PA Silver Mine Park - Clams and an Oyster

Silver Mine County Park in Lancaster County is a local gem of a walk that combines beautifully a maintained paved path and interconnecting hiking trails along Pequea Creek, a tributary of the Susquehanna River. I was able to fit in a fast five miles using all the trails in combination before meeting a fellow environmental historian at the Conestoga Area Historical Society Museum for Fall Fest. Climbing a synclinal bluff, I did some hawk-watching - fall migration is in full swing - and counted 16 hawks of four species, vultures, and an eagle. The fall weather is most definitely here and there is a hint of yellow in the leaves.   

Pequea Creek flowing to the Susquehanna

Paved trail is great for kids biking and people needing mobility assist.

Despite its small size at only 151 acres, the paths and trails are laid out in such a way that you really see all aspects of what made this area attractive to early mining industry. Ore mining and lime kiln operations spanned from the Revolutionary War Era to the Civil War. There are both small open pit and "gopher hole" shafts to find along the Geology Trail and two limestone kilns to see right on the main trail. The main shaft entrance is for safety's sake is closed up with a little slit left open for bats. Anticlinal folds and dips in the local geology are close to the surface and made this an attractive prospect for silver, though not much was found. Instead, the operations turned to lead and limestone production before closing at the end of the Civil War.

Main entrance - now walled off. 

What impressed me about climbing around this well-worked slope was the number of hand dug gopher holes that were excavated by hand - no machinery - to reach the main shaft below. Gopher holes served a few purposes such as providing fresh air to the miners below and as escape routes in case of a ceiling collapse. I've noticed while hiking and exploring 18th and 19th century mining areas how common it is to find these hand-dug holes and how careful you have to be not to accidently tumble into one that has been covered by hundreds of years of accumulated forest debris!  The Wind Caves area, once mined for magnetite on the down slope towards the Susquehanna is peppered with gopher holes. It's wise to know the history of the area when exploring off trail in these parts! 

A gopher hole shaft dug to access the main shaft.

Gopher hole shaft nearly covered by forest debris.

Gopher hole in the curve of the syncline.

Once the leaves drop it will be easier to see evidence of blasting activity. A dangerous job for a man with a steel drill and another with a sledge hammer and a load of powder, blasting was the most expedient way to access the ore-rich rock on a bluff or shoulder. Waste rock cascades down almost every slope towards the paved path where there are woods. Beyond the mowed fields and pavilion sites, the creek banks, freshly scoured by last week's heavy rain, are cluttered with waste rock. I glimpsed the tell-tale half-cylinder bore hole of a blasted boulder lying in shattered rock on the bank.

Lime kiln

In addition to agricultural lime, the twin kilns produced quick-lime which was especially useful when maintaining household privies to both kill the smell and disinfect the contents. Ew. But as I was later to learn from the friend I was meeting at the Fall Festival, old privies make for some really great archeology and all that quick lime over the centuries have made some pits quite sterile. Still - ew. Later I walked a section of road to make a loop back to my truck and passed several large roadside quarry cuts that supplied the dolomite and limestone for that important phase of the operation. 

Quarry lake

Black Shale of  the Conestoga Formation

Fossil mud cracks in dolomite-limestone.

Conestoga Phyllite (metamorphosed shale) with a blasting bore hole.

I explored the small stream that emptied from the two quarry lakes above the paved trail and found it covered with Asian Clams which is a concern because they quickly replace native mollusks. I looked hard for any native species and could find none. The bottom of the little stream was filled with them and their wormy looking excretions which cause algae blooms and  browning of the stream floor. These clams are everywhere in the Lower Susquehanna basin and cause problems for man and fishy beasts alike. 

Tiny Asian Clams, 

I was happy at the end of my hike to find Blue Lobelia where I'd parked my truck but had walked right by earlier on!  I forced myself to stop for a few minutes and enjoy this most beautiful of blue fall wildflowers as it contrasted with a nearby bank full of goldenrod.  Slow down! What's the hurry? 

Great Blue Lobelia, Lobelia siphilitica 

Canada Goldenrod, Solidago canadensis

Just up the road and just a few miles away, the Conestoga Area Historical Society was open for the morning and the Fall Fest was underway.  I met Dr. Lasi and her wonderful Plott Coonhound, Oyster by the iconic Conestoga wagon out front. Clams and an Oyster!

Oyster and the wagon.

