AT Day Hike: Pine Grove and POW Camp Michaux

My hiking plans were changed when I drove down Furnace Road and found bumper-to-bumper traffic parked everywhere for opening day trout season. There was no way I would be able to find a parking space to do another section of the Mason Dixon Trail. So I headed west to the Appalachian Mountains! I'm very lucky to live in York County, PA - just an hour to the mountains I love so much - and so close to my favorite trail.

My new destination up in the mountains!

I decided to visit Pine Grove State Park, a wonderful place to visit any day for any reason. I pulled up to the Appalachian Trail Museum to start. I had to catch my breath as I spun around and looked at the hug of hills that holds this valley. Pine Grove SP is one of several state park embedded in the vast Michaux State Forest. The Appalachian Trail (AT) comes right through, so it's an easy day trip to park here and get right on the trail. The museum had just opened for the season, however, so of course pay a visit!

Appalachian Trail Museum

There were a lot of volunteers inside having a meeting about how to tend the register, wecome visitors, help hikers, and mind the museum. I quietly squeezed around them and visited a few of my favorite people. First up was Grandma Gatewood who holds a special place in AT history. She did her first thru-hike from Georgia to Maine when she was 67 in 1955. She did it again in 1960 at age 72. And again in 1963 at age 75! She made her own shoulder sack, wore Keds sneakers or fish-head high tops, and carried her first aid kit in a metal Band-Aide box.

Grandma Gatewood's hiking gear.

Grandma Gatewood, thru-hiker legend.

Northern terminus sign for Mt. Katadyn, Maine - it gets replaced every ten years.

Earl Shaffer, the original walking-off-the-war thru hiker - from York County, PA!

Earl Shaffer, a fellow York Countian, became the first to thru hike the AT as he walked-off-the-war  coming home from combat duty in the Pacific. He also did the trail several times and was a great writer whose books and articles I've read over and over. I credit him with my own passions for the AT. Today the Appalachian Trail Conservancy sponsors "Warrior Hikes" for groups of veterans each summer. At least once a summer I head out here to leave trail snacks and treats at the AT hostel at Pine Grove specifically for the warrior hikes when I know they are coming through. My own trail angel duty gratefully done to help these heroes heal.

Benton MacKaye, designer of the AT.

After paying my respects to Benton MacKaye, who makes a cameo appearance in my dissertation I am soon to defend, I slipped through the gauntlet of AT Museum volunteers and hiked up to the road crossing of the AT into the park. Finally, back on the AT - even for just a day hike, it makes me so happy to follow the white blazes! Benton knew the trail would become a popular recreational trail for generations to come, but I wonder if he ever imagined how important it would be for helping heal broken souls? Just as I was thinking this, a young man came down the trail towards the hostel with his heavy backpack. I asked how he was enjoying his hike and he smiled broadly. "This trail saves my life over and over. I'm glad and thankful to be home." On his bare forearm was a U.S. Army tattoo.

On to the AT!

Tom's Run, a bubbly Appalachian crick.

White blaze bliss.

Almost to the halfway point on the AT

After two miles of rocky, steep trail and crossing Tom's Run, I came to a decision point. Continue on to the halfway marker near Tom Run's Shelter or take a left turn at Michaux Road and roadwalk to visit the old barn I remember having lunch in front of back in 1995. I decided to visit the barn and on to Camp Michaux, the site of a WWII P.O.W. camp hidden in the hills. I've never seen the camp, so now was the time.

Left turn on to beautiful Michaux Road.

Was I surprised to see the old Hessian Barn collapsed! According to a display of photos stapled to the "Keep Out" fence, the last remaining wall tumbled down just a few weeks ago in the middle of the night. My lunch spot of long ago was buried under tons of stone. The barn and the farm it supported was built about the time the Pine Grove furnace began operations in the late 1700s. Like many of the farms in these mountains, the forest reclaims all. 

Oh No! The old Hessian Barn!

It fell just a few weeks ago!

A few yards further down the pleasant road was the kiosk marking the site of the P.O.W camp. With all the political rhetoric of late, blathering about torture and carpet bombing and hatefulness, visiting this site was for me and a crowd of folks on a walking tour ahead of me, a bit sobering. There is barely anything remaining of the dozens of structures that were secretly built and occupied by German and Japanese prisoners. So secret was this camp that locals had only heard rumors about it. Lots of interrogation took place here. One can only wonder what was learned and how.

Kiosk marking the WWII P.O.W. camp site.

Compare the photo from the AT Museum below, with how the camp stone looks today, above.

Photo from South Mountain Conservancy.

Many of the sites are marked with numbered posts that correspond to a downloadable guide to the camp. See Notes, below.

Ruins of the interrogation building.

Base of one of the guard towers.

