Hike #1267; Ellendale Forge to Duncannon

Hike #1267; Ellendale Forge to Duncannon

10/26/19 Ellendale Forge to Duncannon with Dan Lurie, Jennifer Berndt, Diane Reider, Jim Mathews (Mr. Buckett), and John DiFiore

The group in Dauphin

This next one would be the next in the 9/11memorial series. I was numbering these things for so long, but at this point it really doesn’t make a lot of sense to do that. It’s gotten a bit too convoluted to be able to make any sense of it because there are spurs and side trips, other trails, alternative routes... it makes sense to just share the map.

Done so far...

I’ve actually done way more than what is shown on the map. I’m only showing what we’ve done since I started doing the series on this.

stonyvalley.com collection showing the railroad along the Walke-Meyer Lake at Ellendale

It got complicated after we reached Blue Marsh Lake and Reading area because the route was just about all road walk.

The rail bed

Heading from Lebanon, it then heads to Harrisburg by way of a route that we did separately, but also involves heavy amounts of road walk up through the Dauphin narrows. We chose not to do those bits by foot, and instead used some recommendations by Robert Thomas, a trail planner, who has walked a lot of the sections himself.
So, for over a year now we have been following mostly stuff that is not shown on the official map as the 911 National Memorial Trail, but a route that is more necessary. It would be a horrible hike and would ruin us as an organization if we were to follow the shown route, because it’s just completely uninteresting and geared only to cyclists.

Walke-Meyer Lake ice house from stoneyvalle.com collection

Our route ended up being far and away more interesting than I even anticipated.
At the end of this hike, we returned to the official route again.

The rail bed

It continues to the Juniata River Valley and out toward Huntingdon. We had already done the sections between Johnstown and Huntingdon in a jump ahead over the past year, which were great. Those require overnight stays, so it had to be done like that anyway. We also did Harisburg’s Capital Greenbelt as a separate thing because it’s worth doing.
Before we get done with the series, we absolutely will revisit some of these areas and do segments of along the route shown on the map that are worth doing.

1749 Lewis Evans map of Saint Anthony's Wilderness

For now, I still want to just focus on expanding westward and connecting with where we left off on the western end at Huntingdon with where we finished this time in Duncannon.

Abandoned in Stoney Valley

The last time we were out, we did a section of Stoney Valley Rail Trail in a loop where I finally finished the Horse-Shoe Trail. This time, my plan was to head out along the the railroad bed and follow it as closely as possible to where it had it’s junction in Dauphin. From there, we would shift gears and try to follow the old Pennsylvania Canal to the north.
The official maps just show the trail taking you up through the Juniata Valley without a lot of interest along the way.

The rail bed along the Walke-Meyer Lake

It’s shown as almost entirely road walking for about 100 miles. I would have absolutely no interest in this at all if it weren’t for the fact that the entire route follows close to the historic route of the Pennsylvania Canal. Thus, the theme for this leg of the hikes will all be looking for the transportation corridor remnants, which to me is quite exciting.
I had anticipated that this hike would be the most uninterested of all of them heading west, but it turned out to be quite the contrary, as these things tend to be.
My plan was to meet in Duncannon and then shuttle to our start point at Ellendale Forge site. Only Diane showed up to do the shuttle with our van load, so I would have to double shuttle back to pick up the others at the end, but since it was a seven or so mile out and back from the route I’d need to return home, it didn’t matter as much as it would on a longer linear trip.

Former site of Walke-Meyer Pond

We shuttled into the middle of Duncannon and left Diane’s car on a side street about a block or less from the route of the Appalachian Trail. We then piled into my van and headed to Ellendale.
My tire looked low, which was somewhat of a concern, but then later it didn’t look so bad. I kind of wonder if someone came by and pumped it up for me, because it looked okay later.
Ellendale Forge was some sort of early industry, but I don’t really know much about it. It probably predated the railroad through the area, but even on that I am not sure.

Historic stoneyvalley.com image of the Ellendale Hotel

We parked where the Rattling Run/Old Ellendale Road broke off of the railroad bed, where there was only enough room to park three or so cars, and we were that third car.

Beginning of pavement

If that hadn’t been the case, we would have had to tack another mile onto the start at the next parking area.
Gregory Pawelski did a lot of research into this area, and it’s thanks to him that I know as much of the area as I do with regard to the railroad we would start the hike on. It’s been abandoned since 1938, so any remnants of this line are harder to find than some others.
The previous week they had opened the entire rail bed for like twenty miles through to the Gold Mine access, so that cars could drive through on it for fall foliage tours.

