Boundary Stone Weathering on Hoye Crest EarthCache

Welcome to Backbone Mountain - home to the highest point in the State of Maryland, Hoye Crest. While hiking up to the High Point, you'll pass an old looking stone. This Boundary Stone is the focus of this EarthCache!

What is Portland Cement?

The boundary stone at the posted coordinates is made from a combination of Portland Cement, sand, and crushed stone. This mixture was then combined with water, and poured into a mold set by the survey team. Portland Cement is primarily made up of Limestone, Clay, Iron Ore, and Gypsum. These components are then heated to form clinker, which is then ground up to create the cement. Once mixed with water, chemical reactions form to create a durable concrete structure!

Weathering Examples

As with anything made from minerals, this boundary stone is susceptible to weathering. Weathering is the process that breaks down rocks and minerals at the Earth's surface through various physical, chemical, and biological mechanisms. Some of the most common types of weathering can be found below:

• Physical: This process involves breaking rocks into smaller pieces without changing their chemical makeup. Some examples of this include Abrasion (by wind, water, or ice), and Freeze-Thaw cycles (where water seeps into cracks, freezes, and expands the rock).
• Chemical: In Chemical weathering, the chemical composition of minerals are changed. This can include iron-bearing minerals reacting with oxygen in the environment creating rust, or soluble minerals dissolving in water.
• Biological: Even the flora and fauna of an environment can break down rocks and minerals! Certain lichens and mosses can produce acids that over time will slowly eat away at the rock.

History of the Boundary Stone
While researching the importance and history of this stone, I learned quite a few facts about it! It is the result of a border dispute between Maryland and West Virginia over this region of their border. This line was originally surveyed in 1788 to mark the border of Virginia and Maryland. Due to the limited technology of the time, this border was not an exact straight line, and zigzagged its way through the mountains. This inaccurate border would come to a head in the 1910 case Maryland v. West Virginia, in which the Supreme Court ruled for a more accurate border to be demarcated. As a result, the surveying team found on the stone placed this monument along with 34 similar monuments along the new West Virginia - Maryland border, and it's still the border used today!

Accessing this EarthCache
To access Hoye Crest (as well as this EarthCache), please make your way to the Trailhead waypoint listed below. There's additional parking just down the road for more vehicles in case the High Point is especially busy on the day of your visit. From there, you'll hike about 1.15 miles to the WV/MD Marker. The entire trail is well signed - you'll be following red "HP" blazes, as well as red wooden signs leading you up the mountain. There's two ways to access the Boundary Stone from the trail; before you reach the High Point, there's a path leading from the trail to the Stone that's roughly 100 feet from the trail. You can also access the Stone after visiting Hoye Crest by following another red wooden sign (also about 100 feet from the main trail). Both methods require light boulder scrambling - nothing crazy, but please watch your step!

 Thank you for visiting my EarthCache - and enjoy your visit to the Top of Maryland!