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!

A Little Bit of History

 Doris Day…Can you believe it? It was Doris Day! She was looking out the window of the hotel along with a bunch of other patrons. They were watching a movie that was being filmed outside. I was there, beside the camera. Turning to look at the actors, I noticed that she was now standing beside me. There was no mistake, it was her!

    Together we went over to a red Karmann-Ghia convertible, with the top down of course, and drove away. It was right about then that I woke up. Just a few minutes before midnight, it was still Monday. I wanted to go back to that dream but it wasn’t to be. I tossed and turned.

    Finally the alarm went off, a soft gentle blues tune playing. I opened my eyes and discovered that I was holding a cup of coffee in my hand. I must’ve fallen asleep with it.  Feeling around, I realized nothing had spilt. There was still coffee in it, I could smell it. Probably pretty cold by now I thought.

    I swung my legs out of bed, without spilling anything and instinctively took a sip. It was hot and it tasted wonderful! Wow! I looked at the alarm and wondered why it was playing music, for that matter, the blues. Why hadn’t my phone alarm gone off? They were both set for the same time! It suddenly dawned on me and I exclaimed “Because, I’m dreaming!” and then started to laugh. That was when I woke up the second time, laughing no less!

    It was 4:00, the alarm was set for 4:30. No sense going back to bed. I’ll get up and jump into the shower and start the day. I was going to leave for Frank’s house at 5:30. I’d have time for breakfast and some coffee. We had some caches to find!

    Looking outside, I saw stars! Making the shower extremely quick, I grabbed my gear and drove to the near-by hilltop. The Moon was fairly high in the sky and off to the left was Mars and Jupiter. 

    Combined with the thin clouds and the brightness of the Moon, a group shot wasn’t possible. I took a few pictures and returned back home for a quick breakfast and made some coffee to sip on the way. I still made it to Frank’s house 10 minutes earlier than planned.

    We had 8 caches to find, 5 were in the Blairsville area. The first one, hidden in a tree alongside the road went well. It took us a few minutes, but we found it. The next one didn’t go quite as we had planned.

    Hidden near Dean’s Diner, it is a cache that I have looked for numerous times. We searched high and low without any luck. Some caches just aren’t meant to be found, this one is one of them! We went inside and got some coffee and something to eat and then looked some more. Nope, it wasn’t there.

    We did a few in the town but by far, the best one was across the river in what used to be Cokeville.

    A small town used to sit here but now it is mostly weeds. A long time ago, there were coke ovens on the hill here. (I don’t believe they are still there, that will be another adventure!) The houses and businesses were removed when the Canamaugh Dam was built.

     A set of cement stairs leads up to a flat spot where a house used to sit. You can see where a driveway used to be between them and the tree. Small trees grow where the houses used to sit. By looking carefully, we could see other remnants that were left behind, most of them, nearly hidden from view.

Blairsville and the bridge in 1908

    Bits of a roadway lead to the foundation of the old bridge. Who knows what else lies underneath the weeds? The Pennsylvania Canal crossed through this section of land, there might be evidence of it somewhere!

After the St. Patrick’s Day Flood in 1936, a new bridge was built. A lot of the houses in the town were destroyed by the high waters.

    It took some scrambling around with a little hill climbing through brambles and jagger bushes, before Frank found the cache. It was hidden in the notch of a tree.  We had found this cache in 2011, it isn't in the same place now. It was the toughest cache of the day but it was also the most satisfying one!

    We did a couple more in the area and then turned back towards home. Out of 9 caches, we found 7. Not bad for a quick morning hunt.

    Back on rt.22, we were surprised to see that it was only a little past 10. We usually end up returning in the early afternoon. We were home in time for lunch and afternoon chores. It was a great morning; I always enjoy looking for caches with Frank but finding a little bit of history made it even better! 

    As for the caches we missed…Que sera, sera!