Historic stoneyvalley.com image of the Walke-Meyer Dam along the tracks

It’s a good thing we didn’t have to deal with that business.

We started walking on the grade directly from where we parked, back the way we drove on the pot hole covered right of way, now access road to the State Game Lands at Saint Anthony’s Wilderness, named for the patron saint of lost and found.
The expanse was explored early on and given that moniker, but didn’t really develop until the arrival of the Stoney Valley Railroad, which is now the trail to the east.

An 1890 USGS map showing the entire section of the rail bed we hiked along

The time of prosperity in the Stoney Valley was between 1850 and 1899 when the coal was mined through the area. It was lower grade than other areas, so it didn’t last quite as long.

Camp along the rail bed

The first bit of the railroad was bit in 1852-53 out to a dead end at Gold Mine, then a lower line was built to extend it east to Pine Grove. It became the Schuykill and Susquehanna Branch of the Reading Railroad.
We continued along the road for a bit, and maybe a couple of vehicles went by. There are only a couple of occupied houses out on the unpaved old rail bed after leaving the state game lands. We passed an abandoned on on the right as we went along.
To the left of us, we passed by the former site of the Walke-Meyer Dam. There would have at one time been a more developed area here with the body of water reaching almost to the edge of the railroad bed, with a dam over the Stoney Creek.

Historic 1930s aerial showing the Walke-Meyer Dam and rail bed

Ice harvesting once took place here in the days before refrigeration, and it also was somewhat of a vacation community similar to the other little wilderness areas like Cold Spring further off in the valley.

There is a house where the Ellendale Hotel used to be now. We continued out the road past the former dam site and to where the road becomes paved.

Historic stoneyvalley.com image of the Ellendale Hotel

There is a weird paved cul de sac, or turn around of some sort unlike what I see anywhere else, where the road goes from paved to dirt. There’s no real way of telling if you’re supposed to go around it to the left or right.
The railroad bed and the road diverged at this point. The rail bed looked overgrown but somewhat passable west of the cul de sac, so I decided to go on through. I didn’t know what to expect of any of this. I knew it went through back yards and such further on, and expected we would have a great deal of road walking to do, but I was pleasantly surprised at just how much we managed to follow starting here.

Target practice area

An ATV path almost immediately joined form the right, and then came to a camp area where there was some target stuff and a Trump sign to the right. I was not certain if the Trump sign was considered to be one of the targets, or a term of endearment, but it was clearly getting shot where it was hanging up.
We continued along, over a hump of earth at the end of the encampment, and continued on the railroad bed into the woods, as it followed a shelf above the Stoney Creek. It was a pretty nice section, somewhat overgrown, but easy enough to follow under the canopy of trees. There was a parallel power line to this, which had several fallen trees over it. I have a notion that this line is probably still electrified, so I encouraged everyone to stay away from it.

Old rail mount...with a rail!

We crossed a power line that was somewhat overgrown, but it got easy again on the other side. It remained pretty easy walking until we got to a major washout close to someone’s house to the right. We cut down hill to the left, and then back up to the rail grade on the other side, which immediately got easy again. It was cleared, almost as if it were a trail.
Some of what we had been following had white paint splotches painted on it, which is a sign of state game lands boundaries. We might have been legal there, but I’m still not counting on it.

Old Snyders Lane crossing sign still there

Soon, we approached the crossing of Snyder Lane. There, it was surprising to find that there were one of those old spare rail mounts, complete with a rail still on it.
It’s not often one would find something like this. In fact, I’ve never found it at all. According to Greg Pawelski, an adjacent land owner had found the rail on his property and decided to place it there. Pretty cool to see anyway.
These items were used for when a rail would break. Every mile had one of these from the Reading Railroad years in case they needed a replacement piece.
At Snyder’s Lane, it was also interesting to see that the original railroad crossing sign was still in place for it being a private crossing.
We continued ahead on the still clear railroad bed closely beside the edge of Stoney Creek. I think at one time there was a station or flag stop at Snyder’s but I’m not sure. Across the creek to the left, I noted a small shed.

Maybe an old station building? Idk

I thought it almost looked like railroad era shed station building, but not really sure. In the case of some railroad buildings on this line, they have been repurposed as sheds and stuff, so the concept isn’t too far fetched anyway.
The rail bed continued to get more overgrown as we moved on. We passed over a small tributary with a piped underpass, and then the route we had to follow became more indistinct. Somewhere along the way, because of erosion of the grade or whatever, we ended up off of the railroad bed and closer to the edge of the Stoney Creek. To the right, there were some third wheel campers set up in a clearing. There was no way they didn’t see us, but I just moved on as quickly as I could straight ahead through worse weeds.

