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Time Travel: The Original Ground Zero

IT’S EARLY MORNING on Saturday, April 4, and I’m cruising down I-25 alongside mountains, farmland, train tracks, and the gentle course of the Rio Grande. I’m on my way to White Sands Missile Range to visit a wind-worn crater. There, a fraction of a second before 5:30 a.m. on July 16, 1945, an explosion equal to 19 kilotons of TNT lit up the landscape with the daylight of 20 suns before its blast column surged thousands of feet high, sending winds that warmed distant onlookers like a fireplace. This was a test, codenamed Trinity, and with it the atomic bomb went from scientific theory to world-changing reality.

As I drive, I use my phone’s compass to play at spotting the test site. It’s still another 90 miles away, but that’s nothing given the monstrous size of the blast. Santa Fe railway engineer Ed Lane was just down the tracks from here, in Belen, when he saw the explosion. “All at once it seemed as if the sun had suddenly appeared in the sky out of darkness,” Lane recounted in Ferenc Morton Szasz’s The Day the Sun Rose Twice . “There was a tremendous white flash. This was followed by a great red glare and high in the sky there were three tremendous smoke rings. The highest was many hundreds of feet high. They swirled and twisted as if being agitated by a great force. The glare lasted about three minutes and then everything was dark again, with dawn breaking in the east.” I try to transpose this vision onto the expansive blue before me, but the desert defies all sense of scale.

The final stretch of road leading to White Sands’ Stallion Gate makes clear why the desert aptly named Jornada del Muerto—Journey of the Dead—was a natural for testing an A-bomb . To the east and west, respectively, the San Andres and San Mateo Mountains contain a 27-plus-mile flat expanse of rock, sand, and scrub punctuated only by an occasional yucca. In 1945, adjacent Socorro County had 11,422 residents—only about 6,000 fewer than today. If you want to unleash an unfathomable payload without destroying anything of value while shielding the event from the outside world yet be able to observe the blast from every angle—within easy commuting range of Los Alamos—the Jornada has it covered.

Of course, the Trinity Test was still at the mercy of the weather, war’s most irascible factor. Planners had very little historic meteorological data and, like many of New Mexico’s high deserts , the Jornada has its own particular weather patterns. In March 1945, Trinity’s new chief meteorologist, Jack M. Hubbard, had to pinpoint a window for testing—clear and dry, with calm winds and stable atmospheric temperatures. To avoid a tropical system, he recommended July 18 to 21; a higher-up set the date for July 16. “Right in the middle of a period of thunderstorms,” wrote Hubbard in his diary, “what son-of-a-bitch could have done this?” That would prove to be President Harry S. Truman, hoping for a big reveal at Potsdam. Fortunately for Truman, rain and winds subsided, delaying the 4 a.m. ignition by only 90 minutes.

This April morning the Jornada is in a haze, as it was prior to the test. I’m grateful for the softened glare as I crawl through the hour-long entry line. Fierce sun is why the site is open in spring and fall instead of the July anniversary, when temperatures in the 90s are typical.

Finally I reach the checkpoint and, after a quick reminder not to take photos anywhere other than the Trinity Site, I’m zooming past anonymous equipment shelters and silos dubbed “Permanent High Explosives Test Site.” Even as I approach the parking lot adjacent to ground zero, a line of cars is pulling out. It’s 9:30 a.m., an hour and a half after the gate opened, and I’m one of thousands already here on pilgrimage.

Army ROTC cadets point me to a parking space, and I follow the stream of visitors to Trinity’s ill-used sentinel: a rust-colored, open-ended, bus-size cylinder called Jumbo. Before the test, project scientists worried that a failed detonation would waste precious fissionable plutonium. The solution: fit the bomb inside a 25-foot-long, 10-foot-wide steel cylinder from which material could be recovered for a second test bomb. Jumbo was, as test director Kenneth Bainbridge later called it, “the physical manifestation of the lowest point in the Laboratory’s hopes.” By the time Jumbo was ready, the Manhattan Project plutonium reactors were in full swing and confidence in the weapon’s design had grown. Jumbo instead would experience Trinity 800 yards from ground zero.

The steel container survived the blast unscathed, but not the postwar years. In 1946, the army stuffed it with eight bombs that blew out both ends. It was buried until the early 1970s, when the army unearthed it; Jumbo has been at its current post since 1979.

I have to work my way through the crowd to get a moment face to face with Jumbo, which echoes with children running around its innards. It feels right to acknowledge Jumbo this way, since it resembles playground equipment and has a playful name—and given that Trinity’s success rendered it obsolete in an instant.

The procession down the dusty quarter-mile path to ground zero is subdued. Paces slow, voices hush. The final steps into the 240-foot-diameter chainlink ring feel weighted.

Here humanity unleashed the atom with a five-foot-wide spherical bomb known as the Gadget. And here the New Mexico desert proved the greater force, almost immediately swallowing the evidence. The blast made a four-foot depression in the ground, melting the sandy surface into a crust of green glass dubbed Trinitite. The tower holding the Gadget was reduced to an anonymous outcropping with a bristle of rebar. Today the crater is indistinguishable from the surrounding desert, save for the fence protecting the crater’s remaining foot of slope. Radiation levels at the site are low; an hour there delivers about one-twelfth the radiation of a chest x-ray.

The Trinity Site opened for visitors in 1953; in 1965, the army marked the center of ground zero with an obelisk of local volcanic rock. That monument has become a staple of visitor photos, though the more apt symbol is the model of Fat Man—a plutonium bomb, like the Gadget, used at Nagasaki three days after another A-bomb destroyed Hiroshima —sitting nearby on a tractor-trailer bed.

After a lap around the fence, I return to the parking lot and board the bus that runs to and from the site where workers assembled the Gadget’s plutonium core. The 1913 McDonald ranch house, 3,400 yards southeast of ground zero, is a haunting little homestead, with tumbledown fieldstone outbuildings and derelict spans of barbed wire. One of two remaining wartime structures, it feels more like a ghost town than a part of world history. The base camp, where personnel lived and worked before the test, was disassembled shortly after. Concrete shelters where scientists and others sat front row for the detonation 10,000 yards away were also demolished.

The other surviving building is an instrument bunker 800 yards west of ground zero, on the site’s access road. With one last look at Jumbo and the obelisk beyond, I drive to the bunker, clamber its sandy bank, and try to imagine its larger siblings, stuffed with physicists. North Oscura Peak looks on in the distance. I still cannot fathom light brilliant enough to illuminate its night-shrouded shoulders brighter than day.

Already this far south and with nowhere else to be, I did what a handful of Trinity scientists did post-test and head another hour south to relax and recharge at Elephant Butte Lake State Park, a 24,500-acre man-made oasis that is hopping even so early in the season. I hand over the $8 overnight fee and drive a mile or so down the dune-swept shore to a secluded inlet. There, I pitch my tent and surrender to the diluted beats of country music drifting from the campsites across the water and the occasional splash of a trout jumping at late-afternoon gnats.

Originally published in the September/October 2015 issue of World War II magazine. Subscribe here .

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Time Travel: The Original Ground Zero

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• atomic bomb ,
• Ground Zero ,

There are many different time periods in the history of mankind. Some have been explored extensively, while others remain a mystery. What makes one time period more intriguing than another?

It’s early Saturday morning, April 4, and I’m driving down I-25 through mountains, farms, railway lines, and the Rio Grande’s leisurely flow. I’m driving to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to see a wind-worn crater.

On the morning of July 16, 1945, a fraction of a second before 5:30 a.m., an explosion equivalent to 19 kilotons of TNT lit up the countryside with the brightness of 20 suns before its blast column rose thousands of feet aloft, sending winds that warmed distant spectators like a campfire.

This was the Trinity test, and with it, the atomic bomb was transformed from a scientific hypothesis to a world-changing reality.

I use the compass on my phone to try to find the test location as I travel. It’s another 90 miles distant, but considering the magnitude of the explosion, that’s nothing. When Santa Fe train engineer Ed Lane witnessed the explosion, he was only down the lines in Belen.

In Ferenc Morton Szasz’s The Day the Sun Rose Twice, Lane described how “all of a sudden it looked as though the sun had suddenly risen in the sky out of darkness.” “All of a sudden, there was a huge white flash.

This was followed by a bright red glare and three massive smoke rings high in the sky. The tallest was hundreds of feet tall. They twisted and swirled as though stirred by a powerful force.

The brightness lasted approximately three minutes until the darkness returned, with dawn rising in the east.” I attempt to project this image onto the vast blue expanse in front of me, but the desert defies any sense of size.

The last stretch of road leading to White Sands’ Stallion Gate demonstrates why the desert, appropriately called Jornada del Muerto—Journey of the Dead—was an obvious choice for a nuclear test.

The San Andres and San Mateo Mountains, to the east and west, respectively, comprise a 27-plus-mile flat area of rock, sand, and scrub broken only by the odd yucca. In 1945, the population of Socorro County was 11,422, which is just approximately 6,000 people less than it is now.

The Jornada has you covered if you want to release an unfathomable payload without damaging anything valuable, while concealing the event from the outside world while being able to watch the explosion from every angle—all while being within easy commuting distance of Los Alamos.

Of all, the weather, the most irascible element in battle, was still a factor in the Trinity Test. Planners had little historical meteorological data, and the Jornada, like many of New Mexico’s high deserts, has its own weather patterns.

Jack M. Hubbard, Trinity’s new chief meteorologist, had to find a window for testing in March 1945 that was clear and dry, with quiet winds and steady air temperatures.

He suggested July 18 to 21 to avoid a tropical system; a higher-up selected July 16 as the date. “What son-of-a-bitch could have done this right in the midst of a thunderstorm,” Hubbard wrote in his journal.

President Harry S. Truman, it turned out, was expecting for a major revelation at Potsdam. Rain and winds abated, allowing Truman’s 4 a.m. start to be delayed just 90 minutes.

The Jornada is in a haze this April morning, like it was before the test. As I creep through the hour-long entrance queue, I’m thankful for the softerened glare. The site is only accessible in the spring and autumn, rather than around the July anniversary, when temperatures in the 90s are common.

After a brief warning not to take photographs anyplace except the Trinity Site, I’m flying by anonymous equipment bunkers and silos labeled “Permanent High Explosives Test Site.”

A queue of vehicles is pulling out of the parking area next to ground zero as I approach. It’s 9:30 a.m., an hour and a half after the gate opened, and hundreds of pilgrims have already arrived.

I follow the stream of tourists to Trinity’s ill-used sentinel: a rust-colored, open-ended, bus-size cylinder known as Jumbo. Army ROTC students direct me to a parking spot. Project scientists were concerned that a botched explosion would squander valuable fissionable plutonium before to the test.

The answer was to enclose the bomb in a 25-foot-long, 10-foot-wide steel cylinder, from which material could be retrieved for a second test explosion. As test director Kenneth Bainbridge subsequently put it, Jumbo was “the tangible embodiment of the Laboratory’s lowest point in hopes.”

The Manhattan Project plutonium reactors were in full operation by the time Jumbo was complete, and confidence in the weapon’s design had increased. Instead, Jumbo would be 800 yards from ground zero when he encounters Trinity.

The steel container was unharmed by the explosion, but not by the postwar years. The army filled it with eight explosives in 1946, which blew out both ends. It was buried until the army discovered it in the early 1970s; Jumbo has remained at its present location since 1979.

To get a good look at Jumbo, I had to push my way past the throng, which resonates with youngsters racing about its insides.

It seems appropriate to honor Jumbo in this manner, considering that it resembles playground equipment and has a fun name—as well as the fact that Trinity’s success made it obsolete in a flash.

The procession is quiet as it makes its way down the dusty quarter-mile route to ground zero. The pace is sluggish, and the conversations are quiet. The last steps inside the 240-foot-diameter chainlink ring have a satisfying weight to them.

The Gadget, a five-foot-wide spherical bomb, was used to release the atom here. The New Mexico desert, on the other hand, proved to be the stronger force, devouring the evidence almost quickly.

The explosion created a four-foot hole in the earth, melting the sand into a green glass crust known as Trinitite. The Gadget’s tower was reduced to an inconspicuous protrusion with a rebar bristle.

Except for the fence preserving the crater’s last foot of slope, the crater is now indistinguishable from the surrounding desert. The site’s radiation levels are modest; an hour there provides approximately a tenth of the radiation delivered by a chest x-ray.

The Trinity Site opened to the public in 1953, and in 1965, the army placed an obelisk made of local volcanic rock in the middle of ground zero.

The replica of Fat Man—a plutonium bomb, similar to the Gadget, dropped on Nagasaki three days after another A-bomb devastated Hiroshima—sitting nearby on a tractor-trailer bed has become a mainstay of tourist photographs.

After a loop around the fence, I return to the parking lot and catch the bus that transports employees to and from the Gadget’s plutonium core assembly site.

The 1913 McDonald ranch house is a spooky small farmhouse with tumbledown fieldstone structures and derelict spans of barbed wire, located 3,400 yards southeast of ground zero.

