Books, Adventure and Life

A Couple Caches and a Gun Show

2012-02-06T11:26:00.000-05:00

A Couple Caches and a Gun Show

2/4/12

Saturday brought Frank and Bill and I together to do a couple caches and then a visit to one of the rights of living in America, a gun show.
Bill had never done any caches before, so we decided to do some caches before the show. Hopefully, Bill will get hooked!

Frank and I started the day at a park near his house. It was just getting bright enough to see as we pulled into the parking lot. Frank had been here before and knew where 3 of the caches were, so I was on my own to see if I could track them down. One cache had eluded him on more than one occasion and we were hoping that the 2 of us could track it down. The brush was beaten down where others had looked for it, but we came up empty handed. Later when checking on-line, it seems as if no one had found this cache in 6 or 7 months. There are about 7 “didn’t find’s" since then. The owner should check to see if it is still there. So, out of the first 4 caches, we were 3 for 4.

After that, we went to meet Bill in Monroeville. Grabbing a cup of coffee and a cookie to fuel us, we headed back out into the world of Geocaching. We took Bill first to a near-by cemetery where we found a small lock-n-lock container under some pine trees. It gave Bill a good idea of what we would be searching for and what geocaching is all about. This one was hidden under a flat rock that “just didn’t look like anything else near-by”. We all signed the log and then returned to our vehicles. The next one would prove to be a little bit more of a challenge to find.

It was hidden in a guardrail, nothing too tough about that! HA.

We drove down the road and came to a spot where a bridge USED to be. The road was blocked off and our GPS’s told us we were about 400 feet away from the cache. The problem was…we were on the wrong side….

We took a shortcut across the railroad tracks and looked at the steep hillside on the other side. The road continued on up the hill away from us. A guardrail bordered it. SO, we started climbing. It wasn’t as steep as it originally looked, thank heavens! Once we were on the road, our search was a lot easier. It was basically an easy stroll on an old unused road. Soon we were within 10-20 feet and looking over the guardrail, we found the cache.

Bill's second find

It was easy to find, the tough part was figuring out how to get to it. We signed the log and I dropped off a travel bug and then we returned to the trucks.

A nice easy slope back to the trucks...

The next cache was just about ¾ mile down the road, but since it was blocked off, we had to take the long way around.

In a few minutes, we were closing in on our final cache of the day. This one would have us crossing over an old bridge and taking us up into what used to be a switching yard of the Union Railroad. Now days, there is one single track winding its way through the field. At one time this was covered by multiple tracks, all filled with railroad cars.

The Union Railroad performed a vital function in the industrial area of Pittsburgh. It didn’t have a lot of track, only around 60 miles of main line, but they had lots of engines. If you added the yards, (like this one) and sidings, the mileage of their tracks increased to close to 200 miles! They would move ingots and hot metal cars around the various steel mills that lined the rivers. Back in 1951, nearly 74.5 million tons of freight was handled! All with-in a 10 mile radius in Allegheny County!

Just a 1/4 - 1/2mile up the tracks, in a location called Hall, is a roundhouse and turntable. This building was opened in June of 1950. There are lots of signs around the building saying it is private property and to keep out. I really don’t know how much work is done in the group of buildings anymore. There wasn’t a single engine or car visible.

Frank and I had visited this location back in the 80’s and were treated to a personal tour of the buildings. It started out with a threat of being arrested and segued into this man giving us a tour and even pulling a locomotive onto the roundtable and spinning it around for us. That was a day I’ll never forget, a really good photo expedition!

OK, going off the original path and going off on a bit of a tangent, I went up into the attic to see if I could find any of the photos from that trip. I have a big file cabinet up there filled with photos and negatives. (AHHHH, those wonderful days of black and white photography!) I hadn’t realized how many train photos I have! Going back into the early 80’s is when I started saving my shots. Unfortunately, they aren’t in very good order. All my Black & White negatives and proof sheets are in folders and in order of when they were taken. The printed photos are grouped in various folders. I did a lot of flipping through 8X10’s before I found these shots.

Looking out a garage door at the turntable (9/11/88)

Our "guide" going to turn the table for us (9/11/88)

Looking down at the roundhouse from Thompson Run Road (3/92)

Engines sitting "outback" (3/92)

Stockpiled or maybe abandoned? (3/92)Frank and I had been at the roundhouse on Sept. 11, 1988. There are 2 shots from that trip here. I revisited the roundhouse in March of 1992, four years later and at that time there were a lot of engines parked near-by in what looked like their final resting spot. They hadn’t been moved in awhile.

Over the years, I look down at the facility when I cross the bridge on rt.22, but rarely do I ever see anything happening down here. When Frank and Bill and I went past, it looked deserted. No cars at all were anywhere around the facility. What a shame!

Anyway, going back to the present time… We made our way through jagger bushes and vines, up to where the tracks used to be and quickly found the cache. After signing the log, we re-crossed the bridge and pointed our vehicles towards the gun show.

It's up here somewhere!

Bill & Frank signing in

The "bridge"

Our timing was great. There had been some brief flurries as we were caching, but nothing major. After we got inside, the snow really started to fall.

The show was a big one, much larger than the ones held at Pittsburgh Mills. Not only that, it was packed. People were everywhere. There was a line to the end of the building just to buy an entrance ticket.

Inside, there were row upon row of tables. Rifles stacked in stands, ammunition boxes in piles, knives and combat memorabilia laid out, pistols and hunting paraphernalia was scattered around. Every once in awhile you would come across a table with jewelry, cupcakes or carved wood figures being sold. There was even a basement water proofer set up. It was like brain overload. Where to look first?

After awhile all the items started to blur together. Bill and Frank and I were all looking for something in particular and we all kept our eyes pealed for those things. A lot of tables were passed over quickly. I myself came out of the event spending a minimal amount. I bought an ice cream bar and some dried sausage sticks. Other than those, my money stayed nice and safe in my pocket. (That doesn’t always happen unfortunately….) Frank and Bill got what they were looking for, so I think we all were pleased. If nothing else, we enjoyed looking at all the cool “stuff”.

I was back home by 2:45, my dog was happy to see me, the snow had all melted and so, we took a nice long walk around the neighborhood. How could I do anything other than be pleased, it was another great day!

A Woman Saves The Train - Rainy Day Train Chase-follow up

2012-02-01T16:51:00.000-05:00

In the blog I wrote last week, Rainy Day Train Chase ,(click to read that blog) I mentioned a tunnel that used to be at the peak of the grade out of Etna. I had written that I had heard a rumor about a train possibly being inside the tunnel to this day. Supposedly, it had been left behind after a tunnel collapse.

I knew I had read about the tunnel collapsing at one time and a heroic woman who stopped the oncoming train before it collided with the debris. I just couldn’t re-find that information. Finally, after lots of searching, I found a copy of the newspaper article that was originally published on April 6th, 1892.

It seems that a Pittsburg & Western express was approaching the tunnel at Bakerstown when a section of it collapsed. A woman hearing it ran down the tracks and using her skirt, flagged the train down. The engineer managed to stop it just before it hit the debris.

The tunnel must have been cleared rather quickly since it says the tracks were closed for only a day or two. The cut in the hillside occurred around 1915 when the railroad doubled the tracks on the line. The picture I printed showed a train going into the tunnel with cars and the new tracks are evident beside them, so the collapse wasn't the cause of the cut in the hillside.
(As I had been thinking)
That and the fact that the tunnel collapse happened 23 years before the cut was made.

So, I am guessing that the story about the railroad car abandoned in the tunnel, is probably false, but I must say, it did sound pretty good!
(Who knows.............maybe there is one sitting under the water inside that tunnel!)

Rainy Day Train Chase

2012-01-29T13:53:00.000-05:00

Rainy Day Train Chase

1/27/12

Friday started out a pretty wet day. It was looking rather bleak as I drove to work through the rain. I was glad I had a good job to work on, it would make the day pass quickly! It was still raining on and off as I left work. The sky was grey and the wind was blowing.

Grey day in the city

On the way home, I came across the AVR (The Allegheny Valley Railroad) heading north on its daily(?) run. I made a quick stop at the house and picked up the dog and headed cross country to head off the train.

Red waiting for me at home

I caught up with the train in Hampton Township as it crossed Pine Creek near Bryant Road. There were 3 engines (3001, 3002 &3003) with28 cars behind them.

Pine Creek Bridge at Bryant Rd.

After taking some shots and watching the train go by, we jumped back into the Jeep and continued on to the RR crossing at Sample. Once it had passed, we turned onto Wildwood Sample Road. I was undecided whether to watch it cross under the Wildwood Road Bridge or continue on to Hardies Lake. While waiting for the light to change, I opted for the latter. I made it there with about a minute to spare. I caught it as it rounded the bend coming into view.

Nearing Hardies Lakes

As it passed the lakes, I got back in the Jeep and paced it for a while on Gibson Road. The train went behind some houses and out of my view and I continued along, hoping to get far enough ahead of it to get another shot. It was here that I got behind a pick-up truck…just out for a relaxing cruise…

As we got to Rt910, naturally the truck was on the same route as I was. He made the same turn I was going to take and then made the quick turn onto Grubbs Road. Luckily, the train was pretty far behind us. I swallowed the curses that were struggling to come out and slowly followed him. I came to a farm driveway that went up through a large field and parked the Jeep at its end and ran up the hill to line up my next shot.

Tree on the Hill

(My photography "spot")

Coming into view

Rounding the Bend beside Grubbs Rd.

Soon the train was popping out from the trees as it pulled its load up the hill, nearing its peak further up the line, under Bakerstown Road. I took a couple shots and then ran back to the car. I stopped near the peak of the grade, where the Bakerstown Station once stood, but the train had already passed by.

This is also the spot where a tunnel used to be located. In 1915, the tracks were just a single line. The company decided to double them and rather than boring another tunnel, they simply made a cut through the hill. The tunnel is still there if you look real hard. It is accessible only at one end, the other is covered over. Unfortunately, the tunnel itself is filled with water. (I have heard rumors that there is a RR car inside the tunnel....urban legend, or truth? I don't know!) The railroad has reverted back to a single track once again. History is repeating itself. The second track in the picture is just a siding.

Old Bakerstown Tunnel picture

(That is steam coming out of the locomotive, not a cliff!)

Present day view

All that is left of the entrance

Inside

Back to the chase….Doing a quick 3 point turn, we went back to Bakerstown Road, crossed the bridge over the tracks and made a quick right and headed towards the town of Mars. It wasn’t until we were in the town itself that we saw the end of the train. Since it had crossed the top of the grade, it was moving rather quickly now. Its final car was just passing the caboose that sits alongside the tracks in Mars. It was here that I turned the car around and headed back towards home.

We made a stop in North park where we took a short walk in the woods. We saw a herd of deer that got Red all excited. He barked and howled for a good 10 minutes, long after they had disappeared, longer than he howled at the train.

About an hour and a half after we got home, I heard the whistle as the train neared the crossing at Elfinwild Rd. I was able to get my shoes on, along with my jacket and grab the camera and jump into the Jeep and hit the road by the time it crossed Butler Plank Road.

I decided to take the “high” road and go down to Etna via Mount Royal Boulevard. I didn’t take into account the school buses. I got behind one that made what seemed like hundreds of stops along the boulevard. I had my window open trying to hear the train whistle as it hit the various crossings in the valley below me. I had no idea where it was …finally the bus turned off the road and we were able to get a little speed up. I made it down to Etna and there was no train! I didn’t think it had gone by yet. As I waited at the traffic light at Grant Street, (the old May West Bend) I kept watching the crossing lights in my mirrors. When the light changed, I drove down to where Rt.8 blends into Rt.28 and pulled over just before where the shoulder disappears.

