#100by100 Update

It’s been a year since my National Parks project began. For those of you new to the blog, I’m attempting to see 100 sites managed by the National Park Service before the Park Service turns 100 on August 25, 2016.  I devised this challenge when I planned a birthday trip for myself to Antietam National Battlefield. Including that trip, I’ve seen 30 National Park Sites in the last year.

One of the main reasons for the National Park Project was to give me a reason to go. Most of us lead lives of good intentions, “I really want to go there. But I can’t today.” “I really want to see that. I’ll go someday.” But days and time pass and our good intentions never materialize into actions. I had good intentions. What I needed was a goal to work towards.

And since setting that goal, I’ve been working! It’s been fun work, but work nonetheless. This certainly hasn’t been a year of sitting on the couch. It’s been a year of hiking, biking, driving, flying, exploration, and education. Our National Parks have made me far richer than I ever could have imagined. I am overwhelmed by how much there is to see and learn and how accessible it all is. I’m also deeply saddened by the fact that so few people experience it and that it has taken me this long to really jump in and make seeing the parks a priority.

There are 407 areas managed by the National Park Service. So, my seemingly insurmountable goal will leave me with over 75% yet to see! This country is rich with history and beauty and opportunities to discover it are everywhere. You can see a list of all the sites and their designations HERE.

Visiting a National Park Site doesn't need to be an epic weeklong trip to Yellowstone. Of course that would be fantastic, but with a little research I suspect you will find a site nearby you haven't yet explored. I took on this project because I realized I was surrounded by National Parks, but it was easier for me to pass them than stop. In fact, there are 15 sites in my home state of Pennsylvania. A year ago I had only visited 3. I saw 5 more this year and learned about everything from Edgar Allen Poe, to railroads, to 9/11.

I’m headed to Great Smoky Mountain National Park for my birthday this weekend. It will be my 70^th park and that means I’ll have 30 parks left to see on the day I turn 30! I’m excited to explore the Smoky Mountains so stay tuned for photos and updates.

But I also wanted to let you know that I’m giving one of you a gift for my birthday. My National Parks Project was mentioned in the current issue (April 2015) of National Geographic Traveler by my friend and mentor Norie Quintos. Purchase a copy of the issue, post a photo of yourself with it to Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, use my #100by100 hashtag, and tag me in it if possible (@valeriedperry). I’ll randomly select one of the entrants and you’ll win a yearlong subscription to Traveler. But hurry, you only have until March 20^th to enter.

If you'd like to get me a gift this year, go spend a day in a park. This world will be a better place when we can all slow down enough to go for a hike and take a deep breath of mountain air.

Go. Live.

Skipping Stones in Snow

Have you ever skipped a rock on a frozen pond? Me neither. Then I saw this guy do it and after I stopped kicking myself for not doing it while I was in Alaska like him, I told my dad that we were doing this when I came home for Christmas.

After an unseasonably warm holiday, the outdoor AC finally kicked on for the last day of 2014. Dad and I took the ATVs for one final run of the year and we wrote you this little song.

Yeah. It was pretty awesome. It blew my mind a bit.

I love spending time with my dad in this patch of woods. While we typically are hunting or riding ATVs through here, we have also panned for gold, gone metal detecting, and now this! Just face it- we're pretty cool...or at least easily entertained.

Enjoy one final song of 2014.

Now, get out there and explore. I encourage all of you with access to a frozen body of water to give this a try. I want to see the videos! Tag me: @valeriedperry

Go. Live.

PA Parks: Allegheny Portage Railroad

In an earlier post I mentioned how I hadn't visited many of the Pennsylvania parks.  I took a day of my vacation to visit the Flight 93 and Johnstown Flood Memorials. As I was researching in preparation for my trip I discovered another park close by that I had never heard of - The Allegheny Portage Railroad.

By the time I reached the Allegheny Portage Railroad I was exhausted. If you read the posts on the other two parks of the day you know that I had been given an emotional beating. Now it was 4:00 pm, the park closed in an hour, but I was determined to make discoveries. My first discovery was that when you get to a park that late in the day you don't have to pay the entrance fee! So don't let time stop you from visiting a nearby park. Even if you have less than an hour you can learn something.

