#31 2022 52- Hike Challenge: Horseshoe Trail, Berks Co. Bucks Hollow Road Loop / 6mi.
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| Road walking |
I couldn't decide whether or not to count this road walk towards my 2022 52-Hike Challenge, but given the history of the Horse-Shoe Trail which has significant portions on-road, I went ahead and counted it. I also really struggled with even doing this section because I hate road walking. I can't think of any long-distance hiking trail that doesn't have at least some road walking, however. So on this drizzly morning I thought what the heck, just get it done so I can eventually make it back into the woods. Maybe the rain will keep people home and I won't have to take my life into my hands, I thought. Turns out, I thought correctly. I didn't die.
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| Early 1700s log cabin (Beaver Run) |
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| 1800s school house |
You really can't go too far in Berks County without bumping smack into historic structures. On this little loop I counted about a dozen structures - barns, log cabins, a school house, colonial-era farm houses, and an iron furnace (later). Thankfully I could stand safely off the road shoulder just about anywhere and not break any laws or get smashed by a car. Compare that to an earlier SHT road walk when I got yelled at for stepping into a driveway (private property) so as not to get smashed by a box truck.
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| Ample shoulder |
The drizzle kept up as I topped the hill out of Buck Hollow but then the skies brightened a little once I made the off-HST turn towards Weaver's Tree Farm and Orchards, again very lucky that I was able to walk the farm road safely around and above busy Rt. 10. Sporting my blaze orange vest and orange baseball cap (thanks Keystone Trails Association!) I was very visible to oncoming traffic down Weavers Road. So visible in fact that two different people pulled up along side and asked if I needed a ride to beat the rain. Very nice, thank you, but no. One of those kind drivers was a long-time resident of the little community at the top of Quaker Hill Road and she told me how she remembered how the "old" Horse-Shoe Trail used to come right up her road and how she enjoyed meeting the hikers. Now the trail has been re-routed (thankfully) on to state forest land and though she knew it was safer that way she misses saying hello.
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| Love me some Bully-Mack! |
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| Weaver's Orchard |
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| Weaver's Farm |
The loop continued up and around Quaker Hill Road to Timber Ridge and then down to Overlook Road through older and newer neighborhoods. A kid tried to sell me some pink lemonade from her little stand at a yard sale. I don't carry cash, I'm sorry. She frowned at me and I frowned back. Looking at Map 4 I could see how both of those roads were HST routes. Down the hill to come again to the log cabin and I turned back on to Buck Hollow Road for the lollipop section back to my truck at the state forest parking area.
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| Back down Buck Hollow Road |
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| New parking area at Buck Hollow Tract, William Penn State Forest |
Having walked only six miles I had some extra time to go check out the Joanna Iron Furnace just a few miles south on Rt. 10. No one was there so I wandered aimlessly around the picnic grounds, demonstration area, and furnace structures. Everything was locked up tight but the deep red ironstone masonry was worth admiring. Two different building styles can be seen at the old furnace: the original cold blast stack and casting barn built in the 1790s, and the Engine House built to house the Weimer Blower Engine that replaced the billows and water wheel. It was looking rather a cross between Gothic Revival and a tad Victorian. What a stark difference in styles between the two!
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| Joanna Furnace, 1791 - 1898 |
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| The original Joanna Furnace |
Finally done with this road section, I can stop gritting my teeth and look forward to a wooded stretch on my next hike approaching the boundary with Lancaster County. Looking back, this is one of those long distance trails that, like the Mason Dixon Trail my hiking pal Kim and I took four years to finish, is close to home. I think I started this trail in 2016 and so I am still going, a few sections and loops a year.
There is so much great hiking in our region that the idea of road walking just puts me off, so I haven't been as serious about getting the HST done - like the MDT that had so much road walking. I'm only on Map 4 out of 10 so I guess I'll be doing this one for a few years more, LOL.
Notes:
Joanna Furnace is maintained by the Hay Creek Valley Historical Association. They have several big events here throughout the year including a very popular Christmas weekend. This was not one of their busy weekends, however!
https://haycreek.org/joanna-furnace/
Horse-Shoe Trail Conservancy maintains this 140-mile-long trails that links Valley Forge to the Appalachian Trail. It's taking me forever to complete it.
https://cart.hstrail.org/home/
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