PA Appalachian Trail Hike: #5 Caledonia State Park - Quarry Gap - Long Pine Run Reservoir Loop

Ridge run.

 

AT Loop Hike #5: Caledonia State Park to Long Pine Run Loop - 15 miles

Today's loop hike was under a low cloud deck with almost continuous snow flurries. I parked again in the second parking area at Caledonia State Park where the AT passes within a few hundred feet of the car. The trail climbed Orebank Hill on steep steps and switchbacks. Iron ore pits from the 1800s are almost hidden by the thick walls of rhododendron that enclose the AT in a tunnel up to and past Quarry Gap. Passing through the Gap, I explored a side trail and found the remains of an old AT shelter (now gone) built in the notch where the quarryman's shed foundations are still visible. An old iron hulk of a woodstove lies nearby. 

Stone steps up through Quarry Gap

 

Remains of a 1936 AT shelter built on a quarryman's shed foundation

Hungry tree!

Rising up to the ridge, the AT follows old quarry and haul roads and runs fairly flat and fast for several miles, characteristic of the long ridges common in PA now that I'm north of the hilly South Mountain Complex. I got sneak peeks of the Cumberland Valley through the winter woods but snow squalls filtered long distance views.  This loop was not very scenic except for the reservoir. Amos did enjoy meeting these two backpackers, however, and we stopped a while to chat with them. They were finishing three days and two nights out.  

Quarry Gap Shelter - one of the nicest on the AT 

Log bridge

Distant views of Cumberland Valley

Turkey Tail, Trametes versicolor 

The ridges near and far were topped with the strong and able Pitch Pine, some grown a little twisted from their constant exposure to wind. I stopped often to admire the fire-proof bark, great thick plates of woody armor. Their tightly closed and prickly cones lay everywhere on the ground, still clinging to dropped branches, and filled the limbs overhead. These are serotinous cones, waiting for fire to open them and distribute seeds. The highest cones are female, the lower ones are male. The air within these forests are scented with pine oils that for thousands of years have been used medicinally to help alleviate congestion and asthma. I have always felt that walking in a pine woods helps me breathe easier and when my asthma flairs up at home, I put a few drops of pine oil into an infuser to relax my tightened lungs.  

Pitch Pine, Pinus rigida

The snow flurries were steady as wind sang through the high branches of tall Pitch Pines. The sun was trying to punch out of the low clouds but the light stayed muted and dull all the way to my jumping off point to join the forest roads that ran downhill to the beautiful Long Pine Run Reservoir.  Amos and I had a time of it in some sections to keep from slipping and falling on the ice at higher elevations. By the time  we made the reservoir the roads had turned to grey sticky mud. We took our lunch break looking out over the water just as the sun popped out - long enough for us to finish our snacks.

Snow on Haircap Moss 

 

Icy trekking!

Long Pine Run Reservoir - and our one chance to enjoy sun. 

We road walked back to the park entrance as light was fading. It was cool to see remnants of the diversion canal that carried water to Thaddeus Stevens' iron furnace and the many ore pits along the road. The iron furnace, canal, and blacksmith shop were all destroyed by Confederate infantry on the way to York via Gettysburg in 1863. General Jubal Early was sending a message to abolitionist Stevens that the South would have its way with anti-slavery advocates should the war turn in favor of the Confederacy with their incursion north of the Mason Dixon Line. Thaddeus wasn't bowed by the threat  - he only doubled down on his work to end slavery - while Union forces sent Lee's Confederate Army packing after the Battle of Gettysburg. Reflecting on last week's attack on the U.S. Capital and the parading of the Confederate battle flag both inside and outside the halls of our democracy, I had to spend a few minutes at the small replica of Stevens' iron furnace at the park entrance. 

This circuit took almost seven hours. 

Notes:

Iron Works explained in "Geology of the Early Iron Industry of Fayette County." Not central to this location, this fieldtrip guide does give a nice overview of how the iron industry worked and has many excellent illustrations. The figure on pg. 12 gives a sense of how large Thaddeus Steven's Iron Works were - destroyed by Confederate infantry, 1863.

https://pittsburghgeologicalsociety.org/uploads/pubs/2018_PGS_Fieldtrip_Guidebook_Fayette_Co_Iron.pdf

Serotinous cones are more prevalent in Pitch Pine forests of the Coastal Plain - like the NJ Pine Barrens, but I found as many closed cones as open ones on this stretch of the ridge. Maybe the burn cycle is more frequent up here?

https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/pinrig/all.html#Serotinous%20and%20nonserotinous%20cone%20production