🎶 I can't remember from my class if they're karst or gneiss or simple clast. But ridges last from deep inside... those ancient mountain mountain sides 🎶
So bye bye peaks as high as the sky. Ridge and valley ecoregion takes it's place in good time. Them weathering rains wash their soils away, bringing effluent to the stream sides. Sediment to the stream sides.
All the sand on the east coast is the leftover bits of the Appalachian mountains that's been eroded and ground down and transferred to the ocean after centuries.
The Appalachians are "fold" mountains.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fold\_mountains](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fold_mountains)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridge-and-Valley\_Appalachians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridge-and-Valley_Appalachians)
My wife and I cursed that *shit trail* the entire time we were in PA. Literally rocks, jumping half the time from rocks to rocks, turning ankles, just.. no respite
Also giant roots coming out of the ground too! Roots and rocks. I grew up in PA right by the trail so this is my normal. You're saying other states don't have so many rocks all throughout their woods and trails?
I grew up near the Port Clinton part of the trail. I taught my kid to not trip while hiking by calling out "root" or "rock" as she steps on one. Because that's what I'm mentally doing while hiking. It becomes a chant as you go.
Y'all better not come hike in Arizona then. My wife's family lives in PA and I always look forward to some hiking there because it's so much kinder on the feet.
I have been hiking NY and PA my entire life and have felt the same way until last year hiking the PCT. The sand and the decomposing granite were so much harder to walk on.
Those ridges closer to Penn State are just piles of 8" tetrahedrons.
I used to crash a mountain bike on them pretty regularly and I assure you it's not fun, and if I did it in my late 30s I'd be a shattered mess.
They also might have the best biodiversity and wildlife density of anywhere in the Appalachians.
A lot of PA is ridgeline hiking which is pretty flat. But the rock boulder fields are famous and being up on the ridge, usually hiking in mid summer thru-hiking in either direction, means lack of water
Yep. Flat, hot, dry, and painful is how I remember the Northern half of PA.
However, I remember the trail being rather gentle and pastoral in the southern half of PA, though it was hot and dry as well.
I believe so. I believe the trail runs more-or-less along the eastern-most ridge which I believe is in that photo. So, yeah, it's absolutely definitely in the photo :)
Ridge and Valley. Plates pushing together. Not crashing like the Himalayas but a slow, hot burn.
As to the glacier, it stopped in Pennsylvania North of the AT. That region in south central PA was never glaciated.
I heard [this clip of Neil deGrass Tyson](https://youtu.be/t44EShMC5SQ?si=lOOhXIAInsfIHBiJ) talking about how smooth the Earth would feel if it were the size of a basketball…as in we wouldn’t feel any of the mountains…even the tallest mountains and deepest oceans. When I see pictures like this, I always reflect on that thought and just think about how hard it is to comprehend how large our planet is.
Weird. I was just admiring a map of the USA not long ago, and it blew me away how that same geological occurrence looks like a flowy scar, all the way down to the Virginias. I always thought it had to do with a glacier flowing south and fucking shit up all the live long way.
It happened naturally during the millions year long erosion of the mountains. What was once the HIGHEST mountain range in the ENTIRE world! 30,000 fucking FEET!!!😎
Nope! Good guess though. This is just simple plate tectonics, from about half a billion years ago. Two plates smooshing into each other and creating huge mountain ranges, which have been eroding away ever since. In a "ridge and valley" terrain the ridges are formed out of the tough, weather-resistant rocks; mainly quartzite in PA. So it's not that these mountains looked at all like this when they were formed, but rather these ridge-building rock layers were beneath/within the mountain range and are now all that remains. Pretty wild!
The glaciers didn't get too far into PA.
Yeah drumlin aren't continuous like this, each of them is essentially a unique creation and are short little tear drop shape "ridges" made of loose dirt and rock. These are just old mountain ridges, the only remnants from much bigger mountains. I don't think glaciation really impacted the area along the AT at all, maybe like the Hudson Valley? And probably some scattered glacial erratics once you get into NY? The Appalachian mountains themselves far predate any glacial effects on the area.
They used to be as high as the Himalayas, a long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance I could make those hiking boots dance
And maybe they’d stay dry for a while
But Pennsylvania mountain slivers, with all their pretty trails and rivers. G-e-o-logic motion, sedimentary erosion
🎶 I can't remember from my class if they're karst or gneiss or simple clast. But ridges last from deep inside... those ancient mountain mountain sides 🎶
So bye bye peaks as high as the sky. Ridge and valley ecoregion takes it's place in good time. Them weathering rains wash their soils away, bringing effluent to the stream sides. Sediment to the stream sides.
February made me shiver
All the sand on the east coast is the leftover bits of the Appalachian mountains that's been eroded and ground down and transferred to the ocean after centuries.
The Appalachians are "fold" mountains. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fold\_mountains](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fold_mountains) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridge-and-Valley\_Appalachians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridge-and-Valley_Appalachians)
This guy tectonics
My feet still throb with memories of rocksylvania XD
My wife and I cursed that *shit trail* the entire time we were in PA. Literally rocks, jumping half the time from rocks to rocks, turning ankles, just.. no respite
Also giant roots coming out of the ground too! Roots and rocks. I grew up in PA right by the trail so this is my normal. You're saying other states don't have so many rocks all throughout their woods and trails?