Crossing Stoney Creek

In a short while, we reached a point where we could not continue on, and the bridge carrying Lindsey Lane over Stoney Creek was in view. It seemed like we were still in the rail bed to me, but I didn’t see it was actually off to our right. It didn’t matter anyway, because there was a body of water on that side as well. The only way we were getting out of the thicket we had made it to was to wade the creek, or otherwise turn back and find another way. I of course just waded across to the right, next to a small stone rock dam that went across. Jen followed, but everyone else took their shoes off to do it.
We had to wait on the edge of the road for everyone else on the other side. Mr. Buckett took a long time to get his straightened out and laughed at him then spanking his backpack.

"Clothing Optional Beyond This Point" on the rail bed

We followed Lindsey Lane across the bridge and back to the rail bed, and in the direction we were coming from was a sign reading “Clothing Optional Beyond This Point”.

The rail bed was even mowed...

There were no “no trespassing” signs anywhere on the railroad bed that we came across, which was really surprising to me. We turned to the left from Linsdey Lane to continue on the good and clear railroad bed heading to the west. We soon came to a power line crossing, and even that was clear and had a path mowed right down the rail bed on it. It was as if it was an official trail.
Beyond, on google maps, Capital Area Greenbelt Association is shown as one of the owners at an adjacent property, so it might very well be public, but I cannot tell for certain. Google is often wrong on maps.

A view of Stoney Creek

The rail bed entered woods again, and passed through probably the loveliest section of it I’ve been on, nicer than even the bits in Saint Anthony’s Wilderness. It was clear, but not road width, and very close to the edge of the creek for nice views.

The rail bed

The section came out at the dead end of Hemlock Lane, beyond which the road is built on top of the old railroad bed. Again, there were no “no trespassing” signs anywhere along it. There was a guy out working in his yard to the left of us, blasting Greatful Dead music, and someone had dumped a truck load of mulch blocking the roadway somewhat. No one really seemed even at all interested that we were there.
We continued walking along Hemlock Lane to where it turned away from the rail bed to the right. Straight ahead, the rail bed continued along the creek with little gardens on both sides.

Hemlock Lane on the rail bed with mulch

There were no trespassing signs on the both sides, but nothing up the middle. I wasn’t keen on trying to go through this section, but surprisingly everyone else wanted to have a look.
We went through between the gardens, and then along a shelf along the Stoney Creek until we could see that it came out directly in someone’s back yard. I wasn’t going to go and try to get through that, despite having luck earlier. I’d already gone over the aerial images of this part, and I didn’t think it looked like a good idea. Instead, I’d already decided before that I would wade the creek again and then follow the parallel Boyd’s Lane on the other side where the rail bed could be seen.

Stone Glen Road on the rail bed

I climbed down and crossed, and Jen followed me, while the others turned back slightly and went up slope on an old road that led to the parallel Stoney Mountain Way, which could be used to get to Stoney Creek Road and join back up with the rail bed after a short detour.
Boyd’s Lane was a good dirt road to several houses, and the rail bed was indeed easy to see directly across the little creek. There were people out working in the yard of the first house, and the whole thing was well manicured. It would have been very awkward had we decided to try to follow that through there.

The rail bed in a yard in Stone Glen

Immediately after the first house and yard, the rail bed went into yet another one. It was a good thing we were where we were. There were also no trespassing signs on the second one. We continued along, and crossed Stoney Creek on the Boyd’s Lane bridge, and the rail bed joined with Stone Glen Road on the other side. This entire area was a settlement on the historic map shown as Stone Glen. It likely once had a station stop, but I can’t be sure. We had an easy time of just walking the road on the rail bed out to it’s intersection with Stoney Creek Road, where the rail bed continued in yards just barely below the road to the left of us.

The railbed is a driveway beside Stoney Creek Road

By this point, I was just amazed that we were able to follow the rail bed so closely for the entire hike so far. What I thought was going to be about ninety percent road walking was already less than ten percent. We were always either on or right next to the rail bed, and that would continued ahead as well, because it was right beside Stoney Creek Road.
The others showed up around the corner in just a couple of minutes. The distance was barely any difference by going one way versus the other. We all continued walking Stoney Creek Road, and I could easily see the railroad remnants in the yards, driveways, and other open areas to the left of us for a good long while.

