600 million year old rocks

Hammonds Rocks is located in Michaux State Forest on South Mountain (in Pennsylvania). The drive was a little over an hour. The last ~3 miles were on a forest (gravel) road. Ty and I spent the afternoon there. We didn't get to hike, since the parking area was so close to the rocks, but it was fun to meander around the rocks and take pictures. Ty found many places to pee. We were there about 45 minutes, had the place to ourselves. No need to scratch anyone from the photos. I'd like to go back when the leaves have changed colors; they were just starting to.

Ridge Road (forest road)

Interpretive signs

Parking area

My companion

According to AI "Hammonds Rocks formed a very long time ago when sand and small pebbles on an ancient beach were crushed and hardened into solid stone. Over millions of years, earth movements pushed these rocks up, and weather washed away the surrounding dirt to leave the giant boulders we see today."

Leaves just starting to change color

One of the taller rock formations

All the rocks

Overlook

Crevice

Ty, the explorer

Puffball (L) and bracket fungi

Overview of Hammonds Rocks

There is no human history, including Native American, tied to Hammonds Rocks. Even the origin of the name is unknown, though Hammond was probably a local landowner or tradesman. The area was known for iron works and timber.

Not sure what this one looks like

Rocky path

Gigantic boulders

Rocks up close

Green moss

Colorful trees along Ridge Road

Third Winchester Battlefield

Mom and I have been visiting Civil War Battlefields of late. I was looking for another one. Not too far away. It needed to have a visitor's center. I googled. The Third Winchester Battlefield came up. It was less than an hour away, so we went. The relatively new visitor's center was very nice, quite accommodating for a wheel chair. There was a diorama of the battle and several movies. We learned a lot, as we always do.

Winchester Battlefield Visitor Center

Winchester was the most contested town in the American Civil War, changing hands dozens of times and serving as the site of three major battles, along with other nearby engagements. The first (May 25, 1862) and second battles (June 13-15, 1863) were won by the Confederates (Jackson and Ewell, respectively). The third battle (September 19, 1964) was won by the Union and was part of Sherman's successful campaign against Jubal Early. 

Replica cannon

Sketch showing the anguish of war

The Third Winchester was one of the largest, bloodiest, and most important battles in the Shenandoah Valley. Two Confederate generals were killed and four were wounded. Participants in the battle included George Armstrong Custer, two future presidents, a former vice president of the US, and the grandfather of General George S. Patton (KIA). Thomas Laws was an enslaved man who delivered secret messages between Sherman and a Unionist civilian. He is honored at the battlefield for his courage.

Well-known participants in Winchester battles.

Statue honoring Thomas Laws

In 2020, they decided to remove Confederate statues from Richmond's Capitol Square (finally). Two of the last to leave were Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire and Governor William “Extra Billy” Smith. Both were recently relocated to the Winchester Battlefield. In fact, all of the statues have been given to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation. Dr. McGuire was a surgeon in the Confederate Army attached to Stonewall Jackson's command. I read about him. While he did some good things (medically), he was a life-long white supremacist and perpetrator of the "Lost Cause" myth. Smith was a Major General in the Confederate Army, the oldest to serve in the field. This guy was pretty damned racist, too. 

Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire

William “Extra Billy” Smit

Two locks

It was a picture-perfect, early fall day. Ty and I went to Dam 5 of the C&O Canal for a hike (walk). Dam 5 is currently under construction and was fenced off. There was a detour around the lockhouse, to get to the towpath. We headed in the direction of Locks 45 and 46. We walked farther than we had before, past the cliff. After awhile, the path opened up to Lock 46 and Lockhouse 46. There was also construction at Lock 46. The lockhouse was boarded up. While it appears well-preserved, it's not one you can stay at. 

Two Locks

Detour at Dam 5 Lockhouse 45 (such vivid colors!)

Blue waters of the Potomac

My hiking buddy Ty

Cliff ledge

Member of the Aster family

Lock 45

Steep limestone cliffs

Locks 45 and 46 were collectively known as "Two Locks." The pair is situated in an area where steep limestone cliffs along the Potomac River made digging a canal channel nearly impossible and definitely too expensive. Instead engineers used Dam 5 to back up the Potomac River and create a calm channel (called the slackwater) where the boats could safety travel. Lock 46 served as a transition point where mules switched from the river towpath back onto the canal towpath. There are structural remains of the historic mule bridge at Lock 46.

Lockhouse 46

Arched culvert at Lock 46

Lock 46

A scenic path along the cliffs

Honeysuckle (invasive) berries

Danger Dam!

Ty hanging out at Lock 46

Shelf fungi growing on a dead log

Gray rock -- no more graffiti

Dead logs

Peace

River access for Ty

Meem's Bottom Covered Bridge

Whenever I have the opportunity to photograph a covered bridge, I take it. Mom and I had just left New Market Civil War Battlefield when we saw a sign for a covered bridge. The bridge wasn't far. We headed towards it. It was Meem's Bottom Covered Bridge, named after the Meems family, large landholders in the area.

Newest bridge, c. 1892

At 204 feet, Meem's Bottom Covered Bridge is the longest covered bridge in Virginia. It is believed that there were at least two other bridges before the current one was built in 1892. The first bridge was likely burned in 1862 by Stonewall Jackson. The second was washed away by floodwaters in 1870.

You can still drive through it.

Built and rebuilt

The bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.  I never did find the historical marker. The bridge was burned by vandals (on Halloween) in 1976 and put back into service in 1979.  There are only seven covered bridges left standing in Virginia.

Pretty road leading to the bridge

Out for a Sunday drive