It seems more like a ghost town than a piece of global history, since it is one of just two surviving wartime buildings.

Shortly after the test, the base camp, where people lived and worked before to the test, was dismantled. Concrete shelters were also destroyed, where scientists and others sat front row for the explosion 10,000 yards distant.

The other surviving structure is an instrument bunker on the site’s access road, 800 yards west of ground zero. I drive to the bunker, climb up its sandy slope, and attempt to picture its bigger brethren, packed with scientists, with one final glimpse at Jumbo and the obelisk beyond.

In the distance, North Oscura Peak may be seen. I’m still baffled as to what kind of light might be dazzling enough to shine brighter than day on its night-shrouded shoulders.

With nowhere else to go after the test, I followed the lead of a few Trinity scientists and drove another hour south to rest and recharge at Elephant Butte Lake State Park, a 24,500-acre man-made paradise that is already bustling this early in the season.

I pay the $8 nightly charge and drive about a mile down the dune-swept coast to a quiet cove. I pitch my tent there and succumb to the diluted rhythms of country music floating over the lake, as well as the odd splash of a trout diving for late-afternoon gnats.

Originally published in World War II magazine’s September/October 2015 edition. Here’s where you may sign up.

Ground zero meaning military is the location at which an explosive device detonates. It was the original point of impact for the first atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan.

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The Disappearance and Return of the Original Ground Zero Flag

It showed up on the other side of the country, and Thursday it goes on view at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

After the twin towers fell, three firefighters hoisted a 3-foot-by-5-foot flag up a lanyard above ground zero and a photographer captured the moment. The Associated Press picked up the photo, as did Newsweek, and countless other media outlets. It became a stamp and a symbol.

Twelve days later, Rudy Giuliani, at the time the New York City mayor, signed the flag at Yankee Stadium. It was also signed by his successor, Michael Bloomberg, and by New York Governor George E. Pataki. It would travel to naval ships in the Middle East, and in 2002 it returned to City Hall. Except the flag that had been signed and did all the traveling was not the flag pictured in the photo, the one raised in the hours after the September 11 attacks. For starters, this flag was 5 feet by 8 feet. So what happened to the original flag?

That remains, in part, a mystery. But on Thursday, the original flag, verified by forensic scientists, goes on permanent display at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York.

How the flag became lost and how it reappeared is a somewhat unsatisfying story, because there are so many unanswered questions. What’s known is it showed up at a fire station in Everett, Washington, in 2014, four days after the History Channel featured an episode on its disappearance.

The flag had originally belonged to a New York couple who’d hung it from the back of their yacht. One of the firefighters in the photo had taken it from the vessel and hoisted the flag above the rubble of the towers. In 2014 the History Channel’s Brad Meltzer asked for help solving the mystery in an article he wrote for The Huffington Post . In it, he said, they’d found a clue, which led to another dead end. Meltzer wrote:

On the night of 9/11, a New York police officer was shooting surveillance footage at Ground Zero. In this footage, at 10:30 p.m., the famous flagpole from the photo is bare. The flag is already gone, meaning that it had already been taken down within five hours of the iconic photo. To this day, New York City has no leads, nor does the FDNY. Some experts suggest the real flag was misplaced at Ground Zero in the days after 9/11. Others suggest it was stolen. Others guess it may have been used to cover the body of a slain first responder and therefore could be stored in a morgue.

A week later, Meltzer’s episode on the mysterious disappearance of the ground zero flag ran on the History Channel’s spinoff, H2. Apparently, someone in Everett, Washington, was watching, because four days later a flag was dropped off at a fire station by a man named Brian.

“At least that’s what the firefighters recall him using,” Mark St. Clair, the deputy chief of operations, told The New York Times . The man said he was a former Marine, the Times reported, and that he’d been given the flag by someone at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who had been given the flag by a widow of a September 11 victim. That story has been called questionable.

Regardless of how the man came to own the flag, firefighters told the local police, and investigators looked into the claim that this flag, which was 3 feet by 5 feet, was the original featured in the iconic photograph.

The flag was turned over to a Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory forensic materials scientist who, as the Times reported, analyzed dust samples on the flag and compared them with those taken after the towers fell. They matched.

There still remain questions, like who took it from the pole in the five hours after the September 11 attacks? And  how did it end up on the other side of the country?

But Thursday the flag returns home, and that much is true.

Unearthing Seattle's Fiery Past: The Origins of the Fascinating Underground City

B eneath the bustling streets of Seattle’s Pioneer Square lies a hidden world, a subterranean labyrinth with a fiery genesis. Today, let’s ignite our curiosity and explore the captivating history behind the Seattle Underground and its transformation from a catastrophic conflagration to a celebrated tourist destination.

It was an ordinary June afternoon in 1889 when a simple mistake set the stage for a monumental urban transformation. At approximately 2:20 p.m., a wayward glue pot in a carpentry shop was the unlikely catalyst for what would become the most ruinous inferno in Seattle’s history. The Great Seattle Fire engulfed 66 blocks of the burgeoning city, incinerating the Pioneer Square neighborhood and laying the groundwork for a remarkable resurrection.

The streets were elevated later, forming a labyrinth of unused underground passageways and basements that would influence the city’s future in unforeseen ways. Pioneer Square and its adjacent streets underwent a significant elevation, rising approximately 3.7 meters (in certain locations, even twice that height) to counter the frequent flooding issues plaguing the area. The primary objective at that time was to combat water-related challenges rather than adapting to them.

In essence, the entire ground floor of the still-standing buildings vanished. Street renovations involved the creation of arched structures within the thoroughfares, adorned with vault lighting, accompanied by new lateral walls that frequently concealed substantial portions of the building facades, often housing various businesses. Concurrently, proprietors who had lost their businesses in the fire embarked on the construction of new buildings, this time opting for brick as the primary construction material.

The regrading process was no small feat. It spanned several years—sufficient time for the reconstruction of new buildings to replace those consumed by the flames in the square. Store owners observed the gradual progress of the construction, realizing that the entrances to their shops, now at ground level, would soon find themselves beneath the newly established ground.

When the ‘new ground’ was eventually laid, numerous stores still had entrances on the lower level. Access to the now narrow subterranean streets was facilitated through ladders or staircases within the vicinity’s stores. This marked the inception of the Seattle Underground. However, additional challenges awaited Pioneer Square.

Over a span of more than a decade, Underground Seattle became a sought-after refuge for diverse individuals, especially the homeless, seeking shelter underground during winter to evade the peril of freezing temperatures.

However, the subterranean realm of Seattle also witnessed the rise of illicit enterprises, including fraudulent shelters preying on the homeless, covert bars operating before the era of prohibition to evade taxes and fees, and undisclosed opium smoking dens.

The opium issue reached a critical juncture between 1890 and 1906, coinciding with Roosevelt signing the ‘Pure Food and Drug Act.’ Unfortunately for Seattle and Pioneer Square, these significant dates aligned with the existence of Seattle Underground.

In 1907, due to concerns about the potential spread of the bubonic plague exacerbated by overcrowding among drug addicts and the homeless, the city council found it necessary to seal off all (known) entrances. Their apprehension was fueled by the worry that the Universal Exposition of 1909 might trigger a widespread epidemic. Paradoxically, in 1918, a different kind of pandemic unfolded, resulting in the death of 700 people due to the influenza outbreak.

The genesis of the Seattle Underground can be attributed to inadequate or nonexistent urban planning in historic Seattle, which failed to consider the possibility of flooding or deliberately overlooked such a threat. Pioneer Square, situated along the Puget Sound and Elliott Bay, faced repercussions whenever the Salish Sea experienced a rise in water levels, resulting in flooded basements, devastated shops, and decaying wood.

This oversight is a common pitfall for cities, whether dealing with rising waters or sinking landscapes—a phenomenon witnessed for centuries in Venice and for decades in Jakarta. Over time, the natural progression can lead to the gradual elevation of different surface levels, each layer building upon the previous one. Eventually, centuries later, the new level may be meters or even dozens of meters above the original ground.

Now, more than a century since its unintended creation, the Seattle Underground fascinates with tales of resilience and reinvention. It has become a treasure trove of history, a silent witness to Seattle’s growth from the ashes of disaster to the vibrant metropolis it is today. As we surface from the depths of the Underground, we carry with us a newfound appreciation for the layers of history that lie just beneath our feet, and the indomitable spirit of a city that literally raised itself from its own ruins.

Relevant articles:

– TIL a glue fire in 1889 destroyed 31 blocks of Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood. The streets were later elevated, leaving a network of unused underground passageways and basements.

– Seattle Underground

– The underground city of Seattle, the city that rebuilt on top of itself

Original Ground Zero Walking Tour in New York

• Passionnate Tour Guide
• 1-hour Walking Tour on the 9/11 Ground Zero
• Hotel pickup and drop-off
• Food and drinks
• 209 Broadway, New York, NY 10007, USA 209 Broadway, New York, NY 10007, USA Meet your Tour Guide in front of the St Paul's Chapel, he will have a badge and a flag with the name of the local agency
• Not wheelchair accessible
• Near public transportation
• Confirmation will be received at time of booking
• Not recommended for travelers with back problems
• Not recommended for pregnant travelers
• No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
• Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
• This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
• This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund
• This tour/activity will have a maximum of 80 travelers
• For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
• St. Paul's Chapel
• Brookfield Place
• Ground Zero Museum Workshop

Similar experiences

• You'll start at 209 Broadway 209 Broadway, New York, NY 10007, USA 209 Broadway, New York, NY 10007, USA Meet your Tour Guide in front of the St Paul's Chapel, he will have a badge and a flag with the name of the local agency See address & details
• 1 Ground Zero Museum Workshop Stop: 40 minutes See details
• 2 Brookfield Place Stop: 10 minutes See details
• 3 The Oculus Stop: 10 minutes See details
• 4 St. Paul's Chapel Stop: 20 minutes See details
• You'll return to the starting point

• nelsonaB3856PN 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Adam the Great - NYC 911 and Wall Street Tour. 🧱 The tour was awesome, Adam our tour guide was very informative and helpful. 911 was an awful event in our nation's history but one that should always be remembered and honored . The tour continued down the streets of wall street where Adam had all kinds of information to share!! Highly recommended 👌 👍 👏 💯 🙌. Read more Written January 29, 2024
• mkfrancisco 0 contributions 1.0 of 5 bubbles Save your money The tickets for the museum are $23 dollars for adults $13 for children (free or a simple donation if you're an NYC resident) you will spend over $500 for a 2 hour tour that may not actually take place. (Laura) the tour guide assigned to us refused to do the tour stating my family and i were making her feel intimidated. We were a group consisting of 2 women 4 kids(all girls) and my husband. It was my daughters 10th birthday and it was completely ruined. We were confused about what was happening. Maybe the tour guide was having a bad day but we didnt deserve to be treated the way she treated us. Do yourself a favor get tour tickets through the museum directly and take your time enjoying the museum on your own. Read more Written June 22, 2022
• danielgR3681WG 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Great walking tour Nathan was very knowledgeable and was able to adapt the tour to fit our schedule. Strongly recommend Read more Written August 17, 2021

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Contractor killed by aircraft propeller lost "situational awareness" when she was fatally struck, Air Force says

By Stephen Smith

April 8, 2024 / 7:29 AM EDT / CBS News

A civilian contract employee who was killed when she walked into the moving propeller of an unmanned aircraft at a Southern California airfield in September lost "situational awareness" before the fatal incident, Air Force officials said Friday. A detailed investigation report revealed the frantic moments just before and after 32-year-old Stephanie Cosme was fatally struck as she carried out testing at Gray Butte Airfield.

Cosme, of Palmdale, California, was working as a test engineer on the evening of Sept. 7, 2023, when she accidentally walked into the rotating propeller of a parked MQ-9A Reaper drone while performing a ground test on the aircraft, according to a final accident investigation report. The 40-page report concluded there were two underlying reasons for the accident — first, that Cosme was incorrectly trained on how to take telemetry readings when approaching the aircraft and, second, "she lost situational awareness while walking around" the drone as she took readings with a hand-held device.

Brig. Gen. Lance R. French said two other factors also "substantially contributed to the mishap," including a lack of communication between the contractor test team and ground support workers and, because of previous delays, "the tests conducted on Sept. 7 were rushed."

Cosme, who was employed by Sumaria Systems, LLC, was providing test support services when she was fatally struck.

According to the report, after taking measurements with a power meter, Cosme walked down the right side of the fuselage toward the rear of the aircraft, "looking down at the testing device the whole time, and appeared to be pressing buttons, possibly to keep the backlight on." As she came closer to the propeller, colleagues began "shouting and waving" in an attempt to get her attention, the report said.

"Without looking up to determine her position relative to the aircraft, (Cosme) proceeded to walk directly into the propeller of the (aircraft) sustaining fatal injuries," the report said.