Turning the car off, I heard the train whistle as it hit the the crossing at Kittanning Pike. I got out of the Jeep and ran down the road and jumped across the guard rail right before the bridge. I took the cover off the camera lens and did a quick check to make sure there weren’t any water spots on it and then started shooting. The wind was blowing and a fine mist was coming down but I managed to protect the lens with my hand. I grabbed about 5 shots and, got a GREAT RUSH as the train whistle blew right as it passed under me.

( I just love the sounds of trains!)

Coming into view

Almost under me…

I took a couple more shots as it crossed Bridge Street and then decided that my train chasing was at an end for the day. I looped down into Sharpsburg and back onto Rt.8 and headed for home.

Crossing Bridge Street

Even with the grey skies and light rain, I managed to get a few good shots and the enjoyment of chasing a train. I went back home and sat down with the dog and let my weekend continue on….

Nothing like a good train chase!

Just a Couple Weird Maps

2012-01-18T06:12:00.000-05:00

I saw another interesting map on one of the blogs I follow and it got me thinking....what would I get if I googled "weird map"?

Here are a couple of them...thanks to Google.

You should be able to get a better look at them by clicking on the pictures.

Nicknames of the States

Published in 1880, you can get a copy for 5 one cent stamps from H.W.Hill and Company, a pork producer.

New York City

Modern day buildings superimposed over an old map of the city.

Fiction Island

Brainland

The World???

Gotta Love the USA!!

Can you see your state?

The Map to Success

Half Eaten Apple

Maybe eaten by a frustrated cartographer?

Two Meter Simplex contest 2012

2012-01-15T13:43:00.001-05:00

Simplex- Receiving and transmitting on the same frequency.

With the start of the New Year comes the annual Two Meter Simplex Contest. Sponsored by The Wireless Association of South Hills, this contest has been a January event for the last 11 years. It gives Hams a chance to test their systems in a simplex mode and to communicate with other Hams in the area. It also gives us something to do on what is usually a cold, windy evening.

The idea is to make as many contacts as possible using only 2 meter simplex, no repeaters or amplifiers allowed. One contact per Ham, unless you are operating mobile. Then you can make one contact per Ham, per zip code. It lasts from 7PM to 11, four hours.

Since the contest is simplex, the higher your position the better. SO, what I have been doing is driving to various cemeteries in various zip codes. My home QTH is in a poor site and the near-by hillsides limit my contacts. Last year, I stayed at home and made a total of 6 contacts. Pretty poor if you ask me!

Our Route this Year

Tonight, Ann Marie and I are going to go mobile once again. We will be starting out on a hillside overlooking Mt.Troy and the city of Pittsburgh. From there we will drive over into Millvale and then Etna, cross the valley into Sharpsburg and then either go up towards RIDC Park in O'hara or else head back to Shaler and home for my final contacts.

Our Supplies

I usually start preparing for this contest a week or so before the day. I look at my old records from the year(s) before and usually repeat my “game plan”. I usually prepare a map for myself, to help figure out my driving routes. This year, I am starting a little further south than previous years. I will play it as it occurs, if there are no broadcasts heard or no one answers my CQ’s, I’ll move on to the next spot. The suggested radio frequencies are already programmed into my mobile radio, all I have to do now is stock the Jeep.

I will need a thermos of coffee, a couple snacks, my test kit, a copy of the sheet describing the contest (just in case of a police visit), a clipboard with log sheets and extra pens and some warm clothes. Even though the Jeep has a good heater, it still can get cold sitting on top of a windy hill!

All is ready, now all I have to do is wait for the start of the contest….

Overlooking Troy Hill and Pittsburgh

We started out about 20 minutes to 7 and proceeded to a high hilltop overlooking the small community of Troy Hill and the city of Pittsburgh beyond that. The road to the top of the hill was covered with snow and was pretty steep. The hillside beside the road wasn’t protected by any guardrails, so we went up slowly…in 4 wheel drive. I didn’t want to have to call a tow truck tonight!

The view from here was fantastic! The city was lit up and a few cars were moving over the bridges. It was quite a spot! We spent about 30 minutes here, we made 9 contacts and then packed up and headed for the next spot.

The View form Millvale

Our next spot was in Millvale, above the construction work being done on Rt.28, above the 40th Street Bridge. It is amazing how important position is, I called for about 10 minutes with no replies. We moved the Jeep about 100 yards down the road and tried again…and all of a sudden we had people answering our calls! We spent about 30 minutes here and then pointed the car towards Etna.

Sitting Beside the Gravestones in Etna

Above the town of Etna, we parked beside another cemetery. We could see across the valley where we would be in another ½ hour. We only made 2 contacts here, but one of them was a nice long QSO. We talked about trains, butcher shops and the ferry that crosses the river in Fredricktown. This is one of the nice things about this contest, the friendliness of the participants! It is right up there with the PA QSO Party!

(AND THAT IS SAYNG A LOT!!!)

A Nice View from Sharpsburg

Next we made a quick bathroom break and grabbed some French fries at a near-by Burger King. Then we returned to the hilltop and cemeteries, this time up above Sharpsburg. This is a spot I visit every contest. It is a nice spot on a level road with the city of Pittsburgh off in the distance. Not only does it look nice, but it gives good coverage to both Pittsburgh and further north up the Allegheny River. We spent a half hour here and made another 9 contacts.

Ann Marie, My Happy Logger

I asked AMB if she was ready to call it quits or if she wanted to move onto another spot. She was up to a drive up to RIDC Park in O'hara Township. We set up in the parking lot of my company, overlooking the city, (way off in the distance) and Verona across the river. It was getting late in the contest and we were hearing less and less down in the noise. I made 3 contacts before we took off. The last one was another nice QSO, talking about the local area and trying to figure out where each other was. We had 28 contacts as we left, we had almost filled our log sheet. We figured we would make the last 2 contacts in Shaler, close to home, and then call it quits.

Looking Over the Rt.8 Valley in Shaler

In Shaler, sitting once again in a cemetery overlooking the rt.8 valley and the new Giant Eagle, (and my house!) we made 2 quick contacts to bring us to 30 contacts. I just had to make one more call and we contacted someone who had been trying to call us but had no luck. He had upped his power and all of a sudden, it was as if he was right beside us. After this contact, I turned off the radio and we made the short drive back to my house. We pulled in around 10:45. Three and three quarter hours of radio play, three and three quarter hours of fun and good people. We both enjoyed ourselves, our feet were getting a bit cold, but our spirits were high!

We walked the dog around the circle and then headed into our respective houses for a good nights sleep.

A couple more definitions for you:

QSO: A 2 way contact or communication with another Ham

QTH: An operator’s location, usually his home base

Thanks to the Wireless Association of South Hills for putting on this fun contest! I’ll be looking forward to going to their Hamfest on the 26th of February! More info about them, and the Hamfest can be seen at:

http://www.n3sh.org/

If you’re interested in learning more about HAM Radio:

http://www.arrl.org/licensing-education-training

"73" my Friends!
Phil B. AB3AW

(Two Meter Simplex Contest, Wireless Association of the South Hills,Ham Radio,simplex,maps)

My Favorite Books of 2011

2012-01-02T06:35:00.000-05:00

After reading a book, I write down the details of it on a list, just so I can remember the facts. Unfortunately, my memory isn’t as good as I would like to think it is, the list sure helps me out!

In all I read 71 books that I bothered to document. I started many more that I never finished. If I don’t find it interesting in the first few pages, I often will put it down and start something else. There are too many good books out there to waste time on the bad ones! Of these favorites, it was split evenly down the middle, half fiction and half non-fiction.

(I do have to admit, there was one book I read at least 180 pages of, much more than half of it and then finally set it aside. I finally hit that point that I couldn’t stand it anymore. I won’t tell you which book it was, I don’t want to tell you about the bad books I’ve come across…only the good ones.)

Reading this list, hopefully you’ll see something that strikes your interest and leads you to one of your new favorites!

Just in case you’re interested, here is a link to my list from last year…
http://booksadventuresandlife.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-favorite-books-of-2010.html

Now the books I enjoyed the most of 2011…in my humble opinion.

(In the order I read them)

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

Bills story about growing up in the 50’s. Often causing me to laugh out loud! There are so many similarities between his life and mine I couldn’t help it!

The Big Switch by Nicholas Carr

(Rewiring The World, From Edison to Google). In this book, Carr compares the internet with the early electrical grid. Before electricity, people supplied the necessary manpower to work machines, then they used water and wind to move them. Once electricity was harnessed, manufacturers started out small, with their own power plants in their places of business. That was soon left behind as they plugged into the NEW electrical grid. The electrical grid expanded and before long they were building nuclear power plants to supply the need of electricity.

Carr writes about how the Internet is growing, he also covers what people have predicted for its future. The creators of Google want to have a machine that will know your question BEFORE you ask it, and of course, know the answer also. They are storing information with every search we make. They have Artificial Intelligence well in sight, possibly with-in the next decade. He talks about how the computers will be able to program us in time, and in many ways, that is happening already! So many people have access to our personal facts, doctors, insurance companies, our employers. Every key stroke we make is saved somewhere, our past and our thoughts are out there for anyone (?) to see.

It is a very insightful book, but it is also a very scary one also! It is well worth reading!

52 Loaves by William Alexander

What a delightful book. It tells the tale of Williams search to make what he considers the perfect loaf of bread. He had tasted it many years ago and had been trying to find it ever since. In his quest, he starts baking bread at home, eventually taking classes, traveling to different countries and eventually ending up in a monastery, where he acted as the baker for the monks. He passed his knowledge of bread and baking to a couple of the monks who have continued using his recipes after he left. It made me want to bake some bread myself. (I seriously doubt if I will ever try it…)

Death Match by Lincoln Child

A “computer dating” company is experiencing some problems, two of their best matched couples have committed suicide. It is Christopher Lash’s job to find out why. Not only is this an exciting mystery story, it is also a cautionary tale about artificial intelligence.

From Here to There by Kris Harzinski

Co-titled A Curious Collection from the Hand Drawn Map Association, this small book has over 110 different maps in it. If you have ever spent any time perusing and exploring a set of charts, imagining what they illustrate, or imagining yourself in the land it represents, you will enjoy this book. All of the maps in this book are handmade. Some were found lying on the sidewalks, some were made by young people only to be found later in their adulthood and some were donated. Some represent dreams and some envision our place in the world and universe, some are just places to explore when you’re visiting Philadelphia. Some even map the cartographers own bodies!

Kris Harzinski created the Hand Drawn Map Association when he came across a box of maps he had collected over the years. He had collected them not as much as a collection but because they represented something to him. As he says in his preface, they had become more than useful directions from one place to another; they had become accidental records of moments in time.

The HDMA started out as a web site where he could share his maps and before long he was receiving maps from other map makers who shared their experiences via their sketches.

Some of the maps are simple diagrams to show how to get somewhere, others are complicated renderings of cityscapes. One map was drawn on an office window and shows where the sun rose over the course of a couple months. There is a map of Anne Frank’s house, there are even maps which have been drawn on human hands. There are maps of imaginary lands and a map that shows how the artist got lost as he drove from Lancaster to NW Pennsylvania. The book has a map of the suns flares and one of the wandering and thought s that went through a man’s mind as he watched the buildings collapse on Sept. 11. It is a great eclectic collection. If you have ever gotten lost (ha) while exploring a map, chances are you’ll enjoy this book!

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Jacob, almost out of collage is told that his parents have died in an accident. Deep in sorrow, he leaves school without taking his finals. He happens upon a train, jumps it and finds out it is a circus train.

He ends up working for the circus as their vet. Slowly he gets used to circus life. He also meets Marlena, the horse rider and also the young wife of the animal manager.

