Date: 2018-02-18
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There are hints of industrialization along the southern Appalachian Trail. Damascus, Virginia, as its name suggests, aspired to be a steel manufacturing center, having abundant water power, timber, and iron ore. Unfortunately, the iron deposits proved to be mostly low grade surface deposits, and Damascus is not exactly a transportation hub. Waynesboro, Virginia also had steel-making ambitions, but the Bessemer process was patented and unavailable. Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, with its Federal armory and related industries marks the start of a more industrial backdrop for the Appalachian Trail with the Potomac River serving as the boundary between historically a largely agrarian society in the south and a rising industrial power in the north, a distinction made even more apparent by the Civil War.   The Trail crosses the Potomac on a pedestrian walkway cantilevered from a railroad bridge and descends an iron staircase to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. Both the canal and the train are monuments to early 19th century industrial might. When the Erie Canal opened in 1825, connecting the Great Lakes to the Hudson River and the port of New York, there was panic in the ports of Baltimore and more southern cities, caused by the fear that New York would dominate trade. On July 4, 1828, construction broke ground on both the C&O Canal and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (now a part of CSX). They were immediately in fierce competition with each other in the race for midwestern markets. The trains won, and the Canal was constructed only as far west as Cumberland, Maryland.  The precursor to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company was the Potowmack Company founded by George Washington, intended to provide a water route from the the Ohio River at Pittsburgh to Georgetown. Aside from believing that the ¢western¢ lands were essential to the prosperity of the new United States, Washington also owned over 20,000 acres in the Shenandoah Valley and what is now West Virginia, including grants that he received for his service in the French & Indian War. These lands would greatly increase in value with access to eastern markets and ports.  The Appalachian Trail turns east after crossing the Potomac, but just a few hundred feet to the west (upstream) is Lock 33 and the start of a loop trail up Maryland Heights. The view of Harpers Ferry from the fortifications on Maryland Heights makes its strategic importance obvious. It¢s a good destination on a zero day. For three miles the Appalachian Trail follows the C&O Canal Towpath, a rare level easy section. After climbing Weaverton Heights, the AT follows the ridge of South Mountain through Maryland. Crampton Gap, Turner¢s Gap and Fox¢s Gap each saw Civil War battles, and Antietam is immediately to the west of the ridge. Union Major General Jesse Reno and Confederate Brigadier General Samuel Garland, Jr. were killed at Fox¢s Gap. The owner of the land, farmer Daniel Wise, paid one dollar each to bury the Confederate dead. Sixty or more bodies were dumped down his dry well. Take time to read the historical markers and to allow the ghosts to rise.Near Boonsboro, Maryland, the Appalachian Trail passes through Washington Monument State Park featuring the first completed monument dedicated to George Washington. The 40-foot-tall stone tower is shaped like a creamery bottle, the kind used in the lab to raise Drosophila. It has a commanding view of the surrounding land and served as a Union signal station during the Civil War.  The Appalachian Trail¢s final stop in Maryland is Pen Mar Park, a county park that started as an amusement park and resort developed by the Western Maryland Railroad, opening in 1877. Excursion trains ran from Baltimore, and single day attendance peaked at nearly 20,000, an enormous number considering that Disney World averages just a bit more than 50,000 in daily attendance. Band concerts are still held in the pavilion during summer months. The Mason-Dixon line is immediately north of the park.  Southeastern Pennsylvania was the center of the iron industry from colonial times into the late 19th century when it was made obsolete by the open hearth and Bessemer processes of steel production centered in Pittsburgh.  The smelting of iron ore is a relatively simple process, requiring iron ore (obviously), limestone (to form flux to remove impurities), charcoal (for fuel) and running water (to operate bellows and rock crushers). These resources were abundant in southeastern Pennsylvania. Furnaces for the smelting of iron and forges to purify the iron and manufacture consumer goods dot the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. The Trail passes through Old Forge Park, Caledonia State Park, Pine Grove Furnace State Park and Windsor Furnace. Circular burn marks from charcoal ricks (reductive burning of wood) are visible on level areas along the Trail. The iron works in these rural locales were self-sufficient communities, sometimes called iron plantations, with not only the constructions needed for iron manufacturing but also agriculture, shops, and skilled artisans. By the 19th century, most of the workers were either free workers or indentured servants. Blacks and whites worked side-by-side. The better jobs, however, tended to be reserved for whites. The diverse labor population and often sympathetic Quaker owners made it fairly easy for runaway slaves to find shelter and employment, making them important stops along the Underground Railroad.  