The visitor center looks like an old train depot. I loved it, probably my favorite visitor center so far. I didn't have time to look around or watch the introduction film like I usually do.  Instead I headed down the boardwalk to Engine House 6.

In 1826 Pennsylvania needed to develop a faster way to get people and goods from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and vice versa. The Erie Canal recently opened and the merchants of New York City were thriving as those in Philadelphia struggled with no efficient way to move their goods west. By 1831 most of the Main Line canal system was finished, but no one wanted to deal with the issue of the Allegheny Mountains. Tunneling a canal through the mountains was considered, but eventually a decision was made to go over them.

On March 18, 1834 a system of 10 inclined planes opened. People and goods were transferred from their canal boats to railroad cars, pulled up five inclines, then lowered back down the other side of the mountain via five more inclines. Soon someone developed sectional canal boats and now each section could be floated on to a rail car, pulled up the mountain, lowered down the other side, and floated back into the canal -- eliminating the need for a transfer. People now rode their boats (as opposed to "rowed their boats") on a train car up and down the mountain! How crazy is that?!

The inclines were too steep for the locomotives of the day so the cars were pulled with the power of stationary steam engines located on the planes between each incline - think of it like going up a hill on a roller coaster. The railcars/boats on one side of the mountain acted as a counter balance for the railcars/boats on the other side. Locomotives would pull the cars along the planes. Horses were always a backup - even on the inclines. If the engines failed, horses would pull the cargo up the mountain. I'm not sure what these railcars and boats looked like, but it's hard to imagine horses pulling a train up a mountain! It was probably also exceptionally slow. When using the locomotives and steam engines it took 6 hours to travel 36 miles.

Engine House 6

Steam Engines in Engine House 6

At Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site you can visit an engine house to get a better understanding of how the process worked. You can also tour the Lemon House. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a bit excited at the prospect of Liz's ancestors living there. The Lemon House was a tavern built steps from the Portage Railroad to serve passengers. The first floor of the house is open for self guided tours and sections have been restored to what it probably looked like in the 1840s. It was interesting to see the accommodations serving the different classes of passengers.

Lemon House Tavern

Despite being a remarkable engineering feat, the Allegheny Portage Railroad was obsolete soon after completion - just like the canal system. The railroad was a much stronger, more efficient option and it quickly became the transportation method of choice. Unlike canals, railroads don't freeze in winter (although according to Amtrak there is a problem when the tracks get cold). 23 years after the first train/boat climbed the Alleghenies, the portage was abandoned.

This has been my most fascinating park visit to date. I had never heard of floating boats on to train cars to take them over mountains! And it all happened a few hours from my house. What will you discover? Get out there, explore, and let me know what you learn. Tweet me: @valeriedperry

To learn more about the Allegheny Portage Railroad visit: http://www.nps.gov/alpo/index.htm

Pennsylvanian Horror Story: Johnstown Flood

I'd heard of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. I knew it was somewhere near Altoona. I knew there had been a flood there. I knew some of my childhood television stations were broadcast from there. The End.

I honestly didn't know anything about the flood. When was it? Why did it happen? How bad was it? I don't remember learning about it in school. True to my style, I learned most everything I know about it from a television show.  A few years ago the History Channel aired a mini-series called "The Men Who Built America." Home on vacation from ships, I tuned in hoping to learn something and gain inspiration to one day add my name to the list of Women Who Built America. Well, I learned lots of somethings. Some of those were inspiring, but most of the stories were so full of greed and selfishness it was sickening. One great example: The Johnstown Flood.

In 1826 legislators in the state of Pennsylvania authorized a canal system to be built between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The South Fork Dam was built to support this Main Line canal system, but by the time it opened in 1853 canals were nearly obsolete. (My next National Park blog will be about an amazing section of the Main Line canal, so stay tuned!) The Pennsylvania Railroad was surpassing the canal system and they eventually bought the dam. Under their ownership a problem with the discharge pipes lead to the first break in the dam in 1862. At this time the water level was so low that the damage was minimal. Having no use for the dam the railroad never fixed the discharge system and it sat, abandoned, for 17 years until it was purchased by the South Fork Club.

The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was a summer retreat for Pittsburgh's wealthiest citizens: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Frick, Andrew Mellon, and friends. This group purchased the abandoned reservoir, "repaired" the dam, and raised the level of Lake Conemaugh. They also had a clubhouse and several houses, or "cottages" as they called them. I live in a one-bedroom condo. Let's call them houses.

