Heritage Hike, Ride, and Dinner Nov. 1
This year’s activities will center on Williamsport. Hikers will gather at Cushwa Basin for hikes of varying lengths or a bike ride. Cushwa offers plenty of parking. All hikers and cyclists must sign a waiver before departing.
Departure times
Long hikers will board a shuttle bus at 11 a.m. They will be dropped at Lock 46 for a 7.6-mile hike back to Cushwa Basin. Along the route they will pass Dam #5, an abandoned railroad bridge over the Potomac, and Culvert #136 with its 24-foot span for Little Conococheague Creek.
Short hikers will board a shuttle bus at 12 noon. They will be dropped at Gift Road for a 3.5-mile hike back to Cushwa Basin. All hikers will complete their journeys by crossing the beautifully restored Conococheague Aqueduct.
The bus fee is $5 per person if paid in advance.
Cyclists depart at 11 a.m., weather permitting. Denny Sloppy will lead the group from the Cushwa Basin upstream toward Fort Frederick beginning at 11 a.m. and returning by 3 p.m. This ride would pass through the Four Locks area of the canal. The total miles for the bike ride will be approximately 25 miles.
For more information or to register for the bicycle ride, contact Denny at [email protected].
Evening events
The dinner and program will be held at Downsville Ruritan Club, 8629 Downsville Pike, Williamsport, MD. The Ruritan Club is located in an old elementary school about 300 feet from the general store across the road.
Happy Hour starts at 4 p.m. with a catered dinner starting about 5 p.m. The menu will feature Mediterranean Chicken and Eggplant Lasagna. The cost is $25 per person.
After dinner David T. Gilbert will make a presentation on Hall’s Rifle Works at Harpers Ferry. The presentation is entitled John H. Hall and the U.S. Government’s Agreement with the Patowmack Company. David will examine an 1806 arrangement to share the water power of the Shenandoah River with the United States Armory and how the agreement would bring arms production to a virtual standstill just three decades later. The audience will learn what prompted Hall to write of the “strange mistake of those who in the first instance, constructed the works at Harpers ferry for the National Armory.”
David Gilbert has been writing about water-powered industry at Harpers Ferry for more than four decades. He spent 11 years with the National Park Service as a writer and editor, and has authored several books, including A Walker’s Guide to Harpers Ferry and most recently, Millwrights and Entrepreneurs, 240 Years of Water Power at Harpers Ferry.
For more information contact: Jonnie Lefebure, [email protected].
Payment options (deadline October 24)
Download the PDF form and mail a check.
Visit the online payment page.