Monuments of Time: The Great Channels
On Saturday, we hiked the 6.6-miles to-and-from the Great Channels, a mountain entombed maze of 400 million-year-old sandstone outcroppings and caverns, likely formed from permafrost and ice wedging during the last ice age that split large seams of rocks apart.
I had just heard about the Channels from a Floyd friend a few days before and knew from her description that it would be something other-worldly not to be missed. “They’re near Abington,” she said, and it just so happened we would be in Abington for a meditation retreat workshop that Joe was going to lead.
We got a hotel with a heated pool and bathtub for a hot soak, which I later realized I would have appreciated even more after the hike. It was a steep switch back climb up that was not easy for me, but worth it in the end. And the peak fall views were fantastic.
A visit to the underworld deserves some natural seating. Almost there!
For me, it was something of a cross between the tunneled rooms of Fort Revere in Hull MA, where I grew up, the beach scene in the movie Ryan’s Daughter and Arches Park in the Southwest.
It was a labyrinth maze, easy to get turned around in.
Joe likes to climb.
And I like to take pictures.
We met some nice people at the top that came in from different trails (ours was the shortest). Can you believe we met a guy from Bristol named Ezekiel who went to school with our Floyd friend Ezekiel and who was wearing a Morgan Wade T-shirt!
One nice couple took this picture of Joe and I standing on top of the underground rock forest.
That’s a long way down!
I read that the maze covers about 20 acres and that some pathways loop around and connect to other paths and some reach dead ends.
We only explored an acre or less before I started feeling like a spot in the prehistoric backdrop and had some trepidation about going too far out. I had read about people that got turned around and briefly lost, and I wanted to get back down before dark.
Next time we’ll leave earlier and plan to spend more time on the top exploring.
_________Our World Tuesday
November 7th, 2021 5:58 pm
Wow! I think I would be a little skeptical about going for fear of getting lost! Other than that it looks like a great hike! I have to hand it to you Coll, you amaze me! ❤️❤️
November 7th, 2021 6:29 pm
Joe wants to take you and Nelson. https://youtu.be/LMax123T_SM
November 9th, 2021 2:48 pm
How fascinating!! It almost seems like a place where Joe could lead a meditation walk — you two could go there and practice until it felt like your own backyard first!
only but definitely in the daylight hours — it would be something I’d enjoy with a good leader! But the thought of that maze in the dark sends shivers. i
November 9th, 2021 8:24 pm
And the hike is not an easy one. Three+ miles up a steep switchback all the way.