Williams Avenue

For the past month or so, Williams Avenue in Gettysburg has been closed. For those who aren't familiar with Williams Avenue, its on Culp's Hill....when you get to the statue of John White Geary, go straight instead of the heading to the right. Its just a little road....not more than a paved path. I never headed back there much....just trees to see but with it closed, I REALLY wanted to head back there. All I could see with the closing was that they were cutting down trees.

Today, the barricades were removed. So this was just an invitation for me to take a walk along the road. Seems that others had the same idea because I ran into at least 6 other people walking along the road....but only 1 car....a park service vehicle.

When you first walk onto the road, you notice a line of trees and then right behind it a huge clearing. This was one of the first things that they cut down. The tree clearing goes right up to a fence that designates private property. Its a huge open field now....and lots of boulders. I forget about how rocky this land is until something like this happens and suddenly I can see all the boulders. Lots and lots of boulders.

As I walked down the road, suddenly the field came right up to the road. As you looked back, you saw nothing but dirt and trees laying down. Now, if you are driving in your car, you won't notice this, but as a pedestrian you can see all the way to Pardee Field. I was able to take pictures of the Pardee Field Rock/Monument. Because this road is one-way, car traffic will never see this vantage point. I stood for awhile and just took in the scene that lay before me. Now, I have to read up more on Culp's Hill and see just what happened in this area.

One thing that I've always noticed while walking along Williams Avenue is the wildlife. The tree cutting has not done away with that. I was able to see many, many birds. If you stand for a few minutes and just look up into the trees, you are constantly seeing birds darting from one tree to another. And the sounds! I love the sounds of a quiet walk through the woods. Those sounds are still there.

I'm 100% behind the tree clearing and restoring of the land to the way it looked back in 1863. The park is doing some wonderful things to the battlefield and I love it! But this is one clearing that I'm not sure I understand. Most of the roadway is still in the trees. And the area that is getting cleared leads up to private property. Not much action took place in that area. So, I'm not sure I understand what the purpose of the clearing is, but I'll just assume the park knows what it is doing (but then you know what they say about assuming things).

Overall, my walk today was very productive. I really liked what I saw....its just too bad that the only people who will see that view will be those who actually get out of their cars.