It is a story of compassion, love and pay backs. The story is told by Jacob as he is waiting for his family to visit him in an old age home. The story drifts back and forth between the present and the past, ending nicely in the present!

A very good read, this was my second time to read it and it was just as good as the first!

Edge by Jeffery Deaver

Corte is in the business of protecting people, not like a body guard, a bit more intense than that! He has to protect a DC policeman and his family from a “lifter”, a man who wants to extract information from them. Corte is a fan of board games and this often plays into his strategies and plans.

The book has its share of twists and turns and it kept me constantly wondering what would happen next. It is one of those books that I was sorry when ended.

Marley and Me by John Grogan

What a good book! Even though it takes you from laughter to tears, you finish it with a good feeling. I think it is because you, (or at least I) can relate to what John has written.

It is the story of John and Jenny’s pet lab, Marley and all the trouble he got into and how he became a part of their family, a loved member of the family. The way most pets do!

Angels Four by David Nott

David was asked to accompany 3 others on a ground breaking trip to Angel falls in Venezuela. The other 3 consisted of George Bogel, a member of the Explorers Club of Pittsburgh, Timo, a climber from Bentleyville, who had attempted to climb the falls twice before, and Straub ,a doctor who had never climbed before. With a minimal amount of supplies and with no backing, they flew down to Venezuela, got permits, hired some Indians to ferry them up river and headed up the wet, slimy cliffs that were beside the falls. Angel Falls is the highest waterfall in the world, 3000 feet high, the same height as 3 Empire State Buildings, stacked one on top of the others.

Though under supplied, they manage to work their way up the rock face to the top, managing to avoid any calamities on the way. Being this far away from any medical help, an accident would have meant death! Their food ran out half way up, their water supply was severely limited, (even though they were climbing beside a waterfall!) They had their share of mishaps, luckily nothing too serious! Taking twice as long as they had planned, once they attained the top, their next problem was to get down again. Straub not only had never climbed before, he had never rappelled either! What a place to learn!

Their first and last “major” accident happened when they were just feet from the bottom and luckily it wasn’t anything life threatening. They did a forced march back to their base camp only to find that the Indian guides had left to get more food.

This is a well written book, it kept me interested the whole way through it. I think the idea that one of our club members George Bogel was a participant in the expedition made it even more interesting! There is a picture of the four team members on top of the falls, with Bogel holding the Explorers Club of Pittsburgh banner.

No Magic Helicopter by Carol Masheter

When she was just a child, Carol and her sister had polio. They spent quite a long time in the hospital. Carol dreamed of being famous some day and of winning races and when she was released, she worked at becoming as strong as possible. In time, her job became one of her driving forces and personal relationships fell to the sidelines. She went camping and hiking in the mountains with like minded people and discovered the mountains. Eventually, Everest popped up. Being in her late 50’s, this didn’t seem like something she should do, but over time, it finally became something she wanted to accomplish.

Her age was a major factor against her, this book tells about her preparations, the ups and the downs, and the injuries she had to work through. It tells also about her journey to Tibet and the uncertainty of being able to climb because of the Olympic Torch being carried to the peak in China. Political pressures had shut the mountain down to climbers while the torch was on it. She didn’t know if they would be allowed to summit or if they would be sent back home. She tells about her insecurities and all the problems she encountered as she did the climb.

It is well written and it shows what is possible no matter what odds are against you. She was 61 years and 7 months old when she made it to the top!

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
(I think this would be my favorite book of 2011!!)

This was one of those books that I knew I was going to love after reading the first couple pages! It was sitting on a book shelf at the local library and I picked it up because it sounded interesting. It sat on my coffee table for about 4-5 days before I got around to reading it. After the first couple minutes, I couldn’t put it down!

Lillian owns a restaurant and holds a cooking class on Mondays. The students come to the restaurant to learn how Lillian makes such wonderful meals. As with so many good books, it won’t be just cooking that they are learning! A small class of 8 people, all with different backgrounds and social classes, they start out as strangers and before long become part of each other’s lives.

Erica has a wonderful way of describing smells and sounds and emotions. She also makes me wish I was a better cook! This book will soon be a part of my collection. I recommend it to anyone!

The Dead Path by Stephen M. Irwin

There is a section of woods in the town of Tallong that people instinctively tend to avoid. Nicholas returns to his hometown after his wife dies, and after he starts seeing ghosts. The move doesn’t stop the spirit apparitions unfortunately and before long he realizes that there was something else happening in this town. The book takes you in and quickly tosses you into the problems that Nicholas is experiencing. Is it a simple cover up or could it be something as extreme as witchcraft and supernatural beings? I read through this book quickly, wanting to find out more and the book gave it to me! Right up to the final page! What a good ending! Well written, worth every minute I spent reading it.

Science Fair Season by Judy Dutton

This was a great book. Judy takes us along to meet 12 kids and tells us about their past and what they are hoping for their future. All are entered in the 2009 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair with a variety of projects. One made a nuclear device, one had done research with honeybees, one had done work with horses and one had done work with leprosy. Their background stories are just as interesting as their projects were and often, it was their backgrounds that bumped them into their field of research. Not only is this a sort of “geeky” book, but it also has a lot of “catch in your throat” moments in it also. I found it a VERY enjoyable read!

Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts

We pick up Novalee’s story just before she is dropped off at a Walmart, where she bears her child. The baby soon becomes known as the Walmart Baby. We are taken for a quick ride through her life, meeting the good people she encounters and the bad, and follow her as she makes a wonderful life out of the mess she has been given. A great book, each chapter chokes you up. Really good!

Pittsburgh Noir Edited by Kathleen George

A collection of stories about Pittsburgh, all of them showing its “dark” side. Most deal with a death or a murder. Some have surprise endings. Loaded by Rebecca Drake was a good story with a good surprise ending! In fact, I liked all of them!

Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santo

Story about a woman who categorizes the people in her life as the movie stars they remind her of and of a young girl who does the same only with book heroines. Eventually their paths cross and the story gets a bit deeper. It is a great story, well written with good descriptions.

11/22/63 by Stephen King

How appropriate that I finished this book on 11/22!

I couldn’t help but think how much Stephen King has evolved since he started writing his “horror” stories back in the 70’s. (Carrie, his first novel came out in 1973) He has written over 50 books since then, both fiction and non-fiction, (Read On Writing if you get the chance!!) how could he not evolve?

Briefly, in this book, a man finds a “rabbit hole” in the back of his diner, taking him back in time to a certain day in 1958. He shares this information with his friend Jake Epping, a 35 year old English Teacher and gives him a plan to save President Kennedy from assassination. Jake goes along with this idea, not really believing but after a trip into “the past”, he finally believes what is possible. He goes back to 1958 and starts living a second life as he slowly lives his way towards November 22, 1963.

King covers a lot in this huge tome,(842 pages long) it is amazing how he made me care for the people he brought into the story. There were a couple times I thought he might have even been writing about his own experiences. (?) I also found it interesting how he brought the “fictional” town of Derry into the book and a brief mention of murders in its past by a man dressed as a clown…perhaps Pennywise, from the novel it? (Read IT if you get the chance!) Derry has been in many of his books.

He still has that way of making you (me) want to keep reading, to find out what is going to happen next. I didn’t find any dull parts in this book. In his afterward, he says he was going to dedicate this book to Jack Finney, the author of what king says is THE great time travel story, (Time and Again) but his granddaughter arrived and she pushed Jack to the side.

In the end, this story, while being a tale about time travel, it really is just a love story and I didn’t realize that until it was nearly done.

Maphead by Ken Jennings

Co-titled Charting The Wide Weird World of Geography Wonks, this book is all about maps and geography. Ken, known for his “brief” Jeopardy fame has been a map lover since childhood. He says his map virginity was first taken when he was only 3 years old, with a wooden puzzle map, he bought his first atlas when he was only 7 years old. He did his share of traveling since his father worked overseas, he missed his hometown of Seattle and would look at maps to reconnect with his country. He tells stories about exploring Seoul Korea as a young lad and notes how sad it is that so many of today’s kids aren’t allowed out of their yards.

In his book, he covers early maps, people that collect them and also those that steal them. He discusses the lack of geography classes in today’s schools and also takes us to the National Geographic Geography Bee. We visit the Map and Geography Division of the Library of Congress and then cross the “pond” to visit the Royal Geographical Society. The book is filled with little bits of geography trivia along with other bits of obscure facts. I learnt that Michael Palin, of Monty Python’s Flying Circus is the president of Royal Geographical Society, something that took me by surprise!

He covered “Highpointers” people who travel to visit the highest points in each of the States, people who make it a point to visit as many Integer Degree Confluences as possible, (Places where the longitude and latitude lines cross) The Travelers Century Club, people who have visited more than 100 countries and “Road geeks”, people who study the Nations highway systems as a hobby. He even covers that strange obscure hobby of geocaching. ;-) Who would’ve guessed that Ken was a geocacher?

He put this all together in an enjoyable book, one which I have already added to my own collection.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, if you managed to get through my list, I hope you found a book or two you'd like to read yourself. You might not agree with my "praise" for them, but if you don't read them, you'll never know! Let me know what you think if you do read any of them, i'd really like to know!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy New Year

and Happy Reading!

A Christmas Trip to The Strip District

2011-12-26T11:29:00.000-05:00

A Christmas Visit to the Strip District

12/23/11

It had been raining most of Thursday night but it had slowed down around midnight and there was only an occasional sprinkle as the morning brightened up. It was the 23rd of December, a Friday and Ann Marie and I both had the day off. We decided to take a trip down to the Strip District to watch the Christmas shoppers and to let the Christmas spirit build up in us a bit. We weren’t disappointed!

The sky was grey but our spirits were bright. We had a few things on our “to get” lists, but they were nothing special. We were going more for the experience than to get things.

The Strip District is a mile and a half long area bordered by Liberty Avenue to the east, and the Alleghany River to the west. Eleventh Street and the Railroad Station start the area off to the south and Doughboy Square in Lawrenceville is its northern end. To most Pittsburghers, the Strip goes from the 16th Street Bridge to somewhere around 23rd Street and is comprised of mostly Penn Avenue and Smallman Street. It was originally filled with factories and railroad tracks, produce from the near-by farms was shipped out here and supplies were brought into the city. As the use of trains decreased, so did the use of a lot of the buildings in this area. Still it remained a vital part of Pittsburgh’s produce system. It was sort of a secret, but more and more people found that you could get great deals on food products in this area and after awhile it started to cater to them.

It has quite a history, during the 1812 War, bullets and artillery were made here. The Civil War had the manufacturers of 60 ton Rodman Cannons located here. These guns had the capability of lobbing a 30 pound cannon ball over 3 miles! Westinghouse manufactured the first air brakes for railroad cars in the Strip and Charles Hall started the manufacturing of aluminum in a small nondescript building. (The first commercial ingots of aluminum were poured on Thanksgiving Day, 1888. Eventually, this small business venture became ALCOA) Thomas Armstrong became one of the major world manufacturers of cork in his building located here.

Two saints of the Catholic Church have spent time in this section of Pittsburgh. Saint John Newmann was a pastor of St. Philomena’s church during the 1830’s. Mother Mary Katherine Drexel spent time here about 50 years later as a novice with the Sisters of Mercy.

St. Stanislaus Church reflections

We parked about a ¼ mile away, both to avoid parking hassles and to get a little walk in. During our time here, we saw parking lots with signs advertising spots up to $10. (There are also parking meters along the streets) We parked for free and got some exercise in the process. Good deal!

Parked on Railroad St.

