Along U.S. Route 6

U.S. Route 6 runs from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts, a distance of 3205 miles through 14 states. It is officially called the Grand Army of the Republic or the G.A.R. Highway. It used to go all the way to the pacific coast at Long Beach, but a section was decommissioned in 1964. Prior to this decommissioning, it was the longest transcontinental route, spanning 3652 miles. That title is now held by U.S. Route 20.
Route 6 has been a thread throughout our adult lives. Except in our childhoods, we've almost always lived along it: in Mattapoisett, Fairhaven, New Bedford, and North Dartmouth, Massachusetts and now in East Providence, Rhode Island. It has popped up on several western trips. We noticed it in Denver and, during a trip to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, we saw its western end. See the sign at the California end.

The east end of U.S. Route 6 is marked with this sign, which needs to be revised.

Cape Cod National Seashore

Three short hikes (totaling about two miles) in Provincetown and Truro show glacial effects and feature miniature forests of low growing trees. These tiny forests surround small fresh water ponds and provide oases in the sand dunes. Mainly evident are pitch pine, beech, tupelo, and black and white oak. It's amazing that trees can grow at all in such a sandy soil. Recommended hikes are Beech Forest in Provincetown and, at Pilgrim Heights in Truro, Small's Swamp Trail and Pilgrim Spring Trail. Beech Forest is located in Provincelands which also features a seven mile bike trail.

Beech Forest trail

Freshwater oasis in the dunes

Meadow by the sea

Connecticut/Rhode Island Border

When it crosses from Rhode Island into Connecticut, Route 6 runs right past Old Furnace State Park in Killingly. This small gem features beautiful and interesting terrain. The woodland showcases large white pines, pitch pine, oak, maple, hickory and birch but, unfortunately, the hemlocks are dying because of infestation by a non-native insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid. Rocky outcrops and glacial erratics are evident all along a three mile trail. The highlight of the walk is the view from a 200 foot cliff over Half Hill Pond looking east into Rhode Island. The cliff is used by technical rock climbers.

Dead and dying hemlocks

Rock climbers below!

The view from the cliff

Glacial landscape

Post by Paul Courcy

Old Growth Forests and 1/1000th of the Appalachian Trail

This posting combines two summer 2012 forays in search of old growth forest in the northeast. Almost all the original forest encountered by European settlers was cleared for farms, and the rest was logged for timber by the 1920s. Only small patches remain, escaping the lumberman's saw and axe because of inaccessibility, steep slopes, or boundary issues. Featured here are two sites in Pennsylvania and one in Connecticut.

Pennsylvania

Hearts Content Scenic Area in western PA is a long way to travel for a one-mile loop hike, but if you're a tree lover, it's worth the trip. The girth of some of the oldest trees could challenge any tree hugger. The oldest eastern white pines are approximately 400 years old. Other large specimens include eastern hemlock and American beech, although the latter are being killed by beech bark disease.

Looking up at the canopy

A towering hemlock

In Cook Forest State Park, one can still see dead trunks of the American chestnut, which succumbed to chestnut blight, accidentally imported from China or Japan around 1900. The park, once called the "Black Forest", contains a "Forest Cathedral" of towering eastern white pines and eastern hemlocks and is designated a National Natural Landmark. The "swamp area" contains red and white oaks, red maples, and black cherry, some over 280 years old. If you visit, be sure to hike the 1.2 mile Longfellow Trail which passes through many 300 to 400 year old trees. Many of the white pines reach 150 feet in height.

The Eastern white pines are the tallest, up to 183 feet...

...but hemlock are the most abundant of the giants

Very tall oaks and maples are a pain in the neck

 The twisted "snag" of a chestnut tree, which probably died in the 1920s

Connecticut

When thinking about the 2,184-mile Appalachian Trail, the state of Connecticut does not come readily to mind. Far more dramatic views from the famous trail can be found in North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountains or in New Hampshire's Presidential Range. But traveling on lesser known sections offers more subtle (and less strenuous) beauty. Hiking a 2.1 mile section in the northwest corner of Connecticut took me over Bear Mountain, the highest summit in that state (although the highest point in the state is about a mile west on the south slope of Mt. Frissell whose summit is in Massachusetts), and through a picturesque gorge known as Sage's Ravine. The forest here is technically "second-growth" or regrown forest, but it looks very similar to true old growth. The best way to access this section of the Appalachian Trail is through Mount Washington State Forest at the southwest corner of Massachusetts.

