Glen Cove Marina, MD to Peach Bottom, PA
section miles: 12 total miles: 68.0
Shuttling our cars to the drop-off points in the early morning hours quickly raised our anticipation for this segment of the trail. We tapped our brakes along narrow winding roads carving through deep woods and wide-open fields and substantial rock outcroppings, past sheep and goats and cattle and horses, down through secluded camps and marinas nestled on the banks of Susquehanna tributaries. Suffice it to say that the trail didn't disappoint, but I was sorely (yes, pun intended) premature in assessing the ups and downs of our previous section - this was going prove even more difficult. Not sure why, but we both started out a little tired on this day, and finished flat-out bushed. Maryland is now behind us, and the long haul through Pennsylvania has begun.
The hike begins where we left off - Glen Cove marina - and heads north along the western bank of the Susquehanna to Peach Bottom, best known for its nuclear power plant. Which is to say, neither Rene nor I had ever heard of it until now. The first hundred yards is a genteel amble across a bridge and along a planked walkway, but then you quickly veer off and head straight up the face of a cliff. Okay, it's a hill. But on this day, it felt like a cliff. This is where eastern Maryland does its best impression of the AT - jumbled, loose rocks underfoot and a direct ascent to the top. We had to pause several times to rest, all within the first half hour.
For approximately the next three miles you follow the ridge along the west bank, dropping down and back up again to cross the occasional tributary. Some of this section follows a dirt road that seems barely passable by foot, let alone by vehicle, but some rather nice camps dotting the shoreline well below you tell otherwise. The trail crosses over Bald Hill, which at 330 feet directly above the river is the highest point on this section. The trail guide notes that this bald is composed of serpentine bedrock which stunts the growth of woods. I can't say that we noticed it - probably because we were stooped over gasping for breath at the moment - but further on some interesting outcrops of phyllite caught our attention (as being something new), and Rene scrounged around until she found a suitably hefty sample for me to tote home. One should never go hiking with a rock collector. Perhaps the lack of oxygen at this elevation was starting to get to her, because around this time she also suggested, helpfully, that if we find ourselves hiking on Easter Sunday, we should "wear bunny ears." You first, hawk bait.
From there one proceeds (where else!) down again to Broad Creek, a substantial tributary of the Susquehanna that is lined with interesting summer camps and homes. There's a bit more trail, but largely from that point on you're walking on roads for the next few miles. Unlike most of our previous sections, the road walking here was a welcome change. Some of it woods, some of it open agricultural land, all of it interesting. The views of rolling hills with farmland were spectacular... our photos can't do it justice. Somewhere in this section we reached a couple of milestones. First, we came across a sign that said "99 miles to the AT." A rather odd number, so to speak, but someone was thoughtful enough to post it. Which means we've walked more than 1/3 of our goal so far. Second, we trudged into Pennsylvania, and in doing so, crossed the actual Mason-Dixon line again. We were hoping for some sort of marker, but alas, not to be found, except for a rather uninspiring "Hartford County Maintenance Ends" sign (last county in MD).
The end of the road section brings you to the Peach Bottom Nuclear Plant. We had called ahead for permission to hike through, and assumed that we would be checking-in with some security station, showing our id, perhaps having our backpacks searched, probably hiking down a maintenance road next to a chain link fence with razor wire. But no. Not like that at all. No check-in. You merely troop down a road with a warning sign to evacuate if you hear sirens, and then you're on the trail through a heavily wooded section with some spectacular rock outcrops. You do pass by some utility stations, but that's about it. What fascinated us here was not so much the nuclear plant, but the storm damage to the surrounding forest. The windfalls in these woods were extreme - two-foot thick birch trees lay stacked like cordwood across the trail. We have seen downed trees everywhere along the trail, but not like this. Kudos to the trail maintainers who must have worked long and hard to clear a path through the destruction. We jumped a number of deer in these dense woods, but our best wildlife find of the day was a flock of ten turkeys milling about with relatively little regard for our presence.
From the hilltop west of the plant we clambered down towards our car waiting in the Peach Bottom parking lot, with a moderately swift creek presenting one last obstacle at the base of the hill. Miss Preparation daintily donned her wading shoes, while I summoned the inner boy scout and constructed a floating bridge of rotten logs, biggest I could lift without sustaining personal damage, reminding her pointedly about the benefits of marrying a large male of limited intelligence. "Oh this oughta be good," she says, reaching for her camera. No faith. For the record, I reached the other side mostly dry, although somewhat adorned with humus and earwigs. The day ended with our now customary celebration meal, this time at Riviera Maya in Rising Sun, MD - a funky little strip-mall place with authentic mexican food. Recommended!
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