On the Road Again

     During the night, my dreams were all about geocaches. Traveling along unknown roads on a big motorcycle. Stopping at a bed and breakfast that was a tailor shop during the day, the dreams had nothing that brought them together except that I was on a trip, to find geocaches. It was almost as if I had this subject on my mind…

    When morning finally arrived, I loaded my car with the usual gear, a camera bag and my GPS. YES, I was going on a search to find geocaches. Frank and I had planned a trip, driving towards the east on rt. 22 going out to Blairsville and then dropping to the south before eventually returned home. We had 22 caches on our list.

    The planet Venus was shining in the east as I got into the car. I located Mars below and to the right with binoculars, but had no luck seeing it by eye, the sky was too bright.  This was a rather late start for one of our trips, we are often on the road an hour or so before sunrise. The sun came over the horizon on the drive to Frank’s house. It would have made a great picture except I was on a narrow road with cars behind me and nowhere to pull over.

    Being the second week of February, the days tend to be rather grey here in the Pittsburgh area. Bucking the average, this morning’s sky was blue and the sun was bright. Things looked promising.

    Our first find was alongside a pull off, hidden near a sign saying “No Hunting”. That was just the opposite of what we had planned. Hunting was exactly what we were going to do today! We got into a rhythm; we’d drive a short distance and then pull over to snag another find. Sometimes we had to circle back on the opposite side of the divided highway to locate one, then turn around again to continue our search. 

The further away from Pittsburgh we went, the nicer the scenery was!

    Coming into the town of New Alexandria, we had a couple caches which involved a bridge which no longer exists. We drove down a rutted and ice covered road, passing some “Road Closed” signs sitting on the berm. It was obvious that the area here had been recently flooded. Thick pieces of ice lay cracked in the swampy area beside the road. Broken ice had been pushed to the sides by plows. The salt had only partially cleared the road.

    Driving under a large concrete arched structure, we came to where the bridge once crossed the Loyalhanna Creek. The cache was easy to find but we stayed for awhile to take pictures. Later research showed that the bridge that once crossed here used to be rt.22 before the road was modernized and widened. 

In the 1830’s the bridge was a covered toll bridge.

Builders working on the RR bridge. The covered bridge can be seen behind it.

    The concrete structure was part of a railroad bridge that the Pennsylvania Railroad crossed. The line is now gone but parts of it remain. There are some foundations in the near-by woods from a station that was located here. (Those will be for another trip!)

    We continued on our journey, eventually coming into Blairsville. Going south on 217, we did a short detour to visit the area around Torrance State Hospital. Ann Marie and I had found a nice, abandoned building here and I wanted to show it to Frank. When we arrived, it was gone, the land leveled with no signs that there had ever been a building here.

    Driving through the town of Derry we found another old building to explore, the Ralph Smith and Sons Building. Crossing a bridge, we saw the building below us. Turning around we navigated the back streets to get to it. It appears to be an old RR building; the structure is similar to many of the buildings often situated near railroads. The doors were locked with NO TRESPASSING signs posted on them. We spent awhile taking pictures, of course, staying outside! It was obvious that no one had been here recently, except kids. Most of the windows were broken and graffiti was sprayed on the insides.

  

    The time spent there was worthwhile. We got some nice pictures and some much-needed stretching. It felt good to walk around for a bit! Back on the road again, after a couple more caches, we turned right on rt.30 and headed back in the direction we had come from. 

The intrepid explorers @ their final cache!

    We did one last cache in the parking lot of a Speedway Service Station. It was our 22^nd cache of the day, a record for both of us! To celebrate we stopped inside and got a couple Slim Jims for the ride home.

    We had a great drive; we got lots of pictures and found every one of the caches we planned! This rarely happens. There was one hidden against a telephone pole but luckily, the snow had melted enough that we were able to locate it. If the snow was still there, it would’ve been a DNF. (Did Not Find) The weather was great, our hands were a bit cold at first but as we were heading home, the windows were opened to allow the fresh air into the car.

    Another great adventure, you never know what you might find, so keep on looking!

It’s what keeps us caching!