Just before 7:58 p.m., the engine RPM dropped from 100% to 99% and engine torque jumped from 16% to 31% — apparently the moment of impact. Seconds later, the report says, the crew chief yelled over the radio to the aircrew, "Kill, kill, kill, kill!" Moments later, a crew member can be seen on the aircraft's front camera running from right to left, presumably running to the drone's kill switch.

Cosme, who was struck in the head and the left arm, was unresponsive when team members arrived. Resuscitative efforts were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at 9:06p.m.

In its report, the Air Force said officials later attempted to replicate the fatal sequence of events in the same spot with the drone's engine running at the same power setting with similar twilight conditions and airfield lighting that were present on the night Cosme was killed. In that simulation, the propeller was not visible when looking to the rear of the aircraft, from where Cosme approached.

An obituary posted on Legacy.com noted that Cosme was "known for her passion for crafting, baking, aviation, and all things strange and unusual." She was survived by her parents, two siblings, fiance and stepdaugher.

"Though her time on this Earth was far too brief, Stephanie left a lasting legacy of love and kindness that will continue to shine brightly," the obituary reads.

The MQ-9A Reaper is a U.S. Marine Corps drone that performs intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions over land or sea, according to the Air Force. The $56.5 million aircraft is 36 feet long and has a 66-foot wingspan. A Reaper drone can reach an altitude of up to 50,000 feet and carry up to eight laser-guided Hellfire missiles, according to the Air Force.

Reaper drones have been used to carry out U.S. military attacks, including the 2020 strike that killed top  Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani  in Iraq, and in 2021 against the Taliban as the militants were regaining control of Afghanistan amid the pullout of U.S. forces.

Alex Sundby contributed to this report.

• U.S. Air Force

Stephen Smith is a senior editor for CBSNews.com.

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Nine Places Where You Can Still See Wheel Tracks from the Oregon Trail

The legendary trail has carved itself into American history—and, in some places, into the earth itself

Jennifer Billock

Travel Correspondent

Any child of the 1980s is familiar with the basic skeleton of the Oregon Trail, from the celebrations warranted by a sight of Chimney Rock to the dangers of running a team of oxen at a grueling pace with meager rations. But even devoted players of the classic computer game , which turned 45 this year, may not know that relics of the trail itself are still carved into the landscapes of the United States. 

The trail itself—all 2,170 miles of it—was braved by more than 400,000 people between 1840 and 1880. Weighed down with wagons and their pesonal possessions, the pioneers that dared travel the Oregon Trail slowly helped build the United States' western half. The trail began in Independence, Missouri, and continued to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, where pioneers could decide to either stay put or continue north or south and settle.

As the Oregon Trail evolved, thousands of wagons wore ruts into the ground that acted as an ad-hoc road for the settlers who followed. But they didn’t follow a single solid path. Rather, wagon wheels left ruts across the country as pioneers found various shortcuts and easier routes along the way. Many of those ruts still exist today, though some of them are in danger of destruction as municipalities push to stretch bigger and better power supplies across the region.

So caulk those wagons and get ready to ford the river. Follow this modern-day journey, stopping to see trail relics along the way—with no need to worry about typhoid fever or dysentery.

Red Bridge Crossing ( Kansas City, Missouri)

These ruts are not so obvious to the untrained eye—the site is a swale , or a sunken trail eroded into the hillside, caused by wet wagon wheels coming out of the Big Blue River. This was the first river crossing pioneers hit on the trail; they often had to camp here and wait for the river to reach the right height to cross.

Alcove Spring ( Blue Rapids, Kansas)

This spot’s unique rock formations, waterfall, and natural spring were a favorite stopping point for pioneers after crossing the Big Blue River. Many wanted to leave their mark and carved their names into the rocks around the spring— including Edwin Bryant , a member of the famously doomed Donner-Reed Party. According to Bryant , his group actually named the area “Alcove Springs” and carved the name into the rocks and surrounding tree trunks.

California Hill ( Brule, Nebraska)

Pioneers faced a hefty climb up California Hill after crossing the South Platte River. Right after reaching the other side of the water, wagons had to drive up 240 feet in a little more than a mile and a half, leaving deep ruts up the hill that are still visible today. Almost everyone on the Oregon Trail had to take this route, and California Hill was the first major climb they encountered on the trail.

Rock Creek Station ( Fairbury, Nebraska)

Pristine trail ruts stretch 1,600 feet through the countryside here at Rock Creek Station . The spot was originally established as a supply stop and eventually became a Pony Express station. A toll bridge built specifically for the pioneers crossed a creek here—before the bridge, travelers had to lower their wagons into the creek and hoist them out. The bridge solved the problem, allowing settlers to skip the heavy lifting while paying 10 to 50 cents to cross at road level; the toll was based on load size and ability to pay.

Guernsey Ruts ( Guernsey, Wyoming)

The tracks at Guernsey are among the most impressive remnants of Oregon Trail history. Almost every pioneer had to pass through the same spot here, going over soft sandstone. Over time, each wagon wore down the rock a bit more...and more...and more. The ruts eventually became five feet deep, and visitors can walk through them for a real pioneer experience. South of Guernsey is Register Cliff , where many pioneers carved their names into the rock to document their passage.

Independence Rock ( Casper, Wyoming)

Many pioneers passing by Independence Rock stopped here to carve their names into the granite, earning it a title of one of the “registers of the desert," given by Father Peter J. DeSmet in 1840. The landmark was christened Independence Rock in 1830 when William Sublette passed through with his wagon train, noting he’d made it there by July 4—if wagon trains didn’t make it by then, they weren’t likely to reach their final destination by winter.

Big Hill ( Montpelier, Idaho)

Until 1852, when the McAuley Road cutoff was blazed, pioneers had to face the challenge of Big Hill. The longest, steepest climb on the Oregon Trail, the hill had an even more dangerous descent. Tracks are still visible going up the hill, and are also visible on the way back down, into Bear River Valley. They’re best viewed a bit farther away from the highway—up close you don’t see the magnitude of what the pioneers endured on this part of the trail.

Virtue Flat ( Baker City, Oregon)

Just below the modern-day National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center on Flagstaff Hill—where pioneers got their first glimpse of the Baker Valley—seven miles of wagon ruts are visible across the ground. This site has what might be the first passing lanes in the west; some of the ruts run parallel to one another , implying that some wagons passed others going slower in order to get to Powder River first.

Columbia River Gorge ( Biggs Junction, Oregon)

Along the freeway here, an Oregon Trail historic sign sits on a cliff face next to one of the final sets of wagon ruts along the route to Columbia. These stretch up a hill on the side of the road and go along the cliff for about a mile, leading to an impressive view of the Columbia River.

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Jennifer Billock | | READ MORE

Jennifer Billock is an award-winning writer, bestselling author, and editor. She is currently dreaming of an around-the-world trip with her Boston terrier. Check out her website at jenniferbillock.com .

ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

The underground railroad.

During the era of slavery, the Underground Railroad was a network of routes, places, and people that helped enslaved people in the American South escape to the North.

Social Studies, U.S. History

Home of Levi Coffin

Historic image of the home of American Quaker and abolitionist Levi Coffin located in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a group of African Americans out front.

Photography by Cincinnati Museum Center

During the era of slavery , the Underground Railroad was a network of routes, places, and people that helped enslaved people in the American South escape to the North. The name “ Underground Railroad ” was used metaphorically, not literally. It was not an actual railroad, but it served the same purpose—it transported people long distances. It also did not run underground, but through homes, barns, churches, and businesses. The people who worked for the Underground Railroad had a passion for justice and drive to end the practice of slavery —a drive so strong that they risked their lives and jeopardized their own freedom to help enslaved people escape from bondage and keep them safe along the route.

According to some estimates, between 1810 and 1850, the Underground Railroad helped to guide one hundred thousand enslaved people to freedom. As the network grew, the railroad metaphor stuck. “Conductors” guided runaway enslaved people from place to place along the routes. The places that sheltered the runaways were referred to as “stations,” and the people who hid the enslaved people were called “station masters.” The fugitives traveling along the routes were called “passengers,” and those who had arrived at the safe houses were called “cargo.”

Contemporary scholarship has shown that most of those who participated in the Underground Railroad largely worked alone, rather than as part of an organized group. There were people from many occupations and income levels, including former enslaved persons . According to historical accounts of the Railroad, conductors often posed as enslaved people and snuck the runaways out of plantations. Due to the danger associated with capture, they conducted much of their activity at night. The conductors and passengers traveled from safe-house to safe-house, often with 16-19 kilometers (10–20 miles) between each stop. Lanterns in the windows welcomed them and promised safety. Patrols seeking to catch enslaved people were frequently hot on their heels.

These images of the Underground Railroad stuck in the minds of the nation, and they captured the hearts of writers, who told suspenseful stories of dark, dangerous passages and dramatic enslaved person   escapes . However, historians who study the Railroad struggle to separate truth from myth . A number of prominent historians who have devoted their life’s work to uncover the truths of the Underground Railroad claim that much of the activity was not in fact hidden, but rather, conducted openly and in broad daylight. Eric Foner is one of these historians. He dug deep into the history of the Railroad and found that though a large network did exist that kept its activities secret, the network became so powerful that it extended the limits of its myth . Even so, the Underground Railroad was at the heart of the abolitionist movement. The Railroad heightened divisions between the North and South, which set the stage for the Civil War .

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Middle East Crisis Israel Reduces Ground Troops in Southern Gaza At the War’s Six-Month Mark

• Share full article
• Some Palestinians return to Khan Younis after Israel said it had pulled a division of soldiers out of the city. Associated Press
• A rally in Jerusalem on Sunday marking six months since the start of the Israel-Hamas war and calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza. Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times
• A hospital building in Khan Yunis on Sunday, after Israel withdrew a division of troops from the southern Gaza Strip. Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• Mourning a victim of the Oct. 7 attack at the site of the Tribe of Nova music festival in Re'im, Israel. Amir Levy/Getty Images
• Men traveling by mule-drawn cart past destroyed buildings in Khan Younis. -/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• Ammunition casings left behind from the fighting in Khan Younis. -/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• An Israeli soldier on a tank near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel. Abir Sultan/EPA, via Shutterstock
• Distributing aid in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza. Ramadan Abed/Reuters
• Israelis protested against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government on Saturday in Tel Aviv. Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times
• Family and supporters of hostages held in Gaza formed an hourglass shape and called for their release in Tel Aviv. Ariel Schalit/Associated Press
• A memorial in southern Israel on Sunday for victims of the Oct. 7 attack on a music festival. Abir Sultan/EPA, via Shutterstock
• A Palestinian man selling vegetables in Rafah, southern Gaza. Mohammed Abed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• Soldiers visiting a bomb shelter on Sunday in Re'im, Israel, where attendees of a music festival were killed during the Oct. 7 attack. Amir Levy/Getty Images
• Displaced Palestinians gathered to break their fast in Rafah, Gaza. Shadi Tabatibi/Reuters
• Protesters calling for fresh elections and an immediate hostage deal in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times

Israel’s military, an official said, was preparing for ‘follow-up missions’ that included Rafah.

The Israeli military said it withdrew a division of ground troops from southern Gaza on Sunday, raising questions about its plans as the war reached the six-month mark.

Israel has significantly reduced the number of troops it has on the ground in Gaza over the past several months. Only a fraction of the soldiers that it had deployed in the territory earlier in the war remain.

The army said that the 98th Division had left Khan Younis in southern Gaza in order “to recuperate and prepare for future operations.” Israeli news media reported that the withdrawal of the 98th meant there were no Israeli troops actively maneuvering in southern Gaza.

It was unclear what the latest drawdown of forces meant for the timing of an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, where more than a million people have sought refuge.

Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said the military was preparing for “follow-up missions” that included Rafah. “We will reach a point when Hamas no longer controls the Gaza Strip and does not function as a military framework that poses a threat to the citizens of the state of Israel,” he said.

The Biden administration has warned that a ground invasion of Rafah would be catastrophic and has pressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pursue alternatives. But Mr. Netanyahu insisted on Sunday that Israel was determined to “complete the elimination of Hamas in all of the Gaza Strip, including Rafah.”

Osama Asfour, 41, a resident of Khan Younis who is sheltering in a tent in Rafah, said the army’s announcement did not make him want to return to his city — and his destroyed home — anytime soon.

“The military might say it left today, but they can come back tomorrow,” Mr. Asfour, who had worked at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, said in an interview. “I’m not going to go on an adventure with my life and my family’s lives.”

Even so, Ahmed al-Soufi, a local official in Rafah, said he had noticed some displaced people in the city were returning to Khan Younis on Sunday.

A senior White House official said he was uncertain what the withdrawal of the 98th Division meant for the future of the war.

“It’s hard to know exactly what that tells us right now,” John Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, said on ABC’s “This Week.” “As we understand it, and through their public announcements, it is really just about rest and refit for these troops that have been on the ground for four months, and not necessarily, that we can tell, indicative of some coming new operation for these troops.”