The Strip District, or “The Strip” as it is locally known, is usually tremendously crowded on Saturday mornings. The days before holidays are also very packed, often, with people who are making their once a year visit. Coffee shops, butcher shops, bakeries and delis are scattered along the streets. Vegetable shops and souvenir stores are intermingled between restaurants, night clubs and ethnic food stores. It is a great place to see all that makes Pittsburgh great!

One of our first stops was at La-Prima Espresso for a cup of coffee to help us on our way. The coffee, mixed with a shot of espresso, made by a true professional, got our day off to a great start. The place was packed and there was a nice combination of English and Italian good wishes being shouted back and forth. Saturdays in the Summer, you can sit out on the sidewalk and enjoy watching the people going by and the great combination of languages being bandied about.

Smells drifted out to the sidewalk

Crowd waiting for their drinks

An example of the nice things available here

A little further down Penn Avenue, as we moved towards the city, we came to Stamoolis Brothers, a wonderful store I’ve been going to for decades. Well worn wooden floors, led us to displays with cheeses, spices, olive oils from all over the place along with dried fruits and sliced nuts, pita bread, Phyllo Dough and Spanakopita. It is located right beside the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company which is usually packed to the walls. We shopped in Stamoolis Brothers and got what we needed and were out in no time. The store next door was filled with people waiting….and waiting….

Cheeses

Just down the block, we stopped to look at wreaths. Holding off for awhile saved us some bucks, we found the same thing for about half the price further down the street.

One of the many flower stands

We picked up some vegetables at a sidewalk display and then crossed the road to visit Wholeys Fish Market. This is a “have to visit” place when you’re in the Strip. It has a large quantity of various fish and sea foods on one side, on the other side they have a large meat section and also an area dedicated to vegetables. Just about anything you might want is available here.

Since the Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes was the next day, on Christmas Eve, the place was filled with customers. With lots of people behind the counters, the wait went quickly. As I was waiting, I watched the people. They were smiling, laughing and joking with their friends and family. There might have been a couple dissatisfied people there, but I sure didn’t see them! I picked up some fish, some crab cakes, some pickled herrings and a couple other items before we left.

Free hot chocolate served by a bear!

Waiting for service in the fish area

Outside the store was a sidewalk display of cookies and pastries….my sugar levels went up just looking at all he had to offer.

Pastries and cookies

Penzey Spices was our next stop, a store filled with tons of spices. The products are displayed on wooden crates, with a small description of them. A sample jar is situated near-by so you can smell or taste what you’re looking at. The smells coming out of these jars are a great sales ploy, you can’t help but buy some stuff while your there!

People seen through the windows

Continuing on our way, we passed some Steeler products for sale, (they are everywhere, all you have to do is turn your head!) a nice vegetable stand and a bakery’s display sitting out on the sidewalk. Big loafs of bread, with nice designs baked into their thick crusts, sat there just daring us to walk past. A container of samples further added to their draw. Some how we managed to continue on…

Stairway to Heaven?

Coffee beans were next on our list. For these we stopped in Fortunes Coffees Company. Their coffee is freshly roasted right there in the store. With a nice sized batch of coffee supplies, a big variety of beans and teas, complete with a coffee bar and serviced by friendly people, this is another of the stores I’ve come to depend on.

From here, we passed DeLucas Diner, complete with its “standard” waiting line out onto the sidewalk. We stopped at the Mexican store and browsed through their prepared foods and spices before continuing on. We just weren’t in the mood for burritos or lollipops with scorpions in them…or any of their other products right now.

The waiting line at DeLucas

Boys goofin’ around

Yup, you can get almost anything down in the Strip

Flower Shop Sign

Will I ever learn?

Next we stopped at S&D Polish Deli where I got some Forest Sausage and some dried beef sticks. They sell pirogues, premade soups, halushki and other Polish delights. There is a large variety of Polish products on their shelves also. The beef sticks were devoured as we walked towards the car. Wow, they were good! As we left the shopping area, a Chinese grocery became our last stop.

Chinese Grocery We had gotten everything on our lists, we were entertained by the people we saw and watched. We hadn’t seen anyone that was angry or upset and just about everyone had a smile on their faces. As we started our walk back to the car, we passed a family on their way into the Strip. Their daughter was laughing and skipping along…no school today and only another day till Christmas…life sure is good isn’t it?

It sure is!

Family on their way to the Strip

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a Very Happy New Year!

Hiking under a Full Moon

2011-12-11T14:57:00.001-05:00

Full Moon Hike

12/10/11

After a few days of cloudy skies, the weather was showing promise of a clear night or two. Just in time for the Venture Outdoors Full Moon Hike. For days, our fingers had been crossed, hoping for a nice bright, cloud free night for this jaunt through North park.

We were to meet the trip leaders near Pie Traynor Field at 6:45 and the hike was supposed to leave at 7. I was leaving the dog at home so I took him for a walk around the neighborhood around 6. As we strolled along, we (?) watched the moon rising over the eastern horizon.

6PM, here comes the Moon over the eastern horizon

(pictures will enlarge when clicked)

Ann Marie and I had spent the morning moving her furniture to her new place. This hike would be a great way to relax after a hard day of work! By the time we arrived at the meeting spot, the moon was high in the sky and there were lots of moon shadows, and not a cloud to be seen! Jupiter was high overhead, the brightest object other than that “searchlight” we call the moon. There weren’t many other objects easily visible in the sky. If you looked hard you could find the bright stars, but the moon was effectively hiding all the fainter ones. This could be a “no flashlight” hike!

We met Nancy Furbee, our leader for the night and gave her our legal forms, all signed, relieving VO of any responsibility. Slowly the nights participants started arriving. By 7 all but one had shown up, introductions were made and we headed into the woods. There were 16 of us and that made for a nice group. We spread out in an even line, everyone finding a comfortable pace. Flashlights were used as we started but slowly they were turned off as our eyes got used to the darkness. It wasn’t long before we could easily see the rocks and sticks lying on the path without any help.

Our hike route

The hike was listed as moderate, there were a few hills and the possibility of some muddy or slippery sections, but definitely not difficult! It was about 3 miles long, skirting the roads in the Southeast section of the park. Our path started out on a wide dirt road and then moved onto a narrow path through the woods. After about a mile we came to a spot that looked like a huge outcropping of sand. Albert Kollar was along to tell us some interesting facts about the geology of the North Park area and to explain what this was…simply put, it wasn’t a sand dune! After a short informative talk we continued on.

After another mile, give or take, we came to a nice wide field and I gave a short “ramble’ about astronomy along with some Pittsburgh astronomical facts. As I talked, Nancy brought out some cups and some hot chocolate to warm us up. It was cold, the puddles near-by had a coating of ice on top of them. Standing still we could feel the chill setting in. After the hot chocolate had been drunk and the cups collected, we returned to the hike, this time a slightly tougher section, working our way up a former ski slope, to the top where the remnants of the ski lift sat.

A short distance later, Ann Marie and I split off from the group to head back to the parking area to set up my telescope. We had the option of walking on the road or continuing through the woods, of course, we choose the woods. Even in the thicker sections, we didn’t need a flashlight, the light of the moon filtering through the trees was plenty. Granted, an occasional root or stone reached out and grabbed at us, but it was never a problem.

What a great experience it is to be walking through the woods at night. The familiar looks so different than it does in the daylight, it is a completely different feeling than in daylight. The average person has never done it, thinking that they would be blind in the dark. I have hiked on moonless nights before and after a bit without a light, just the light from the stars and planets were enough to show me the trails. You just have to experience it to believe it!

There are rumors of coyotes living in the park. Some people have even been threatened by them, luckily, none of us saw them during our hike. Now whether or not they saw us was a different story….

By the time the rest of the group returned to the parking area, we had the telescope set up and ready to go. We looked at Jupiter and its 4 brightest moons, (Io, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa) the Orion Nebula (M-42) and finally, the moon itself. I had to put a filter on the eyepiece to tone down the extreme blast of light from the moon. Even with the filter, it hurt a little bit the first time you looked into the eyepiece. It was interesting to look at the surrounding area with your light adapted eye and the one that had just been blasted with the sunlight reflecting off the moons surface. With the adapted eye, you could see as if it was daylight, with the other, it was as if you were blind, everything was darkened. A great example of what light (pollution) does to your eyes

AMB checking out Jupiter

Jupiter and its satellites

as seen through the scope

L to R, Europa, Jupiter, Callisto, Io, and Ganymede

Soon everyone packed up and headed back to their regular lives, we pulled out of the parking lot at 10PM, on the nose. It was great planning, the hike description said it would last between 7 and 10 and it did, almost to the minute!
(Good leadership there Nancy!)

I went home and took the dog for a walk around the neighborhood, once again without a flashlight (of course)! The next morning, I was up at my usual time, 5-6AM and once again, took the dog for another walk, this time we watched the moon as it was setting in the west. It was cool, watching a complete cycle of the moon, from rising to setting.

Full moon hanging over the top of houses in the west

(Just like Jupiter, stuck in a tree)

(inside joke)

Sunrise was approaching in the east

Behind me, the sky was brightening as the sun neared the horizon. Time to start the new day….look out world, here I come!

Some of the websites I told my fellow hikers about were:

The Amateur astronomers association of Pittsburgh

www.3AP.Org

Satellite predictions

www.Heavens-Above.com

A Drive Back in Time

2011-11-28T04:47:00.001-05:00

11/25/11

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, 5AM, the sun wasn’t anywhere near the horizon. AMB and I were packed up and leaving Glenshaw. People were out already, visiting Walmarts and Target stores, lining up to get those early bird specials. We had other things on our minds, we were going on a road trip to the past.

Our first stop, (after coffee) was to pick up our good friend Frank, who was coming along with us today. By 6:30, we were heading east on Rt.22, watching the skyline slowly become visible. Traffic was very light, most sensible people were at home sound asleep, the shoppers were clustered around the malls, and we basically had the road to ourselves.

Our first step into the past was back into the late 1900’s, a visit to an abandoned fast food joint. At one time this was a hopping place, but today it was off to the side of a car dealers lot, empty and covered with signs promoting its great potential. We didn’t see that potential ourselves, but we did see a geocache hidden near-by!

On the road again, we pointed our little blue time machine (AMB’s Honda Fit) towards the town of New Florence and a century earlier. The sun had crossed over the horizon and as we came up Furnace Lane, we saw The Laurel Hill Furnace sitting beside the road. We pulled over and took some pictures.

The Laurel Hill Furnace
(Pictures will enlarge when clicked)

Plant growth on the sides

Ann Marie inside the stack

AMB and I had been here earlier in the month. The furnace is in great shape considering its age! It was built in 1846 and it has been supported by iron rods placed through its stones to hold it together. These along with the removal of trees and bushes have kept it in good shape. Roots are a major destructor of these structures. All four walls are whole and its four openings are complete. The work arch, is open to the center and you can stand inside the bosh and look up the chimney. You can also look between the bosh and the outer furnace, this is where an insulating layer of sand, clay and rubble was, used to insulate the heat of the furnace from its outer structure.

Pushing our time machine a bit further back, we drove another mile or two into the State Game Lands and into the years around 1819. About ¾ of a mile away from our parking spot, we saw the large pile of stone that was all that remained of the Baldwin Furnace. Situated below the dirt road going up the hill and a near-by stream it was hard to miss!

Hidden in the Gamelands

Nice solid wall against the hillside

This furnace was in fair shape. The back wall and a portion of the side wall, was falling in and the stones were far from tight. You could see how they were slowly starting to feel the effects of gravity, the spaces between them getting larger and larger. There was a wall made of rocks against the hillside. I thought this was only a thin wall but when I climbed up behind it, I found out it was about a foot thick, nice and solid. This furnace had only 2 openings but what we thought was interesting was how, even though the stonework was rough and “crude”, they had rounded out the two stones at the top of the openings. We were wondering if this was done for a reason or just to make it look nicer. It had obviously taken some time to do and of course, we all know that “time is money”!