South Fork Fishing and Hunting Clubhouse

The Fishing and Hunting Club actually sounds quite nice. Built above Lake Conemaugh they had sailboats, canoes, and even a couple steam yachts. A place I would not mind spending some time. But ultimately their ignorance and carelessness would lead to tragedy.

As I mentioned earlier, the drainage system in the dam was never repaired. If you've ever seen a dam - even a beaver dam - you know that some water gets through. That's how the lake level is controlled.  The South Fork Dam now lacked the drainage pipes and relied solely on the spillway off to the side. However, the Fishing and Hunting club had stocked Lake Conemaugh with black bass at great expense and feared the fish would escape downstream through the spillway. To control this they added screens. What was meant to keep fish in would eventually become clogged with debris and prevent water from getting out.

A reconstructed spillway in place today.
Home of the Fishing and Hunting club president on right.
National Park Service Visitor Center on left.

The top of the dam also served as a bridge; a one lane bridge. To allow two carriages to pass, the club decided to lower the dam 1-3 feet. This made the center of the dam, the portion bearing the greatest pressure, dangerously low.

The dam connected the two sections with wooden railings.
Approximately the same height as the highway bridge today.
Everything to the left was Lake Conemaugh.

It had rained all through the night and into the morning of May 31, 1889. Lake Conemaugh was close to reaching the top of its lowered dam. The president of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting club called his staff to action. Some began to dig a new spillway as the screens in the current spillway were not letting enough water through. Some began trying to make the dam higher. But the rain continued to fall and the lake continued to rise. The weakest and lowest part of the dam was now the center. Once the lake crested there it eroded a large section and sent a 36-foot tall wall of water down the Little Conemaugh river.

Two miles later the 20 million tons of water decimated the town of South Fork. The 20-30 homes and 4 lives it took were just the beginning. The wave was delayed at the Conemaugh Viaduct as the debris from South Fork and railroad track and ties slammed against the structure and created a temporary dam. But as more water joined the force it eventually broke free. The homes of 30 families were reduced to a bare rock at Mineral Point.

The raging river of debris began to pick up speed after destroying East Conemaugh and several waiting trains. Here the valley straightens. The floodwaters are believed to have been traveling at about 40 miles per hour. Had the water traveled in a straight line from the dam it would have hit Johnstown at a speed of 60-90 miles an hour.

Moments before reaching Johnstown the flood destroyed the town of Woodvale. Woodvale was an industrial town, like Johnstown. The destructions of its mills added oil to the growing pile of debris. Worse yet was the destruction of Woodvale Wire Works sending miles of barbed wire churning towards Johnstown.

It took 10 minutes for the wave to crash through Johnstown. Some had heard warnings and escaped. Some made it to roof tops and were awaiting rescue. But the story was very different for many, many more. Hundreds of people were now trapped in a pile of debris against a stone railroad bridge at the edge of town. The destroyed houses, trains, trees, and barbed wire made it nearly impossible for people to escape. As survivors worked to rescue others, the oil in the mix caught fire.

By the morning of June 1, 1889 2,209 people were dead. Many never identified or even found. A typhoid epidemic would add 40 more to the count in the coming days. The property damage was $17 million.

No one can say for sure what caused the destruction. Was it the poor maintenance and lowering of the dam? Was it the timbering of the Conemaugh River valley? Was it simply an act of God? Was it a combination of all of those? People have been debating that for over 100 years now. We will never know, but this Pennsylvanian Horror Story is a good reminder that actions have consequences. Nature is powerful and we have a responsibility to be good stewards of this earth. Let us not ever create a situation that will lead to as much destruction as the Johnstown Flood again.

South Fork Little Conemaugh River today.
Doesn't look menacing, does it?

Wooden railing in center of frame is on what exists of the dam today.

To learn more visit: http://www.nps.gov/jofl/index.htm

Flight 93 Memorial

Part of what inspired me to commit to this National Park Challenge was the fact that I’m surrounded by so many parks, but I had so far been unwilling to go see them. Many parks are just a few miles out of my normal routes, and yet I was too busy to get where I was going to stop. 

