Route 501 to Route 645

2.2 Miles

September 13, 2018

Tom and Mike

This was our much talked-about “make up hike”.  Four years ago, we had missed these two miles as we pieced together our usual ten mile segments.  So, this missing section was a constant reminder that we needed to do some minor housekeeping first, so that our triumphant walk into New Jersey will, in fact, be the end of our Pennsylvania hike.

Making up the two miles became more of a logistical matter over time, as we have remained focus on knocking down the miles. Finding the time to go back for a few short miles was more challenging than you might imagine.  As it turned out, Tom was speaking in Philadelphia for ULI and a late afternoon pit stop on his way to Pittsburgh was just the opportunity we needed to cross these miles off.   It was also a happy occasion for Monty who was born on the Murphy farm and has known Tom and the family for all of his 13+ years.  So, when Tom stopped by on our way to the Trail, it made Monty’s day.

With convenient parking at both ends, it was as simple and enjoyable as any two miles spent along the AT.  And the lookouts were spectacular, particularly the one named for Bob Fisher, a longtime trail volunteer.  From atop the rocks, a panorama for miles with hardly a cloud in the sky.  In the Berks County valley below, red and white barns and old farmhouses were scattered across landscape.    
One imagined what Indians might have seen from this vista when the first settlers made their way to this region a few hundred years ago.

On the way in and way out, we drove through the little town of Pine Grove.  Tom noted that we’re fortunate as section hikers to see the back roads of Pennsylvania as we go to and from the Trail.  Surely the thru-hikers make better time, but they do often miss seeing what lies beyond. The story of the nation is found along the byways. The picturesque farms--sometimes both perfectly dilapidated and charmingly rustic-- the cluttered antique stores, and the small clusters of company houses built to support a long-forgotten mine or mill.  All these things are out there, and sometimes you find them only when in search of something else.

Our make-up hike complete--we have just a few more hikes to go in this beautiful place called Penn's Woods.