Carved arches at the peaks of the openings

The backside

Baldwin Creek

The furnace sits beside Baldwin Creek. Almost all of the furnaces we’ve visited have been near streams. They provided an important part of the iron making process. They turned water wheels which in turn operated bellows to increase the heat of the furnace.

This stream was especially nice, working its way over the rocks, making lots of waterfalls and filling the valley with the great, relaxing sound of splashing water.

It was during this time that we came up with a name for our days adventure. The “Darn, I Lost the Satellites Again Tour”. Frank was having problems with his GPS, it would take “forever” to find the satellites and then it would lose them almost immediately. We ran through a bunch of different suggestions as to why this was happening. My GPS, the same brand and model, was working fine.

Every time he lost his satellites, we heard that same phrase over again. ;-) (It seems that his batteries, while showing as being fully charges, just weren’t giving the unit enough power. Once new batteries were put in it, the problems seemed to clear up!)

Modern power

Leaving the iron furnace and the early 1800’s, we moved back into the present as we passed the power plant located near New Florence. It was big and also pretty impressive looking! There is a lot more power pushed through this place than there was through the Baldwin Furnace! We’ve come a long way

Next we pushed out time selector towards the 1930’s, back to when Mr. Rogers was just a child. His maternal grandfather, Mr McFeely, owned a piece of land near-by. On this property was Buttermilk Falls. When young Fred visited his grandfather, they would roam through the woods here, often ending up at the falls. It was easy to see why he enjoyed this place once we visited it!

Buttermilk Falls

The showpiece is definitely the falls. Crossing over a wide piece of rock 45 feet above the valley below, it cascades down across the ledges below.

Ruins near the falls

Old structures above the falls

Ann Marie and Frank exploring the ruins

It was nice to be walking in the same area that the Pittsburgh celebrity and hero of children and adults worldwide, had walked himself. There were some ruins at the top of the falls, what exactly they were I don’t know. They were covered with moss and grass and you could almost imagine mythical sprites hiding amongst them. It was an enchanted type of place. In a 1996 interview, Mr. Rogers told how he used to climb on the ruins and crawl behind the waterfall.

After getting our Fred Rogers fix, we took a hike into a nice steep valley, Stinson Hollow. The trail went down, down and then a bit further down. It really wasn’t “that” bad, but getting back up….well…

The slopes of Stinson Hollow

Back at the car, we headed back into the 1800’s again. This time we were heading towards the Buena Vista Furnace, sitting near the Ghost Town Trail and Blacklick Creek. We could see the furnace but couldn’t get to it because of the steep hillsides on either side of the trail. At one time there was a rail line coming through here, known as the Blairsville Secondary, now instead of trains it is used mostly by bikes. Walking along the top of the slope, we finally came to a spot we could easily (?) work our way down. Once on the trail, we found a nice wide path down to the furnace.

The furnace was built back in 1847 and operated until 1856, a total of nine years. It was extremely well built. The stones were chiseled square and were expertly fitted together. The corners are sharp and all angles meet in nice tight angles. It looks as if it had been planned, not just put together with what was at hand.

7 years ago, it was still in the woods

Very nicely made triangular front opening

Nice masonry, complete with sharp edges!

Insides are now exposed

Back walls collapsing

One corner has crumbled and there are signs of disruption on the other faces, but if you look at some of the corners, they look as if you could cut yourself on their edges. The front opening is in good shape, the other two openings are fairing a bit worse. One was included in the crumbling corner, the top of its arch is just visible above the rubble. The one on the opposite side is still standing and holding its shape, but some of the cover stones have fallen, exposing the rocks making the arch and the filler stones on the sides. The trees that once surrounded it have been cleared away, it now sits in a wide, open field.

What an active iron furnace looked like

In the 9 years this operated, it employed 61 men and boys to run it. These people lived near-by in houses that have since disappeared along with the supporting structures and the loading bridge that was once attached to its top. You can’t help but wonder where all these people lived. There are never any signs or ruins of buildings other than the furnaces. Perhaps they knew that they wouldn’t last long and didn’t bother to make permanent structures. I could imagine a community being settled here, the area around the furnace is a wide flat field. There aren’t a lot of stones like there was around the Baldwin Furnace, approximately 10 miles to the south.

Moving closer towards present day, we headed into the late 1940’s. We found an old iron coal tipple, slowly rusting away. We parked about ¾ mile away from it and followed a grassy road into a shallow valley. The one side was covered with no trespassing signs. The other side sloped down to a nice small creek, winding its way in a twisty path through the hollow. We came to a pipe gate that crossed the road and beyond that, we started into what used to be a mine of some type. The ground was covered with chunks of coal and there were lots of mounds of dirt. There were piles of rusting steel and we passed a large motor lying on its side. Old rotten wood that once was a structure of some type was in a pile, slowly getting smaller and smaller as nature took back what was once taken from it. Cresting a small hill and rounding a bend, we finally saw the top of the tipple.

Thompson #1

Once upon a time, it was called Thompson #1, I imagine it is still called that to the few people that know it is here. It is located near Mardis Run, a little north of the town of Armagh. Of course, it wasn’t just to see the tipple that brought us here, there was a cache near-by. This is one of the great things about geocaching, you never know where or what you might see….or learn!

After signing the log in the cache and exploring the structure a bit, we started back…unfortunately, the leader of the hike led us down a hill instead of up….and we had to retrace our steps. It was getting towards the end of the day and those steps were starting to matter! We were starting to tire out a bit and we still had another ¾ mile to go till we got to the car (time machine). (That leader would have been me…“ Sorry Guys!”)

Once we were back in our vehicle, we turned it towards the Pittsburgh area, but we had one last bit of history to visit before we returned.

The town of Blairsville is situated along the Conemaugh River. In 1889 the Johnstown Flood affected this community tremendously and later in 1936, the St. Patrick’s Day Flood came through reeking destruction. The Army Corps of Engineers decided that a dam was needed to help control these waters and the Conemaugh Dam project was started in 1949. As the waters rose behind the dam, many small communities were flooded out, slowly disappearing under the rising waters. In Blairsville many streets had to be abandoned and the people relocated. Near-by Rt.22 was relocated, passing near the town instead of going through it as it once had. Needless to say, this project was not popular with a lot of the townsfolk.

Once bordered by houses

All that remains of the old Blairsville

We crossed the new bridge that spans the river, the old foundations of the previous bridge are situated right beside it. At the far side, we turned into a section of old concrete road surface. A narrow road led up river, the road was muddy and alongside of it were the remnants of houses and the community that once thrived here. All that remains is flat pieces of land where the houses used to stand and an occasional set of steps leading up to.….nothing.

Frank finding the final cache of the day

After finding a cache hidden here, (surprise, surprise!) we turned all the dials on our time machine from the 40's towards the present day. We stopped for a cup of coffee at the near-by Sheetz and then turned onto the newly reconstructed Rt. 22. In about an hour, we were at Frank’s house and visiting with his wife and dog. Another 45 minutes and we were back at my house petting my dog.

Our trip back into time took us through a couple centuries and happily back to the time we love best…the present.
Hmmmmm, I wonder what this place will look like in another 100 years or so?

A Couple More Furnaces added to the Life List

2011-11-13T13:36:00.001-05:00

11/11-12/11

Once again,this Friday was an off day and on this one, I went with a friend, Ray, to the Forbes State Forest. Ray was going hunting for Deer or Turkey and I was going hunting for Iron Furnaces along with a cache or two. Ray came over to the house around 6:30 and Red and I jumped into his car and we were off.

I wasn’t sure where Ray had in mind to go hunting, we were planning on going to “his” spot and then I’d take his car for a couple hours and then come back to pick him and his trophies up. Surprisingly enough, he drove right to one of the places I was thinking of going.

The Saturday before, Ann Marie and I started our Iron Furnace Tour in the very same spot.

http://booksadventuresandlife.blogspot.com/2011/11/ramble-through-westmoreland-county.html

We decided to pass on searching out the furnace because we had arrived about an hour before sunrise and didn’t feel comfortable hiking through the woods in a gameland, in the dark. We figured we’d do it another time. WELL, that other time was THIS DAY it seemed.

Ray suited up and went one way, Big Red and I headed in another way. We were about ¾ mile away from our goal. A trail went through the woods to with-in .2 mile away from the furnace. From there, we had to bushwack. There was a light covering of snow on the ground, but not enough to worry about.

By following up the stream, we soon found it and took some shots of it. This was the Fountain Furnace. Located along Camp Run in Donegal Township it was built sometime before 1812. There are no records as to how long it remained in use. It is listed as originally being 32 feet high and 30 foot square at its base. Presently, there are 2 sides still intact, one of them having a triangular opening in it. There is a set back in the structure, a ledge that went around the furnace. Some furnaces have this feature, some don’t. I am guessing this is just a design feaature the builder chose to add.

The Fountain Furnace

(pictures will enlarge when clicked!)

The backside

The two other sides were just rubble. The area surrounding it was covered with the stones that once made these sides. A dirt road passed directly beside it and on the hillside above it was a cabin, someone’s vacation spot perhaps?

The stones inside the opening were the remains of the chimney caving in on itself. One of the long cross beams was cracked and I can only imagine it will break in a couple more decades.

Looking into the opening

A small section of wall remained beside it but it was only about a foot long and a foot high. It might have just been what kept the road from where it was.

Later in the morning, Red and I hiked up to the top of a ski area to find a cache. We located it and as I signed it, I looked at my watch and it was 11AM. That would be 11AM on 11/11/11. Cool!

I have to add, Red was an exceptionally good dog on this trip. He didn't howl or eat anything he shouldn't!

The next day, AMB and I went over to Beaver Falls for a birthday dinner for her Mom. Lots of relatives were there from across the country including Jen, Emma and David, her nieces and nephew from Indiana. We got there early enough to take them on a search for a cache and also for an Iron Furnace.

We were about 20 miles away from the Neshannock Furnace (also known as the Powers Furnace, named after the owners) located in Lawrence County. We borrowed Ann Marie's brothers truck to make the journey and in about a half hour we were alongside Neshannock creek, looking for the remains. We had the co-ordinates in the GPS and knew we were with-in 200-300 feet. The road was fairly high above the stream here and there were houses situated on top of the slopes. We pulled into a garage and asked the owner if he knew anything about the furnace. He took me over to the edge of the hill and told me a couple stories about about him growing up here. What we were looking for was right below us. He showed us a ramp on the hillside that would take us down to them. Within minutes we had found what we were looking for.

This furnace was built back in 1850 and operated for about 12 years. Most of the stones used to make it were gone. We saw walls in neighbor’s yards that were probably made from them. We also saw a large pile of squared stones in a field across the road from the garage, looking a lot like the style of stones used in furnace construction.

Possibly stones from the furnace?

We found 2 sets of structures. The first was a set of 3 pedestals. About 5 or 6 foot square and about 4 or 5 foot high. They were spaced about 4 or 5 foot apart. Could they be some sort of loading platform or perhaps a bridge structure? They seemed to be the only ones there. I didn’t see any other rocks or remains near them. They were about the same height as the dirt road that crossed along the bottom of the hillside.

Pillars

David moving in for a closer look

A short bit further upstream was the 2nd set of ruins. Closest to the hillside was a structure of squared off stones about 10-12 feet high. It was about 4 or 5 feet thick, shaped like a triangle. It was probably the back end of the furnace or part of the bridge leading to its top.

Emma on her throne

Behind it we found a pile of rubble that used to be the furnace. David and I found the opening of where the chimney used to be. All the cut stones which made it up were gone, only the field stone used as insulation between the chimney and the outside stone remained. Some large trees were growing out of the rubble, some of which must have been at least 50 years old.