The departure of the 98th came about four months after Israeli forces invaded southern Gaza. Since the start of the war, the army has returned to areas of Gaza that its forces had previously left, especially in the north. Military officials have said that Hamas has tried to re-establish itself in parts of the north in the wake of Israel’s withdrawals.

Last week, the military pulled back from Al-Shifa Hospital in the north after a two-week-long operation. It had first raided the hospital in November. This time the troops left behind what appeared to be a wasteland following extended gun battles with Palestinian militants in and around the complex.

Mohammed Radi, 36, a displaced restaurateur from Gaza City who has been sheltering in Rafah with his family, said he was tired of the news about Palestinians in the enclave being killed and, more than anything, wanted the war to end.

“I feel frustrated and mentally crushed,” he said in an interview. “We are exhausted after six months in tents.”

Iyad Abuheweila and Erica L. Green contributed reporting.

— Adam Rasgon reporting from Jerusalem

The war is now the longest involving Israel since the 1980s.

Six months since it began, Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza appears to have reached an impasse that analysts and diplomats say has no resolution in sight, even as experts warn of famine, Gaza’s health system collapses and the death toll continues to climb.

Mediators have found it difficult to advance negotiations for a truce in Gaza, with Israel reluctant to agree to a cease-fire that allows Hamas to regroup in parts of Gaza, and Hamas wary of proposals that do not ensure its long-term survival.

Though Israel has routed Hamas in much of Gaza, and fighting seems to have slowed , the conflict is being drawn out by Israel’s reluctance to either hold ground it has captured or transfer its control to an alternative Palestinian leadership, creating a power vacuum .

In some places, that vacuum has allowed remnants of Hamas to regroup, prompting Israeli troops to raid parts of northern Gaza that they had already conquered and vacated, like Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City . Elsewhere, the vacuum has led to a breakdown in civil order, making it harder to safely distribute badly needed aid. Scores of Palestinians have been killed around aid convoys, amid chaos and Israeli fire.

The stasis has been prolonged by Hamas’s determination to hold onto Rafah, the city in southern Gaza that has become its last major stronghold, and by Israel’s decision to hold off on a ground invasion that U.S. officials have warned would create a humanitarian disaster.

By dragging on for so long, the war has become the longest involving Israel since the 1980s. And the ramifications extend far beyond the Gazan border — including increasing domestic pressure on President Biden, who has continued to supply arms to Israel even as he expresses greater alarm over its actions, and the threat of the violence spilling over into a regional conflict between Israel and allies of Hamas , like Iran.

The war has also derailed U.S.-led efforts for Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize diplomatic relations and prompted protests in Arab states allied with the United States.

At the start of the year, some mediators thought it might be possible to secure a grand deal to end the war; transfer power in Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, the organization that runs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank; seal Saudi-Israeli diplomatic ties; and create a pathway toward a sovereign Palestinian state.

But the longer the war has continued, the more quixotic that vision has seemed. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, does not want to cede control of Gaza to the authority, and Saudi Arabia says it will not normalize relations before a Palestinian state is created.

“The war is not over and one cannot see a path forward to end it in a way that would bring about stability and humanitarian relief on the scale that is needed in any foreseeable future,” said Shibley Telhami, an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the University of Maryland.

Analysts say that the longer the deadlock continues, the higher the chances of serious mistakes, like the Israeli strike that killed seven aid workers on Monday in what Israel called a case of misidentification .

“The longer the fighting continues without a viable plan to stabilize Gaza and provide basic services, the greater the chances of more mishaps that kill aid workers operating in what is effectively an anarchic environment,” said Michael Koplow, an analyst at Israel Policy Forum, a research group based in New York.

Adam Rasgon contributed reporting.

— Patrick Kingsley Reporting from Jerusalem

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At a rally for hostages, some boo when a congressman calls for aid for Gaza.

Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York was booed on Sunday at a demonstration in Manhattan calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas after he encouraged attendees to also push for humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.

“As we remember the heinous crimes committed by Hamas, we must continue to press for lifesaving humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people, too,” Mr. Nadler, a Democrat and the longest-serving Jewish member of the House of Representatives, said during a speech at the event at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, near the United Nations headquarters.

While some people in the crowd applauded, others began to boo as he went on: “We must do more, because we are better than Hamas. We must do more to bring food and assistance to those who are suffering.” The heckling grew louder and continued until the end of the congressman’s remarks as more attendees joined in, some chanting “bring them home” or “shame.”

A crowd that appeared to number in the thousands had gathered for the demonstration, whose date was chosen to mark six months since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel. As police officers looked on, participants arrived holding Israeli flags and signs that said “Bring them home now.” The event was coordinated by over 150 organizations, including synagogues, pro-Israel groups and the New York chapter of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum , which was founded in the wake of the attacks. About 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza, according to the Israeli authorities.

Mr. Nadler, introduced as a “leader who is a strong supporter of Israel and a fighter of antisemitism,” was among a list of speakers that included family members of hostages and Naftali Bennett, a former Israeli prime minister.

The response to Mr. Nadler reflected a divide among Jewish New Yorkers over the way Israel is conducting its war against Hamas. Some reject any criticism of Israel, while others, including activist groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, have rallied for a cease-fire, denouncing the Israeli and U.S. governments over the mounting death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“The minority who interfered with Nadler’s speech does not represent the Hostages Families Forum, nor the families themselves,” Shany Granot-Lubaton, an organizer with Hostages and Missing Families Forum New York, said after the event. She said the rally showed “how our people can be united even though we can have so many different opinions on so many different things” and that freeing the hostages was “the number one priority of all of us — right to left, secular and Orthodox.”

“We respect and thank Congress member Nadler for coming today and for being a part of our fight to bring every one of our hostages back home,” she added. “We know that he’s been working tirelessly for this cause.”

Robert Gottheim, Mr. Nadler’s chief of staff, said the congressman wasn’t saying anything extraordinary. “We have to have humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people; that goes without saying,” Mr. Gottheim said.

Mr. Nadler paused amid the booing and heckling before continuing and wrapping up his speech with a reference to the story of Passover, Mr. Gottheim said. “The thrust of his statement was what everyone was there for: Bring the hostages back.”

The event also included an installation meant to convey the suffering of those still in captivity. Seven people, wrapped in chains, sat inside dog cages on the ground as three others stood nearby with their hands chained together. All were dressed in white clothes with red paint smeared across their bodies.

Joseph Goldstein contributed reporting.

— Liset Cruz

World Central Kitchen’s founder says Israel seems to be waging a war on ‘humanity itself.’

The deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers at the hands of Israeli troops was “unforgivable,” the organization’s founder, José Andrés, said on Sunday, assailing Israel for waging what now seems to be “a war against humanity itself.”

In an emotional interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Andrés reiterated his calls for an independent investigation into the April 1 airstrikes on his organization’s aid convoy in the Gaza Strip. The deaths drew global condemnation and prompted President Biden to suggest for the first time that he could change policy toward Israel if it does not alter course in its war against Hamas, which Gazan health officials say has killed more than 32,000 people and brought the besieged enclave to the brink of famine.

“This doesn’t seem a war against terror,” Mr. Andrés said. “This doesn’t seem, anymore, a war about defending Israel. This really, at this point, seems it’s a war against humanity itself.”

Mr. Andrés said he believed that Mr. Biden could support Israel’s right to defend itself while also defending the rights of Palestinians “not to die just trying to be getting a piece of bread.”

“I think both truths can live in the same place,” Mr. Andrés said. “You can be a friend of Israel, and at the same time you can be telling your partner in the Middle East, you cannot be conducting war in such a way.”

Mr. Andrés said that when he spoke with Mr. Biden after the deadly strikes, he spoke on behalf of the thousands of civilians who have been affected by the war, not just the World Central Kitchen workers killed last week.

“This is happening for way too long,” he said. “It’s been six months of targeting anything that moves.”

Israel said the deaths of the aid workers — one a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, and others from Australia, Britain, Gaza and Poland — were a “grave mistake” that resulted in the dismissal and reprimand of military personnel after a preliminary investigation found a number of failures and broken protocols.

But Mr. Andrés said that the investigation should be “much more deeper,” and that “the perpetrator cannot be investigating himself.” He reiterated his stance that the workers, whose vehicles were clearly marked and whose movements had been coordinated with Israeli forces, became targets.

“Obviously this was targeted,” said Mr. Andrés, who became visibly emotional as he talked about workers he knew personally. “We could argue that the first one, let’s say, was a mistake. The second? The third?”

John F. Kirby, the White House national security spokesman, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the United States was still going through Israel’s investigation, and would “reserve judgment” until it was completed.

He added that while recent announcements from Israel, such as opening new aid crossings and accountability measures in response to the World Central Kitchen strikes, were “welcome and important, can’t be the end of it.”

“We’ve got to see sustained changes in the way they’re operating on the ground and the way they are allowing humanitarian assistance to get in, unmolested,” he said. (COGAT, the Israeli agency that oversees aid deliveries into Gaza, said later on social media that 322 humanitarian aid trucks were inspected and transferred to Gaza on Sunday, which it said was the most in a single day since the start of the war.)

Mr. Kirby acknowledged that the people of Israel face continued threats, including from Hamas and Iran, and “still have a need to defend themselves.” But, he added, “How they do that matters,” and he reiterated that the United States could change its policy toward Israel if its tactics do not change.

But Mr. Andrés suggested on Sunday that the United States has been moving too slowly, and should have already taken action over Israel’s conduct of the war. “I think ‘there will be consequences’ is part of the problem,” he said, adding that there “should be already consequences.”

Israeli forces need a “real reckoning on how they conduct war,” Mr. Andrés said.

“Who are the enemy?” he added. “Who really are they fighting?”

— Erica L. Green reporting from Washington

Hamas reiterates its call for Israel to withdraw from Gaza during talks in Cairo.

Negotiations aimed at brokering a temporary cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages there resumed in Cairo on Sunday, six months after the Oct. 7 attacks led by Hamas that started the fighting.

In a statement late Sunday, Hamas said its delegation had met with Gen. Abbas Kamel, the head of Egypt’s intelligence service, and reiterated a set of demands that included a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Officials from the United States and Qatar, which has played a key role in the negotiations, along with Egypt, were also expected to take part in the latest round of talks, along with a delegation from Israel. The delegation was to fly to Cairo on Sunday, according to an Israeli official and a person familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to communicate with the media.

The talks, which have been stalled for months, come as tensions in the region are mounting amid concerns that Iran will retaliate for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed senior commanders of Iran’s elite Quds Force.

President Biden is pressing participants to make a deal, but it is not clear whether new proposals will be on the table.

Mr. Biden spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel by phone on Thursday, repeating his call for a negotiated deal that would result in an “immediate cease-fire” and the release of hostages. The following day Mr. Biden sent messages to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, urging them to increase pressure on Hamas to make a deal, a senior administration official said.

Mr. Netanyahu reiterated on Sunday that there would be no cease-fire without the return of Israel’s hostages. “It simply will not happen,” he said in remarks shared by his office from the start of a cabinet meeting.

The outlines of a possible agreement have been clear for months, but the details have proven divisive. The terms would include a temporary cease-fire, the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas during the Oct. 7 assault on Israel and the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

The head of the American delegation in Cairo is William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, and David Barnea, the chief of Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, has frequently led the Israeli delegation. The Egyptians and Qataris have served as intermediaries between Hamas and Israel, whose representatives do not speak directly.

Hamas had said on Saturday that it was sticking to a proposal that it submitted in mid-March, including total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, which Israeli officials have vehemently rejected.

The talks come amid mounting anger in Israel toward the government on the six-month anniversary of the war. Protesters have rallied in cities across the country, demanding that Mr. Netanyahu do more to bring the hostages home. At a vigil in Tel Aviv for a hostage whose body was retrieved by the Israeli military, relatives of hostages still held in Gaza called on Saturday night for immediate government action.

— Ephrat Livni and Adam Rasgon

Amid fears of an Iranian strike, Israel says it’s prepared for ‘any scenario.’

The Israeli government stressed on Sunday that it was ready to respond if and when Iran retaliates for a strike in Syria on Monday that killed several senior Iranian commanders.

After the attack, Iran’s leaders pledged to avenge the killings, and U.S. officials in Washington said they were bracing for a possible Iranian response. (Israel has not publicly taken responsibility for the strike, but several Israeli officials have confirmed its involvement to The New York Times.)

On Sunday, the Israeli government said that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had held an “operational situation assessment” with the military.

“Upon completing the assessment, Minister Gallant emphasized that the defense establishment has completed preparations for responses in the event of any scenario that may develop vis-à-vis Iran,” the government said in a statement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that groups backed by Iran had been behind “many attacks” on Israel over the past six months, saying on Sunday that they had been “intensifying their threats.”

“Israel is prepared — defensively and offensively — for any attempt to attack us, from anywhere,” he said ahead of a government meeting, according to remarks released by his office.

