Peach Bottom, PA to PA Fish & Boat Commission Muddy Creek Access
section miles: 13 total miles: 81
Rene and I have recently commented to ourselves about the solitude we've experienced on the trail. Except for the occasional passer-by at the drop-off spots or in towns, or a property owner nodding from a distance, we have met essentially no one since our encounter with the hiking group at Iron Hill. Granted, we're walking in the off-season, but given the relatively warm days, you might expect to meet folks here and there, and it just hasn't happened. But that all changed today, when we had several opportunities to stop and chat with a rather interesting mix of characters. Turned out that at least one of our new aquaintences met with some unfortunate circumstance on this day and required emergency assistance.
We nicknamed this section "the horseshoe", since it arched in a big loop west around and across Muddy Creek, another substantial tributary of the Susquehanna river. As the crow flies, we made only 2.5 miles progress northbound on the west bank of the Susquehanna, but it took us 12.9 miles of walking to do it. That's quite a side trip, but the hiking was well worth it. Starting from the Peach Bottom nuclear plant, you head immediately uphill, gaining sufficient elevation to afford nice views, then back down to the river to walk behind some cottages on the bank. Here we met our first character in the form of Zack, a border collie, who was raucously herding ducks up and down the river while he waited for his owner to pile into the truck and head to work. They caught up to us a mile down the road and rolled to a stop for a nice chat and some requisite ear-rubbing.
Some road walking takes you on a short foray away from the river, then back down to the river bank to pass through the Cold Cabin settlement, a linear swath of cottages built on the flat remnants of the Susquehanna tow path. We stopped to chat with a homeowner who was remodeling his cabin; he gave us a Cliff's notes summary of the areas history and pointed out the remnants of the canal that were still visible. Just north of here is where the trail begins to swing west up the southern flank of Muddy Creek, into a surpising landscape of pine forest and deep rock gorges. If you were to drop in blindfolded, you could easily mistake this section for the White Mountains or some similar Appalachian wilderness. We were awed by the views of dark pine forest and thick undergrowth of rhododendrons, broken only by craggy outcrops flanking the gushing river.
Not far up the creek we encountered a trio of whitewater kayakers, decked out in full battle gear. One man was perched below in a narrow chute of perilously fast-moving water, standing knee-deep on a rock ledge holding his kayak at bay, while two others lay face down on a huge boulder, a good twenty feet above him, apparently trying to resolve some sort of issue. The situation didn't look good, but they saw us and didn't make any sort of "we need help" motions, so we assumed everything was under control and moved on after taking photos.
We cleared the whitewater gorge and promptly came upon two local boys (20-ish) who were hacking away at a huge pine tree along the river bank with a woodsman's axe. We stopped to say hi and make friends with their rambunctious terrier before venturing to ask what they were up to. "Making a bridge," they said. Ah-huh. The tree was huge - 60-80 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter - but the river was bigger. I'm guessing that phys ed was probably more of their strong suit in high school, as opposed to, say, geometry. I bit my tongue for a moment, but then couldn't resist. "Ain't gonna make it half way," I said, hoping that might dissuade them, because they were engaging in a seriously dangerous activity, not to mention imperiling any kayakers that might be floating down the river when she came down. Didn't sway them.
We moved on, and unfortunately passed another pod of kayakers not too far upstream, just as I feared. The gorge flattened out at that point, reducing the river to a wide, gentle flow between low hills, and more typical open hardwood forest. Here we came upon a trio of Amish boys, decked out in their mud-splattered Sunday best, heading down the trail for the gorge. They cheerfully agreed to have their picture taken. Not far behind was another trio of casual hikers, two men and a woman, who stopped to inquire about the trail, how far it went, whether they could reach the gorge, and so on. Past another pair of kayakers putting in a littler farther upstream, past another gaggle of Amish boys watching them intently, and then we were out of the Muddy Creek run and headed north into farmland and solitude along country roads.
Just like our last section, the farm roads offered spectacular views of rolling, wooded hills and freshly tilled fields - Pennsylvania's version of Big-Sky country. A few miles of road-hiking brought us to our car at the Muddy Creek boat access on the the Susquehanna river. I don't remember many details of the road hike, probably because my mind was fixated on all the people we met in the gorge, and I kept mulling over what I should have done about our two wanna-be axemen.
The drive home took us back toward the head of Muddy Creek, and my worst fears began to materialize as I pulled over to let four volunteer emergency vehicles fly by on the road. Sure enough, when we arrived at the bridge the emergency vehicles were parked, and the volunteers were busily pulling out bags of equipment. Recall the three casual hikers we met... one of the men was there with the crews, pacing back and forth. I had the natural urge to stop and ask what happened, but that was obviously not the time, and we drove on. Rene and I scoured the internet for a couple of days, seeing if we could unearth any news, but no luck. Here's hoping that means nothing too serious took place.
Postscript
With this section behind us, we've now reached the half-way point, approximately. Eighty miles to go until we hit the AT! Also note that I'm way behind on getting things posted. As I write this, we have actually completed two more sections and are just south of Wrightsville, PA.
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