Notes: 

Trails Map of the paved and hiking trails at Silver Mine County Park http://www.pequeatwp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2012-08-29_Walking_Trails_Map_Kiosk_web.pdf

Asian Clam information sheet https://seagrant.psu.edu/sites/default/files/AsianClam2013_reduced.pdf

Pequea Township Silver Mine Park information including an excellent geology paper by Jordan Marche, linked. http://www.pequeatwp.org/park-info/

PA Warwick-to-Ephrata Rail Trail

 

Trestle over Chickahominy Creek

It's been a very busy August-into-September with 0 opportunities to hike, bike, or paddle. Finally I was able to manage a morning on the Warwick-to-Ephrata Rail Trail before it got too busy on a Saturday. The air was tempting autumn but heat will return soon so I soaked up the cool breezes for a 20-mile circuit.

Neighbor's gate.

The BBQ is close!

Kind of reminded me of spirit houses in Alaskan Native cemeteries from this summer!

The communities along the rail trail take great pride in it and everyone seems to pile on by mid-morning, strollering, walking, jogging, admiring backyard gardens, butterfly watching at the church wildflower meadow - even a local lumber yard's back lot warehouse is painted in huge letters that spell out SMILE and LOVE IS THE ANSWER.  Neat and proper Amish farms fill the valley. Pumpkins and apples are starting to appear at road-side stands. Blue Mountain runs the across the northern horizon. Everyone says "Hello!" and "Good Morning!" I can't help but heed the lumber yard's advice and smile all 20 miles.

The Memorial to Major Dick Winter and his Band of Brothers.

I visited the memorial dedicated to Major Dick Winters, who commanded Easy Company of the 101st Airborne Division in the Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944. His story was made famous by Stephen Ambrose's 1992 book, Band of Brothers, which later became a smash hit HBO series of the same name. A Lancaster County native, Dick lived into his 90s and passed away in 2011. I remember well the sense of loss for our Southern PA communities and the weeks of memorial services and remembrances. His legacy, however, was far more than his years in the military. He was a kind, humble man, industrious - the earth, and devoted to his family and community, a good Christian. He was a local who everyone from around here, sooner or later, met up with at the Goods Store or on a walk through Hershey. His boyhood was spent in Ephrata, where the memorials are placed along the rail trail. 

New York Aster

Hope Methodist Wildflower Meadow

Pennsylvania is blessed with so many excellent rail-trails and though this line of the former Reading & Columbia RR is short and does not pass through spectacular mountain scenery like its longer cousins north and west of here, it is beautiful enough to really get a sense for the peaceful Lancaster countryside and small towns, some settled in the 1700s, and welcoming communities. I cycled through Ephrata, left the rail-trail at its terminus, and decided to bike along backroads to visit Winter's grave at Bergstrasse Evangelical Lutheran Church, another 3 miles further on. It was a great ride that totaled 20 miles out-and-back.

German gravestone art is both somber and beautiful - there's a lot!

The oldest section of the cemetery holds graves from the Revolutionary War Era. 

After roaming the vast hillside of grave stones and markers dating back to the 1750s - all in German - I sat on the hillside before walking down to Winter's grave and took in the view of the long spine of Blue Mountain. Hawks are beginning to move south along its ridge, beginning their autumn migration season out of Canada and the Northeast U.S. I wanted to be with them and just float to Mexico with the Monarchs and Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds, all now on their way.  Moved by the beauty and the day, September 11, I read aloud Winter's "Leadership Principals" from a photo I took of a plaque at the memorial:

1. Strive to be a leader of character, competence, and courage

2. Lead from the front. Say "Follow Me!" and then lead the way.

3. Stay in top physical shape - physical stamina is the root of mental toughness.

4. Develop your team: If you know your people, are fair setting realistic goals and expectations, and lead by example - you will develop teamwork.

5. Delegate responsibility to your subordinates and let them do their job. You can't do a good job if you can't use your imagination and creativity.

6. Anticipate problems and prepare to overcome obstacles. Don't wait until you get to the top of the ridge then decide to make up your mind.

7. Remain humble. Don't worry about who receives the credit. 

Never let power or authority go to your head.

8. Take a moment of self-reflection. 

Look at yourself in the mirror ever night and ask if you did your best.

9. True satisfaction comes from getting the job done. The key to the successful leader is to earn respect - not because of rank or position, but because you are a leader of character.

10. Hang tough - Never, ever, give up.

(Originally from Dick Winter's Beyond Band of Brothers: War Memoir of Major Dick Winters. With Cole Kingseed, Berkley Trade, 2006)

Dick and Ethel Winters, asleep in the Lord. 

Notes: 

Warwick Township rail-trail map https://www.warwicktownship.org/WERT 

Trail Link description of WERT https://www.traillink.com/trail/warwick-to-ephrata-rail-trail/

Wikipedia for Richard Winters, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Winters

HBO Band of Brothers series webpage:  https://www.hbo.com/band-of-brothers