The view from Bear Mountain

Sage's Ravine

Some other old growth forests in eastern US:
Mount Greylock, MA
Landis Arboretum, NY
Linville Gorge Wilderness,  NC
Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness, NC
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, NC

A list of old growth forests

Post by Paul Courcy

Niagara Falls and The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania

Everyone takes this picture.

Niagara Falls is an awesome spectacle demonstrating the power of water. It's especially amazing when you consider that only about half the water flowing down the Niagara River is allotted to go over the falls. The rest is diverted to turbines generating electricity. Because of this decrease in flow, the falls is eroding at a slower pace.
We found a reasonably priced hotel within walking distance of the falls. This made it easy to check out the illuminated falls after dark.

Getting wet on Hurricane Deck!

A young couple poses for a picture.

Because we did not have our passports with us, we remained on the American side of the falls. Besides viewing the American and Horseshoe Falls from the observation deck and from other high viewpoints, we also took the elevator down to the Cave of the Winds. This is where you put on water sandals (quite stylish and you get to keep them) and a plastic parka (more like a trash bag with a hood) and walk along a wooden walkway near the base of Bridal Veil Falls. First you encounter the spray. Then, on the Hurricane Deck, you get as wet as you care to and it's lots of fun. We actually went back for a second dunking. 
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Unlike its namesake in Arizona, the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania is under a blanket of vegetation. Red maple, red oak, black cherry, sumac, and sassafras are some of the forest hardwoods. Everything is green in late June, but we're told the fall foliage is spectacular. We rented bikes in the village of Ansonia and biked along the Pine Creek Rail Trail running north and south through the gorge. Although the trail runs 62 miles from the towns of Wellsboro Junction to Jersey Shore, our round trip (from the bike rental place on US 6 south to the 20 mile marker) was a total of about 25 miles. The grade was slightly downhill so coming back was a bit more difficult.

The day before biking, we hiked along the Rim Trail at Colton Point State Park. This offered a view of the gorge from the rim. Another great view was from the overlook at Leonard Harrsion State Park.

Camping at Leonard Harrison State Park was easy and convenient, but offered zero privacy. We were camped two nights on a lawn with many other tents. I suppose it was good enough for campers like us who went out to dinner both nights and never lit a fire. Sleeping outdoors does have its advantages, though. The stars in north central Pennsylvania are amazing, and we were kept company all night by many fireflies. The ones that landed on the tent could be seen blinking right through the tent fabric. Camping is great if you have a good air mattress, it doesn’t rain, and it stays warm all night. So camping was great.

Hiking down the gorge on the Turkey Path Trail, we saw lots of little waterfalls. Going down is a lot easier than coming back up.

The small town of Wellsboro is very inviting, with several nice restaurants and places to stay. We had drinks and dinner at the Penn Wells Hotel (next time we'll probably stay here) and breakfast at the Wellsboro Diner.

Dinner at the Penn Wells Hotel

Breakfast at the historic Wellsboro Diner

The Grand Canyon area is all within Tioga State Forest in north central Pennsylvania. It is beautiful and, if you like hiking and biking, it's a great place to spend a couple of days. Although we did see some kayakers, the water seemed a bit low in late June.

Post by Paul Courcy

Biking the Cape Cod Canal

Big Boat!

On a Saturday morning recently we strapped the bikes to the car and headed for Buzzards Bay to meet friends and go riding on the Cape Cod Canal bikepath. There are two bikepaths, one on either side of the canal. We were on the mainland side, and planned to ride from west to east along the canal, about 7 miles, have some lunch at Scusset Beach, and then return.

A very friendly wind patted our backs on the way east, so much so that we hardly needed to pedal. The sky turned ominously gray, and started to spit rain. Then the rain started coming down in light showers, but the wind was blowing it sideways, so that if you stood beside one of the cedar trees beside the canal, you could stay dry. It rained in fits and starts, but when it started to come down more heavily we sought shelter underneath the portico of the closed tourist information center.