The rail bed seen on Iron Bridge Road beyond

Eventually, the rail bed turned off to the left a bit more, and the road gained some elevation. It was still a pleasant route to walk, but the rail bed headed out to where an iron bridge once carried it across the Stoney Creek to remain on the south side the rest of the distance.

Rail bed on Iron Bridge Road

Still, we could see remnants of it much of the time across at most areas that opened up. A road known as Iron Bridge Road, a dead end at two ends, follows the grade on the other side for a while, but only goes to a couple of houses, so I didn’t want to disturb anyone trying to get on through.
We did head down to Iron Bridge Road to check out the grade when it’s connecting road went across the Stoney Creek from the main road. This area is historically known as Singersville.
We continued to the west from here, still on the road, and passed a lovely old farmstead on the right at an intersection, with an old spring house or somehting across the street from it.

Old farmstead in Stoney Valley

The road had moved away from Stoney Creek a bit, and then headed back over to it. The next side road to cross the rail bed was Kennedy Road, which had a seeminly vacant house next to it. We didn’t bother to check that out, but I could see easily where the railroad bed went behind it. I thought for a time to try to follow it, because it appears to be pretty clear from here out to Dauphin and the junction site, but I didn’t want to chance going by the first of the houses along the way. I already knew it was posted with no trespassing signs at the other end, even if this side wasn’t.

Pond in Dauphin

We continued along the road from here, and headed slightly down hill to where the slack water began behind the Stoney Creek Dam, located in Dauphin. This dam is pobably pretty old, and made of stone. I think it served at one time as a feeder for the Pennsylvania Canal, because historic maps show that there was a sort of side canal from it, and it was probably the site of a mill race pond even in the years before the canal.
There were people fishing along the picturesque pond as we approached Dauphin. The temperature was much warmer than what we had anticipated it would be earlier, and I couldn’t even stand to wear the jacket I had put on in the morning before leaving.

At the dam

My plan here was to have our lunch stop at the Stoney Creek Inn, a nice creek side restaurant I was introduced to by Brigitte Benedict back on a Clark’s Valley and Peters Mountain hike we had done a few years ago. Right along our route and with a nice ambiance, it would be perfect for where we were going.
We approached the dam, right in the yard of the restaurant, and there was a great view of the stone work. The rail bed was atop the wall on the other side very obviously. Just beyond this site it had it’s junction with the Northern Central Railroad, which went along the Susquehanna.

Stoney Creek Inn

The Northern Central Railroad once crossed over the Susquehanna River at about this point by way of the Marysville Bridge, a long covered bridge completed in 1858. The Northern Central Railroad continued south to Baltimore by way of York, and was the subject of one of my hikes in the past (Jillane and I hiked the entire line from York south to Cockeysville north of Baltimore a few years back).
It was a Burr Arch Truss covered bridge, which remained in service after the Pennsylvania Railroad takeover of the NCR in 1875. After that time, most traffic on that line was routed to the south across the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Rockville Bridge rather than this one.

View inside the Marysville bridge

As I understand, the old bridge was pretty much discontinued in use in about 1882, and it fell into disrepair at that point. It was then removed sometime around 1902 or 1903.

A view of Pennsylvania Canal and Marysville Bridge, 1866

Most of the piers of the old bridge have been crumbling ever since. Some of them might have been removed, but a few of them are still standing. A familiar sight at one of the old piers is a replica of the Statue of Liberty perched on one of the western piers.

Statue of Liberty replica

On July 2nd, 1986, for the 100 year anniversary of the real Statue of Liberty, Gene Stilp decided to erect a small replica of Lady Liberty on the pier.

Marysville Bridge historic scene, 1890

The statue, which was made of plywood and Venetian blinds, was surreptitiously placed in the middle of the night by Stilp and friends, including Dauphin County Parks Director Gene Chubb, who borrowed county boats for the task. They, along with many other patriotic locals, succeeded and it seemed as if the statue just magically appeared by morning.
The statue was badly damaged during a storm in 1992, and had to be removed.
In 1997, eleven years and one day to the day the original was placed, a larger and sturdier Lady Liberty was erected by Stilp and others, this time on a much more official level, and using a helicopter.