Barracks sites are now just cement support posts. The barbed wire fence that encircled the barracks area are just rusty poles stuck in old concrete bases. The guard towers had only cement foundations to mark their locations. I walked a perimeter road, now shrouded by forest that didn't exist at the time of the camp and imagined the armed guards and their war dogs making rounds. It was a bit depressing.  I found my way back to an old fountain built by the CCC, the original builders and occupiers of this camp before the U.S. Army took control. Bright blue slag glass from the furnace were impressed into the cement. I could imagine the fun the CCC boys had decorating the fountain with their finds.

Perimeter road, where guards with dogs would patrol.

Post that once held barbed wire fence.

I joined the tour group for a few minutes as a local historian for the camp pointed out different structures and their uses. The camp has been filled with Japanese and German naval officers, one of only three such interrogation camps in the country during the war years. Prisoners were pre-screened for knowledge about weapons development. Then they were interrogated. Those who were deemed to know more than others were forwarded on to tougher interrogations. The researcher stressed how secret the site had been. It would be years after the war before the Army acknowledged the camp's existence and mission. 

Blue slag placed in fountain base.

After a nice snack break and a chat with an elder hiker on his way up to Tom's Run Shelter, I made my way back down the road to the park. The loop was almost five miles to the hiker's hostel and I noticed a few hikers had checked in for the night. They were relaxing on the open porch, laughing, and relaxing. I waved up to them and they waved back - "Come along!" the young combat veteran hiker shouted. How I miss this - and I would join them if I could - but for this year, my big hike on the Camino de Santiago awaits. 

 Hostel at the Iron Master's House. A nice rest for tired hikers.

Notes:

Cumberland County Historical Society offers walking tours of Camp Michaux.
 http://www.historicalsociety.com/Camp_Michaux.html

Self-guided tour information for the P.O.W. camp can be downloaded here. There are several period photographs of the buildings and installations included.
http://www.historicalsociety.com/uploads/michauxwalkingtour.pdf

A visit to the AT Museum anytime in the next few months may involve limited hours and some construction disturbance as they expand into the ground floor and third floor of the old restored barn at Pine Grove State Park. Best to check first before making the drive.   http://www.atmuseum.org/

A great park nestled in an Appalachian valley, Pine Grove SP has something for everyone, and features many very beautiful trails, many with long views but steep climbs! http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/pinegrovefurnace/

Earl Shaffer's books are popular with conservation historians and AT hikers.
http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Spring-Earl-V-Shaffer/dp/0917953843/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459694743&sr=8-1&keywords=Earl+SHaffer

Who won't love a read about Grandma Gatewood?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1613734999/ref=ox_sc_mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=

A Quick Six: Railroad to Maryland State Line Out and Back

Maryland Line on the NCRR 

A map crest from 1764 with a nod to astronomer surveyors Mason and Dixon

Schist banks at the summit.

A quick six miles starting at the PA town of Railroad, walking South to the Maryland state line and back. Full Camino pack and trail shoes instead of boots. I love this rail trail and it's close to home.

Pennsylvania RR diesel.

One mile to go to the state line.

Most people walk their dogs, jog, or bike on this rail trail, so somebody in full backpacking attire makes news. A small crowd of bike riders was lounging at a cafe and as I walked by I heard someone say " Oh how sad, she's homeless." Right, then.

A little drizzle coming in to the town of New Freedom.

New Freedom Station.

The cafe is in the station. 

The old North Central railway is no longer around, but sections of the railroad are maintained to carry historic excursion trains, some of which are parked in the open for train fans like me to admire. Today the big black diesel was getting some work done in preparation for a new season.

A crew car was holding a staff meeting inside. 

Mural detail of  lima bean girls

Summers Cannery mural on the old plant siding.

PA Mason Dixon Trail -Map 3: Codorus Furnace to Highpoint Overlook

Saturday February 27, 2016: York County, PA, 13 miles 

Today Kim and I switched our direction north to south, starting this section at Codorus Furnace in Hellam Township and walking south along the river to the summit at Highpoint Overlook just south of Wrightsville, a very pretty river town. Besides being an absolutely perfect day for a long hike, it was important section for me as I was carrying a full pack using the Gregory 38L Savant I plan to use on my Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in May and June. 

The oldest iron furnace in York County. 

We started our section hike at Codorus Furnace in Hellam Township. The oldest surviving pre-Revolutionary iron furnace in the York County, it was built in the 1740s as a pig-iron production furnace but when war between England and America broke out it quickly transitioned to producing cannon balls and shot. This is the western reach of the Iron Hills region of South Central Pennsylvania where during the Revolution every furnace (and there were hundreds!) were put into service to supply Washington's Army with munitions. It also produced cannon shot for the artillery during the War of 1812. Like most of these hill-built furnaces, it was retired in the mid-1800s replaced by new technologies.  I love the furnace history of this region and were it not for having to start our hike, I would have liked to explored this old site for more of the ruins and remains that were scattered through the forest.

Codorus Creek on our left was flowing fast and rapid filled with snow melt and recent heavy rains.

I had forgotten the map, stuffing it into the wrong pack the day before, so we were totally dependent upon the blue blazes. We found the trail to be well marked and easy to follow the whole way to Highpoint. It was icy in many places as bluffs and hills blocked the afternoon sun, and snow still laid in shady places, leftover from the record-breaking 30 inches we received a few weeks ago.