Israel placed its military on high alert and mobilized additional air defense units in response to the threats from Iran, which continued on Saturday during funerals for the commanders killed in the Israeli attack in Damascus, Syria.

Iran’s army chief said during one of the funeral ceremonies on Saturday that Iran would respond to Israel, and that it would “determine the time, place and method of the operation.” He added that the retaliation would be intended to inflict “maximum damage on the enemy.”

Israeli combat soldiers expecting to go on leave over the weekend were ordered to remain at their stations, the Israeli military has said, and additional reserve units have been called up to reinforce Israel’s air defense system.

The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said in a briefing Sunday night that his forces “are prepared.”

“We have good defensive systems, and we know how to act forcefully against Iran in both near and distant places,” he said.

Analysts have cautioned that while both sides probably want to avoid full-blown war involving Iran, any miscalculation could spill over and lead to a broader escalation. Israel has been trading fire with Iran-backed militant groups for months, particularly the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah across its northern border, since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 ignited the war in Gaza.

Israel’s military said on Sunday morning that its fighter jets had struck Hezbollah targets overnight deep inside Lebanon, in the Bekaa Valley. Hours later, rocket warning sirens sounded in northern Israel.

— Cassandra Vinograd and Aaron Boxerman reporting from Jerusalem

A Camper’s Guide to The First Coast-to-Coast Interstate

The Old Lincoln Highway stretches from coast to coast. We’ve mapped out what to see and do and where to camp along the way. This article is brought to you by INNO, the makers of cargo boxes that will hold everything you need for an epic road trip.

It began as a paved road which literally went where no paved thoroughfare had gone before—a byway that preceded gas stations, motels, and fast food joints at every highway exit. The Lincoln Highway even beat the iconic Route 66 to the punch by more than a decade and almost a thousand miles.

This cross-country route connected some of the most prominent cities in the country, from the Big Apple to the Second City to frontier up-and-comers like Omaha and Cheyenne.

The History of the Old Lincoln Highway

It was railroads that initially opened up the country’s newly-minted National Parks to the public, but just a few decades later, it was the automobile that kept Americans flocking to destinations like Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. There was just one serious problem— though railroads had won the West, cars struggled to reach the far edge of the country where roads were often little more than ruts left behind by wagon trains on their way to Oregon, California, and the southwest. And so in the early 20th century, a group of pro-auto industrialists decided they would build the first-ever coast-to-coast highway.

In the spirit of post-Reconstruction unity, Packard Motor Car Co. president Henry B. Joy suggested naming the new highway after President Abraham Lincoln. The ambitious project began in 1913, propelled by private funds and corporate donations. This was forty years before President Dwight D. Eisenhower would put $100 billion behind the federal Interstate Highway System. By 1935, the Lincoln Highway stretched from New York to San Francisco.

Twenty years after completion, the westward route taken by Jack Kerouac’s characters in On the Road—one of the quintessential American road trips in pop culture—closely mirrors the Lincoln Highway’s path through what would become the Rust Belt and the upper heartland before sliding down across the Continental Divide, Wasatch Mountains, and Sierra Nevada to the Pacific.

Though it’s now over a hundred years old and numerous other state and federal highways have replaced what was once “America’s Main Street,” the spirit, and several key sections of the Lincoln Highway remain.

What to See and Where to Camp Along the Old Lincoln Highway

From the beginning, the Lincoln Highway was the province of “tin can tourists” ushering in a bold new era in RV history . Today, you can still drive parts of the original Lincoln Highway or its same general route along I-80, and camp along the way.

We rounded up a few of the best places to see iconic sites and take in the best scenery on your way across America. Roadtrip planning can be hectic, we would recommend using a trip planning tool to explore the Lincoln Highway.

New York State on the Old Lincoln Highway

The Lincoln Highway starts in Time Square, amidst the glitz and hubbub that F. Scott Fitzgerald described as the “soft rush of taxis…and laughter…hoarse as a crow’s, incessant and loud, with the rumble of the subways underneath and overall, the revolutions of light.”

It’s hard to believe, standing here at the 42nd Street and Broadway marker commemorating the Old Lincoln Highway’s eastern terminus that you’ll soon be passing through waving fields of corn tassels and grain, and eventually the vast and rocky plains of the upper midwest.

In a few days of driving, you’ll be climbing over the Sierra Nevada that stand, at their highest point, 12,729 feet higher than the tip-top of One World Trade Center. But today you are simply pulling out of the city through the Lincoln Tunnel, cargo box packed for the adventure ahead. From here you thread down through Trenton, New Jersey and into the Philadelphia metro area. You’re on your way!

Pennsylvania on the Old Lincoln Highway

To follow the original Lincoln Highway route more closely, skip the New Jersey Turnpike for Highway 1 near Woodbridge, New Jersey and continue as you approach Philadelphia. Once you hit the Pennsylvania border, you’ll be driving on the original Lincoln Highway, which was co-designated Pennsylvania Route 1 in 1924. Past Philadelphia, you’ll want to transfer to Route 30 to stay close to the Old Lincoln Highway route as it moves west.

Just northwest of Philadelphia and its own wealth of colonial and early American history is Valley Forge. This is the historic site where George Washington’s cold, tired army spent the winter of 1777, an incident which could have ended in tragedy and British victory, but instead cemented the loyalty and determination of the Continental Army. While you can’t camp at Valley Forge National Historic Park as Washington’s soldiers did, you can pay a visit and hop back on Route 30 to continue on to another important site in U.S. military history— Gettysburg.

Gettysburg Campground

While there are a lot of incredible Pennsylvania campgrounds open year-round , Gettysburg Campground is ideal for road trippers thanks to accommodations for any size camping setup from tents and cars to the biggest of rigs. It’s also the only RV park in the area with an on-site repair facility, in case the first leg of your journey raises some maintenance concerns. Additionally, there are cabins and cottages available if you want to take advantage of the indoors before moving west.

You’ll have a chance to visit the place where President Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address.

“Tent sites are spacious and fits 2 cars, sites fit 2-3 tents. The campground is pretty close to downtown Gettysburg if you’re looking for restaurants/shops. It’s in the heart of the battlefield access points and trails. The campground usually puts on various activities, parties, etc, mainly kid-oriented. This is a nice site/area for base camping in the fall.” — The Dyrt camper Dave G.

Keystone State Park

Keystone State Park is convenient to Idlewild Park , the oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania and the third oldest in the country after Lake Compounce and Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. You’re also on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, where you can stay for a day or longer depending on your road trip itinerary. Keystone State Park has plenty to entertain, too, with tent sites, RV sites, cottages and cabins, as well as yurts.

“I loved camping here. The camping was great and the amenities were better than any other state park that I have been to. There was a lot of stuff to do swimming, kayaking, hiking and biking. I only wish that we would have taken our bikes. That’s the only thing that would have made the weekend better.” —The Dyrt camper Mike B.

Ohio on the Old Lincoln Highway

Columbus, Ohio city skyline

The drive across Ohio isn’t terribly long— just four hours all told. While that means you won’t need to make many camping stops, there are still interesting things to see along the way. And there are few better places to combine beer and camping than Columbus, Ohio , where restaurants and road trip detour activities abound.

At the intersection of Robertsville Avenue and Baywood Street in Paris Township, Ohio, near GPS coordinates 40.758747, -81.186069 you can still see the original bricks used to pave many sections of the old Lincoln Highway. Get a feel for how winding and verdant the country’s first coast to coast thoroughfare was, and picture tackling it in an old Model T!

As you leave Pennsylvania behind and pass into Ohio, stop for a bite and a beverage at the historic Spread Eagle Tavern in Hanoverton. The tavern was built in 1837 when Hanoverton already had a reputation for being an important stop on the Underground Railroad. Here in Hanoverton’s pretty historic district, it’s easy to see what the Old Lincoln Highway would have looked like a century ago, and what the town was like even before the age of the automobile.

Pride Valley Campgrounds

Camp nearby at Pride Valley Campgrounds. This family-run space has been female-owned and operated since it was founded in 1958 by Evelyn Foltz, whose daughter and granddaughter have kept her dream alive and shared this beautiful piece of property with generations of travelers— more than a few traveling on the old Lincoln Highway. You’ll find tent sites and RV sites with 30 and 50 amps and full hookups, showers, and even a spot to go fishing.

“Nice small campground.. relaxing, great wooded views .. lake for swimming. Has full hook ups (W/E/S). Sights are pretty level, are newer so gravel still settling. We would come back here!”— The Dyrt camper Jacci W.

Indiana on the Old Lincoln Highway

As Highway 30 crosses the border into Indiana, you’re entering the home state of one of the old Lincoln Highway’s founders and father of the Indianapolis Speedway, Carl Fisher. He also had a hand in the construction of the old Lincoln Highway’s little sister—the Dixie Highway—which ran from Chicago to Miami. Unsurprisingly, this is a state that takes the old Lincoln highway very seriously— just ask Keith Elchert and Laura Weston-Elchert, who wrote a whole book just on the roadside eats that can be found along the Lincoln Highway, and their historical significance.

A gentleman named Daryl Beghtel started the Lincoln Highway Power Trail in LaPorte County to get new generations interested in the history of this stretch of road by making a destination for geocaching . If you’re a fan of scavenger hunts and outdoor navigation, plan ahead to take part in the fun as you leave Fort Wayne behind and approach Chicago.

Speaking of Fort Wayne, Indiana, there’s a lot to do in the country’s 75th largest city. There’s the Studebaker Museum , for one, as well as the John D. Haynes house, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the AAAHSM African American History Museum .

For RV enthusiasts, it will be well worth an hour and a half detour northwest to Elkhart, where you can visit the RV/MH Hall of Fame . Their collections and exhibits include some of the earliest motorhomes, the same that earned drivers the moniker “tin can tourists” as they cruised the Lincoln Highway when it was brand new. If you’ve ever been curious about the history of RVs, this is definitely a destination to visit— they even have brought out some of the vintage rigs to cruise the Lincoln Highway again on the centennial of this famous thoroughfare.

Johnny Appleseed Park

During your stay in Fort Wayne, Indiana you can also see the grave of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, the wandering do-gooder who spread orchards throughout the eastern United States in the late 1700s and early 1800s. It’s tucked away behind Fort Wayne’s Coliseum on a hill overlooking the St. Joseph River. You can follow a driveway/path up from Parnell Avenue, starting directly across from where the Spy Run Avenue extension dead ends into Parnell.

Outdoor enthusiasts will find plenty of interest, too— especially paddlers attracted by the triple threat intersection of the Saint Joseph River, Saint Mary’s River, and Maumee River here. Rent a kayak or canoe at Fort Wayne Outfitters and Bike Depot and put in at Johnny Appleseed Park. This is also a great place to pause your road trip to camp overnight, even if it isn’t the most bucolic. The Park is just on the other side of the hill from Johnny Appleseed’s memorial, It’s open from April 15-October 31, except the week of September 15-September 25, when the Johnny Appleseed Festival takes place.

“This is a great little campground if you are wanting to explore Fort Wayne or are local and want to campout. Easy access to downtown, the Coliseum, IPFW, and shopping. The River Greenway path cuts right through the park, and there is also a boat launch for the river.” — The Dyrt camper Tara W.

Indiana Dunes National Park

On your way out of the Hoosier State, make a detour to see Indiana Dunes National Park before continuing back down to the old Lincoln Highway and on to Joliet. It was only recently upgraded to National Park status, making it the country’s 61st such protected space.

Indiana Dunes is an excellent destination for midwesterners hoping to hike, bird watch, play on Lake Michigan. There are opportunities to camp, too, at Dunewood Campground, which has 66 campsites, including 54 drive-in sites, 12 tent sites and 4 sites that are accessible for campers with disabilities . There’s all the programming you’d expect at a National Park, too, including geocaching, horseback riding, ranger-lead tours, and even cross-country skiing in the winter.

“The campground is always clean and there is fantastic access to the dunes as they are literally on the backside of the campground. The campground is definitely set up to favor RVs as all of the sites are pads (with grass surrounding) with power however we found that there is still space to set up a tent when needed.” — The Dyrt camper Josh M.

Illinois on the Old Lincoln Highway

At last, the old Lincoln Highway crosses into The Land of Lincoln, as what is now Route 30 cuts west just twenty minutes and fifteen miles short of Lake Michigan. Along this stretch, which has been designated a National Scenic Byway, you’ll have a chance to admire 35 interpretive murals from Lynwood on the Indiana state line to Fulton, where the Mississippi River divides Illinois from Iowa.

The murals depict the history of the old Lincoln Highway. One showcases a highlight of women’s history, when Adeline and Augusta Van Buren became the first women to ride across America by motorcycle using the old Lincoln Highway. In another, learn about how the construction of the Lincoln Highway inspired the need for gas stations, gas pumps, and mechanics in small towns across the country.

You can choose to spend time in Chicago for the museums and good eats before continuing your Lincoln Highway road trip, or simply forge ahead. After Plainfield, you’ll have a chance to cross America’s other famous coast-to-coast highway— the iconic Route 66.

