The New Horse Trail

It was a warmish day yesterday morning and I thought I would take a little stroll on the new horse path that the park made this summer. This isn't the first time I've walked this trail...its at least my third trip on it. The trail goes from somewhere around the Bushman house down South Confederate Avenue across the bridge over Plum Run and then runs off to the base of Big Round Top. From there it heads back over towards the Slyder Farm. I didn't walk the entire path. I just wanted to follow the part that went from Plum Run up to the 'D' shaped field. Its a short walk but pleasant.

So, I parked my car at the bottom of the hill, right on the other side of the bridge. For reference, this bridge is the bridge that has the dinosaur footprints on the sides....just past the William Wells statue. I started to walk the path around 7am. The sun was up, but it was still kind of dark and you could tell that we were heading for some stormy weather. I didn't care what the day was like....I just wanted to walk this path.

First, in the spring, this is going to be an awesome path to walk. When the leaves start to come out and the birds are singing....its just going to be awesome....and I can't wait. In the meantime, winter is here and with that, there is little foliage which makes your views incredible. At no time during my walk did I lose sight of the road...in the spring and summer that will be different.

During the first leg of the path, I heard this really loud rustling in the bushes and when I looked over, I saw the tails of two deer taking off at high speed into the thick woods. I don't know where they were heading but they weren't taking their time. During this part of the walk, I could hear Plum Run as it ran softly over the rocks in its path. There's something about the sound of a brook running its course. Its relaxing.

I turned at a sharp turn in the path. The path also heads straight....right around the backside of Big Round Top. You are welcome to take this path, but be aware! This path is nothing more than a mud path (I've had shoes sucked off my feet in the past) and it can be treacherous. Also, in the summer, I've run into snakes in that area. Yuck!

At this point in my walk, I could see the top of Big Round Top. The one thing that I noticed more than anything was that Big Round Top contains 2 hills. The part where I was walking rose up and then leveled off. It sort of became a plateau of sorts. Then the other part rose high above the leveled off section....really high above that section. In the summer, I believe that there is no way that you could see this. I'm sure that the Alabamians who climbed up this hill and then down the other side couldn't see just what they were in for. Even though mostly the underbrush was eaten away by wild animals and farm animals, the tree tops HAD to hide the rise of the hill. There is no way that it could have been seen....just no way.

I looked through the brush and though about these poor Alabama boys. They had their canteens taken from them so that they could be refilled....so there was nothing to drink. It was July in Gettysburg (I don't care how low the temperature is, the humidity is always there in July). And they had to climb up this mountain that is completely covered in rocks....no, boulders....HUGE boulders. How did they do it? Today, I wouldn't want to try it. I noticed how the brush is REALLY, REALLY thick and just full of thorn bushes. I'm hurting just thinking about walking that hill.

The boulders along the path are just a sampling of the boulders on the hill. Some of these boulders are big enough that I could hide in their shadows with a few other people. They are huge! The path leads up hill from where I started. I got to the road and then turned around and headed back down the path. One thing that I had to be very careful about, is that this is a HORSE path.....watch where you are stepping.

While walking down the path, I noticed different things than when I was walking up. Seeing it from two different perspectives, it gives you a different way of seeing things. This is a path that I am going to look forward to seeing in the spring....while its still cool out. I'm sure that the snakes will love this area...and I'm not really excited about seeing them anytime soon.