Historic map of Dauphin showing the bridge site

The statue remains a beloved sight from Routes 22 and 322 to this day.
The area of Dauphin was first settled in 176 by Samuel Sturgeon. A fortification known as Fort Lyon or Fort McKee had been established at the mouth of the Stoney Creek.
By the end of the American Revolution, these lands were owned by veteran Timothy Green, who built a mill at the confluence of the Stoney Creek and the Susquehanna. It was renamed “Port Lyon” by the son of Timothy Green who became a local judge, in honor of the old fort.
The Pennsylvania Canal came through in 1832, and the town was renamed Dauphin after the son of Louis the XVI of France, who’s title was “The Dauphin”.

Old station point on Reading RR

We went into the bar and were seated. After I ordered my lunch, a special turkey sandwich thing with cheese covered fries called “The Rachel”, I headed out on my own to try to get some then and now photos nearby, and to see about where the former railroad junction sites were.
I crossed the street and climbed steps up to Allegheny Street. I knew before even looking at the maps that there had been major realignments through this area of roads, railroads, and the canal. I determined in short order that Allegheny Street is built mostly on top of the old Northern Central Railroad bed.

The dam on Stoney Creek

I crossed the bridge with some nice views, and then saw the railroad bed we had been following coming out of the woods to the left with a chain link fence blocking.

Dauphin Station

According to Greg P’s posting on it, the shed that stood next to this point stands exactly on the footing of the station building associated with the Reading Railroad.
There used to be a station beside the former creek crossing, across from where the restaurant is today. At some point, after Pennsylvania Railraod takeover, probably some time after 1900 when they were doing lots of major improvements, the still active line was moved closer to the river to bypass the town.

Old stone building

There was a handsome old stone building next to the bridge that carried Allegheny Street over the Stony Creek, but I’m not sure a lot of the history behind it. There were no historic markers around saying anything about it.
I walked over and found the former alignment of the NCR line, and likely the former crossing site. of the earlier roads.
I couldn’t see any Pennsylvania Canal remnants. I didn’t have any good maps, and I was told most of the route was obliterated through highway construction. I knew some of it north of Dauphin was now along some side roads, but I was under the impression that it went directly through the middle of the town, but it did not.

NCR line ahead, the Reading line to the right

There was also the terminus of the narrow gauged Zartman Railroad located along this point, a logging railroad that climbed up and over the Third Mountain, then descended into Clark’s Valley to terminate near the current DeHart Reservoir site.

Old Zartman logging line train

It turns out I had hiked some of this the day of the last time I was at Stoney Creek Inn, but I didn’t know it until much later.
I made my way back to the restaurant, and still had to wait a bit to get the food.
The waitress was really great, all over the place with high energy, but we could tell they weren’t expecting the influx of people that had arrived. She was serving as both bartender as well as server for everyone in the restaurant and getting no breaks.

Susquehanna view

was really happy with the food when it came out. It was quite delicious, and I felt stuffed by the time we headed out of there.
From here, we all walked the same way I had up the steps, and then came down behind the post office and such, because that’s where I thought the canal would have been.
I was wrong about that one. We walked about a block on Juniata Street, and Canal Street was right along the edge of the slope for Rt 22. It must partially cover it at this point.

Herbert B. Livesey Photo of the crossing of the Reading line in Dauphin, 1938

We walked through a concrete underpass at the intersection of Swatara Street, and then followed a path back to the east a bit. We had to climb up and over the former Pennsylvania Railroad tracks, and then down to River Road. This area is where the canal would have been as per historic maps, and there was a lock on the far side of the Stoney Creek.
We headed down to the edge of the river where there was a good view downstream toward the remaining piers of the former Marysville Bridge.
We headed back up to the road from here, and followed it to the west to where Market Street made it’s connection to town on the right. The railroad tracks were immediately to the right for a bit, but then the road moved off to the left a bit.

View to Marysville Bridge site

It was soon that we were obviously following the route of the Pennsylvania Canal. This was the Main Line of Public Works, part of the main route between Philadelphia and Pittsburg.

Along Pennsylvania Canal

The road was following the tow path, and the prism was pretty well intact with many houses having foot bridges over them to lands to the right.
A couple of the houses looked like they could have been lock houses, because the canal to the right narrowed a bit. They could also have been narrowed for parking areas, but I can’t be sure.
I can’t find any good maps that note what the lock numbers were on these sections, but some late 1800s maps show where lock houses or locks were.
At one point on the road, there was a building that looked to be an old canal side store.

An old store?

