Coal May Not Be King In Northeastern Pennsylvania,Anymore, But It Still Is Here.

It was a cold and windy day last Sunday and I  decided to investigate  the massive  piles of earth I saw  near  some old strip mines near McAdoo on my hike the previous Sunday. 

I parked in McAdoo near the house where I was born. I walked out the railroad tracks my grandfather first took me  picking huckleberries (blueberries) when I was little over a year old,  much to the dismay of my parents. 

I headed north and east along the railroad tracks and found a old road that passed through  the huge strip mines to the east.  As I neared some electric power lines I saw a helicopter hovering near one of the towers. I was surprised to find that the helicopter, with a very brave man on an attached platform, were working on the tower lines.  I watched the pilot position his helicopter to allow the man to perform his job in the strong gusty winds. I watched them over the next few hours as i walked in this area. Pretty amazing, and dangerous, work, I am sure. Here is a link to some more photographs of the helicopter. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-page-2/nggallery/photographs-page-two-blog/mcadoo-to-tresckow-hike-helicopter-november

I walked to the huge mountains of earth and discovered that there is an active strip mine going on in the area. This area was between the coal patch towns of Jeanesville, Beaver Brook  and Yorktown. The first mines were underground and would go on for miles.  Later, steam shovel, moved the overburden and  the coal was strip mined. The village of Yorktown was moved because ot the strip mining and no longer exists. 

I hiked to  the top one of the mountains of earth and enjoyed some spectacular views of the surrounding areas. This photographs is looking at the many factories that were built on the Green mountain in the humboldt Industrial park to the west.  Both my grandparents families, my mom’s from McAdoo, and my dad’s from Crystal Ridge picked huckleberries (blueberries) on this mountain. This is a link to some more photographs from the strip mines. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-page-2/nggallery/photographs-page-two-blog/mcadoo-to-tresckow-hike-november-22-2015

I walked into the patch town of Jeanesville in Luzerne County, once a busy mining town with a large iron factory nearby. I made a quick visit to the old cemetery. Lot of old graves in here and this will be another blog post. Here is a link to some more photographs from the cemetery. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-page-2/nggallery/photographs-page-two-blog/mcadoo-hike-jeanesvil

I then walked into the village of Tresckow in Carbon County, a small town also associated with the coal mining in the area. I have been here many times before but never walked through this quaint little town.  I have heard many stories of the town, and the waterfalls nearby from my mom.

She would often walk here from her home in McAdoo a few miles to the west.  I called here about some relatives in the cemetery in the town and she town me they would take a shortcut through the woods to get to McAdoo. Here is a link to some more photographs of my hike through Tresckow. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-page-2/nggallery/photographs-page-two-blog/mcadoo-to-tresckow-hike-tresckow-november-22-2015

So, of course, I found an old road and followed it hoping to get back to McAdoo and my car. Unfortunately, the path took m up some stip mines and out of my way but found some interesting old strip mines, including this large pit near the railroad tracks. The sheer rock walls here over a hundred feet to the bottom. Still a very dangerous place, and no place to play around in, especially for the children in the area. 

I made my way back to my car.  i didn’t see much wildlife on my hike, a few crows, bluejays and a lot of these friendly little critters, black capped chickadees. It was a great day and enjoyed exploring the old cola mining areas as well as the new strip mine occurring in the area. Here is a link to some more photographs of my hike through the woods to McAdoo. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-page-2/nggallery/photographs-page-two-blog/mcadoo-to-tresckow-mcadoo-strip-mines-november-22-2015

My great-grandfather was a coal miner,
who worked in Pennsylvania mines when carts were pulled
by mules and mines were lit by candles.
Mining was very dangerous work then.
– Tim Murphy