The chimney hole

After crawling around on the stones for awhile we headed back up to the garage where we talked with the owners of the property for awhile. He told us a bit about some of the local history and we gave him a sheet of paper with some info about the furnace. Nice people!

David doing some rock climbing

The girls heading back towards the car
We hit the road and were back home in about 25 minutes. Unfortunately, we got there about an hour later than we planned….oooops

Late we went to diner with Ann Maries family. What a great bunch of people, lots of funny stories and lots of good natured joking around. This was something I never experienced in my small family.

The Balzer Clan

We were back home by 9:30 and I was asleep by 10:30. Another fine day in the life…

One last thing, I found out on Friday night that I won second place in the 2011 Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh photo contest for my picture of the sun coming up over the horizon on October 9th!

2nd place, not bad!

I think there were only 2 photos entered...;-)

I figure that vast amounts of money will soon be rolling in!!!

A Ramble Through Westmoreland County

2011-11-07T11:58:00.001-05:00

Rambling through Westmoreland County

11/5/11

Me, inside a furnace

Another beautiful weekend, comfortable temperatures, clear skies, the leaves right near the end of their change and I had a list of iron furnaces that Ann Marie and I hadn’t seen before. It was time for another “road trip”.

This time we were heading east into Westmoreland County, into the Laurel Mountains, near Latrobe, home to the horse farms of the rich and famous.

My list of furnaces comprised of 6 old stacks, in a line about 5 to 10 miles apart from each other in a NNE direction. Most of these were near roads and should be fairly easy to locate. We started out in the south end of the map, near Donegal and worked our way up to Sewart, (end of the Laurel Highlands Trail) in the north.

As is so often the case for us, we left in what some people consider the middle of the night. It was around 5 when we left, the sky full of stars and most of the neighbors houses dark and quiet. Crossing the Highland Park Bridge, we could just barely see the hilltops against the sky. By the time we got off the turnpike in Donegal, the sky was getting brighter in the east.

Our first furnace was on private property and would involve a ½ mile hike through the woods and along the edge of a field. We drove about ¾ mile into a State Gameland and saw the hunters sitting in their trucks, waiting for sunrise. We parked and got out of the Jeep and considered our options. HMMMMM, do we really want to walk though an area full of hunters early in the morning, and to start this hike while it was still dark? We decided to continue the tour without this furnace. (The Fountain Furnace) We can always come back and do it another time. We looked at the sky for a bit though the narrow opening above the dirt road and then turned the car around and returned to solid roads.

The sun came up as we approached our next stop, in Linn Run State Park. There were a couple caches here we had to find. The first was a pretty easy one beside Linn Run of all places.

Linn Run

(pics will enlarge when clicked)

Hiking on to our next cache took us past some nice ruins. I know nothing about these stones, when it was built, if it was done by the state or possibly the CCC, why it doesn’t have a roof any more or what happened to all the stones that fell from the walls? Lots of questions here…

AMB going in the front (?) door

Looking out the side

I am led to believe that it once was a park building since it has a cement floor. There is also no plumbing at all, or any evidence of room dividers. It looks like a large one room building.

Side view from inside

Looking in from the front

We continued our hike through the fall foliage and soon came to what was drawing us. An ammo box, what else? We also saw some nice big flat rocks in the stream, I’m sure this place is packed in the summer months!

We left the park and moved into horse territory. We passed big stables and even bigger houses. There was real estate stretching out for miles. It was home to the Mellon’s and their compatriots. Some how we missed our road and seeing a police car heading toward us, I flagged him down to ask for directions. Telling him we were looking for an iron furnace, he told us he had just been there, but it was on private property. Telling us he would “look the other way”, he told us to go past a “Do Not Enter” sign and where to turn to get to it. We had passed the road by because of the sign, thinking it was a driveway.

The policeman was a really nice guy, more than happy to help out and I think…to have someone to BS with early on a Saturday morning. He helped us out in a couple ways and it was nice meeting him.

Naturally, as soon as we turned into this private road, we ran into a couple cars coming the opposite direction. They paid us no mind so we continued on, it was more a private community than anything. Lots of nice houses spaced far away from each other. A small dirt road, nicely kept led us to a covered bridge. This was built by the Mellon’s in the 60’s. Not much further past that was the California Furnace.

This was originally built in 1850 or 1853. Built beside Rolling Rock Run it was the last iron furnace built in Westmoreland County. It didn’t last very long. In the early 1960’s, it had been reduced to a 15 foot high pile of rubble. The Mellon’s (once again) rebuilt the furnace in 1966 and restored it to its original appearance. There is some nice stonework visible beside it in the run that took the water back to the near-by stream.

Looking up from the wheel pit

Walls of the wheel pit and the sluice

How an Iron Furnace works

It is in great shape, but then again, it is only a mere 45 years old now

The California Furnace

We next stopped along Laurel Summit Road. We have been on this road MANY, MANY times. There are a lot of great trails that intersect this road, including The Laurel Highlands Trail! Today’s cache took us on a trail we hadn’t been on before. A short ½ mile walk brought us to a nice grouping of rocks and cliffs. The cache was hidden nicely in one of the niches and it took awhile until Ann Marie spied it. The hike in the woods was nice, we needed some time in the open air. The dog was tiring us out, you can only take so much barking…

Back at the car, we decided to get some lunch. We stopped at Walat’s, a “biker friendly” bar in-between Summit Road and the Laurel Highlands Trail parking area. I’ve passed it many times, but never stopped in. We WILL be back, they had very good food in there!

On the road again, we stopped at the bottom of the mountain at the Washington Furnace. We had to stop and ask the owner for permission to visit it. I talked with an elderly lady who was happy to allow us to visit. She even told us to park in her driveway and about a bridge on her property that would get us across the stream to the ruins.

The furnace was built sometime between 1809 and 1812, it was abandoned in 1826. Twenty two years later, in 1848 it was rebuilt and operated until 1854. Presently, there are only 2 walls remaining and the corner between them is in the process of falling apart. The sides facing the stream (Furnace Run) is basically rubble. The firebrick of the chimney is still intact but it is filled to with-in to 3 or 4 feet from its top. There is lots of slag littering the ground around the site. There was suppose to be a large salamander near by but we didn’t see it, we might have looked right at it and not noticed it. ( A salamander is a mass of solidified material, largely metallic, left in a blast-furnace hearth.)

Looking down into the Washington Furnace chimney from the top

Backside

The power of roots!
The next furnace on our list was The Valley Furnace, also known as The Hillview Furnace. This mass of stone was right beside the road in a farmer’s field. There was barbed wire around it to keep the cattle in so we only looked at it from the road. It was built in 1850 and was in fairly good shape. It’s base 36 feet across making it one of the largest we’ve seen. There are lots of trees and bushes growing on it, so in time, it will be crumbling further.

The Valley (or Hillview) Furnace

Time was getting late so we skipped the Ross Furnace and headed to the Laurel Hill Furnace. Situated on Baldwin Creek , it was built back in 1846. It is in very good shape, it has 4 arched openings and is held together with iron tie rods, 4 in each direction. Along with the trimming of trees and bushes, these have kept the walls together. There was a deep wheel pit on this furnace, 35 feet deep and a 4 foot high tunnel leading back to the stream, a ¼ mile away. This was because there isn’t much of a slope to the stream and this added additional water pressure to turn the wheel to power the bellows. We didn’t see the tunnel much as I would have liked to. The wheel pit was filled in. Perhaps the next time I’m here I’ll search out the end of the tunnel.

The Laurel hill Furnace

2 of the iron rods holding it together

Inside one of the arches

Looking up the chimney

Missing firebricks in the chimney

Our last furnace was going to be the Baldwin Furnace, named after the stream it is located on. This is located very close to the Laurel Hill Furnace. We got all our co-ordinates off of a web site and all were correct except for this one. The directions they gave and the co-ordinates were different. We looked around a bit and since it was getting late, we put this one on hold also for another day.

(The next day, I found a geocache listed that was hidden near the furnace. Using those co-ordinates instead of the ones we were using, it turns out the furnace was about a half mile in the opposite direction of where we were looking. )

We packed up the dog and headed north to Rt.22 and home. Another hour and change and we were home again. Ready for a shower and a good rest. The day was good, 3 caches, a short hike (1+ mile), a great lunch and 4 furnaces, and of course, a couple more memories. No complaints here!

Our route, as well as I can remember it...

Leg of Lamb for Dinner

2011-10-31T04:53:00.000-04:00

One of life’s adventures is the meals we eat. Last night we had what I thought was a really good dinner. It was pretty easy to make and I thought I’d share it with you.

I had a boneless leg of lamb, bought from the local supermarket. With it I made some potatoes and some fresh green beans. Apple sauce was served on the side.

The ingredients:

2.1# of boneless leg of lamb

10-12 red potatoes (about 1 ½-2 inches in dia.)

1 sweet onion

5 cloves of garlic

Aprox. 20-25 green beans

1 sm pat of butter

Some cooking oil

Jar of sugar free applesauce

Ground cinnamon

I started with the onion, sliced off the ends and then placed it on its end and sliced it into squares. I put these into an iron skillet with some cooking oil that was heated and seasoned with some (lots of) garlic slivers, about 3 big cloves. (I just love the smell of garlic cooking on the stove!) I kept turning the onions over a low flame and when they turned translucent, I added the potatoes. I had about 10 small red potatoes, washed and cut into quarters. Once added to the onions, I kept turning them every 5 or 10 minutes. A 1/4 of a hot red pepper was added just to add a little bite along with salt and fresh ground pepper. All told they were on for about an hour. When finished, the potatoes were still solid but they had a brown outer surface and the onions were all caramelized and crispy.

The room temperature lamb was put into a 350 degree oven after some slices of garlic (2 cloves) were put into it. I put it in a low baking dish with a thermometer stuck in the thickest section. I took it out when it hit 120 degrees. It continued to cook as it sat for a few minutes before cutting. It was in the oven for about 45 minutes.

The beans had the ends cut off and were just put into boiling water for a few minutes before we ate. When they got tender enough to push a fork into, I drained them and added some butter, put them back on a real low flame to evaporate the water and to melt the butter and then put them on the plate.

The applesauce was from a jar, sugar free, with some cinnamon sprinkled over top of it.

There was enough for two and there were leftovers for later in the week.

This is what it looked like….it tasted even better than it looks!

IMHO!

St. John's furnace

2011-10-29T16:49:00.000-04:00

10/28/11

St. John’s Furnace

Another Friday, this one coming after a few days of rain promised to be a nice day. Predictions were calling for a 10% chance of rain…I was ready!

The day started out with fog outside my door. I could just barely see the neighbor’s house across the street. I could see bars of light coming out from their windows. They were squared off and solid enough to touch. As Red and I took our morning walk, we ran into lots of these bars of light. Where a car was being warmed up, the tail lights covered the house in a red glow. Things sure look different on a foggy morning!

I decided to leave the dog at home today, I wanted to have a nice quiet drive and to enjoy walking through the woods without worrying about being pulled over as the dog yanks on his leash. I managed to get on the road by 5:30. Just me, the radio and the fog…off to Normalville.

As is usually the case, a geocache was calling me. I had this one on my “to do” list for a couple years. It was hidden near an old Iron Furnace alongside Indian Creek, near the town of Normalville. Yes, Normalville. It wasn’t just the cache that drew me there, it was the ruins of the furnace also. I had never been to this one and I was looking forward to seeing how much of it has survived the years.