I think a lot of these were just later old bungalow community homes, but some of them would certainly been canal vintage.
We continued on the road, which was then a private community heading to the west.
We had to leave the canal when Hagy Lane came in from the right. River Road continud beyond, so we decided to try to follow that. It does return to the canal, but then dead ends. I was hoping we could try to continue on from the end of it somehow, but making this turn was a gamble.
We reached the canal, and there were often good views out to the Susquehanna. People drove by and waved in a friendly way. Some of the canal was watered, and at one point there was busted up masonry in it. I wish I knew if that was a lock or not.

Clarks Creek Aqueduct ruins

When we got to the end of the road, there was a multi family house on the left. We climbed up slope to the railroad tracks, and to then turned left to cross Clarks Creek. To the left, the pier and abutments to the Clarks Creek Aqueduct were well in view. It was cool to see this remnant preserved.
This was also the historic site of the Dauphin Furnace I have read, and earlier known as the Georgianna Furnace. It must have been about where the multi family home now stands, or behind it along the creek.

Historic image of Dauphin Furnace ruins

We continued along the tracks, and we could see much of the time the remnants of the canal and towpath down slope from us to the left. I tried to climb down and walk a little piece of it when Diane saw a good path down, but it was still pretty bad for walking. We just let that part go and continued out until we got to the crossing of Earl Drive. We decided to follow the road parallel with the tracks up hill a bit to the west.
The canal was down below us, and we could see a stately old stone house through the trees that would have been along it, but the road leading down to it is just a private driveway, and there was not an obvious looking way to be able to get through. We would have to follow the road parallel with the tracks for a way.s
We came back down hill, and then were right beside the tracks on the road. We could see across a farm property to the left that the canal was in the distance. A house on the left looked like it had been flooded out, and was now a prefabricated higher thing, next to a much older barn with stone foundation. I assume the earlier farm house must have flooded bad.

Road along the tracks

We came really close to Rt 22 again, and then reached the intersection with Canal Road. We turned left on that, and it took us back to Towpath Road, which follows along the canal.
We turned to the right, and the unpaved road was just beautiful. It was a smaller road, and passed by a few homes, but really felt like the many canal trails I had walked elsewhere. It was only a short distance along where there was a change in elevation and I think it might have been some sort of old lock site. I could not find any stone work however.

Towpath Road

In many cases, the fine cut stone on the Pennsylvania Canal was removed for re-use elsewhere. We find that to be the case with a lot of the old canals we’re walking.

This was reportedly the former whore house

We passed by an abandoned trailer on the left, or seemingly abandoned, then through another stretch of woods to a couple of houses on the left.
A dog came running out of the first one toward us, and we were hollered at to stop.
At first, I figured we might have a problem, since we were in the middle of nowhere, and because these people are not very likely to have many visitors back there.
The lady who came up to us was very friendly, and just wanted to be certain her dog didn’t follow us and get lost. She was very interested in what we were doing, and asked if we were doing the Appalachian Trail (the most common question we are posed with).

Along Pennsylvania Canal

I explained we were hiking the old Pennsylvania Canal and pointed at the surprisingly watered section of the route directly behind me. She said that she had never seen anyone come walking through that area. She even told us we could come back and camp on the yard.
She told us that the house she was living in, back in canal days, used to be the local whore house, which was not something I was expecting to hear. Mr. Buckett made some funny commentary on that one, and egged her on to talk about it more.

Old lock house foundation

It was a really very interesting interaction, and not what I would expect from a place in the middle of nowhere like this.
The lady also told us that until recently, they did have neighbors next door, but that it was within the month the site of a murder/suicide between mother and daughter Nanci and Kari Parthemore.
That was the vacant trailer we had just passed by prior to getting to this point. The article on it is here: https://www.wgal.com/article/driver-of-stolen-car-caught-on-camera-hitting-troopers-patrol-car-before-driving-off/29665341

Historic canal lock

This was a rather shocking thing. We moved on from this point, and she told us there used to be a hotel a bit further up the road.
I had a lot of research to do on this, clearly.
When we got to Beamer Lane, where we would have to turn to the right, the others spotted the old lock before I did.
It was a beautiful old fine cut stone lock with easily recognizable gate pockets, and water in the floor. I was totally surprised to see such a fine preserved lock back in this area. It was just what I wanted to see before we had to turn away from the canal back out to the nearby Earl Drive.

Gate recesses on the canal lock

There was a guy out at the next house doing some sort of yard work with his son, and he came over to talk to us. Again, this guy was very friendly and just interested in what we were doing. I introducted myself, and he told us he didn’t know anything about the history.

