PA Horseshoe Trail - Bucks Hollow to Six Penny Creek Loop

No Amos along today. Reading through comments on the Horseshoe Trail FB page for this section had me a little concerned about property dogs, both loose and contained, as well as a local gun club that has of late been very active. It lies close to the trail and is precisely where Amos turned around for an out-and-back from Scott's Run Lake when he heard shots fired. He doesn't do gunfire which is probably why he was dumped as a puppy being a gun shy hound. 

Pelvic bone of a Whitetail Deer - notice mouse gnawings.

This is #7 of my 2022 52-Hike Challenge which started at the brand new parking area on Buck Hollow Road for the William Penn State Forest.  Walking towards our turn-around point at Six Penny Creek and the gun club entrance I planned to make a loop via Geigertown and Hay Creek Roads to the (also new) state forest kiosk on Hay Creek Road for 12 miles. 

Brand new! 

The Horseshoe Trail depends largely on the good will of private property owners allowing hikers to traverse their land. Though the trail association has worked diligently over decades to foster good relations, there are some owners who challenge agreed upon permission-of-thoroughfare with intimidation and threats. As soon as the trail exited state forest land I was met with a No Tresspassing sign planted firmly in the middle of the path and I wasn't sure whether to continue. .   

Right in the middle of the trail...

Ribbons and wires laced the trees on either side of the trail. The sound of constant gunfire coming from a target range nearby made my decision to a walk around the sign a little nerve wracking, but I did. The trail blazes are freshly painted and the path well cared for and I had just watched a mountain biker blow past the sign, so I did too.  As my hike progressed, I was amazed at the amount of boundary marking whether with sometimes intimidating signs or blue/white/purple painted trees, including more wires and flagging tape augmented by the not-so-subtle signage indicating that surveillance cameras were in use.

...and all around the place. 

Once past the stretch of private property - evidently a logging tract - I was able to really enjoy the landscape with views through the bare trees towards French Creek State Park and the rolling hills all around.  Hay Creek flows in the valley and comes with its own historical association! This is the Iron Hills region, a long stretch ragged terrain that offered colonists abundant supplies of iron ore from Valley Forge to the Appalachian Front. The Horseshoe Trail never leaves the geology and history of iron production for its entire 140-mile length. Hiking historians, rejoice!

Brocade moss on red sandstone

 

Hay Creek Valley and French Creek State Park hills beyond.

The hills are pitted with small stone quarries and surface mines. I was surprised to see almost every large boulder along the trail with evidence of hammered star drills and feather-and-wedge splitting. For a while the path follows a narrow stone boat road where heavy horses pulled wooden sleds (called "boats") loaded with blocks of red sandstone to building sites in the valley. From the large stone dumps masons dressed and shaped the stone with hammers and chisels for building projects. One doesn't need to go far from the trail to see examples of fine red sandstone barns, homes, mills, and the nearby Joanna Furnace. I imagined the hills ringing with the sound of hammers on iron drills and wedges, very musical and a lot of work!

Hammered star drill and feather-and-wedge split stone (late 1700s)

Star drill holes and split faces

Check out this demonstration of star drill and feather-and-wedge stone splitting - truly a lost art! There are a few other nice demos on YouTube but remember that colonial stone splitters didn't have power tools so ignore the use of air compressors. The art of the stone splitter relied on listening to the changing sounds of metal in rock to determine the correct amount of force to make a clean break. This is the "music to my ears" way of hammered splitting.  

I made my way down the quarried hill and crossed over Hay Creek Road to follow a dirt road that crossed the creek. I stopped to listen to a chorus of newly arrived Red-Winged Blackbirds on a cattail marsh, visited with some cattle and goats, and got barked at by a few farm dogs whose tails were happily wagging to see a hiker cutting through the farm.  I had a chat with the farmer, a strapping woman my age, who offered me some tea from her thermos and a donut! That made up for all the angry No Trespass signs earlier on.

For my Camino friends who are going on pilgrimage this spring

HST is a NRT

Across the Pottstown and Railroad cut the trail climbed the next hill. It too was studded with surface quarries and split stone was everywhere. So was the sharp crack and bang of gunfire coming from the nearby gun range. Trying to speak with a couple and their remarkably calm Treeing Walker Coonhound was futile so we said our goodbyes. 

Iron bridge over the Pottstown and Reading RR cut 

Had the offer of tea and a donut visiting this bunch! 

The rocky trail wound around the hill intersecting with a maze of popular mountain biking trails contained in the Birdsboro Preserve. A trail crew was out working on planting a new sign to warn bikers off the HST. There are dozens of Preserve trails for bikers here but they persist in trying to use the HST.  Almost on cue I encountered two bikers pushing their bikes up the boulder strewn trail, frustrated that "this trail is shit" when it really wasn't made for mountain biking.  After a steep descent to Geigerstown Road, right next to the gun club parking area, I was exactly where Amos and I had turned around last time we were on the HST. This time there was a brain-rattling amount of gunfire. I am so glad I did not take him along. 

Finally on Geigerstown Road at Six Penny Creek

Part RR graveyard, part steam engine collection.

Wrecker crane - now a wreck on its own.

The road walk back to the state forest entrance on Hay Creek Road was pretty interesting but also pretty dangerous. I wore my brightest colors just for this portion of the walk as blind curves, no shoulders, and rolling hills made getting along with speeding cars pretty important. A few miles on the hardtop and I was blissfully back on the path to retrace my steps up into the Buck Hollow Track of the William Penn State Forest. 

Wintergeen

Buck Hollow Tract entrance on Hay Creek Road - loop complete!

Woods road back to the car

I've been making my way up the HST for a few years now, slowly but surely. I'm at a third completed on a northwest track to intersect with the Appalachian Trail. It's possible to do a big loop using the AT, HST, and Mason Dixon Trail with a connector between Valley Forge and Chads Forge on the Brandywine Trail. 

Today's loop included 8 miles on the HST and 4 road miles

Here's my hiking video for the day. You can get a feel for the background noise - it was either geese or guns. Amos would have lost his mind... (BTW you can find my videos at my YouTube Channel "Roamin' Bones" and while you are there, please subscribe!)

Notes:

For a look at the nearby Joanna Furnace (and the impressively beautiful red sandstone buildings) see the Hay Creek Valley Historical Association  https://haycreek.org/joanna-furnace/

Learn more about the National Trail  System  https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationaltrailssystem/index.htm and in particular the National Recreation Trail System  https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationaltrailssystem/national-recreation-trails.htm

Horseshoe Trail interactive map https://cart.hstrail.org/trail/