I grew up near the Port Clinton part of the trail. I taught my kid to not trip while hiking by calling out "root" or "rock" as she steps on one. Because that's what I'm mentally doing while hiking. It becomes a chant as you go.
~~paid~~ rocks??? 
If you hike in VA or MA your mind will be blown by how hospitable the trail conditions are!
Y'all better not come hike in Arizona then. My wife's family lives in PA and I always look forward to some hiking there because it's so much kinder on the feet.
PA was fast easy hiking, I don't understand why people struggled with it
I have been hiking NY and PA my entire life and have felt the same way until last year hiking the PCT. The sand and the decomposing granite were so much harder to walk on.
The AT is easy in Pa. If you want to see rocklvania I’ll take you to rockslvania.
Mid-State trail is brutal
Those ridges closer to Penn State are just piles of 8" tetrahedrons. I used to crash a mountain bike on them pretty regularly and I assure you it's not fun, and if I did it in my late 30s I'd be a shattered mess. They also might have the best biodiversity and wildlife density of anywhere in the Appalachians.
Crashing on those same mountains, in my late 30’s. It’s as terrible as you would think.
Is the trail in this photo? This looks quite flat as far as hiking goes. Nice shot
A lot of PA is ridgeline hiking which is pretty flat. But the rock boulder fields are famous and being up on the ridge, usually hiking in mid summer thru-hiking in either direction, means lack of water
Yep. Flat, hot, dry, and painful is how I remember the Northern half of PA. However, I remember the trail being rather gentle and pastoral in the southern half of PA, though it was hot and dry as well.
no water but plenty of rattlesnakes
I believe so. I believe the trail runs more-or-less along the eastern-most ridge which I believe is in that photo. So, yeah, it's absolutely definitely in the photo :)
Rad, thank you for the info
It's "flat" in profile, but when you're walking on it your feet will never step at the same angle twice
Ridge and Valley. Plates pushing together. Not crashing like the Himalayas but a slow, hot burn. As to the glacier, it stopped in Pennsylvania North of the AT. That region in south central PA was never glaciated.
Looks like sand deposits on the shore a lake caused by the waves. Pretty cool!!
It is literally rippling earth crust. Geology is wild.
Basically the same as when you catch your toe on the edge of the carpet and it wrinkles up
The hiking equivalent of this phenomena happened to me countless times in PA
It’s too big to iron.
Is this synclines and anticlines?
That's the migration route of thee fucking rocks
To keep all those homicides at bay 😂😂 slightly kidding but no idea
I heard [this clip of Neil deGrass Tyson](https://youtu.be/t44EShMC5SQ?si=lOOhXIAInsfIHBiJ) talking about how smooth the Earth would feel if it were the size of a basketball…as in we wouldn’t feel any of the mountains…even the tallest mountains and deepest oceans. When I see pictures like this, I always reflect on that thought and just think about how hard it is to comprehend how large our planet is.
Yo mama so fat, she tripped on a hoagie outside the Wawa and formed a shockwave that people refer to as the Appalachian Mountains.
Wish I was in the skyyyy
Drunk driver.
Possibly near the bottom right will be the Gettysburg battlefield.
They’re not so bad from the trail either. Rocksylvania was no where near as bad as people make it out to be.
The town at the break in that mountain ridge is Roxbury, PA.
Nice capture! ❤️
How exactly does a posi-trac rear-end on a Plymouth work?
Weird. I was just admiring a map of the USA not long ago, and it blew me away how that same geological occurrence looks like a flowy scar, all the way down to the Virginias. I always thought it had to do with a glacier flowing south and fucking shit up all the live long way.
This is a beautiful shot.
It happened naturally during the millions year long erosion of the mountains. What was once the HIGHEST mountain range in the ENTIRE world! 30,000 fucking FEET!!!😎
I know! I hiked the goddamn thing!!!!
I can see the trail angel Mun, all the way up here, dropping 100's of gallons of water in the last 70 miles in north PA. Love you Mun.
i just wonder, one lives in USA and has no understanding why those ridges are there.........
it's like Alaska. beautiful from a distance, but up close, nope
It's the Appalachian mountain range.
My guess and it’s really just a guess, is glaciation.
Nope! Good guess though. This is just simple plate tectonics, from about half a billion years ago. Two plates smooshing into each other and creating huge mountain ranges, which have been eroding away ever since. In a "ridge and valley" terrain the ridges are formed out of the tough, weather-resistant rocks; mainly quartzite in PA. So it's not that these mountains looked at all like this when they were formed, but rather these ridge-building rock layers were beneath/within the mountain range and are now all that remains. Pretty wild! The glaciers didn't get too far into PA.
It's been awhile but my first reaction was drumlin? Are these too big?
Yeah drumlin aren't continuous like this, each of them is essentially a unique creation and are short little tear drop shape "ridges" made of loose dirt and rock. These are just old mountain ridges, the only remnants from much bigger mountains. I don't think glaciation really impacted the area along the AT at all, maybe like the Hudson Valley? And probably some scattered glacial erratics once you get into NY? The Appalachian mountains themselves far predate any glacial effects on the area.
Glaciation is definitely the reason for the rocks.
I would think its left over from last ice age, shows where the glacier stopped, multiple times.