Tunnels, Bridges, Views - Day 117

  Today, I went back and filled in the missing piece. This included the Kennerdell Tunnel on the Allegheny Valley RR. This is a longer tunnel, at 3350 feet, but it is straighter, so you aren't in the dark for as long.

This was what it was like for a great deal of the time today. But between snow squalls, I saw an eagle fly across the river.

The bridge at Belmar isn't part of the NCT, but you can see it. (It's connected- you could walk it if you wanted) It's located where the Allegheny Valley RR and the Franklin & Clearfield RR (now the Sandy Creek Trail) "meet." The F&C is at least 20 feet higher, but there are stairs now because both rail beds are trails, and this is where the NCT turns the corner.

The 1361-foot bridge was built in 1906, and was a massive undertaking with only horse and steam power.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered there is another small tunnel on the F&C line. You can just look right through it. But it needed interior repairs to make it safe for trail use, so that "liner" was added in 2005. This is called the May's Mill Tunnel

This part of the trail crosses Sandy Creek a number of times. Sandy Creek is pretty big for a "creek." And it is a beautiful waterway.

Someone has painted this old part of an abutment to look like a train! It's really quite creatively cute.

And! I had a hiking companion for about 2/3 of the day. Tracy came and walked with me. She has almost completed Pennsylvania.

Miles today: 17.3. Total miles so far: 1549.

And! Sue completed her NCT Hike 100 and the Pennsylvania Hike 50 today!

See Franklin & Clearfiel RR