The Ironmaster¢s Mansion in Pine Grove Furnace State Park, operated as a hostel today, has a subbasement accessible through a hidden trap door that was used to shelter enslaved people seeking freedom. Imagine sitting in that hole with no light, praying not to be discovered, hearing only your own heartbeat and footsteps above. The Appalachian Trail Museum occupies a 200-year old grist mill in the Park. Across the street is the General Store, where it is traditional for northbound thru-hikers to attempt to eat a half gallon of ice cream in a single sitting to celebrate their completion of nearly one-half of the Trail. Gettysburg is a mere twenty miles away.Duncannon on the Susquehanna River was a major logging center and manufacturer of barrel staves and caskets, and also Lightning Glider Sleds. The Doyle Hotel here was an historic Anheuser-Busch hotel catering to the loggers and now offers inexpensive lodging and excellent food and beers to hikers. Thirty miles downstream sits a monument to 20th century industrial hubris, the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station that suffered a partial melt down in 1979, a case of life imitating art, the film The China Syndrome having premiered 12 days before the accident.  Rausch Gap Shelter is near an early 19th century anthracite mine with a blue-blazed trail leading to the town abandoned in 1910.  Between Rausch Gap and Port Clinton, the Trail crosses the site of Fort Detrich Snyder, a minor observation post during the French & Indian War, where a young lieutenant Benjamin Franklin served. Port Clinton on the Schuylkill River was a train depot for the shipment of low-sulfur anthracite coal to the western Pennsylvania steel mills.  The 84 miles of Trail between Port Clinton and Wind Gap near Delaware Water Gap is infamous for its rocks, fields of little pointy rocks that shift when you commit your weight to them. The rocks repeated froze and fractured during the last ice age. They are unrelenting, punctuated only by the Superfund site near Palmerton in the Lehigh Valley. Fumes from a zinc smelter there denuded the hillsides and contaminated the soil with cadmium and other metals. Metallica Spring is not recommended as a water source, but I have seen six-legged frogs enjoying it.The Appalachian Trail in New Jersey comes as a pleasant surprise to people whose only experience of the Garden State is the I-95 corridor. Kittatinny Ridge paralleling the Delaware River is largely protected by state parks and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The area around Vernon was extensively mined for iron ore. The Trail mostly transects lands that no one wanted, boundary lands, so avoided wars. In New Jersey, I¢ve seen bear, coyote, fox, bobcat, and even a diamondback terrapin crossing the Trail back before the Pochuck Boardwalk was constructed and the Trail followed low roads around the marshland. The terrapin is classified as Near Threatened but was once considered the quintessential soup turtle.  In New York, the Appalachian Trail passes through lands with a rich history of iron ore mining and manufacture, including Sterling Forest, Bear Mountain, and Harriman State Park. In February 1778, an iron chain was strung across the Hudson River at West Point, seven miles north of Bear Mountain, to block British ships. The chain was forged at the Sterling works.The Appalachian Trail follows the Housatonic River Valley through Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Valley was historically chockablock with Industries that utilized waterpower, including sawmills, gristmills, fulling and carding mills, textile factories, paper mills, and yet more iron furnaces and foundries. Crane & Company in Dalton, Massachusetts has supplied the United States Treasury with its currency paper since 1879. I hope to convince myself to take the time to visit their Museum of Papermaking this year. In Sheffield, Massachusetts, the Trail passes by a monument to Shay¢s Rebellion. This armed uprising during 1786 and 1787 was in protest against various economic and civil rights injustices, catalyzed by a cataclysmic contraction in credit relied upon by subsistence farmers in western Massachusetts. The Rebellion failed but succeeded in bringing George Washington back into public life and provided the Federalists with a clear demonstration of the weakness of the country under the Articles of Confederation. This led directly to the Second Continental Congress and the drafting of our present Constitution. Shay¢s Rebellion, though it dealt with excise taxes on whiskey, is distinct from the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania in 1791 to 1794, that provided then President George Washington with the opportunity to demonstrate both the need and the power of a strong federal government. What is it about alcohol and rebellion?Welcome to Vermont! Vermont was an independent republic from 1777 to 1791, when it entered the Union as the 14th state. Its constitution was the first to provide for the abolition of slavery, suffrage for men who did not own property, and public education. Today, the largest industry in Vermont is quaintness. Billboards were banned in 1968. Multitudes of bed & breakfasts vie in the categories of cutest, friendliest, and best breakfast. Vermont is used as an adjective for a wide range of artisanal products, including maple syrup, cheeses and craft beers. Don¢t leave the state without trying a clothbound cheddar and Alchemist Brewing¢s Heady Topper Double IPA! Ben & Jerry¢s has grown too large to rely solely upon Vermont cows. Contrary to rumors, there are more people in Vermont than cows, although 150 years ago there were more sheep than people. Wool production and clothing mills, along with quarrying, were major industries in Vermont. Farms still tend to be small and family-owned.  For the Appalachian Trail hiker, Vermont is a peaceful respite, a lovely walk following the Long Trail through the Green Mountain National Forest, with the first high mountains since Virginia. Through a series of complex real estate transactions, the Appalachian Trail now avoids crossing the ski slopes on Bromley, Stratton, Pica and Killington, but there are side trails to gondola stations and even a rather steep trail to a restaurant atop Killington. On the northbound descent of Killington, the AT crosses VT Route 4 about a mile downhill from the Inn at Long Trail at Sherburne Pass, Vermont¢s oldest ski lodge. It is worth the walk for the Celtic pub with fresh Guinness and other Irish beers, a fine selection of Irish single pot whiskies, and live Celtic music on the weekends. Limited lodging for hikers is available. Just north of the Inn is the Maine Junction. The Long Trail continues north to Canada over increasingly rugged terrain while the Appalachian Trail turns east and after navigating a series of ridges descends to postcard town of Norwich and the Connecticut River.  War is no stranger to Vermont. Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys, along with Benedict Arnold, captured Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. The cannons they seized were used to break the British occupation of Boston. The Green Mountain Boys also played a key role in the strategic victory at the Battle of Bennington, remembered each August 16 as a Vermont State Holiday. Both the Battle of Bennington and the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga actually took place in New York State. Impress your friends by knowing that the northernmost land action of the Civil War took place in St. Albans, Vermont, about ten miles from the Canadian border.As green as the Green Mountain State of Vermont is, New Hampshire and Maine are even greener, with the percentage of tree cover at 82%, 89% and 83%, respectively, as of 2005. In contrast, the southern New England states of Connecticut and Massachusetts average 54% forest cover. Your impression of New Hampshire, however, won¢t be of trees but rather the long stretches of above tree line hiking in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains National Forest, including Mount Washington where people have died every month of the year. The weather warnings are meant to be taken seriously, as are the Leave No Trace imperatives. It¢s a fragile environment for both plants and people.  New Hampshire comes as a rude awakening to northbound hikers. Several days after leaving the quintessential college town of Hanover, there¢s a steep climb up Mount Moosilauke, a steep descent alongside Beaver Brook, and the ridiculously steep climbs over South and North Kinsman Mountains. Imagine if you were tasked with laying out trail without having to consider soil erosion, since the glaciers removed what little there was. That¢s New Hampshire. Just find a crease in the mountain and paint a few blazes on the rocks. Never mind that the trail becomes a raging stream in the rain. What doesn¢t kill a hiker makes them stronger, right?  The Appalachian Mountain Club operates a series of campgrounds and croo-staffed huts, many of which predate the Appalachian Trail. Thru-hikers are forced into close contact with large numbers of hut-to-hut hikers, making for culture clash at times. Staying at the huts is expensive and only limited work-for-stay is available, adding to the thru-hiker grousing. Tourism is a major industry, and people have been riding the cog railway up Mt. Washington since 1868. There used to be hotels atop both Mooselauke and Mt. Washington. Thru-hikers are the new kids on the block. For much of the way through New Hampshire, the AT follows older AMC trails. The trails can be confusing and either a map or GPS navigation is helpful, if not essential.  