A second lock site it appears, probably two way traffic

He had just purchased the house over the Summer, and really didn’t know much about any of it, so to find out that such an awesome transportation system was in front of his house was kind of cool for him.
Across from this was the foundation of what was probably the lock house, according to old maps. The man who just bought the house is probably living on the former site of the C. Freeland Hotel.
This entire settlement was at one time a community known as Fostersfalls, which had it’s own post office address. It now appears to be a colloquial name that’s disappeared pretty much completely.
We followed the road from here back out toward 22, and then came to yet another paralllel lock site. This was apparently a double lock. Many of them might have been.

The old canal route

The historic map of Dauphin shows the lock there as having been a double one, so this could also easily have been so for opposing traffic. It makes sense, because coal would have been coming down stream, and passengers bound for Pittsburg would be going up.

Susquehanna view

The second lock was more rough cut stone. This means it was probably built at a different time as traffic got heavier on the Main Line of Public Works.
We passed another foundation just past the second lock.
When we reached Earl, we turned left, and then passed above the last house from Towpath Road on the left. I then saw an opportunity to cut off the road and possible find more of the old canal. We bushwhacked down hill just a bit, and soon came to a clear path just about on where the canal would have been.
The nice clear path took us out to a camp site with a tent erected along the river, with a nice fire pit. We passed this, and there was no clear or easy path. We tried to follow the river for a bit, but one by one everyone kept heading up toward Rt 22.

In the Susquehanna

Jen and I walked literally in the Susquehanna for a bit before it started getting to a deep spot, by some big rocks. I couldn’t see any remnants of canal in this area.
We climbed very steeply and tried to switch back to get toward the top. When we finally climbed over the railing to the edge of Rt 22, only Diane was up there heading toward us. The others were still working their way up from behind. When we could see everyone was up, we started walking along 22 about where the canal would have been to the north.

Abandoned camper

We paused when we got to a side road with a gate to the left. This was probably the canal route, deviating somewhat from the present route of 22. We passed through the woods on a good path for a while, which was surprisingk, and then came across an abandoned camper. There were no “no trespassing” signs back there, and it appeared to be a public place because there were two porta-johns at the entrance. However, as per the inspection dates on the inside, one had not been serviced I think since 2014, and the other since 2011! I’ll bet the owners of this company are either out of business or forgot!

Old ston retaining wall, probably canal

A little further on, there was an abandoned camper in the middle of the cleared parallel grassy road. We didn’t dare to open it. I’m afraid of finding dead bodies in something like that. And if we did, that would certainly end the hike because we’d have to be stopped for questioning or something.
We continued around and past the camper, and then to where it started to get a bit more overgrown. We still had a path for a bit, with a couple of cut through spots toward the slope to the river.
It was a high concrete wall with a near vertical drop to the river over the edge. I was still curious about the canal history, so I peered over the edge.
Below the concrete, I was impressed to see masonry for the lower third or more of the wall. It seems as though this more modern concrete highway retaining walll may have very well utilized portions of the original canal retaining wall. I might have been standing directly on the towpath, only at maybe a ten or more foot higher spot on top of it.
We continued just a bit more, and then had to come back out to the highway yet again. There was a bit better shoulder for this bit than there was before, and it wasn’t long till the next spot we could get off of the side of the road for a little break at a pull off.

Historic map of the Pennsylvania Canal approach at Clark's Ferry

It was only a short distance around the rest of the Dauphin Narrows from here to the Appalachian Trail and the Clark’s Ferry Bridge over to Duncannon.

The AT crossing the Susquehanna at Clark's Ferry

There was a lock in this area somewhere, now of course buried over by Rt 22. There were probably two or three of them at least in this section actually.
I had crossed this newer bridge over the Susquehanna to Duncannon on a hike once before a few years back in the Appalachian Trail series. At the time, I had not really started reading into the canal so much, because it was just a secondary thing to what I was working on at the time. Now, it’s becoming much more fascinating.
The section we were following was the Eastern Division Pennsylania Canal. The Main Line of Public Works was the railroad to Columbia, then Eastern Division to Clark’s Ferry.

Remnants of old dam across the Susquehanna for slack water

At that point, the Main Line of Public Works crossed over the Susquehanna using slack water, and then entered another canal section at Duncan’s Island. It was then the start of the Juniata Division. The Eastern Division was 43 miles, and the Juniata Division was 127.
It continued in the Juniata Division to Hollidaysburg, then picked up the Allegheny Portage Railroad (34 mi) to Johnstown, then the Western Division toward Pittsburg (104 mi).

