The main story has been one of erosion, but let us go back many
millions of years and begin the geologic account with the
rock-making and the building of the mountains which took place in
another age.
The Alleghenian orogeny is one of the geological mountain
forming events that formed the Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny
Mountains. Approximately 300 million to 350 million years ago, in
the Carboniferous period, when Gondwana (specifically what became
Africa) and what became North America collided, forming Pangaea.
This collision exerted massive stress on what is today the Eastern
Seaboard of North America, resulting in a large-scale uplift of the
entire region. Closer to the boundary between the colliding plates,
tectonic stresses contributed to the metamorphosizing of the rock
(the transformation of igneous and sedimentary rock into
metamorphic rock ). These stresses concurrently caused faults as
well as folding. The immense region involved in the continental
collision, the vast temporal length of the orogeny and the
thickness of the pile of sediments and igneous rocks known to have
been involved are evidence that at the peak of the
mountain-building process, the Appalachians could have risen as
high or perhaps even higher than the present-day Himalaya.
Mount Davis is the highest mountain in Pennsylvania, although
you certainly wouldn’t know it. Located in the 5,685 acre Forbes
State Forest in Somerset County. Mount Davis is the summit of a 30
mile long ridge line known as Negro Mountain which extends from
central Somerset County southward into Garrett County, Maryland.
The peak was named for John Nelson Davis, an early settler,
American Civil War veteran, surveyor and naturalist known for his
studies of the mountain's flora and fauna.
Several hiking trails encircle the highpoint, but none dip below
3,000 feet, meaning the mountain has little prominence from any
vantage point. Views from the top are nice, especially with the
very tall obversation tower, that allows for expansive views in all
directions. You are surrounded by mountains, and you can also see
modern wind turbines on a nearby ridge.
To reach the summit, you can either take the summit road for 1
mile to the parking lot, or park at the Picnic area, which is just
past the summit road, and hard to miss. From there, you can take
the highpoint trail about 0.8 miles to the summit, with an
elevation gain of about 200 feet.
While here there are 2 caches of the older caches in Pa. near
by: GCA54 and GC239A and a bench mark for those who seek them.
To log this earth cache:
1. Take a picture of yourself at the highest mountain in
Pennsylvania and post it with your log
Email me the answers to these questions.
2. What is the erosion resistant surface rock located at the
posted coordinates ?
3. From the top of the tower how far above sea level are you,
and what is the difference in elevation from the posted coordinates
and where you are ?