First stop for pictures

(Pictures will enlarge when clicked)

I started seeing the hills against the eastern horizon after I got off the turnpike in New Stanton. Sunrise was still an hour away but the sky was starting to brighten up. Soon I was able to start seeing details in the land on either side of the road. Coming up a high hill, I was hoping to come to a nice scene where I could catch the sunrise. I pulled over at one spot and took a couple shots but decided to move on and look for a better site. Before long, I came to a cemetery and pulled in. It was on top of a hill and had a nice view off to the east, complete with a Church spire, what more could I ask for?

Things were looking good....

Setting up the tripod, things looked good. The sky had a nice orange glow reflecting on some clouds close to the horizon. I took a few shots and looked at my watch to see how close I was to sunrise. (7:44AM) When I looked up, I saw a bank of fog moving from my right towards the Church. With-in a couple minutes, the cemetery was completely fogged in, the sky had turned white, all the colors had left, and my sunrise was hidden.

Then the fog moved in

I turned on the GPS and saw I was with-in 2 miles of the furnace. I packed up my gear and headed towards it. I turned down a road that was situated between two houses, it looked more like a driveway than a road. It soon turned from asphalt to dirt and gravel. After about a mile or so, I ran into some BIG machinery.

The cache owner had provided co-ordinates for parking and also the start of a trail down to the furnace. These co-ordinates were right under what was now a wide road covered with a thick mud. Front loaders with tires bigger than my car were crossing the road, huge dump trucks sat near by. The hillside had been denuded and large piles of dirt were heaped in random spots. The fog made gave it a dream like quality. I drove on a bit further to where the trail was, or used to be I should say. It was still there but soon disapeared after10 or 20 feet where it was covered over with another pile of dirt and rocks. No trespassing signs littered the trees.

Mining area

I found a spot about a half mile further down the road where I could pull over and park. Here, I consulted my map and the GPS. I was about a half mile away. The hillside beside me didn’t look too difficult to tackle. It looked as if there even was a path heading down in the direction I wanted to go. Unfortunately, this path disappeared about 50 yards down the hill. I wove my way in-between the jagger bushes and fallen logs. I knew I had to go down, once I hit the stream, I could work my way upstream from there. Checking my GPS, I found I was actually going further away from the furnace. I had forgotten to take into account the curve of the hillside. The stream I was following downhill was going further away. I changed my heading and went across the hillside for awhile, crossing a real rocky section in the process. I came across a trail or two, but most of my hike was bushwacking. Finally, I could see the stream below me and headed straight down towards it. Near its edge was a nice wide path, my day was just made a lot easier. A wide waterfall crossed the stream where I met it. Mist from the splashing water hung over top of it.

Waterfall

Old railroad right of way

After a couple pictures of the falls, I continued on towards the furnace. Mountain Laurel crowded the trail at times and other times, streams made large puddles in it and on occasion, it was an easy path to follow. The path was what remained of an old RR right of way. It wasn’t long before I saw what remained of the stack.

First sighting of the ruins
St. John's Furnace was originally built back between 1810 and 1815 and lasted only about 13-18 years, it was last used in 1828.

One corner was still standing, most of the furnace had long since crumbled away. A wall from the wheel pit was still there along with a couple batches of stones that used to be walls. The millrace was also evident. The remains had a large tree growing out of its top. The fallen leaves had covered most the stones, hiding them in the fall foliage. The remaining stack was about 15 feet high at its highest. It was much less on the uphill side. The work arch, at one time at its center, was where the remaining corner started. The stones used to build it were loose and poorly stacked. Without climbing on top of the pile, I could see no evidence of a chimney.

St. John's remains

From the hillside

After taking a few pictures, I went up the hillside and located the cache. It was here that disaster struck. My camera started to malfunction. Out of the blue, something went wrong. I took the batteries out and restarted it and once again, malfunction. I took them out again and started walking back up the hill.

Last picture before problems with camera started

This time, I took the path that was suggested in the cache description. It was a nice easy to follow path, made by ATVs. It went uphill at a nice shallow slope, no problem.

THEN, I came up to the work area. There was some newly planted grass on a steep slope. I climbed to the top of the slope and I could see a big stretch of dirt and mud. Dirt roads were right beside the edge, covered with a good 6 or 7 inches of mud. I followed the slope off to the left, towards my car, and finally came to a spot that looked as if I could cross. Woods were on the far side and I figured the road was right above them.

I took a large rock and dropped it in the mud to see what it was like…it was like pancake batter. The rock was swallowed up in it and you couldn’t even tell I had dropped one there. A stick showed it as being about 6-7 inches deep. Going back and forth, I found a spot I felt I could jump across and took the leap. The road section was wet but solid. It was the sides I had to worry about. Going back and forth, I found another narrow spot and I jumped over it with only an inch or two of mud going over the tops of my shoes. I did this just before a couple big dump trucks passed by. I don’t know what they would have said if they saw me there. I know there were lots of signs along the road saying KEEP OUT! I didn’t see any on the way up though…

I started up through the woods, only to come up against a barbed wire fence. Four strands of this evil wire kept me right where I was. To top it off, an electrical fence was stretched in-between them. I started following it sideways….hoping to skirt around it. No such luck. It went right back to where the trucks were, at the top of a big pile of dirt and mud. I did fid a spot where the electric fence changed direction and headed uphill. I took the plunge, crawled through the barbed wire and followed the electric fence uphill. Nearing the top of the hill, with the road in sight, the fence ran into a big pile of sticks, logs and debris piled by the mining company. I wasn’t going to be able to crawl over or through that!

I looked around, got down on my hands and knees and crawled under the fence. Being careful to avoid the cow patties scattered all over the place, I hurried across the field, in plain view from the windows of the owners double wide trailer and jumped over the fence at the far side, just about 30 feet away from the Jeep. Only a minute later, a car drove up the road from one of the trailers I passed. The driver just smiled and continued on, thankfully! All told, my “1/2” mile hike in and back took me almost 2 miles to make.

My Map

(black-intended route, red-actual route, brown-mining area)I put the co-ordinates for the next cache in the GPS and headed off to there. I was only a couple miles away.

This one involved a hike of about 1 mile in. I was only .6 of a mile away, but the paths added another .4 to my travels. This hike was all uphill to start. This would make the return hike much easier! I had to go around a few big puddles that spanned the entire trail, the edges nice and slippery or, if I took the wrong side, nice and deep.

Eventually, at the top of my hike, I came to a nice pond, the water filling a deep part of an old quarry. At one end, a couple small waterfalls worked at keeping it filled. At the end I was at, the shore went gently into the pond at a nice slight angle. The fall colors reflected nicely on the surface of the pond.

Reflections on the pond

The cache was located near-by. I had to find a tree with a number on it and then do a little arithmetic with that number and that would lead me to the final. I must have done the math correctly, my GPS said I was 2 feet away from the cache when I found it.

I signed the log and then started back downhill to the car. This short hike ended up being just over 2 miles round trip. Back at the car, I turned the wheels towards Pittsburgh and was back by 1PM. I stopped at the bank and the store and then a quick visit to a car wash to get some of that “pancake batter” off the wheels and wheel wells. After that, I still had some afternoon left over to play with.

Another fun trip, a little bit of adventure, some mud and dirt covering both me and my car and some more memories for the brain cells!

Walking The Dog

2011-10-25T05:00:00.000-04:00

10/25/11 3AM

(Picture thanks to Google)

Walking the dog this morning, I came up the hill to the upper portion of my street and in doing so, came out from under the trees and into a dark, clear sky. Orion and Gemini were high overhead and as I looked behind me, towards the north, I could see the bowl of the Big Dipper sitting above the trees, pouring its contents onto its handle. No moon was there to spoil the view with its glow.

It was quiet and cool.

Nothing was moving.

No clouds marred my view.

I had to stop and watch for awhile.

A pair of raccoons started fighting over the hillside, or perhaps they were making more raccoons…luckily, the dog didn’t hear them. Maybe he was just more concerned with the treats I had in my pocket.

We continued on, through the dark, towards the start of my day…..

Map in the Sky

2011-10-17T04:36:00.000-04:00

10/17/11

This morning as I was walking the dog, my eyes were drawn up to the sky. (As always)

Today, even though the moon was high in the sky, the sky itself was a dark, dark blue color and there were whitish grey clouds drifting across it. Occasionally I could see some of the brighter stars in between the clouds, only to disappear again as the clouds continued on. It looked like a map of islands.

The sky was the sea and the clouds the land. There were rivers and lakes in them and occasionally a large lake. OK, so it was my tired mind going to town, but it sure looked nice!

***********

Now speaking of maps, I came across an interesting one this weekend. A map of the Island of Fiction.

(Map will enlarge when clicked!)

It was in the front of a book called One of Our Thursdays is Missing, by Jasper Fforde. I found the map the most interesting part of the book.

Have a good Monday!

The Book Sale

2011-10-15T10:38:00.000-04:00

10/14/11

It was a rainy Friday, 6:30 in the evening, a perfect time to go and peruse a big batch of books being offered up for sale. It was one of my favorite activities, visiting the local library’s twice yearly book sale.

They make a nice profit from these sales and the local community seems to enjoy them. On opening day, Saturday, there is usually a long line waiting to get in the doors.

This evening was the “Friends of the Library” sale. By making a small donation towards the library, you can join this group. Other than supporting the library, one of the benefits is that you get the opportunity to look through the books on the evening before the sale starts. There is some wine and pop set out for the patrons along with some snacks, cookies. But the real draw (for me at least) is the opportunity to browse through a batch of used books before anyone else.

At previous sales, there was a “special room”. In there was a small collection of first editions, local interest books and the occasional old rare volume. These were usually priced a bit higher than the rest of the collection there and it was always fun looking through the offerings. This time, the room wasn’t there, they just didn’t have enough to warrant it. So sad!

Inside the book sale, this year, a large number of the books were library discards. Books with the thick plastic covers and their Dewey Decimal Number taped on to their spine. Personally, I enjoy getting nice clean books, I don’t like to have library markings on the spine or ink stamps inside on the pages. But, on the other hand, sometimes, you just can’t beat the price!

There are usually two types of people at these sales. The regular patrons of the library and the business people who made the donation just so they could come a day early and get a jump on tomorrows crowd.

The regulars are the ones slowly (?) going through the stacks, picking an occasional book up, looking at the cover, opening it up and possibly reading a page or two before replacing it or adding it to their pile. They are looking for an addition to their collections, or another book to read, possibly something for their book club.

On the other hand, the business people have their cell phones in hand, complete with a little attachment that reads the bar codes on the books. They pick up a book, scan it, glance at the screen to see what its worth and then toss it back on the pile or else into their box. (Yes, their box!) After they fill a box, they put their coat or jacket over it and slide it over to the side of the room, then go out with another empty box, ready to scavenge some more. Their reason for coming is to make money, not the love of books. I heard one say, “This book will pay for my whole night tonight.” I saw a few of them just dropping the books they didn’t want back on the table, not bothering to put them back in the stack, just dropping them where they happened to land. You will see the books they gathered tonight, on-line tomorrow.

I hate to say it but these people rub me the wrong way. They aren't there because of a love of books, it is pure buisness. But, I can't complain, they bring needed money to the library and that is what this is all about!

When I first came in, the books were nicely lined up, all the titles were easily read, most of them lined up in the same direction. After a half hour they were spread out every which way. Book covers were bent and folded back, some sitting piles on top of the others….sad.

OK, It wasn't quite this bad...

What can I say, what can I do? Not much. I went in and endured the pushing and found myself about a dozen books. A couple of them will be added to my clubs collection and the others will be added to my “To Read” pile. Chances are they will be read, if I don’t enjoy them, they will be re-donated to the next sale. I paid for them ($1 each!) and then went out and had glass of wine and a couple cookies and BS’d with some friends. Then I went home to look at what I had gotten.