Once you reach Aurora, you can see one of the original shelters for “motor hobos,” as road-trippers used to be called. The Aurora Automobile Club built this highway shelter close to Lincoln Highway near Phillips Park, on the edge of town, in 1923. It was saved from demolition in the 1990s and restored as a historic landmark. It’s fun to see how the KOAs and other classic roadside campgrounds, along with motor lodges and motels, evolved out of these early municipal rest stops. Aurora also near where you’ll say goodbye to Route 30 and start to follow IL 38 to stay on the original route of old Lincoln Highway.

Blackwell Forest Preserve

Make like the old tin can tourists of yesteryear by camping near Aurora at Blackwell Forest Preserve. There’s a free self-guided compass course on nearby Mount Hoy where you can practice navigation skills. The slopes of Mt. Hoy also ideal for tubing and snowshoeing in the winter. Fans of camping near fossils will appreciate the local discovery of a wooly mammoth, found in one of the marshes in Blackwell Forest Preserve in 1977. At the end of the day, whatever activities you get into, 60 wooded sites for tents and RVs are waiting, too.

“Just outside of Chicago, we have been staying here for quick weekend trips and absolutely love the proximity to home. They have discounted rates for Dupage county residents and have electric at all sites and great prices for firewood. Sites are level and clean and they have modern bathrooms. We take our kayaks to the lake during the summer.” — The Dyrt camper Marc W.

Morrison Rockwood State Park

Your last stop in Illinois before crossing the Lyons-Fulton Bridge into Iowa, savor the Illinois landscape at Morrison Rockwood State Park . It’s close to Clinton, Illinois, which was once hailed as “the lumber capital of America,” and was even briefly called “the Chicago of the Mississippi” thanks to the business boom brought by the triple threat of the Mississippi River, a major railroad terminus, and, of course, the Lincoln Highway.

At the heart of Morrison Rockwood State Park is Lake Carleton, which is a nice spot for anglers with a variety of fish, including largemouth bass, black crappie, rock bass, channel catfish, muskie, and walleye. Ice fishing is just as popular in the winter months, too. There are hiking and equestrian trails around the lake, which is enjoyed by paddlers and motor boaters alike. As for the camping, there are 92 tent and RV sites with electricity, grills, and fire rings, as well as a sewage dump on-site and flush toilets and showers in the bathhouse.

“We just got home from our first visit at Morrison Rockwood Park and it was fun. We had site 57 which is in a loop which goes around a playground. It was great for the kids who could go play and the sites in this loop provide plenty of space and privacy.” — The Dyrt camper Ben W.

Iowa on the Old Lincoln Highway

The Lyons-Fulton Bridge, originally built for wagon and pedestrian traffic, was a key part of how the old Lincoln Highway commission chose to run their new route through Clinton. After all, private investors were having to build “seed miles” throughout the 3,000-mile span to help generate further interest and investment, and demonstrate the kind of engineering techniques communities would need to invest in. A pre-existing bridge across the mighty Mississippi was a very attractive feature for the bootstrapped highway.

Legend has it that the bridge, and therefore also the Lincoln Highway, was used by bootleggers for rum-running between Illinois and Indiana during prohibition. Despite that illustrious history, the Lyons-Fulton Bridge has since been replaced, and U.S. 30 now goes across what is called the Gateway Bridge, which was built in the 1950s.

Not too far past Cedar Rapids, is a little retro roadside stop called King Tower Café in Tama, Iowa. One of the first truck stops in Iowa, it offered a place to fill up your gas tank and get a bite to eat. The iconic signage gives modern drivers a glimpse of how the old Lincoln Highway would have looked in 1937, when King Tower first opened. You can still get a classic diner meal “from breakfast to bedtime.”

Walking Stick Adventures Farm

After getting a taste of the old Lincoln Highway, turn off route and drive south to Walking Stick Adventures Farm , which has its own share of retro kitsch for the Instagram generation. They offer tipi camping, outdoor showers, and canoe and kayak rentals to explore the pond on site. There’s even a nearby winery, and because Walking Stick Adventure Farm is private property, you’re free to bring a bottle back with you to enjoy by the fire.

“This place has a lot to offer. It’s great for solo and couples looking for some relaxation, and families looking for a fun excursion. The area of land you have with this booking is so impressive and very private.” — The Dyrt camper Daniel B.

Ledges State Park

Ledges State Park is full of interesting topography made up of dramatic canyons and bluffs and ancient Indian mounds left by the Sauk, Fox/Mesquakie and Sioux tribes.

The campground at Ledges State Park is recently renovated, with tent sites, RV sites, and a cabin all with access to modern restrooms, showers, a dump station, and a playground for little ones. Two of the sites are ADA accessible, one with hookups and one without. Four miles of nearby hiking trails lead to several overlooks that let you see first hand the sandstone ledges, carved by glaciers and periodic flooding of Pea’s Creek, that give this park its name.

“The views around the park are some of the very best in Iowa. Hiking trails often found you coming face to face with deer who look at you inquisitively. Fun for family as the waters over the roadways are a splash for adults and children alike. It’s a hidden gem, just outside Boone Iowa.” — The Dyrt camper Mike C.

Wilson Island State Recreational Area

You began your journey through Iowa by crossing the Mississippi River, and you’ll be leaving Iowa by going over the Missouri River to Nebraska. Savor the last leg of your time in Iowa by staying at Wilson Island State Recreational Area, which is near the border-spanning DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge. The latter is a bird sanctuary in the wetland and floodplain habitat that is home to migratory species including shorebirds and the endangered pallid sturgeon, piping plover, and least tern. In addition to bird watching, visitors to DeSoto also enjoy mushroom foraging, fishing, kayaking, and canoeing.

Camping at Wilson Island is a treat, too, with five miles of hiking trails, and plenty of shoreline for boating and fishing. There are 119 sites here, including 77 with electric, 1 with full hookups, and 37 tent sites or non-electric RV sites. Unfortunately, the climate-change-induced Midwestern flooding in 2019 has temporarily damaged and closed Wilson Island’s campground, so call in advance for an updated status.

“It is right next to the Missouri River, and although the park and campground are in Iowa, the DeSoto National Wildlife Preserve is in both Iowa and Nebraska. You have to pay separate fees to enter the Wildlife Preserve but it is worth it. The entire area is beautiful and has great views of the Missouri River. There is a visitor center and a few other attractions but the trails and the Missouri River are the best feature.” — The Dyrt camper Matt S.

Nebraska on the Old Lincoln Highway

If you keep following U.S. 30 into Blair, Nebraska, you’ll be taking an alternate route established in 1923 to shave 30 miles off the Lincoln Highway’s original route. If you take the Old Lincoln Highway (still bearing its original name on street signs) to Council Bluffs, you’ll have a chance to see a city that was significant in the history of westward expansion. Council Bluffs played a role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Indian Wars, the gold rush, and the era of the great railroads.

The other advantage in taking the original route is that you can see the longest stretch of the original Lincoln Highway paving in the country. After crossing over from Iowa, continue west on Dodge Street till you hit 174th, which will take you back up to the Old Lincoln Highway, which once crossed the Missouri at a now-demolished bridge. Around North 183rd Street to North 192nd Street outside of Elkhorn, you can see the original brick pavers used on so many sections of the old Lincoln Highway.

After the route was moved to pass through Blair, it meant less traffic crossed the Omaha section of the old Lincoln Highway, helping those bricks last over a century. Today vehicles over 6 tons aren’t allowed to drive on the sections preserved as entrees on the National Register of Historic Places.

Another stretch of original highway brick lies near Boys Town, Nebraska. Boys Town is best known for the organization that gave the city its name, founded in 1917 around the time Carl Fisher was envisioning the old Lincoln Highway. Many of the town’s museums and monuments are dedicated to the long history of Boys Town helping at-risk youth, but that’s not the only game in town. You can see a unique roadside oddity here in the form of the world’s largest ball of stamps . You can also stretch your legs on the fifty-mile West Papio biking and hiking trail.

Fremont Lakes State Recreation Area

Camp past Boys Town and Elkhorn at Fremont Lakes State Recreation Area . The titular lakes were formed in an unusual way— by filling in about twenty pits dredged for gravel and sand manufacturing. Only three of the lakes are open to motorboats. The rest are for swimming, paddling, and fishing. You’ll find over 400 campsites here, 202 for RVs and the rest for primitive tent camping. Shade trees, dump stations, and nice bathrooms are all part of the amenities, too.

“Great car camping experience here! We camped right along the water. We had sites 210 and 211 right on Victory Lake. The fishing was great and we had a lot of kayaking to do. There are a ton of available sites here right on the water. There is access to bathrooms and water nearby, and showers a little further up. We mostly cooked over campfire but there is a restaurant and we did head there while kayaking for a burger break.” — The Dyrt camper James D.

About 250 miles from Fremont, Nebraska, you’ll reach the official halfway point of the old Lincoln Highway. On the centennial of the Lincoln Highway, touring parties departed from New York and San Francisco to meet in the middle at Kearney, where residents and visitors alike celebrated the wild legacy that introduced America to the quintessential road trip.

Despite it’s uncertain beginnings, it’s hard to emphasize just how much the old Lincoln Highway wove itself into American pop culture and everyday life. Indeed, it even had a role to play in women’s history as female travelers set out to prove a road trip wasn’t too much for their constitutions. Even future etiquette expert Emily Post did a stint of travel writing as she and a female cousin set out to demonstrate that even middle-aged, well-to-do women could travel alone and in style across America using the Lincoln Highway.

“If between Omaha and Cheyenne there were three or four attractive clean little places to stop, or if the Nebraska speed laws were abolished or disregarded and it didn’t rain, you could motor to the heart of the Rocky Mountains with the utmost ease and comfort,” wrote Emily Post in “By Motor to the Golden Gate” in 1916.

Lincoln Highway RV Park

Camp near the midpoint at the aptly named Lincoln Highway RV Park. They have creature comforts Post would have approved of, including pull-through sites, laundry facilities, a propane fill-up station, WiFi and cable, a package store, and soon to be an on-site eatery and bar. There are primitive tent sites, too, and easy access to the North Platte River.

Wyoming on the Old Lincoln Highway

Image taken near Firewall Canyon in Wyoming, by The Dyrt camper Annie C.

After leaving Nebraska on the old Lincoln Highway, you’ll follow Route 30 to a brand new state. Route 30 is somewhat inconsistent in Wyoming; the original Lincoln Highway route meandered between it and other county roads, so you may find it easiest to junction onto I-80 at Pine Bluffs, which follows almost the same route without the potential for getting turned around.

As you cross the broad, rocky plains of Wyoming, you might understand why this route has been prized for a hundred and fifty years. Though the old Lincoln Highway wasn’t conceived until nearly fifty years after Abraham Lincoln’s death, the 16th president of the United States did have the chance to approve Omaha, Nebraska as the site for a Transfer Depot where eastern railroads could connect to Union Pacific’s western route across the continent. That paved the way, literally and metaphorically, for the Transcontinental Railroad to cross into Wyoming territory from Nebraska and on to San Francisco— a path that would later be closely mimicked, and even directly converted for use, by the Lincoln Highway.

Tie City Campground

Camp near the monument, trail, and old Lincoln Highway at Tie City Campground , a small 17-site loop campground favored by mountain bikers. It got its start as a camp for railroad workers building the Transcontinental Railroad, which made Summit, Wyoming famous long before the Lincoln Highway passed through. Today, there are primitive sites for tent campers and RVs that can make it up the tough, narrow road to the campground. There are vault toilets, but no potable water, so be sure you stock up in Cheyenne.

“Campsites are very spacious and clean. Each site has a fire pit and picnic table. By complete accident, we were up there for the perseid meteor shower! Great open view of the sky! Thoroughly enjoyed our little escape!” -The Dyrt camper Theresa M.

Firehole Canyon Campground

Moving past the Medicine Bow National Forest back into the vast flats of Wyoming, Firehole Canyon is a bright oasis. At the far north end of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir, which is the product of damming the Green River in the 1950s and 60s and extends to just north of Vernal, Utah. Popular with anglers and a site for year-round recreation, Flaming Gorge is the put-in and takeout for raft sections that extend down the Green River into Colorado at Gates of Lodore. It’s also in the vicinity of some spectacular chances to camp near dinosaur fossils, if you don’t mind veering off the old Lincoln Highway for a side trip while you’re in the area.

However long you choose to stay or what you get into, Firehole Canyon campground is a great introduction to the Flaming Gorge region of Wyoming. It’s an hour off course from I-80, but well worth the detour. Each campsite has a cabana, picnic table and campfire ring. Flush toilets are available, as are showers, firewood, trash collection, and an off-site dump station for RVers. Though campsites are arranged on a loop, they have plenty of privacy thanks to sage bushes and and Russian olive trees, and there is a boat launch and fish cleaning station should you take advantage of the lake.

