Driving To Mosgrove

 

 

The day started for me with fog. Looking out my window, the world was grey.  I stumbled into the bathroom and started working on waking up. Later, as the coffee pot surrendered its' first cup to me, I saw that the clouds were lifting. By the time I made it out to the car, I could make out bits of blue in the sky. The day was definitely shaping up.

The night before I had assembled my essential tools and had set them beside the door, ready for the morning get away. I had my camera gear, the battery was charged. I had my test kit and glucose tablets. My GPS and a list of geocaches were sitting on the pile along with my pocket knife, a bandana, a hiking staff and a backpack to carry everything. Even more important were the other essentials. I had a mask, some hand sanitizer and a pair of latex gloves, just in case.

It used to be that these weren’t needed, in fact it has only been in the last couple months of the pandemic that anyone would even think of wearing a mask. It was extremely rare to see anyone wearing one other than in a hospital or someone with health problems. Now, sadly, the tables have turned, it is the unmasked person who is the rarity. When going into a store the unmasked people are looked at as threats or as uncaring. All stores now have signs on their entrances stating that you HAVE to have a mask to enter the store.  In the good old days, the only reason to bring gloves along on a geocaching trip was to keep your fingers clean when poking around in guard rails or old stumps. They usually were made of leather, not latex. They weren’t used as a preventative method for sure!

I was on my way to meet Frank and we were going to take a ride in search of photos and geocaches.  We’ve knick-named these trips our “photo-expeditions”. We both find geocaching a fun way to spend a few hours and most of the time, the game ends up taking us to spots where pictures can be taken.  It shows us the wonders of our local geography, taking us on back roads and to places we never may have found otherwise. We were starting out a bit later than normal, we often see the sunrise as we’re driving across the state. Today the sun was high in the morning sky when I met up with Frank.

Driving north on Rt28, following the Alleghany River off to my right, I watched as the sun illuminated sections of the communities below the highway. Bits of fog were still clinging in the valleys and to the trees on the tops of the hills on either side of the river. It certainly was starting to look good!

Holy Guardian Angel Church

Our first stop was a church located off the side of Rt28. I have passed this old brick structure numerous times in the past and have always wondered about its’ history and had wanted to visit it.  It is located near Slate Lick, PA. Built in the 1870’s it was the first Roman Catholic Church in the area. It is supposedly built with bricks that were fired on site. The bell tower was once much taller but during a storm it was knocked down. The church is no longer used except on Christmas Eve. We found the cache hidden there and roamed around a bit, taking pictures and looking at the cemetery.

Our next cache provided a small problem to us. We were within a half mile, only to find orange signs and piles of asphalt blocking our way. It was no big deal, it only gave us a site to return to on another day. If these minor obstacles bothered us we would be continuously in bad spirits. There is more to this case, we had passed the road we wanted to take and took a long roundabout way of returning to it, only to find the blockade. What can you do but laugh?

We returned to the river and followed it north. The two lane road passed cottages, campsites and lots of young trees, cliffs and wildflowers. A bike trail paralleled the river and the road. Before long we could see the railroad bridge spanning the river, our destination.

The hotel, viewed from the RR bridge

What had brought us here was a picture we had seen on Facebook. Someone had asked if an old hotel in Mosgrove, The Bridgeview Hotel, was still standing. It got us thinking. It gave us something to do during our quarantine. We did some research and consulted some maps and figured out where it had been located. We were hoping to find an old abandoned building. The railroad on the bridge had been used to bring guests.  A station was located at the end of the bridge, above the hotel. The picture had been taken from the bridge. The railroad tracks seen in the bottom left corner of the picture is where the bike trail is now located.

The railroad bridge was built in 1899, 121 years ago! It is still being used by the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad. Much as I would have loved to see a train crossing it, it never happened while we were there. We visited a couple spots with railroad tracks but since it was a holiday weekend, there was no train traffic to be seen.

Frank and the “old hotel”

The hotel looked quite different than the picture. Due to a fire in 1914, the third floor and the Victorian look is now gone. If we hadn’t seen the old picture we would have never thought it as a hotel. It is now a private residence.

Our travels then took us along a dirt road with steep, high drop-offs. The road opened up into a wide valley with Pine Creek decoratively cutting through it. Private property signs were everywhere but that didn’t stop us from taking some shots from the road and the bridge. The stream here was wide and from the bridge crossing we had a nice view of McAuley Falls, a small drop in the stream caused by large rocks. I imagine it would be a great spot to fish, if you were allowed! Both this place and the location of the hotel led to disappointments since we couldn’t find the caches that had been hidden there. It’s all part of the game though, some caches are hidden better than others!

Moving on, we crossed the countryside on a road that followed the hilltops. We had lots of views of distant rolling hills, farms and woods. I have said it before and I’ll say it again…Pennsylvania sure is a beautiful state! I love driving on roads such as these, the road twisting back and forth, disappearing as you come to a steep drop only to reappear a minute later, as you crest the dip. They remind me of roller coaster tracks, inviting you to go faster than is really safe.

We stopped at a couple more spots before we ended up in Pine Furnace, PA. There are no buildings here other than an old cement phone booth beside the railroad tracks. At one time there were plenty of buildings, when the furnace was active and producing iron. Hidden in the woods beside the road is a high stone wall that once supported a charging bridge. Workers would cross this bridge and dump the ingredients used to make iron into the top of the furnace. The furnace was built in 1845 by Mr. Brown and Mr. Mosgrove from Kittanning. Could this be the person that the community of Mosgrove, PA was named after? The furnace was re-built in 1865 when the stack was enlarged to 40 foot. It might have been then that this wall was built. In its best days the furnace produced 50 to 60 tons of iron a week. The furnace went out of blast in 1879 when the local iron ore ran out. The remains of the furnace itself consists of a pile of rubble, the wall is the only visible part of the complex that remains.

Charging wall on the hill, furnace remains behind the center tree

I find it fascinating that these stone structures are still here after over 150 years!  I have searched out lots of them and of the ones still standing, the stonework is usually still true and plumb. A lot of these old furnaces have been destroyed by roadwork, construction and scavengers using the stones for walls and barn and building foundations. Nature has also destroyed a lot of them, roots and water can be very destructive over time! I always am amazed when I find a new one!

Our last cache of the day was here, a short drive down the railroad line from the furnace. (On a road!) The cache brought us to a nice little stream flowing over some rocks. Evergreen trees stood around this small waterfall, a broad beam of sunlight broke though the foliage to illuminate it and the wildflowers.  This was a wonderful place to end our journey and to start the return trip.

During our drive, we encountered many different sights and locations. Flowers were out all over the place and often the smells of them was enchanting. I love smelling Honeysuckle, its’ sweet smell brightens everything! The weather co-operated, giving us both sunshine and dark stormy looking clouds. The only rain we encountered was a few drips on the windshield as we drove home. Hopefully we both got some nice photographs, even if we didn't, it was still a great day. The time spent with a good friend always makes for a good day! All in all, I’d have to say the day was another complete success! (Even if we didn’t find all our caches!)