Reaching Gorham, New Hampshire is a cause of celebration and chance for recovery before entering Maine in another 6.5 miles.Iron mining, furnaces and forges were plentiful in New Hampshire, including in the Franconia area. About 18 miles trail north of Hanover, the Trail crosses Ore Hill, once mined for lead, copper, zinc, and silver, and today a Superfund site for environmental remediation. Revolutionary War action was limited to the rebels¢ capture of British Fort William and Mary near the shipyards of Portsmouth, where Jone Paul Jones¢ ship was built. In spite of sharing a 275 mile border along the Connecticut River (actually the west bank of the river at mean low-water), New Hampshire and Vermont are politically quite different. Vermont is bright blue while New Hampshire is reddish purple. Both take their politics quite seriously!  Most trail states greet northbound thru-hikers with notable obstacles. Leaving Georgia, hikers face steep Courthouse Bald as a welcome to North Carolina. Shortly after entering Virginia, hikers deal with Mount Rogers. New Hampshire offers Mount Moosilauke. Maine, however, wins the contest with Mahoosuc Notch and Mahoosuc Arm, 6.4 miles north of the New Hampshire border. Mahoosuc Notch is a mile-wide notch over a 1,000 feet lower than the mountains on either side. Since the glaciers receded, those mountains have entertained themselves by dropping chunks of rock, ranging in size from Volkswagen Beetles to school buses, into the Notch. Hikers must find a route over, under and around the jumble of boulders. Mahoosuc Stream flows under the rocks, audible but seldom visible, and even in July there are pockets of ice. A guy I hiked with in 2000 carried a few airline bottles of Bourbon. We celebrated midway through the Notch with Bourbon on the rocks on the rocks. Trail mythology has it that Little People live under the rocks, subsisting on offerings made by hikers.  Climbing out of the Notch, up Mahoosuc Arm, offers challenges of its own, but the hiker eventually reaches Speck Pond, the highest lake in Maine with a healthy population of native brook trout. I spent one of my most memorial nights on the trail there. The Barefoot Sisters, Isis and Jackrabbit, prevailed upon a fly fisherman not to release his trout. Dredged through crushed granola bars, stuffed with lemon sorrel, and saut©ed lightly in olive oil, they were delicious. The Sisters then led us in camp songs. Yes, they really hiked barefooted and completed the Trail twice.  The first 100 miles of Maine are just tough, from the New Hampshire border through the Bigelows. Then it gets muddy, as it follows old Abenaki carry trails from pond to pond. Carrying even a lightweight pack through the mud and muck is difficult enough, but imagine doing it pulling cannons and the equipment of war needed to lay siege to Quebec. That¢s what Colonel Benedict Arnold tried in the autumn of 1775. He started with 1,100 troops and arrived with 600, greatly weakened and in no condition to fight. It was a noble effort, and Arnold was rewarded with a promotion to brigadier general. The 100 miles, from the town of Monson to Abol Bridge on the boundary of Baxter State Park, is known as The Hundred Mile Wilderness. It is pleasant hiking, although there are several rivers that need to be forded. With little in the way of soil to absorb rainfall, the rivers can rise and fall quickly, making the crossings challenging at times.  The climb up Katahdin gains over 4,000¢ in elevation over five miles and has the reputation of being the most difficult climb on the Appalachian Trail. I¢ll not dispute it.  The forest products industry dominates the interior of Maine. For the most part, the Appalachian Trail is within a narrow corridor of federally owned land surrounded by privately owned, well-managed timberlands. One hundred years ago, there were over 100 paper mills in Maine. Today only six remain, and the economic impact of the closings on towns like Millinocket has been severe. The causes for the closings are complex, including relatively high energy costs, a reduction in demand for newsprint and uncoated stock, and a competitive international wood pulp market.  The wealthy communities of Down East Maine seem like a different state.  The Maine Appalachian Trail Club manages and maintains 267 miles of the Appalachian Trail under extremely challenging conditions, with maintainers often driving long distances to even get to their assigned sections. Techniques, like ¢flying¢ rocks using zip-lines on steroids, were pioneered by MATC. No club takes greater pride in their work. The lands of Maine became part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1652, even though those lands were not contiguous with Massachusetts. Not until 1820, as part of the Missouri Compromise, when another free state was needed to balance the admission of Missouri as a slave state, did Maine gain its separate statehood. Mainers are fiercely proud and independent, even by Vermont standards. As difficult as hiking Maine can be ¢ no state has more in the way of rocks, roots, and mud, or more aggressive mosquitoes and black flies ¢ I always feel privileged to hike it.