Susquehanna River at the former canal crossing and covered bridge

Once over at Duncan’s Island, the main line crossed an aqueduct over the Susquehanna just upstream a bit. The Susquehanna Division, continued along the west shore of the Susquehanna up to Northumberland some 41 more miles away where the west branch went 73 miles more along West Branch of the Susquehanna to Ferrandsville, and the North Branch Division followed the East Branch and up to the NY state line 169 miles away.

Map of the canal over Duncans Island

Additionally, the Wiconisco Canal continued up along the east bank of the Susquehanna some twelve miles to Millersburg. It was started by the state in the 1830s, but there was a panic and they gave up on it, so a private firm was hired to complete the work, which was done by 1845. Like many of the canals in the area, it was much destroyed by flooding in 1889 and never fixed again.

Clark's Ferry Bridge

The original bridge over the Susquehanna at this point replaced William Clark’s Ferry, which was previously the major means of crossing, in 1828-29. The Juniata River was considered the Gateway to the West.
The bridge was built with a tow path for the canal along it’s one side for guiding the canal boats across the slack water of the river. By the time the Pennsylvania Canal was on it’s way out in the 1850s, it’s assets were sold to mostly the Pennsylvania Railroad. Eventually it was sold to the Clarks Ferry Bridge Company. The original covered bridge remained in service until 1925 when it was replaced by a concrete arch structure.

Original covered bridge

The concrete arch lasted as a toll bridge on until 1986 when it was replaced by a more modern one. I think it’s also had some modifications besides that time.

1925 bridge postcard

We crossed over to the west side, and there was a plaque that used to be a part of the 1925 bridge still standing along the edge of the road.
An interesting point about this bride is that the earlier structures appear to have existed in the exact same place as the current bridge. Typically, the new structures are built up or down stream from the originals as not to create a conflict for travel, but as per the historic aerials, such was not the case for this bridge.
We got to the intersection with Rt 849 and turned to the left. We remained on the Appalachian Trail route the rest of the time, which took us then across the Juniata River on the older concrete arch bridge, which I think is very similar to the one that crossed the Susquehanna. I think this one will probably be replaced some time soon as well.

Juniata bridge

On the other side, the blazes switched from left to right without any kind of crosswal, and then passed beneath the former Pennsylvania Railroad culvert. We then entered Duncannon.
The town is pretty interesting, but I’ve always found it underwhelming as far as Appalachian Trail towns go. Most of the AT towns are all sort of gentrified and end up being major money makers, but this feels like a hicksville sort of town really. There are barely any businesses entering town that hikers would want to stop in for, save for maybe the strip club that was at the last intersection. Apart from that, the area was pretty dead.
As soon as the trail reached town, there was a sign with a map showing the Appalachian Trail route through town, but didn’t really have much else.

Underwhelming sign

Other towns such as Boiling Springs, Delaware Water Gap in PA, or Kent in Connecticut are all very well to do with lots of facilities that cater to the distance hikers. This town has a hotel called The Doyle and not much else. The trail doesn’t go by all of the businesses. It just follows a residential street most of the way and that’s it. Even the historic Clarks Ferry Tavern, with it’s first section built by ferry man John Clark of Scotland in 1789, has no signs facing the Appalachian Trail route, even though it passes directly behind it rather than along the front of it.
One would think that such an historic site might be reason for the trail to go by it, but such is not the case. In fact, there are other things on the same street the trail misses.

Clark's Ferry Tavern

The tavern had additions put on it made of stone between 1800 and 1810, but it retains most of it’s historic ambiance.
We continued through town on the trail route, but then somehow we missed where the car was. We ended up backtracking, then going back yet again because no one could remember where Diane had parked! Eventually we figured it out and weaved back up to it.
Diane drove me back to my van with Dan, and Dan and I headed back to pick the others back up in Duncannon.
With the end of this hike, the character of this series changes yet again for a good while. We have many hikes ahead where we’ll focus on the Juniata Division Pennsylvania Canal. The timing really couldn’t be better. Many of these hikes will have a good amount of walking on back roads, which means that we won’t be missing out on much during the Winter months if there is snow on the ground. We’ll still do the mileage without having to deal with depth slowing us down.
The only problem with this is the commute. It takes a long time to drive out there, but I’ve gone the distance from Huntingdon in a day before. We’ll be able to knock this out I think, as long as there are still people interested in coming along.

HAM