A single narrow road between the bluffs and the river made for a beautiful stretch.

This is river hill country and we huffed and puffed up several steep switchback slopes, but the trail mostly followed old woods roads when traveling through valleys or along ridges. Down along the river we followed the blue blazes through pretty cabin and cottage communities. The river was high - in watch stage - as snow melt and run off from recent heavy rains raised ever stream, creek, and tributary river along the lower section. 

Flooded river woods.

As we walked I thought about the idea of hiking through landscapes as a way to interpret the rich ecology and social histories that they hold. I do a lot of research at my computer, in libraries and archives, and poring through books and journals, but there is nothing that compares to investigating a landscape history by walking through it. With the river nearly touching our path, the sound of dozens of waterfalls and fast creeks tumbling off the bluffs, and surrounded by historic sites, it was clear that this section was all about hydrology, industry, and human ingenuity. 

A memorial deep in the woods.

We passed a simple memorial to some unknown soul and I thought about how dangerous work had been in harnessing the river with dams, building canals, operating cable ferries, log drives and logging, the furnace industry, and quarrying, Because of the danger of furnace work, working the colliers' charcoal pits, hoisting and setting huge blocks of stone in canal walls, an early piece of Pennsylvania legislation made it illegal to site a public house or tavern within two miles of a work site. Drinking on the job or showing up to work drunk was not tolerated. The work is still dangerous and given the place where we found the newer memorial deep in the woods, I wondered if a logger or tree cutter had recently met his end here. It was a sobering sight, so remote, but clearly cared for and maintained.

A mailbox garden begins to bloom.

Down along the river the woods paths gave way to a single paved track that traced the contour of a higher shelf of the old river bed. Here were a line of perfect cabins and cottages, some quite old and made of quarried stone, some of log, others more recently built. We chatted with folks clearing flood debris from the lower reaches of their properties and said our hellos to some folks still shoveling snow, chatting with neighbors, walking dogs. This stretch of river front community was hemmed in with a high bluff to the west. Here the Susquehanna carved its way down, down, down, through the hills and mountains rising all around as the Appalachians were being folded and lifted. The rate of downcutting was faster that the rate of uplift, so the river made its way through the young mountain range mostly by following the path of faults and fractures. The ninety degree bend at Chickies Rock is evidence of one such fault that captured and redirected the  mighty Susquehanna. 

Not much room on this shelf of old flood plain to site a cabin or cottage with the bluff directly above us.

Chickies Rock  marks a ninety degree bend where a fault line redirected the river.

As we walked I kept fooling with the strap adjustments on my new pack. I'd loaded 20lbs for the hike, probably a little more than I want on the Camino, but any back pain, knee or hip strain was quickly addressed by shifting weight from shoulders to hips with adjustments. I actually forgot I even had the pack on, even on the steep uphills, so I figure it will serve me well across Spain and several of the mountain ranges I will cross on my way to the Atlantic from France. 

Lime kilns at Wrightsville.

John Wright's Foundry and the 'new' bridge that replaced the wooden structure burned during the Civil War.

June 1863, Wrightsville Union Militia skirmished with Confederates then burned the bridge to prevent their crossing.

The single paved lane payed out as we approached the little river town of Wrightsville. John Wright's Foundry is still standing and beyond it is modern foundry and forge. The bridge connecting Wrightsville to Columbia delivers walkers, cyclists, and vehicle traffic to he center of town. An impressive bank of lime kilns funneled us on to the main street. We passed friendly folks on the porches of their small worker's row homes typical of the mid-1800s for industrial villages. But this is an important town for environmental historians so if you have the time to linger and look, there's much to learn about how the river, the hills, bridges, ferries, forests, and farms shaped the look and function of the town itself. Historical markers and signs are everywhere. I made a mental note to come back and just wander around. 

Leaving town and back to the river hills.

Once through Wrightsville we continued south along the river to the point where the trail left the road for good. Up and up we climbed into the river hills once again with the Susquehanna loud and fast below us. Rafts of debris were washing down, huge logs bobbed along, and anything floating seemed to have a crew of ring-billed gulls happily riding along. This would have been log drive season when men rode the rafts of logs downstream to mills further south. It was fun to imagine the gulls directing their logs to some distant island downriver. 

One last crossing, grateful for waterproof boots, following the blue blazes.

Coming through the culvert. Photo by Kim. 

Climbing to the summit of Highpoint Overlook. Photo by Kim. 

One more set of switchbacks and we were on our way to the summit at Highpoint. Lots of ups on this section hike but also plenty of brilliant early spring light to make the effort beautiful. Kim and I agreed that this had been one of the more beautiful sections we've hiked so far.

At the summit looking across the Susquehanna into Lancaster County. Photo by Kim.

Notes:  

Wrightsville's Bridge Burning was an important turn of events during the Civil War. 

http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/civil-war/an-occurrence-at-wrightsville-bridge/