The Great Wander of 2026
Day 18: June 11th, 2026
States Hiked: Pennsylvania (16 total so far)
Trails Hiked: York County Heritage Trail
Distance Hiked: 14.0 miles
Elevation Gain: 531 ft. elev. gain
Cumulative Wander: 134.9 miles
Duration: 4h 31m
The choice to hike this trail on my last day in Pennsylvania was less about finding somewhere new or challenging and more about returning to where my passions all began long before I called myself a hiker, or photographer for that matter.
When my great-grandmother passed at age 100, my parents asked if I wanted to go by her old house. "Sure," I replied, "when am I ever gonna be in that small town ever again?"
The only thing I remembered from being there were the railroad tracks through the backyard, where my great-grandfather would walk out, get picked up, and go to work on the railroad all the livelong day.
But when we got there, they were in the midst of being torn up. I took several photographs just to document the memory, grateful I'd seen it before they were gone. Then I found out that was a niche photography group, so I started looking for more, which led me to rail trails, which led me to documenting more photo journeys.
Then I started tracking FitBit steps. And people started saying they enjoyed my photography, which was interesting because I'd never had any training, nor did I know why they were good, but I'm never one to turn down praise. I still don't know why people think they're good.
Living in Central Pennsylvania at the time, there was no shortage of abandoned railway infrastructure. I learned the signs of the landscape and patterns from the aerial views. Logging more miles, taking more photos, I started to love the concept of rail trails, but wished they left some of that abandoned infrastructure intact for my own selfish photographical purposes.
Then I discovered the York County Heritage Trail.
On one end in York, abandoned spur routes and industrial buildings were everywhere (it is York after all, the place LIVE sang about so affectionately). But on the other was New Freedom, with an excursion train complete with performers, and the tracks left intact along the trail to the Maryland border.
Before I moved to Minnesota in 2017, I put in a lot of miles and photographs on the southern end of this trail, including visiting the rail cafe, the town of Glen Rock, and the lovely preserved station at Hanover Junction. It was even a rendezvous point for me with someone I was dating who lived in Maryland at the time, and we took photos together as a date.
I sure can put in more miles than I used to; and I intended to get to the Howard Tunnel before I turned back, but I had one of those Rhode Island storm feelings. Good thing I did too, because the last two miles of the return were filled with thunder claps and looming darkness. This time I barely missed the storm, which would definitely totally absolutely be the theme for the rest of the trip. Nothing bad happened. "It's fine," promised Lio Rush.
The trail still hits, even in the muggy-ass sun.
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