but I understand this is part of the historic National Road, it just cuts off at this parking area now.
There wasn't a lot of room to get around the fence to this parking area. I had a last look at the rail trail, with I think less than five miles left to complete it, hoping I'd get back to doing the next bit soon.
We went around this narrow fence, and there was a pathway down to and across the canal. It was blue blazed as part of the Tuscarora Trail in this section.
A new sign at the bottom of the slope denoted that it was 7.9 miles back to Hancock, which meant it would again be a little more mileage than I had anticipated, but not too terrible.
It would four miles ahead to Big Pool campsite, 13.5 miles to Dugan Hollow Shelter in West Virginia, and 147 more miles to the Appalachian Trail in Virginia at the southern terminus.
The Tuscarora Trail has a lot of these nice new signs along the route we had hiked so far, which are helpful.
After covid hit, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy began encouraging more people to use the Tuscarora Trail rather than the AT as a sort of side thing to lighten the heavy burden of visitation on the AT.
I don't know that anyone followed it, because we had to have passed less than ten hikers on the entire route and several days when we went through on it, save for super popular day hiker spots.
In the other direction, another sign denoted it was 6.6 miles back to the Mason-Dixon line, and 100 miles back to the Appalachian Trail on Blue Mountain near Carlisle PA.
Even backpacking it, it would be a full week more to complete the Tuscarora Trail. Hopefully one day.
We turned right and began following the canal back to the east. I was surprised to see that the blue Tuscarora Trail blazes were along the canal towpath. I had always read that the only part of the entire Appalachian Trail that did not have the white blazes was where it was on the C&O Canal, because it wasn't allowed to detract from the historic ambiance, but here the blazes were pretty obvious.
This first bit we walked was along some cultivated fields on our left.
We passed through the former village site of Millstone Point. There were no signs on this part of it like there had been on the rail trail, and I didn't take notice of any stone foundation ruins or anything.
As we continued, on our right was a nice old stone waste weird, which was different than the kinds I'd seen on most canals before.
This one drained down over the berm side of the canal rather than the towpath side into sort of a catch basin, from which a culvert carried the water beneath the canal.
Across the river, we got a view of a launch area at Sleepy Creek on the Potomac campground, West Virginia.
We continued west, and the canal became watered, although very full of algae. After a bit, we passed another old stone waste gate on the berm side, but this one was leaning and not in as good shape as the one we had passed a bit earlier.
The next interesting little bit of canal work was a stone stop gate below Little Pool.
This was designed to block the section off and drain for maintenance. It is the westernmost of 4 stop gates in the 14 mile level between locks 50 and 51.
A 1917 date block is found in it. Somewhere in this section must have been where the river channel used to be, before the section ahead was dammed off at either side for the creation of the wide canal section.
Pretty soon, we reached the eastern end of Little Pool.
There was a footbridge over the end of the pool to the right, which leads up and across the rail trail to the parking area off of Rt 70.
There was also another Tuscarora Trail sign at this access point, denoting only 4.5 more miles to Hancock.
This was a really cool change in scenery. Little Pool is a fully watered canal section, and it is very popular with bird watchers today. It was quite beautiful.
Pretty soon, we reached Little Pool campsite. Like the others, it had a water pump close to the towpath, and then an access down to the river that I certainly was going to take.
The water had a bit more algae on the edges of it than before. We had been getting closer to drought conditions because of lack of rain, and so all of the rivers are lower.
I think I might have gone in a bit to cool off, but we didn't hang out here too long I don't think.
There were some more nice views of the Little Pool, and we continued to the end of it, then back into a more wooded environment.
There were hardly any bicycles on this entire stretch. It seems that the cyclists prefer the rail trail above, even though much of the way it is not as scenic or pleasant. They just like pavement more it would seem.
We continued on ahead, and eventually came to yet another waste gate. It was another that spilled over the berm side to a culvert beneath.
Just a little further, we came to Lock 51.
The lock was completed by William Storey in 1838, built of Tonoloway Limestone.
This was definitely not one of the cheaply done ones. Further west, those composite locks were getting more common, and just a little further west, the lock houses were just wood structures on stone foundations, but this one had a lock house that was composed of stone, although it is merely a ruin now.
The remains of the lock house; a door, a window, the base of the fireplace, are all there along the edge of the towpath as a nice little preserved ruin.
This was the last lock in a 14 mile level to the east of Hancock.
We walked on from Lock 51, and pretty soon reached Lock 52.
The Great Tonoloway Creek Aqueduct is almost a single structure with Lock 52, and is sometimes referred to as Tonoloway or Bowles Aqueduct.
