PA Pinnacle Trails: Easter Sunrise

For those working through this pandemic in agriculture, healthcare, essential services, and food access - thank you. Even today, Easter, in the early dimness of morning hours I watched the battered blue van on its way to pick up/drop off the laborers who work at our area dairies and processing plants. Amos my goofy black and tan coonhound bounded out of the car to hike one his favorite places. The Pinnacle is adorned with stone walls which shelter his favorite quarry.

Pinnacle Overlook - a wisp of a sunrise

The morning dawned misty and quiet as we began our trek up the Old Pinnacle Road to reach the overlook by sunrise. There were no planes in the air, no cars or trucks or trains but in the empty space of the lost human soundscape suddenly a chorus of bird song erupted from the woods to take its place. Wild geese trumpeted from down on the river. Cattle from a farm across the valley bellowed on their pastures which shone so brilliantly green on the hillside.

Signs of our times. 

We followed the Old Pinnacle Road around to find no sunrise service at the overlook where on most Easters at least two small congregations gather. There were no cars or vans from the local churches and meetings. No one was setting up the coffee and donuts for after service. There was some trash left over from the day before which I picked up - but not much. There was only the sound of the new day dawning.

Old Pinnacle Road is now a blazed trail.

Amos and I made the circuit around the dome of the Pinnacle and followed the old road back to a section  of the long distance Conestoga Trail. Sunrise filtered through high clouds which were drifting in from the south. The Mid-Atlantic is expecting a strong line of storms and heavy rain to begin within twenty-four hours. The muted light, however, made the colors pop a little more and I was amazed at how much greener that far pasture across the river looked as the light brightened.

Vandalism where there had been none before.

The steep rocky trail seemed a bit tired, even haggard. It hasn't seen this much foot traffic in a while.  I picked up more wrappers, empty bottles, and the cap to a spray can left behind after ruining an outcrop with purple paint. People have gone off trail everywhere. Just like my observations of the Mason Dixon Trail last week, too many wandering people - unfamiliar with trail etiquette - have left disturbed paths of exposed worn, thin forest soils. I worried about the impact the heavy rains tomorrow will have on all of our overused trails.

On the Conestoga Trail

Amos was hot on the scent trail of a ground hog. This is his favorite animal to track but I reined him in to slow down on a particularly steep set of rock scrambles. I knew the ground hog den was somewhere in these outcrops and Amos was very excited to find it, but I was worried about being pulled over two hundred feet of sheer drop-off.  We had to have a talk about his trail manners before we went any further.  Collected and careful, Amos walked slowly down the hill without pulling as long as I reminded him to "gentle walk."  The trail reconnected again to the Old Pinnacle Road and we took the safer route rather than continue down the rocky slide.

Rattlesnake Plantain - a small woodland orchid.

An 1864 map shows that the Pinnacle hill, one of the great river hills of this region, was used primarily for timber cutting during the Civil War. It's thin-soils and loose rock  made it hard to farm and was used for pasturing animals after the woods had been cleared. The two creek valleys that define the height of the hill north and south are Kelly's Run and Tucquan Creek.  Where they emptied out into the Susquehanna there were grist and saw mills but most importantly was McCall's Ferry that carried Conestoga wagons and passengers by large flatboats across the river.

Lancaster County Township Map, Marctic, 1864 

The famed wagons were built here in the Conestoga region and are still an icon of the history of westward expansion. McCall's Ferry even had an inn to house those waiting to cross, with stables for the horses and Fisher's provisioning station for long-distance travelers to add to their stocks for the first phase of going west. We walked the old road up and away from the site of the ferry crossing to explore the hill. In the 1850s and 60s Conestoga wagons would have been streaming the other way to make the crossing at the valley below.

An old  PPL company gate is still locked.

When the building boom of the great dam era began in the early 1900s, the Old Pinnacle Road was "improved"  by steam shovels and bulldozers. Used mostly by power company workers who lived in small temporary hill villages, the "New" Pinnacle Road carried tourists as well who made the bumpy ride to the top for the view.  Seeing an opportunity to draw more Sunday drivers and picnickers, Pennsylvania Power and Light developed the top of the hill with tables and grills and it became a popular destination for Sunday picnics.

Souvenir railroad spike 

In addition to "improved" roads the power companies also built short-run railroads to move building materials to construction sites. Many local factories and mills had their own short lines as well, built long before the power companies came. I like them for hiking. They make for easier walking in rough terrain because they follow a gentler slope and tend to be hard-packed and less prone to wash out.  Some of the most beautiful paths in the river region like the Shenk's Ferry wildflower preserve and the Marctic Forge section of the Conestoga Trail are old rail paths.  In Maryland, below the Conowingo Dam, the beautiful Susquehanna Greenway Trail follows a construction railway path.

Stone walls can still be found in the young woods of the hilltop pastures. 

Our wandering included a two-mile loop on the red-blazed path that follows old 19th century farm lanes and Conestoga wagon roads. The woods here are young, having been pasture up until the 1970s, but the stone walls, some of which date to the 1830s are very visible, including the wall that holds the wagon path to the hillside. Amos was in ground hog heaven and this is where we met the one lone hiker for our walk, an Amish man named Micah. He who was tickled to meet Amos, another Minor Prophet. We chatted a bit about the pandemic and how it is affecting Amish communities. They are following the guidelines for social distancing, he said and finding it not so hard to do, but that it is having an impact on their businesses, especially construction and dairy.  Micah walks every morning on this path that connects his farm with his brother's farm, an out-and-back four miles. "Part of my daily routine, I guess."

Shadbush in bloom.

Amos and I followed the old wagon road, shored up by its impressive stone abutment against the slope.  We stopped frequently - Amos to explore the stone wall for possible ground hog dens and me to enjoy the view of the budding forest over the Kelly's Run valley. Shad bush bloomed along the slope and a bald eagle soared past at eye level beyond the trees. In another mile the old road ended at a park gate on the paved section of Pinnacle Road where a steady stream of cars was then making its way to the overlook.

Back to the car!

Notes:

Conestoga Historical Society  This is where you can see the Conestoga wagon, wagon and wheelwright shop, and museum. These wagons, called prairie schooners,  were built in this area during westward expansion. The wagon roads in the river hills area carried thousands  on their way to the ferry landings.    https://lancastercountymuseums.org/conestoga-area-historical-society/

Pinnacle Scenic Overlook -  https://www.lancasterconservancy.org/preserves/pinnacle-scenic-overlook/  Lancaster Conservancy is asking that those who live farther than a 15 minute drive to please not visit at this time due to COVID-19.