That’s how it is with the parks of Pennsylvania. I’m no stranger to PA. I spent 99.9% of 22 years there. And yet I’d only seen three of state’s 15 National Parks. 15 National Parks?!?!?! My home state has 15 National Parks?!? I needed to see some more. I took a day of my vacation a few weeks ago and saw three of them.

I can’t say I recommend seeing three National Parks in one day. These three were all fairly close together so it seemed silly not to, but if I’m honest it was overwhelming and exhausting. I was physically...and emotionally drained after my visits and I still had 3 hours in a car to go!

To save your brain (and your emotions) from overload, I’ve broken the day up into 3 separate posts.

The first park I visited that day was the Flight 93 Memorial. Out of the 54 parks I’ve seen, this was by far the most difficult. 

In the few months of this challenge so far, I have realized that many of the parks don’t celebrate inherently happy occasions. I’ve visited several battlefields and a plantation. It’s no secret that we are a nation with a shadowy past. But that was the big difference - they were all in the past. I only knew of these events from history books and documentaries. I had the intellectual knowledge that all of these things had happened. But with the Flight 93 Memorial, I had the memories of it happening. The Flight 93 Memorial was just a field in Shanksville when I was a kid. There was no reason for it to be anything else.

My story is no more or less unique than anyone else’s story of September 11, 2001. I remember where I was, who I was with, and how confused I was. I had a case of the invincibility syndrome - “It can never happen to me. It won’t happen here.” When in reality it nearly did. Flight 93 crashed less than 150 miles from my house.

I’ve only recently begun to consider the fact that I don’t know what it was like to be an adult before 9/11. I was a junior in high school when it happened. I didn’t fly until after it happened. My country has been at war for nearly half my life. And I know many people who were born after 9/11. They will never know a world without such an attack on and in our country. These facts are so much my reality that it took visiting this National Park to realize them.

At the Flight 93 Memorial I only saw fields, trees, and one homestead in the distance. The only sound I heard was heavy machinery building the future Visitor Center. It’s remote. One of the remotest parks I’ve seen so far. I was just driving along a country, two lane highway when I saw the sign of the turn off. Then it was an even narrower, winding road that took me up one hill and around another until I was surrounded by nothing but greenery. So different from Washington, DC - the intended target of the plane and only 18 minutes away.

The memorial is simple. Elegant. At the end of a black walkway, there is a wall with a panel for each passenger and crew member that lost their life. Panels are engraved with the individual’s name and flowers and gifts were left at the bottom of some. The wall follows the flight path of Flight 93.

The black walkway borders a field. The crash site. A boulder marks the approximate place of impact. A neighboring hemlock grove still has a bare spot from where the plane hit. The crash site is fenced off and remains closed to everyone but family members of the victims. Although enough DNA evidence was gathered to identify every passenger on the plane, the field is still filled with remains. That was a sobering thought. Hundreds of acres, still closed. The explosion was that big. Flight 93 had only been airborne 46 minutes. What was meant to be a non-stop flight from Newark to San Francisco was ended nearly as soon as it began. And 7,000 gallons of jet fuel had to go somewhere.

The mowed section shows the flight path.

Side view. Note the bare spot in the hemlock grove.

Flight 93 was delayed 25 minutes on the morning of September 11th. In a cruel twist of irony it eventually departed 4 minutes before the first plane hit the World Trade Center. 4 minutes. 4 minutes separated the 7 crew members and 33 passengers from the lives they knew...forever.

In 30 minutes from when the hijacking began, the passengers and crew knew their plane was part of a terrorist plot and decided to do something about it. What would have happened had they not?

What would I have done? I like to think I’m brave. I love my country. But in 30 minutes could I call those I love, say goodbye, then give up my life to create a better life for them? Thank you to all of you who have put yourselves in danger to create a better life for us and safer country. We can never repay you. I think the passengers and crew of Flight 93 are 40 of the greatest patriots this country will ever know. They didn’t sign up for this. They were off on business trips and vacations. But they were given a choice. They left Newark as airline customers. Probably annoyed airline customers because of the delay. But they died in a field in Pennsylvania as heroes.

A trip to the Flight 93 Memorial not an easy one, but it’s a trip I encourage you all to take. It’s more than just history. It’s our lives. We will never forget.

Learn more here: http://www.nps.gov/flni/index.htm