Standing Stone Trail and the Thousand Steps

 Spent a magnificent, cold March day making a pilgrimage to the Thousand Steps and the Standing Stone Trail in Central Pennsylvania.  It was a good 2.5 hour drive from home--closer to Harrisburg than to Pittsburgh--and it would have taken much longer if I'd driven anywhere near the speed limit.

 It was spectacular and well worth the long drive down old US 22 through coal country and into the lovely mountains and quaint villages in the middle of the state.  In the 1930s, men working in a rock quarry near the top of Jacks Mountain had to walk up 1,000 hand-dug stone steps to their workplace.  And then, after a workday of hauling rocks, they had to descend by the same route.  It is a challenging hike even without laboring in a rock quarry both after and before.  Look how steep these steps are!  They wend their circuitous route all the way up to some really great views at the old quarry.

On the Thousand Steps Trail, you gain an elevation of 800 feet in about one mile.  It's practically a stone ladder tipped against the mountainside.  Here's the view from a little less than halfway up.  

 I was easily the oldest person on the trail that day--a chilly Saturday with lots of sun.  There were many other hikers out, which is one disadvantage of this trail, but almost all of them were considerably younger than me.  I think many of them were students at nearby Juniata College.  Older folks probably see this place as heart-attack-hill.

 I don't typically like high-traffic trails, but once you get away from the steps and the overlook, there's lots of solitude up here on the mountain.  Many old trails run along the flanks of Jacks Mountain.  They form a network of terraces that you only see once you're on top of them; you can't see them from below.  These are the old beds of tiny railroad tracks that were used for transporting lumber and stone down to the valley.  You'd think they'd have let the quarry-workers hitch a ride up and down the mountain!

 One advantage of this otherwise crowded outdoor trek is that most people wouldn't inflict the climb on their dogs.  This area was dog-free...except for a tiny bichon who seemed to be maneuvering the steps just fine.

 Once you reach the top, there are two overlooks--an eastern one looking off toward the hardscrabble little borough of Mt. Union, and a much more popular western one looking off toward the village of Mapleton.  The eastern one was my favorite, mostly because I was the only person who visited it.  But the view is less dramatic, and it is not pictured here.  (See the post above, "Standing Stone Trail and the Thousand Steps, Part II.)

This view of Mapleton is from the path toward the eastern overlook.  I'm not really sure what designates a place as an overlook; the views were just about everywhere.

 The tiny railroads that used to meander up the sides of this mountain were called "dinky lines," because both the trains and their pathways were small.  I'm not sure what the function of this old structure might have been, but it was clearly linked to the railroads and the hauling of stone.

 It's my strange lot in life to see an interior like this and think, "Hmm, that would make an interesting church."  Not sure how you'd get all the little old ladies up to it, but it's my other strange lot in life to spend a lot of time in empty churches...

 The view out the empty doorway to the mountain across the Juniata valley is reminiscent of New Mexico.  But on the whole, this trek reminded me a lot of the Asheville area.  The towns in the valleys below weren't quite as fashionable as Asheville, but then again, Asheville wasn't always fashionable.

  And here's the view from near the old rock quarry.  This is looking more or less westward, toward the village of Mapleton.  The Juniata River runs through the valley.  I honestly found myself holding onto trees up here on the steep mountainsides for fear of falling--which is pretty ridiculous.  My fear of heights is getting so much worse with age.

 This lesser view is also from near the quarry, looking a different direction.  The boulder fields on the sides of these mountains are strange but entirely natural.  They're why through-hikers on the Appalachian Trail call this state Rocksylvania.  

See the number 1,000 written on this step?  Every 100th step is numbered in order to help you gauge your progress, and there are actually a few more than 1,000.  The numbering didn't always come out exactly like mine, but it was a nice thing to have some idea of how close you were to the top--or the bottom.  I'm not sure which was harder, the long upward climb with its gasping and panting, or the long downhill climb with its incredible strain on aging knees.  But if you go one direction, you'll have to go the other...so bring a stout walking stick.  It's the only railing you'll get on these stairs.

I spent much of my time up top just exploring the mountain.  The Standing Stone Trail runs 84 miles, from Cowan's Gap State Park to Greenwood Furnace State Park.  It traverses truly beautiful country and has some of the best upland scenery of any trail in the state.  The Standing Stone is part of the Great Eastern Trail, which is a network of smaller, less-busy trails that are being touted as an alternative to the Appalachian Trail--which is not only getting very crowded, but which runs through less scenic countryside.  I really enjoyed driving out in this wild part of Pennsylvania.  And it was a balm to my soul to spend the day on Jacks Mountain.