Culps Hill-mysterious ribbon paths

infomanpa

1st Lieutenant
Joined
Feb 18, 2017
Location
Pennsylvania
I recently discovered paths linked by pink and yellow ribbons tied to trees along the slopes of Culps Hill. I decided to follow them and plot their positions on the 2nd image below. Does anyone know their significance?
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I was wondering the same thing as I was bushwhacking around on Culp's Hill this past October. I also found a bunch of trees with little metal tags nailed to them. Looked like a study of some sort. I found that too. A really vibrant type of fungus. It was pretty so I snapped a pic.
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I recently discovered paths linked by pink and yellow ribbons tied to trees along the slopes of Culps Hill. I decided to follow them and plot their positions on the 2nd image below. Does anyone know their significance?
View attachment 384286

View attachment 384287

Sounds right. If so, the paths would mirror Confederate advances and Federal trench lines. This would be a great walk to take, since Culp's Hill is so covered with vegetation, it's difficult to do now..
 
I have been told that the NPS wants to thin out some of the undergrowth and improve access on Culp's Hill. Certainly, that is consistent with the theory that these are markings for new pathways. No specifics were given, but the impression I cam away with was that it was hoped that this would draw some attention away from Little Round Top. This may be very important when Little Round Top is closed for some badly needed upkeep. My understand is that Little Round Top, and the roads leading into it, will be closed for 12 to 18 months beginning in the fall of 2021.
 
I love stumbling about Culp's Hill. I remember years ago my Dad and I went to Gettysburg and marched with the 14th Brooklyn during the Remembrance Day Parade. After the parade we all went to the Dobins House for dinner which was full of re-enactors still in uniform, what a cool experience. After dinner there was enough time to venture out on to the field. My Dad had just purchased a new frock coat and wanted to "break it in." So we lit up some stogies and ventured out to Culp's Hill. The park hadn't closed yet but it was pitch dark. We walked to the summit then down to the 60th NY marker and from there bushwhacked our way down to the main road. All was well and good until we stumbled upon one of the Park Police sitting in his car. I don't think he was expecting to see anyone and us in our uniforms must have looked like ghosts because this guy was spooked and white as a sheet. We said hi and introduced ourselves. He was nice once he realized we weren't ghosts and gave us a ride back to our hotel. Now every time I go to Culp's Hill and my Dad isn't with me, I feel compelled to call him and make him jealous as to my whereabouts.
 
I love stumbling about Culp's Hill. I remember years ago my Dad and I went to Gettysburg and marched with the 14th Brooklyn during the Remembrance Day Parade. After the parade we all went to the Dobins House for dinner which was full of re-enactors still in uniform, what a cool experience. After dinner there was enough time to venture out on to the field. My Dad had just purchased a new frock coat and wanted to "break it in." So we lit up some stogies and ventured out to Culp's Hill. The park hadn't closed yet but it was pitch dark. We walked to the summit then down to the 60th NY marker and from there bushwhacked our way down to the main road. All was well and good until we stumbled upon one of the Park Police sitting in his car. I don't think he was expecting to see anyone and us in our uniforms must have looked like ghosts because this guy was spooked and white as a sheet. We said hi and introduced ourselves. He was nice once he realized we weren't ghosts and gave us a ride back to our hotel. Now every time I go to Culp's Hill and my Dad isn't with me, I feel compelled to call him and make him jealous as to my whereabouts.
You simulated the charge in the dark on the evening of July 2!
 
Flags like that are used to mark invasive species that will be removed by work crews. NPS wide, invasive species are a constant threat to the health of historic landscapes. There is a remarkable difference between landscapes that have & have not had invasive plants removed. Here at Stones River NB, birders tell me that they have entered species into their life books that had not been seen in 50 years. The grounds crews at National Battlefields work anonymously decade after decade doing the unglamorous hard work that enriched our visitor’s experience. Like all things that are done very well, to the visitor it all looks like it can’t another way. That is, after all, the greatest praise possible.
 
This may help. I got it in an email from the Civil War Roundtable of New Hampshire at the end of January:


Gettysburg, Pa. (Jan. 28, 2021)
— Gettysburg National Military Park and the Gettysburg Foundationare partnering on a Culp’s Hill rehabilitation project. The project will improve the cultural and natural landscape of 18-acres of Culp’s Hill where key battle action occurred on July 2-3, 1863. Work will include the removal of brush and select understory (trees five inches or less in diameter) along the east side of Union earthworks from the Spangler’s Spring area to the summit of Culp’s Hill. Select larger diameter trees growing within the earthworks will be felled in place. In addition to the increased visibility within the woodlot, additional interpretive signage and improved visitor access will be provided to historically significant features along the battlelines.