“A great campground set down along the Green River. Some campsites have better views of the River (which kinda looks like a lake), but those sites seemed to be a bit more windy. I stayed here two nights since I liked the privacy and quiet at night while I checked out the gorge and looked for wild horses in the day.” — The Dyrt camper Arnie C.

Utah on the Old Lincoln Highway

There are two paths you can take from Wyoming to Utah on the old Lincoln Highway. The first is the most direct, by driving back up to I-80 from Firehole Canyon straight to the Utah border. The second path involves branching off I-80 at exit 66 to return to Route 30 before taking UT-16 south at Sage Creek Junction to reconnect to with I-80 near Bear River State Park. Whichever you choose, you’ll follow I-80 past Evanston, Wyoming across the border towards Wahsatch, Utah.

Those weren’t the only Lincoln Highway routes through Utah, either. Despite the popularity of the Victory Highway, a later cousin of the old Lincoln Highway started in 1921, in Utah, the Lincoln Highway tried three different paths through Utah as planners struggled to find a route that didn’t run into undue conflict from mountains or mud. Goodyear Tire even built its own “cut off” route in an attempt to finesse a way across the desert, and promote their products. That section is now taken up by Dugway Proving Ground, a mysterious military test site roughly 40 minutes south of Timpie Springs Waterfowl Management Area.

Today, much of the old Lincoln Highway simply follows I-80, while the Victory Highway was replaced by I-40. In Salt Lake City proper, the original Lincoln Highway is partially routed along State Route 201 and Parley’s Way before reconnecting west of the city with the interstate highway, which runs almost perfectly straight to Nevada across the famous Bonneville Salt Flats between more government test sites and past intriguing ghost towns.

Rockport State Park

Welcome to Utah! Just south of Wanship, Utah is your first stop in the Beehive State. Rockport State Park, like many of the campgrounds ideal for stopovers on the old Lincoln Highway, is on a three mile long reservoir favored by boaters, anglers, and anyone hoping to beat the Utah heat.

There are 116 campsites including 7 group use sites, 3 boat-in sites with mooring, 79 primitive sites, 23 sites with standard hookups for RVs, and 4 tent only sites. There are plenty of amenities at Rockport State Park, including drinking water, a dump station, partial hookups, hot showers, and flush toilets. Pets are allowed, too, in case Fido is joining you on your old Lincoln Highway road trip.

In addition to the Rockport campground, there is also the Marina at Rockport, which features a fully stocked camp store and pro shop for all your outdoor and fishing needs, as well as cabins and yurts to rent in case you need a break from car camping or your RV. During the summer months they offer live music and family-friendly activities. Don’t sweat it if you don’t have room in your road trip rig for extra gear like watercraft and bigger toys. The Marina rents pontoon boats, new wave runners, kayaks, paddle boards, and fishing boats.

“Once we found this gem, we have started going here every other week. Absolutely our family’s very favorite campsite! We’ve only stayed at the lower campsite called Old Church then drive to the water during the day. The camp host and his family are super awesome (and are usually selling firewood); there are plenty of restrooms; even at full capacity, it doesn’t feel (or sound) full and it stays the perfect temperature. Seriously a little bit of heaven on earth.” — The Dyrt camper Emelia S.

Knolls Recreation Area

On the other side of the Great Salt Lake and the capital that shares its name, you can catch a break from the desert at Knolls Recreation Area. Here I-80 crosses the iconic Bonneville Salt Flats, so if you’re planning on camping at Knolls Recreation Area, you’ll want plenty of water to balance out the harsh conditions, and a familiarity with desert camping safety tips. Dispersed tent and RV camping is permitted but no facilities provided aside from pit toilets. Most of the other campers are OHV enthusiasts and overlanders with rigs that can handle the dust and salt.

“This was a great stop for us on our way across I-80. Pulled over right at sunset and had the place to ourselves in the middle of July. Pit toilets only and no water. Not much shade but didn’t matter to us since we got there at sunset and left early to continue our trip. Tent on the sand!” — The Dyrt camper Janessa L.

Nevada on the Old Lincoln Highway

The old Lincoln Highway crosses out of Utah at Wendover, and splits away from I-80. Instead, you’ll junction onto Alternative Route 93 and head south past the rocky mass of Goshute Peak on the horizon. You’ll come to Ely, Nevada, a town that has been a significant waypoint since the days of the old Pony Express and Central Overland Route, before the railways even laid track in this desert. Here you’ll turn onto Nevada’s famous Route 50, sometimes called “The Loneliest Road in America.

US 50 will carry you west across the Sagebrush State’s Great Basin Desert, across the tips of the finger-shaped Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The later is the largest national forest in the lower 48 states, covering a whopping 6.3 million acres. Also running north and south, like fingers digging grooves in the land are a series of mountain ranges and the valleys between them as US 50 weaves from mountain pass to mountain pass past silver mine ghost towns.

Roadside attractions include one of the largest shoe trees in the world, slowly accumulated by the millions of passersby who have made this relatively undeveloped stretch of desert a little less lonesome. You can also see a worn portion of the old Lincoln Highway’s original route in Hazen, Nevada, just off US 50/Reno Highway. Turn right on Old Lincoln Highway just past Hart Road. It’s a dirt track bisected by California Road.

Cave Lake State Park

Image of Cave Lake by The Dyrt camper Jessica W.

From West Wendover, follow Alternative Route 93 to the town of Ely. Ely is a stunning destination for outdoor enthusiasts close to some of the best scenery and desert playgrounds in the Sagebrush State. From Ely you can make an hour detour to Great Basin National Park , a truly stunning place with something for everyone, from camping near caves to dark sky park views of the Milky Way to a spectacular if unexpected glacier— one of the southernmost in the United States.

Even closer to Ely is Cave Lake State Park, another oasis in the desert beloved by anglers and campers. Well-suited for all but the largest rigs, the graded campsites are suitable for tent campers, travel trailers, and small to medium RVs. Showers and a sewage dump is included in your camping fee, as are fire pits, a playground, flush toilets, picnic tables, and fire rings. They’re a camp store where you can stock up on any supplies you didn’t get in Ely, too.

“The campsites are very nice and offer views of the lake, be aware of mice …don’t leave any food out! Star gazing here is incredible as there is no light pollution…sit back and watch the wheel in the sky turn – Milky way baby!” -The Dyrt camper Tom N.

Hickison Petroglyph Campground

From Ely, turn onto Route 50 and continue west until just short of Yankee Blade. At the tip-top of Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest is Hickison Petroglyph. Ancestors of today’s Southern Paiute, Northern Paiute, Western Shoshone, and Washoe peoples dwelled in these pinyon forests, 6,500 feet above the desert floor, atop Hickison Summit in the Toiyabe Range.

Back then, the Great Basin wasn’t nearly so dry or desolate. Instead it was full of lakes that have since evaporated or soaked deep into the earth, leaving behind the salt and alkaline mineral deposits that make this landscape so unique. The ancient people who called this land home left behind their story in the form of images carved into the rocks, which date as far back as 10,000 B.C.

You can take a relatively short, partially ADA-accessible hike to see the petroglyphs. The main trail to the glyphs is only half a mile but can be extended to close to two if you hike the full loop and follow spurs to two scenic viewpoints overlooking the Monitor Valley and the Big Smoky Valley. You can also add an extra bit of driving to your itinerary by cruising the The Monitor Valley Scenic Drive, a 76-mile gravel track that runs between the historic town of Belmont and US Highway 50, ending near the town of Eureka.

The Hickison Petroglyphs is also an ideal place to take a break from driving, with 16 campsites, a day-use area, toilets, grills, picnic tables, and trash cans. Be sure to stock up on water, as there isn’t any available at Hickison— but then again, you should always have at least a gallon per day per person when traveling the desert, especially in remote areas.

“It was dark & desolate but somehow felt perfectly safe & we slept like logs. We woke just in time for the most spectacular sunrise & jack rabbits abound. It was glorious. We’d definitely find ourselves back here again. The peace & sense of adventure was immeasurable. It’s a different kind of camping. Perfect for keeping things interesting!” — The Dyrt camper PJ F.

From the Hickison Petroglyphs, continue down US 50 to Sand Mountain, another of the bizarre and wonderful natural features of Nevada. Made up of the remnants of the ancient Lake Lahontan, which once encompassed a vast area around today’s Pyramid Lake. Lahontan dried up about 9,000 years ago and a full millennium after the petroglyphs were carved on Hickison Summit. In its place, a series of flat playas were left behind, including Black Rock Playa where the Burning Man music festival is held each year.

Sand Mountain Campground

Camp at Sand Mountain, where primitive camping is available at the section of the dune where OHV use is permitted. Dune buggy fans come from all over the country to cruise the desert, so be sure you have your headlamp flashing (especially in the early morning or after sunset) to stay visible when you hike. You might want to brush up on your boondocking skills, not to mention add a pair of earplugs to your primitive camping checklist, along with plenty of water, which isn’t available on-site.

“My favorite part was exploring this 9000-year-old dried up lake bed. Watching the blue butterflies that only live here and nowhere else in the world made me feel as small as the specks of sand in this big place. Also there is the old station for the pony express which I found especially interesting. Rich in history and family fun.” — The Dyrt camper Kaitlyn T.

California on the Old Lincoln Highway

After leaving Sand Mountain, it’s a straight two hour shot to Reno, Nevada on the California border. Here you begin your climb high into the Sierra Nevada as you approach the last leg of your road trip. First, however, stop in Reno for a visit to the National Automobile Museum. Their permanent collection of hundreds of cars will give you a sense of just what a feat it was to cross the old Lincoln Highway when it was first built. The NAM also hosts regular talks on the second Thursday of every month led by local historians on a variety of topics, including the Lincoln Highway.

From here, you have two options. The old Lincoln Highway has had a variety of routes over the years, including an initial two in California. One follows the route taken by pioneer wagon trains, and courses south to Lake Tahoe and on to Sacramento. The other climbs the Sierra Nevada at Truckee and Henness Pass before rejoining to make the final stretch to San Francisco. However, it was the route now parallelled by I-80 that was settled on in the 1920s, and the one we recommend you follow and camp along today.

As you follow this last leg of the old Lincoln Highway, you’ll be following in the footsteps of the Native Americans who lived here long before their land was colonized and these trails were walked by pioneers moving west throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. They were used by gold miners and farmers, merchants and outlaws, and later by the first motorists in the country. Considering the impact the automobile had on modern California, arguably shaped by car culture more than most places in the country, you’re embarking on a wild ride through history, and into our present.

Donner Memorial State Park

There are few places where that history is more palpable than at Donner Memorial State Park . After passing out of Verdi, Nevada into California, you drive south through Tahoe National Forest, a perennial favorite for camping in California. Follow I-80 to Truckee, a city that was once little more than a roadhouse on the Trans-Sierra wagon road, but transformed into an important hub following the discovery of the legendary Comstock Lode in western Nevada during the gold rush years.

From there the old Lincoln Highway climbs twelve hundred feet to Donner Pass, the site where an ill-fated wagon party from Missouri became trapped by unexpectedly early, plentiful snowfall and, over the course of four months resorted to cannibalism to survive. Today, a monument honors the struggle the Donner Party and other pioneers faced in their trans-continental journey at Donner Memorial State Park.

Despite the tragic history of the place, there’s no denying that Donner Pass and its adjoining lake are incredibly scenic. Indeed, campers and outdoor enthusiasts continue to flock here for the splendid views, shady stands of lodgepole and sugar pines, lake access, and proximity to Donner Ski Ranch. History buffs enjoy the Donner Museum, while others see this as a convenient alternative to campgrounds closer to Tahoe, which can fill up quickly, even if you’re braving a winter Tahoe camping trip.

There are 154 campsites that can accommodate RVs up to 28 feet as well as tents and hammocks. Each site has a campfire ring, food locker, and picnic table. There are seasonal restrooms, a beach, and a lakeside interpretive trail along with numerous other hiking opportunities in the area. The nearest dump station is one mile away at a local Chevron Station. You can rent boats from a concessionaire by the water, and there are numerous Ranger-led programs to enjoy, too. Several sites are also ADA-accessible, too.

“Like a Norman Rockwell painting. This is a great spot for families or folks looking for something right on the lake. There is a somewhat wind sheltered creek with picnic spots available that is great for kids or beginner paddleboarders who need to get started out of the wind. Along the lakeshore there are beautiful old wood stoves for cooking.” —The Dyrt camper Kat S.

Beals Point – Folsom Lake State Rec Area

Just northeast of Sacramento and in between the I-80 and US 50 routes you’ve been following state to state is Beals Point at Folsom Lake. The northern route of the old Lincoln Highway you’ve been on, which originally passed down Auburn Boulevard into downtown Sacramento. Dipping down to Beals Point, you’ll have a chance to see part of the southern route of the old Lincoln Highway, which cut straight through downtown Folsom on its way to the California state capital.

