Out and About on Leap Day

Our day started out before the sun was up. We finally saw it as it shone into our eyes as we drove into the east, appearing from behind some hills to blind us with its brilliance. The air outside the car was cold, below freezing but inside the car the sun quickly warmed us up. We were out to see what we could find on that one day of the year which happens…only once every four years.

    We stopped for some coffee and tea and then, a bit further down the road, stopped for a couple donuts. We timed the stop JUST right, they came out fresh from the back room as we entered the bakery. Fingers a bit sticky from icing we returned to the warmth of the sun and the possibilities we might encounter.

    We drove along at a moderate speed as those who were heading towards work sped past us. We weren’t in a hurry; we had the whole day ahead of us. Our journey wasn’t that far, just into the outskirts of Blairsville. Just a hop, skip and a jump compared to some of our other escapades.

    A few stops were made to snap pictures and soon we were at our destination, a parking spot on the edge of a State Game Lands. A short walk up the road would take us to an old road leading eventually to an old, abandoned limestone quarry.

    Standing in the cold air we put on our boots and gloves and our safety orange hats. I strapped my camera gear onto my back, strung a camera around my neck and we grabbed our hiking staffs and hit the trail. The temperatures were still below freezing and the water that ran along the dirt road was frozen in many places. The road was wide enough for a car to travel but whether or not you would want to…that was another question. Vines leaned out into the path and a tree hung over top of it, held up only by vines. I’m happy with the fact we left the car behind.

    Our walk would take us past a few geocaches, of course. In fact it was a cache that brought us here. Reading the description of one of them spiked my interest, who wouldn’t want to see big limestone caves?

    Starting our stroll, the sounds of the barking dogs in the houses near our car gradually disappeared as the sounds of the near-by stream replaced them. The sounds of the water rushing over the rocks were wonderful!

    We came across a large cement structure rather quickly. It appeared boxlike but as we neared it we could see it was two thick parallel walls. Heavy I beams connected the two walls above. On the sides, six openings with triangular tops broke the walls, large enough for a person to walk through. Inside was one of the I beams and the roots of a very large tree which had fallen many years before.

    We had seen structures like this near Dunbar, not far from mines. I’m guessing it might have been some sort of rock crusher or loader. A truck could easily drive through the ends. On the backside, bolts, complete with nuts and washers hung from the walls where something used to be attached. Concrete mounts or foundations were scattered around in the woods near-by, all the equipment long gone. I can only guess and wonder.

    The road varied between gravel and muddy ruts. In places the vines, heavy with thorns reached out at our eyes and clothes. The stream came closer to the path and the noise increased, a pleasant, soothing noise. At times it was loud and forceful and at other times, soft and just barely noticeable.

    Occasional forays into the sides of the trail were necessary to look for geocaches. We had a list of 6 on our GPS for this route. Since it wasn’t quite spring yet, it was easy making our way through the weeds. We could see the limbs and stones we had to cross, most of the weeds were still low to the ground. The gloves and jacket I was wearing helped repel the thorns bushes we ran into. Forsythia bushes showed young leaves on their branches, partially opened but their bright green color was dulled by the recent cold weather.

    The final ¼ mile of the trail increased its pitch, near the top, we encountered a field. Yellow grasses covered some portions and slanting sheets of stone covered others. Puddles of frozen water sat on the rocks. To our left, we could see high rocky crags and a bit further up we could see the black openings of caves. 

    The entrances were huge, 20 or 30 feet high. Inside the floors were a jumble of rocks, some piled as a hindrance to vehicles and others debris from the ceilings above. The caves were connected and had large stone columns which helped hold up the roof.

    In October of 2020 the US Geological Survey noted a 2.9 tremor near here, a possible earthquake. Further study determined it was the collapse of multiple columns in an abandoned section of quarry. The sound and vibrations were strong enough to register on a seismograph! Whether or not it was here, I don’t know.

    It had to be exciting to see how these caves were made. They followed the slant of the hillside; the next cave was a bit higher than the one preceding it. We could see the strata of the different type of rocks in the cliff face, all with the same slope to them.

    At the top of the open field we could see behind us one of the neighborhoods of Blairsville in the distance. We searched around in the rocks for a geocache but came up empty. It was supposedly inside a large 5 gallon bucket, we couldn’t have missed it. So, we returned to the caves and sat down and ate an apple and enjoyed the view.

    I wasn’t upset about not finding the cache, this often happens. The nice thing about this particular cache was that it brought us here to this really cool site. Caves and cliffs, free from graffiti, a wonderful view and lots of fresh air with the occasional sounds of train whistles drifting up to us from the valley below. The skies were blue with puffy white clouds drifting by and the temperatures were rising. Could it be any better?

    Back at the car we talked about getting some lunch. Heading towards Blairsville we passed a sign advertising Annabelle Books. We couldn’t pass up a book store so we turned around to find it. We drove up a long driveway to a nice looking house, wondering if this was the place. As we pondered whether or not to knock, a woman came out and asked if we needed any help.

    It wasn't a bookstore, but they did sell her husband's books. We were invited in and soon were sitting and talking with Stella and Paul. Paul is a marine scientist and an author and Stella a well known cook and artist. The pair has lived an exciting life, traveling around the world, raising Weimaraners and living on a beach in Mississippi. Their lives also had some downfalls, including being forced out of their home when Hurricane Katrina hit land in 2005. This eventually brought them up to Stella’s family farm in Pennsylvania. Truly an exciting life!

    We sat and talked for a while before we had to leave. It was another good experience we had during the day. Thank heavens we had seen the sign, otherwise we would’ve never met these two nice people and heard some of the stories of their lives. We left with a couple of Pal's books.

    The BBQ at Clem’s Café pulled us in for lunch. Chances are you’ve seen their pig sitting on top of their building along rt.22. It’s well worth the stop as long as you’re not a vegetarian, though they do have some good macaroni and cheese!

    There were a few more caches on our way back and we stopped briefly at the Loyalhanna Dam. A nice leisurely drive took us through the back roads of Westmoreland County. Soon we were back on the fast moving roads of Alleghany.

    Enjoying a beautiful day, we found 8 of the 10 caches we looked for, 80%, not bad at all! We found and visited a really neat set of caves, had a great walk in the woods and met two nice people who shared some of their lives with us. It was a great way to spend that one day that we get, only once every four years!

    A final note; my daughter told me about Leap Day William who lives in the Mariana Trench. He emerges once every four years to change children’s tears into candy. Wearing blue and yellow and eating rhubarb is part of his tradition. This came from an episode of the show, 30Rock. Neither Ann Marie or I had anything yellow to wear, (imagine a Pittsburgher saying that) so we opted for our orange safety caps along with our blue jeans. There was no rhubarb in our day either. We didn’t see L.D.William but we did talk about him more than once during our day. He says that anything done on February 29^th doesn’t count because real life can wait for March. We have to disagree because we will remember this day… for a long time!