On Ed's iPhone, we could see the satellite view of the rain showers moving overhead. It was just a squall blowing through and wouldn't last long. It was a somewhat surreal experience to be able to see both sides of this little storm. What it didn't tell us about, though, was the thunder, lightning and hail. That little squall packed a punch. I wonder how quarter-inch ice pellets feel when you're biking through them. Those two guys who biked past us as we waited out the storm must know...

Waiting out the storm

We got to the beach and had broke out the sandwiches, hunkering down to get out of the wind. Something big made a splash out in the canal, then submerged- a small whale, maybe? It never reappeared.

Scusset Beach

Then, the ride back. Have you ever biked against gale force winds? Because that's what they were, 40 mph winds, a wall of wind unrelenting, for 7 miles back to our cars. Sometimes a bigger gust would come along and almost push you over. We struggled to pass pedestrians. Our average speed was, I believe, about 4 miles per hour. I kept my head down and tried to plan painting lessons for my students, anything to keep my mind off the grind of pushing pushing pushing through that wind. Allen called it the Tour de France in slow motion. We finally made it back, though, and were rewarded with a BIG BOAT!
Thanks, Ed, for the photos!

Post by Kathleen Weber

A Bit of Vermont

Vermont really is as beautiful as they say. We just got back from a 5 day trip there, and I highly recommend a visit.

Marshfield VT

We started our trip in Groton State Forest. There are half a dozen state parks within the forest, mostly situated around various ponds. We stayed at Ricker Pond State Park, which has a lovely little pond with resident loons. Their eerie cries at night really make you feel like you're getting the wilderness experience! The campground has tent and RV sites, as well as lean-tos and one room cabins for rent at very reasonable prices. There is a little sandy beach on the pond, perfect for kids. The Cross-Vermont Bike Path runs right through the campground, which was the reason we chose it.

The next morning after arriving, we rode our bikes up the trail to the town of Marshfield, which took about 1.5 hours. The trail is a little rough, gravel, not paved. It's on an old railroad bed, so the grade, whether uphill or down, is very gradual- until you get to Marshfield. Then it's a downhill run into town, fun even though you know you'll pay for it later when you have to go back up. We stopped in at Rainbow Sweets, a cafe and bakery celebrating 25 years in business. Its owner assured us that people come from miles around to eat there, and it wasn't hard to believe. The spanakopita was excellent, and the glass case full of pastries was tempting, although we didn't indulge.

Peacham Bog

The following day, we explored a little more on foot, going to Peacham Bog for a hike, and Owl's Head to see the view. Then we headed off to Burlington.

Burlington really is a jewel, a little college town on the edge of Lake Champlain. Heading into town on Rt. 2 west, there is a view from a hilltop of the town, lake, and the Adirondack mountains on the New York side that is quite beautiful. We stayed at La Quinta, a chain motel that wasn't exciting but was clean, with a heated outdoor pool and continental breakfast, for reasonable rates. They didn't blink an eye when we rolled our bikes through the lobby and took them up in the elevator to our room.

The Breakwater Cafe

Later that day, we met our friends at the Breakwater Cafe. As you might guess from the name, it's located right on the water, nestled between a marina and 2 ferry docks. There's a large outdoor patio, pub food, and friendly waitresses. As the evening went on, the atmosphere became quite lively, with a band and dancing.

Lake Champlain causeway

The next morning, we headed out for a ride on the Lake Champlain Bikeway. If you are even just a casual rider, you will love this bike path! The scenery along Lake Champlain is breathtaking, the path is paved and mostly flat. At one point, we chose to ride along a causeway out into the lake, rather than along the shore. The causeway heads toward Grand Isle, although you can't ride all the way there, because of a cut that allows boat traffic through. Instead, there is a little ferry that takes bikes across for a $10.00 round trip fee. We chose to turn around and head back to Burlington at that point, but the possibilities for bike riding up through the chain of islands in the middle of the lake are really intriguing and a possible future vacation.

That night we ate at the Farmhouse Tap and Grill, not cheap but the food was very good. The next morning we packed up and headed home. A short, fairly inexpensive vaction that we really enjoyed.

Post by Kathleen Weber