Take exit 110 near Loomis off I-80 and onto Laird Road and eventually Auburn Folsom Road. That will carry you to Beals Point, not far from the famous Folsom Prison where Johnny Cash made musical history in 1968 by performing live for the inmates. Beyond of Folsom’s walls, however, there are 69 family campsites at Beals Point, that can accommodate tents, trailers and RVs up to 31 feet long, with handicapped accessible sites, too.

Beals Point also affords lots of opportunities for outside fun. A concessionaire by the water rents kayaks, standup paddleboards, shade canopies, and rafts, too, so you can make the most of Folsom Lake. You can also hop on the American River bicycle trail here. Unlike the country’s many rail-to-trail conversions (like the Shining Sea Bikeway in Cape Cod), the American River trail is a purpose-built. This 32-mile paved trail that runs from Beals point along the shores of the river it was named for to Old Sacramento.

“This is a busy campground in a LARGE state recreation area (SRA). Folsom Lake is a very large lake which touches 3 counties (Sacramento, Placer & El Dorado). Beals Point is right on the border of Folsom & Granite Bay on Folsom-Auburn Rd. Lots of tent and RV sites. Lots of trails and fishing, although wouldn’t fish at Beals Point since it’s more of a beach.” -The Dyrt camper Tony G.

The End of the Old Lincoln Highway

After you depart Folsom Lake, follow the southern route of old Lincoln Highway through downtown Folsom on U.S. 50, which is still labeled Lincoln Highway on some maps. U.S. 50 turns into I-80 around Sacramento’s Midtown district, and you’ll take it all the way through Richmond, across the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, past the new bumper crop of tech companies in the trendy SOMA district, and junction onto another iconic highway — the historic 101, aka the Pacific Coast Highway until you reach Octavia Boulevard and turn left on Fell Street.

That will carry you the length of Panhandle Park, and turns into John F. Kennedy Drive once you hit Golden Gate Park. Turn right onto Eighth before you get to the California Academy of Sciences campus, and a quick left onto Fulton. Partway down Golden Gate Park you can turn onto 34th Street, which dead ends at Lincoln Park.

Continue on to the Legion of Honor Plaza, where a humble concrete post donated by the Boy Scouts of America is tucked behind a bus stop. If you have trouble finding it, the terminus is located at the GPS coordinates 37°47’05.9″N 122°29’57.7″W. It might not seem like much to mark the Western Terminus of the country’s first coast-to-coast highway, but this replica of the original mile markers (also donated by the Boy Scouts) is a fitting tribute in its own way.

Not only does the marker look like the posts countless drivers used to find their way through unfamiliar towns and difficult landscapes, it speaks to the way the Lincoln Highway has gone from blazing a path across America to being an almost imperceptible part of its fabric. As you can tell after driving all the way here from Times Square, the Lincoln Highway has given way to other roads and interstates, often paved right on top of their predecessor. It’s apropos that this marker should be neatly situated so close to a place called Lands End on one of San Francisco’s quieter streets.

This article was brought to you by INNO

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Meghan O'Dea is a writer, world traveler, and life-long learner who grew up in the foothills of Appalachia. College led to summer stints in England and Slovenia, grad school to a sojourn Hong Kong, and curiosity to everywhere in between. She has written for the Washington Post, Fortune Magazine, Yoga Journal, Eater Magazine, and Uproxx amongst others. Meghan hopes to visit all seven continents with pen and paper in tow.

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Why the East Coast Earthquake Covered So Much Ground

Friday morning at around 10:30 local time, a magnitude 4.8 earthquake popped three miles below Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. Though nowhere near the magnitude of the West Coast’s monster quakes, the seismic waves traveled hundreds of miles, jostling not just nearby New York City, but Philadelphia and Boston and Washington, DC. The United States Geological Survey is urging the region to prepare for aftershocks of smaller magnitude.

For a region not accustomed to earthquakes, it was a jolt. Its wide-ranging impact turns out to be not a quirk, but a byproduct of the East Coast’s unique geology of ancient fault lines and rock composition.

“Earthquakes in this region are uncommon, but not unexpected,” said seismologist Paul Earle, of the USGS National Earthquake Information Center, on a press call Friday. “Earthquakes on the East Coast are felt much farther—four or five times farther—than a similar earthquake on the West Coast.”

Back in 2011, for instance, people felt the shock of a 5.8 quake in Virginia from up to 600 miles away, whereas a 6.8 a few years later in Napa, California—which produced twice as much energy— traveled less than half that distance . Given how much more densely populated the East Coast is than the West Coast, that means a whole lot of people over a much wider area will feel at least a little shaking, even if the magnitude is significantly smaller than something like a Loma Prieta earthquake, which devastated the Bay Area in 1989 .

Jostled East Coasters can blame the geology underneath their feet. On the West Coast, a vast web of faults pop off all the time along an active plate boundary, sending shocks across the landscape. “We have new faults forming, we have old faults taking on strain and rupturing in big earthquakes,” says Columbia University structural geologist Folarin Kolawole.

But when an earthquake happens in a given fault, there are neighboring faults through which the energy is distributed. Basically, because the western US has so many faults along an active plate, it has a lot of channels to absorb earthquake energy—subterranean shock-absorbers, of sorts.

While the USGS hasn’t yet pinpointed the exact fault responsible for today’s earthquake, it occurred in a region where the fault system is more static than on the West Coast. It appears an inactive fault was reactivated Friday morning under New Jersey, somewhere in the Ramapo fault system.

The relative stability of the East Coast fault system is due to its geological age: Its rocks formed hundreds of millions of years before rocks on the West Coast. Geologically speaking, the East Coast is a quiet old man, while the West Coast is a rambunctious teenager.

“We don't have that tectonic complexity on the East Coast,” says Gregory Mountain, a geophysicist at Rutgers University. “We had it in the geologic past, hundreds of millions of years ago, but things are pretty well solidified—is one way to call it—and stabilized. For that reason, on the East Coast, seismic energy could actually probably travel quite a bit farther and have less energy loss with distance.”

Reece Rogers

David Gilbert

Scott Gilbertson

Andy Greenberg

The region doesn’t have the plentiful active faults that the West Coast has to attenuate the shaking we feel at the surface. The ancient eastern faults have also stored up a lot of energy over time. “They've had a long time to heal and strengthen,” says Kolawole, “so the rock can rupture big quakes.” While 4.8 is a far cry from a 7.0, it still takes an astonishing amount of energy to shake picture frames hundreds of miles away.

Once that energy is released on the East Coast, it travels through harder rock than it would in California. Manhattan and Queens, for instance, are sitting on bedrock. “So when you have earthquakes in this region, they can travel really fast,” says Kolawole. In California, by contrast, there’s sedimentary cover on that bedrock. “There you have a lot of vibration and shaking, but earthquake energy does not travel as fast as you have it here.”

Friday’s earthquake may come as a literal and metaphorical shock for East Coasters, but bigger ones have happened in the region before, like a 5.3 magnitude in 1884. In the near term, the region may feel aftershocks for days or months. Longer term, it’s only a matter of time before an even bigger earthquake hits. “It's not impossible, it's just uncommon,” says Kolawole. “And it does signal the potential for a larger magnitude earthquake within this region.”

And when that happens, you’ll almost certainly feel it from hundreds of miles away.

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A United flight was diverted after a dog pooped in the aisle, and staff spent 2 hours cleaning it up

• A United Airlines flight from Houston was diverted to Dallas after a dog pooped in the aisle.
• A Reddit user shared photos and said crew members spent over two hours cleaning it up.
• United only allows service animals in the cabin without a pet carrier.

A United Airlines flight was diverted because a dog pooped in the aisle of the plane, the airline confirmed to Business Insider.

Reddit user "gig_wizard" said they were on Flight 422 from Houston to Seattle on Friday when the incident occurred.

Data from Flightradar24 shows that the Boeing 737 was diverted to Dallas less than an hour after takeoff.

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The Reddit user shared photos of the mess and said the ground crew spent over two hours trying to clean the carpet with paper towels.

"The smell never quite went away," they added.

They also said it happened next to the first-class toilet, which was then deemed unusable. The added time spent on the ground trying to deal with the problem meant the food on board went bad so there weren't many snacks left.

United Airlines confirmed the incident when contacted by Business Insider.

Last September, a Delta Air Lines flight had to turn around after a passenger appeared to poop in the aisle . The airline said it was a "medical issue" while the pilot said in an air traffic control recording it was a "biohazard."

This latest incident could spark questions about airlines' pet policies .

United doesn't allow passengers to bring their pets in the cabin on some international flights. On domestic trips, pets are allowed on board if they're in a carrier that fits under a seat. Service animals are allowed without a pet carrier.

The airline also recommends passengers traveling with pets bring a toy to keep them calm, as well as plastic bags in case of bathroom emergencies.

Watch: How dogs are trained to attack US prisoners

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Ground Stop at Newark Airport Lifted to Ground Delay Following Earthquake

The delay will be in effect until 10 p.m. tonight.

Mariah Tyler/Travel + Leisure

A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit northern New Jersey on Monday, halting air traffic in the area and causing delays on Amtrak.

The earthquake hit near Lebanon, NJ, which sits just west of New York City, according to the United States Geological Survey . The shaking was felt at about 10:23 a.m. ET.

As a result of the earthquake, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a temporary ground stop for Newark Liberty International Airport, which is located about 40 miles from the epicenter. The ground stop was lifted at about 12:30 p.m. local time and replaced with a ground delay warning in effect until about 10 p.m.

The airport’s AirTrain service was also temporarily suspended, the airport shared on X. As of noon on Friday, more than 100 flights departing Newark had been delayed along with 90 additional flights destined for the New Jersey airport, according to flight tracker FlightAware .

Flights were operating normally out of the area’s other two main airports, LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport , which was initially under a temporary ground stop that had since been lifted. For its part, Amtrak was inspecting its tracks and implemented speed restrictions in the Northeast as part of its earthquake protocol, according to the rail company . Amtrak warned “delays should be expected.”

Following the earthquake, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) warned people to prepare for potential aftershocks. 

New Jersey’s Gov. Phil Murphy said he “activated our State Emergency Operations Center” and asked residents not to call 911 “unless you have an actual emergency.” 

New York’s Gov. Kathy Hochul said there were no reports of damages or injuries, but said she “directed state agencies to survey our bridges, roads, railways, major transmission lines and dams, and any other potentially vulnerable infrastructure to ensure they are safe.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement on X that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the earthquake and was “in touch with his team who are monitoring potential impacts. The White House is in touch with federal, state, and local officials as we learn more.”

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This Day In History : February 2

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First Groundhog Day

On February 2, 1887, Groundhog Day , featuring a rodent meteorologist, is celebrated for the first time at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania . According to tradition, if a groundhog comes out of its hole on this day and sees its shadow, it gets scared and runs back into its burrow, predicting six more weeks of winter weather; no shadow means an early spring.

Groundhog Day has its roots in the ancient Christian tradition of Candlemas , when clergy would bless and distribute candles needed for winter. The candles represented how long and cold the winter would be. Germans expanded on this concept by selecting an animal—the hedgehog—as a means of predicting weather. Once they came to America, German settlers in Pennsylvania continued the tradition, although they switched from hedgehogs to groundhogs, which were plentiful in the Keystone State.

Groundhogs, also called woodchucks and whose scientific name is Marmota monax , typically weigh 12 to 15 pounds and live six to eight years. They eat vegetables and fruits, whistle when they’re frightened or looking for a mate (they’re sometimes called whistle pigs) and can climb trees and swim.

They go into hibernation in the late fall; during this time, their body temperatures drop significantly, their heartbeats slow from 80 to five beats per minute and they can lose 30 percent of their body fat. In February, male groundhogs emerge from their burrows to look for a mate (not to predict the weather) before going underground again. They come out of hibernation for good in March.

In 1887, a newspaper editor belonging to a group of groundhog hunters from Punxsutawney called the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club declared that Phil, the Punxsutawney groundhog, was America’s only true weather-forecasting groundhog. The line of groundhogs that have since been known as Phil might be America’s most famous groundhogs, but other towns across North America now have their own weather-predicting rodents, from Birmingham Bill to Staten Island Chuck to Shubenacadie Sam in Canada.

In 1993, the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray popularized the usage of “groundhog day” to mean something that is repeated over and over. Today, tens of thousands of people converge on Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney each February 2 to witness Phil’s prediction. The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club hosts a three-day celebration featuring entertainment and activities.

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Battle of Stalingrad ends

Abscam operation revealed, first u.s. air force plane crashes in south vietnam, national league of baseball is founded, treaty of guadalupe hidalgo is signed, james joyce is born, sid vicious dies of a drug overdose in new york city, director william desmond taylor is found murdered, united states rejects proposal for conference with stalin.

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Niger coup risks jump in EU immigration, commissioner says

Last year's coup in Niger could bring about a surge in irregular arrivals to the European Union, Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said on Tuesday, the eve of a key vote on overhauling the bloc's migration rules ahead of a June election.