The 110 foot, single arch span was completed in 1839 along with lock 52, by contractor Robert Brown, and the stonework connects between both structures making it seem like a single piece of work.
In the woods to the right of the lock, the Bowles House, now the Hancock Visitor Center, was built in the 1780s. It is a handsome structure seen just through the trees from the towpath.
The parcel of land was known as "Sarah's Fancy", transferred from Lord Baltimore to William Yates about 1775. The Yates family occupied the land through canal construction to 1875, when it was acquired by the Bowles family. They remained until 1905, and the property was purchased by the Little family. They remained until it was acquired by the National Park Service in the 1960s.
We didn't have the time to go over to the museum building, but I would have liked to. Maybe in the future when I do another Tuscarora hike.
Like the other aqueducts we had gone across, the towpath remained on a narrower route on the south side, while the dry aqueduct itself had a driving route across it for official vehicles.
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The aqueduct was cool looking, and bore the look of having been secured. It had metal and bracing stuff all over the outside of it apparently holding it together.
We continued on the towpath through a pleasant section from here. We started seeing a few more cyclists and several more people walking. There is access at the lock and aqueduct, as well as from Hancock.
The canal bed was swampy from here heading west, and at one point there was a sort of drain thing in a spot where there might have been a culvert.
We continued on, and pretty soon, we started getting the view of the bridge across the canal from Church Street in Hancock. We had nearly closed our loop.
I got another then and now approaching the bridge, and then we continued on to that point, where I was able to get a better look at where the route continued across the Potomac into West Virginia.
The three span through truss bridge that used to cross over the Potomac washed out during a flood in 1936.
There was a sort of gauging station that jutted with oblong trusses out onto the Potomac at this point, and what looked to be the remnant of a pier, but not much else. I saw no signs about the bridge that used to exist there.
The hike changed up a bit at this point. I figured we had already connected everything, and so I offered that if the group wanted to go out to eat, I would run as quickly as I could back to my van.
The others went across the Church Street bridge, and decided to go to the Buddy Lou's place that we had passed earlier. I took off down the towpath ahead to the west by myself.
The others took Ev and his stroller with them to Buddy Lou's so I could get through more quickly.
The canal was fully watered through Hancock from the bridge, and quite pretty.
The clearer water gave way to a mess of high lily pads that continued pretty much to the west side of town.
I didn't move all that fast at first because I really wanted to take in the sight. The others didn't really miss much on distance because they were literally just about within sight of the canal where we were earlier, but I wanted to actually walk it.
The Tuscarora Trail blazes continued to the towpath until the access road to the Hancock boat launch where it turned off to the right, where it climbs to the bridge to cross to West Virginia.
The sign read that it was only 5.4 miles to the Dugan Hollow Shelter on the Tuscarora Trail in West Virginia. I've seen photos and it looks really nice.
The signs read that it was 139 miles to the Appalachian Trail in Virginia at this point. Looking over the maps, it seems like there are less than 35 miles of the trail in West Virginia before getting to the Virginia line. Maybe Virginia will be the next state I add to ones I've hiked to directly.
I continued ahead on the towpath from here, and along the end of the watered section that we'd walked to the night before.
On this last little bit, I crossed over the Little Tonoloway Creek on the canal. A culvert carries the creek beneath the canal.
This culvert is the largest on the entire canal, and has been called "the culvert that wanted to be an aqueduct". Technically, it kind of is the way I see it. I've referred to shorter culvert structures that carry waterways beneath the canals as aqueducts, but I suppose they classify things differently.
Officially Culvert #182, it has a 36 ft span.
I turned to the right across the causeway over the canal just as I had before, and then went beneath the Rt 533 Wichert bridge heading north.
I continued under the piers and out onto the old Western Maryland Railway, crossed directly and then hurried through the lot and the gravel road, beneath another section of bridge, and then out past the video store. I crossed Main Street, and then cut into Widmeyer Memorial Park.
I crossed the Little Tonoloway again in the park, and made my way uphill to the hotel and my van to finish off my hike.
I hurried from there back down to Buddy Lou's to meet up with the others. I'd asked them to order me a cheeseburger, which was great, and I was just about ready at the time I got down there. The timing was perfect.
The inside of Buddy Lou's was absolutely amazing. I parked the car and ran over to the canal to get a final then and now compilation before we headed out, then walked through the business.
It had even more character than it had from the outside, so I was even happier that we'd decided to eat there.
The day was done, and we had a very long trip back to New Jersey, but this had been a really great trip. I was very happy to see everything there was to offer in the area.
I had one more hike I wanted to do connecting to the east that'd be a loop, and then another two day trip I wanted to save till the next warm season heading eastbound. Finally, we've been really moving along on this canal, and I can't wait to see it all.