Rehabilitation work is scheduled to start in early February and complete at the end of June with the help of the American Conservation Experience (ACE). ACE is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing rewarding environmental service opportunities for youth of all backgrounds to explore and improve public lands. The ACE crew will treat invasive woody trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants on all earthworks stretching from Spangler’s Spring to the summit of Culp’s Hill. ACE will also construct a new trail from near the 150th​ New York Infantry monument to Forbes Rock, a prominent landmark on the 1863 battlefield named after the artist and war correspondent, Edwin Forbes.

The Culp’s Hill project is made possible through the philanthropic partnership between the National Park Service and The Gettysburg Foundation and will include an endowment to cover the future cost of vegetation and trail maintenance needs. More information about the project funding is available on the Gettysburg Foundation’s website at: https://www.gettysburgfoundation.org/.

“We are honored and excited to work with Gettysburg National Military Park on this historic rehabilitation project,” said David Malgee, interim president of the Gettysburg Foundation. “The Culp’s Hill project will transform the visitor experience and open this historic ground to fresh interpretation and understanding. We are forever grateful to Cliff Bream, a longtime Friend of Gettysburg and member of the Gettysburg Foundation Board of Directors, for his vision and lead philanthropic gift that made this project possible,” added Malgee.

“Thanks to the work of our partners at the Gettysburg Foundation, we will be able to better interpret the actions of the soldiers who fought on this hallowed ground in a new and exciting way. Visitors will be able to better understand the actions of Union soldiers as they held off multiple Confederate assaults; assaults that took place over very steep and rough terrain that has been all but hidden in plain sight,” said Steven D. Sims, Superintendent of Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site.

No roads are expected to be closed during this project but all visitors to the area will be required to remain a safe distance from the work area. Project updates will be posted on the Gettysburg National Military Park website at https://www.nps.gov/gett/learn/historyculture/culps-hill.
 
Well, I can see that others have answered the question. I suppose you could notify the Park Service that you approve of the trail, as you’ve already hiked it!!
 
I love stumbling about Culp's Hill. I remember years ago my Dad and I went to Gettysburg and marched with the 14th Brooklyn during the Remembrance Day Parade. After the parade we all went to the Dobins House for dinner which was full of re-enactors still in uniform, what a cool experience. After dinner there was enough time to venture out on to the field. My Dad had just purchased a new frock coat and wanted to "break it in." So we lit up some stogies and ventured out to Culp's Hill. The park hadn't closed yet but it was pitch dark. We walked to the summit then down to the 60th NY marker and from there bushwhacked our way down to the main road. All was well and good until we stumbled upon one of the Park Police sitting in his car. I don't think he was expecting to see anyone and us in our uniforms must have looked like ghosts because this guy was spooked and white as a sheet. We said hi and introduced ourselves. He was nice once he realized we weren't ghosts and gave us a ride back to our hotel. Now every time I go to Culp's Hill and my Dad isn't with me, I feel compelled to call him and make him jealous as to my whereabouts.
I can imagine sitting in the dark of a car, when all of a sudden two men in Military uniform appear in a haze of smoke..I’d be white as a sheet and in need of a fresh pair too!
 
Laetiporus sulphureus - chicken of the woods, an edible fungus. Kind of looks like imitation seafood, but has the texture of a piece of chicken.
I boiled up a bunch of it on the AT between Dick's Gap and Standing Indian Mountain. It does have the texture of chicken, but very little taste, almost neutral. I tried salting it, and it was a bit better, but it does not give one energy when eaten; as though I had not. I was still hungry, so just for habitual snacking, not bad.
Lubliner.
 
ed to follow them and plot their positions on the 2nd image below. Does anyone know the
I am the one who flagged all the trees on Culp's Hill to identify the areas for underbrush to be removed and trees significantly thinned to take it back to its 1863 appearance. I did it a year ago as I began to build a case for restoration of part of Culp's Hill, which I funded. I did it with the permission of the Natl Park Service, which I've been working closely with, and the Gettysburg Foundation, which I'm a member of. Glad that the comments have been so favorable on the work done! Walk & enjoy!
 
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