PA Allegheny Portage NHS

 2022 52-Hike Trail Challenge #25:  Hiking Section of the 6 to 10 Trail, Gallitzin, PA

Trail crossing on old Rt 22

I had planned to hike most of 6 to 10 Trail from the Allegheny Portage National Historic Site (NHS) for a round-trip of 12 miles, but you know what my motto is, right? We plan, God laughs.  After giving the NHS a good once-over and seeing everything there was to see between the museum and the beautifully preserved/conserved/restored/reproduced buildings, we struck out on to the blue-blazed trail to see how far we could get. I had a meeting in Loretto, PA, at four o'clock and I knew we wouldn't get it all done, but a good strenuous walk it would be anyway. 

Main Line Route 

The engineering feat that was (and still is) the Pennsylvania Main Line transects Pennsylvania and served as an early 19th century trade and transportation route for west-bounders, freight, and Underground Railroad passengers. I live south of Columbia near the Mason Dixon Line where UGR routes crossed from Maryland into Pennsylvania. Roads and footpaths moved freedom seekers to the rail station in Christiana, PA, if they were headed to Philadelphia, New York, or points further north. The rail and canal intersection at Columbia moved freedom seekers west to Western PA or Ohio and beyond. As I descended the steep hill that once served as the sixth of ten incline planes on the portage railroad, I tried to imagine those passengers who were aboard the system to find freedom in and beyond Pennsylvania, a "free" state. 

Engine House No. 6 (replica on historic foundation)

Reconstructed gearing and tow rope machinery 

The steepness of the Allegheny Mountains is nothing to shake a hiking stick at.  The landscape was so formidable that native people rarely maintained settlements here other than temporary seasonal hunting camps in the secluded valleys or hollows. As settler farmers made the dangerous trek across the Appalachian Mountains in the 18th century, they were often dismayed to find the Allegheny Plateau any less challenging. The idea of a plateau vanished as people met deeply incised erosional valleys, heart-pounding hill climbs, and dozens of rocky river crossings. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for those early settlers trying to navigate this landscape with Conestoga wagons through narrow gaps in the mountains which stood like walls against their progress. The coming of the Allegheny Portage Railroad section made it possible to carry freighter wagons, entire canal boats, and masses of people up and over ten of the steepest mountain barriers. 

Overgrown incline plane

The Six to Ten Trail roughly follows the path of five of the incline plane climbs with trailheads at each end, at the Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS and six miles east at the town of Foot of Ten. It is sometimes listed a bike path but riders should know that only about four miles of the eastern route are suitable/safe for riding. The hiking portion that Amos and I were on would not be a good idea on a bike. Seriously. We stopped to gawk at the strangely offset Skewed Arch Bridge which allowed a wagon road to pass safely over the railroad. Looking back up the hill from where we'd come I could see the white front of the Engine House at the highest summit of the portage through a narrow overgrown cut through the woods. So important was the engineering and skilled masonry of the great arched bridge that when the modern Rt. 22 came through, highway engineers split the road into east and west bound lanes to preserve the site. Hikers must cross this split highway to continue on the trail. 

View up the hill to Engine House #6 through the woods cut 

Skewed Arch Bridge

Stone cutters yard

Along the trail heading east towards Foot of Ten, we encountered each foot and summit of Incline Planes #6, #7, and #8. It was up and down hiking along the crest of hills that had been modified for the railroad below us. Of course I had to stop at every little seepage and mucky spot (there were lots) to look for salamanders. I wasn't disappointed. Amos caught sight of a deer that snorted and bolted up a hill and he hollered full throat for a good five minutes, but didn't try to chase or pull. Good boy, Amos. 

Moss and mushroom season is in full swing!

Logging railroad switchback - up.

When we got into really steep terrain, the trail followed the zig-zag switchback system of early 20th century logging rails. Like all of Pennsylvania during the early 1900s, this area saw complete deforestation as technologies like steep-climbing Shay engines that allowed for loggers to move timber down big hills. I stood for a rest and looked up and across the mountain near Incline Plane #8 and was amazed at the complexity of switchbacks, intersections, and landings visible through the mature second-growth forest. By the time we had descended our third ravine, I was getting winded. Add to that, the wider paths of the railroad switchbacks were sunnier and in spots there grew great swathes of stinging nettle. Oh no. I was wearing shorts and getting stung while Amos' nearly bare belly was already full of red welts. 

Can you spot the millipede? 

We pressed on down and up, up and down. We crossed creeks at the base of ravine valleys and hiked up rocky grades to climb out. I could barely make out the portage railroad below me through the thick forest cover. I was trying to wrap my mind around the fact that untold hundreds of quarrymen, miners, and laborers - mostly Welsh, Scot, and Irish - had created this path through a most daunting landscape. Still, even with significant smoothing of the steep mountain shoulders, many passengers were so afraid of the dizzying pitches that they elected to walk the thirty-six miles to Johnstown! 

Logging railroad switchback - down.

Climbing down a steep pitch to the portage railroad (Rt 22 beyond)

We climbed down a rocky set of boulder steps to finally intersect with the portage railroad bed near Incline Plane #8. By this time poor Amos was licking his burning belly and I was somewhat amazed at the crisscross pattern of red, raised slashes across my legs. Looking at the level path was a relief but not the mile or more of stinging nettle we would have had to push through to get to our planned turn-around at Muleshoe Curve. I bathed Amos' almost bare belly with cool water and slathered his welts with soothing insect bite cream, hoping it would help. Staring at the nettle covered path, I decided it would be best to turn around and save the rest of the trail for late fall or winter.

Itching and burning, we made this our turn-around at 3.2 miles

Back we went along the 6 to 10 Trail, huffing and puffing and careful to avoid anymore swipes with stinging nettle. Once back on the footpath and off the old logging roads, the nettle disappeared. We crossed again through the springs and seeps to look for slithery things or, for Amos, to drink from the sweet pools of water.  I found a little Garter Snake sunning on a log, his eyes opaque and blue, ready to shed his skin. It was a nice find and he sat perfectly still as I fumbled with my phone for a good shot. I keep wanting to get  my old Canon Rebel repaired so I can shoot again with that nice 250 lens that has the sweet macro. I wouldn't have to approach my slithery subjects as closely and disturb them as I do with the phone. But he seemed not to see me through his blue goggles so I was able to get a few descent pictures. 

Little Garter Snake

We arrived back at the Visitor Center in time to wash up, change into a descent not-smelly shirt and long pants, and get on our way to the meeting in nearby Loretto (also my middle name). Seated in my friend's office at St. Francis University, we laughed about the "great outdoors" and the suffering and pain it can sometimes bring us. Meanwhile, Amos slept soundly in the truck in a shady spot outside, the insect bite cream seeming to have worked giving him a soothing rest. 

Notes:  

The Pennsylvania Main Line is still considered (and celebrated) as an engineering feat. This NHS is dedicated to the entire route and operational history of the route and is located at the summit of the great portage rail system near Gallitzin. The canals and the railroad operated in unison as the Main Line system. https://www.nps.gov/alpo/learn/historyculture/pennsylvania-main-line-canal.htm  and https://www.nps.gov/alpo/learn/historyculture/allegheny-portage-railroad.htm give overviews of the two linked transportation systems. 

A well-researched article appearing in the online magazine "Funimag" (about the history of funiculars - "ladder hill" engineering) on the Allegheny Portage Railroad. The photo-linked chart at the end of the article provides a great set of aerial shots showing the full set of incline planes. These shots give you a sense of the difficult terrain!

The 6 to 10 Trail webpage spells it all out. 

Happy Birthday National Park Service!