It wasn’t long afterwards I was well into one of them…

(Geography of Home, Writings on Where We Live, by Akiko Busch, a library discard)

A book that I knew I was going to enjoy, one that will be added to my collection when I am finished.

So, the library’s sale is well on its way. The library will winnow down their collection, the local patrons will get some new books to read and the best of all, the library will make some much needed cash.

Now…as I was writing this, I kept thinking of a nice hardback dictionary I had picked up a couple times last night. I think I’ll be stopping back again today to see if its still there.

If it is….it was meant to be mine!

(“As if I need another dictionary………...yeah, I think I do!”)

NOTE: It was still there and I was the first sale of the morning! There was also a nice long line when the doors openned also!

PA QSO Party 2011

2011-10-10T10:42:00.001-04:00

PA. QSO Party 2011

10/8-9/11

AB3AW

(Pics will enlarge when clicked)

The PA QSO Party is an Amateur Radio contest held yearly in which the goal is to try and contact as many PA amateurs as possible. It is held on the first weekend of October and Pa Hams eagerly look forward to it!

Other than contacting as many Hams as possible, a lot of amateurs try to get a “clean sweep”, by contacting someone in each of the 67 counties in PA.

Now some Hams are driven, they sit down in front of their radio and don’t get up until the time period is up. With Saturday’s hours lasting 13 hours, this can make for a long time in front of the radio! They want to make as many contacts as possible and get the clean sweep also! Others, like myself, set a little bit more achievable goals. I’ll spend an hour or so at the radio and then take the dog for a walk, or rake some leaves. This year, I cleaned the gutters.

There are different ways of making your contacts. There is the scan and pick method. Slowly turning the dial and seeing what shows up and grabbing it when it does. (This is my favorite method) The other is sitting on a frequency and repeatedly giving your call out and seeing who stops by to make a contact (such as me!) At times, I will make some calls of my own, but these can get rather hectic as multiple amateurs are calling you, some loud and some barely audible. You have to give them all a chance, and keep track of who called and what their reports were. Keeping track of your contacts, that can be tough. You don’t want to make a mistake, especially if you’re going to turn in your log! I figure my biggest thing in this contest is to give other amateurs points. ;-)

I have a nice logging program on my computer made by N3FJP. It was made especially for the PA QSO Party and I’ve been using it for years now. It really does help make it easier. It will keep track of what # you give your contact (sequential from #1) and what their # and county is. It will tell you if it is a duplicate contact, there is only one contact per band allowed. It will also show a map of what counties you’ve contacted. There is much more it does, but those are the basics.

My equipment consists of a Kenwood TS-570D, a great radio that has treated me well for years. It is hooked up to a simple G5RV antenna, strung up about 10-20 feet in the air in an “L” shape. There is a beam antenna on my roof but I rarely use that, the wire antenna works much better.

Other than the computer program, I also use lots (and lots) of paper. I always have a pile of scrap paper to keep notes on. I copy the calls I hear and don’t put them in the computer until I’m sure I got it correct. This saves going back and fixing my log. Taking a little time and making sure I have all the info first never hurts! I still end up going back and making a couple corrections. I filled 8 sheets of paper this year and I’ll bet there are a few calls that are on each sheet multiple times!

Keepin' track

So, here is one of my dilemmas I had to think about on Saturday evening….

I had just let the dog out for his final walk of the day and returned for my final ½ hour before Saturdays part of the contest was over. I turned on the radio and slowly spun the dial. What did I hear but someone calling CQ from Forest County! A rare one!! Was I the only one to hear it?

I listened carefully and slowly turned the dial, bring his voice as clear as possible. I was just ready to put my call out when someone else answered him. The operator had trouble getting his call sign and kept asking for a repeat. I could hear it perfectly and was tempted to relay it, but maintained my etiquette and stayed silent. The Ham in Forest County had just set up and was having trouble with his computer logging program. He finally got the sending Hams call sign but then he put it into the computer wrong and then had to figure out how to correct it. Meanwhile, other Hams were gathering, it was like a wounded animal at the watering hole, the lions were starting to appear. A pile-up was rapidly starting!

People started to put their calls out at random as he tried to correct things. (bad etiquette) I imagine he was starting to get a little nervous as the crowd gathered. He finally completed the contact and asked, after a long pause, for the next call. Immediately, 4 or 6 calls were tossed at him, including mine. He picked the strongest one and started a contact with him. He had problems with this one also, you could hear him muttering as he tried to get things correct. I waited through 3 more of these, watching the clock the whole time. The end of the Saturday portion of the contest was getting closer.

My dilemma was…do I stay and keep trying for this station or continue on, scanning the frequencies to see what else is out there? I waited for one more try and after getting passed up for another stronger call, I started turning my dial.

Almost immediately, I came across another rare county! Schuylkill County! I had heard this operator a couple times answering other calls and couldn’t get her, she had continued on as I waited for my turn. This time, she was doing the calling! I was the only one who answered her CQ! We made a quick contact and I figured it was all worthwhile to scan the bands! With-in a minute or two….I came across Elk County, another one I didn’t have! YES, it WAS better (at least this time) to scan around!

We were down to the final 3 or 4 minutes of the days contest and my last contact was the Skyview station in Westmoreland County. It was like talking to a good friend. After that contact, I turned the radio off and went to bed. I fell asleep muttering “AB3AW, PA QSO Party”.

After day 1, I had…

8hrs on air

151 contacts

1 bonus station

54 of 67 Counties

14 States

Ontario

Day 2

Here we go again!

Sunday’s contest started while I was at Church so it had been going for about an hour by the time I got on the air. Sunday was a bit more relaxed, a lot of the Hams I heard were ones I had contacted on Saturday. It was the occasional Ham heard in between the “big Guns” that I was looking for.

Most of my contacts had been on the 40 Meter band. I made a fair amount on 80 Meters as the sun went down and the 40 Meter band fell apart. I only made one contact on 20 Meters, that was almost all long distance operators coming through on those frequencies. Still, I went over and checked every so often.

So Sunday’s contest was much more laid back. I’d scan through the frequencies and make a contact or two and then turn things off and do a couple jobs around the house, then come back and try again.

Sundays hours are much shorter than Saturdays, lasting only 9 hours. The time went quickly, I did get a couple more of the “rare” counties. Before I knew it, it was almost 6PM and quitting time. I looked at my log and saw I was almost at 12 hours of operating time and almost at 200 contacts. I figured I’d try to top both of those numbers. With 3 minutes to go in the contest, I hit 202 contacts and the timer passed the 12 hour mark. I turned off the radio and made some dinner.

Logging program
This shows the wrong score, I had to correct it. I ended up with 15,956. Don't know why this shoed the score so high.)

State map (White colored counties were missed)

Graph of contacts per hour rate

A couple (8) sheets of notes....

Another fun filled QSO Party under my belt. Not a winning score, but I had a blast and that’s what counts!

My final statistics are…

62 counties (missed 5- Adams, Franklin, Indiana, Lawrence and Sullivan)

15 different states

Ontario

15,956 points

And, my dog ate a loaf of bread and a carton of cookies while I was on the radio! (what can I say?)

“73”

Haunted Pittsburgh

2011-10-07T12:24:00.000-04:00

10/6/11

It is getting close to Halloween and it has got me thinking about haunted houses. Not the ones you pay money to visit, but the ones that have been there for years and the hauntings don’t just appear in the month before Halloween.

Now I am not a skeptic, I have never seen a ghost but I have heard many ghost tales in my life. Some have been told by family, some around campfires and some read from books and magazines. I have been to many places that are supposed to be haunted, but I’ve never experienced anything while there.

I have always wondered what I would do if I experienced a spiritual visitation, or felt the room suddenly go cold, or perhaps see a floating orb of light where there shouldn’t be one. Would I look around for an explanation, wait to see what all happens, or put my tail between my legs and scream like a little girl?

One of the first "real" ghost stories I remember being told was related to me by my father. I was about 6 or 7 years old at the time. He told me that he heard the grandfather clock in his hallway strike 13 times, the night his father and sister perished in a fire at a local theater. I always wondered if it was the same clock that resides in my hallway….

Anyway, here are some places around my neighborhood, off to the north of Pittsburgh, PA. I’ve also added a couple others that are a bit further away, just because I’ve been there and thought they were cool places and stories I’d like to share with you. Now, it’s up to you whether you believe them or not….

1) The Flower Shop in Etna

(Pictures will enlarge when clicked)

This flower shop has been here since the beginning of the last century. Before that it was a hotel and a tavern and even was a bordello for a year or two. The ghost has been here for decades. It is supposedly the ghost of a year old boy whose mother worked in the bordello. He lived on the 3rd floor and one day was playing with some fireworks and the building caught fire. He died in the resulting blaze. Psychics have determined that his name was Peter. Some of the “strange things” that have happened here are, items in the shop have been moved during the night, paperwork on the desks have been scattered and rocking chairs would rock by themselves. The rooms would get cold for no reason, peoples hair has been pulled and a couple of people have even claimed to seen him! He never has done anything serious or threatening and the employees have even gotten used to him and often say hello and good-bye to him as they come and go.

I have been in this place many times and have never had anything happen to me, but still, I can believe that something might be causing disturbances. I always remember these stories when I go to buy flowers!

2) Elfinwild Firehall

Rumors have it that the former Fire Chief from the 50’s, Ralph “Obie”Obenauf roams around the firehouse on Mt. Royal Blvd. Firemen have heard noises on more than one occasion. Doors opening and closing, footsteps pounding up the steps, yet no one is there. Lights will turn on for no reason. Some of the firemen claim to have seen the chief sitting in the fire truck, others say it just reflections. Some say they have smelled pipe tobacco, a smell that accompanied Obie where ever he went. Interestingly enough….the chief is buried in the cemetery right across the street!

3) House on Glenshaw Ave.

Situated on a nice section of street populated with a nice variety of Victorian style homes, in a house that recently has been drastically renovated, a spirit has been known to appear every so often. The house was built back around 1885 was owned for awhile by George Swetnam, a local author and historian. He has told stories about sightings of a man dressed like a businessman from the 1880’s. This has only occurred in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Doors opening and closing, knocks at the door, and other typical “haunted house” sounds have been heard. Mr. Swetnam said that other houses in this section of Glenshaw have had ghost sightings, but he didn’t say which ones they were.

4) The Shaw House

Situated within sight in the back yard of the last house, this house built back in 1824 has been said to have a few ghosts of its own. Unfortunately, the only stories I’ve heard myself is about a babysitter who said she saw and heard things while she was staying there. It looks as if it might have spirits in it….

5) Depreciation Lands Museum

Once a Church, this building has been changed into a historical museum that documents a lot of the pioneer days in the north hills of Pittsburgh. Located just a block off of busy Rt.8, it is a quiet area, with an authentic log cabin, an old school house and a museum inside the old brick church. In the basement, you can see the logs that make up the structure, the bark still on them. The ghost that resides here is called “The Deacon”. He hasn’t caused any problems, he just shows up every now and then. He was first seen by a volunteer who was putting new glass in the windows of the old church. She could only see him out of the corner of her eye, when she turned around, he would be gone. He is said to be wearing home spun trousers and black calf high boots. Perhaps he is buried in the small cemetery beside the building???

The log cabin was built in 1803, less than a mile from where it is now.

6) Irwin Road in North Park

This road, situated off of Babcock Blvd, is said to have its share of ghosts. People who drove down it to “park” told stories of seeing blue mists and hearing strange noises while they were there. Now the road is blocked off and only goes back a little less than a mile. A house or two is located on it. Further back, past the blockade are the ruins of a house. Not much remains there these days, but some people tell stories of graves near-by and of lovers who were separated at one time…only to return in the afterlife. Visit it some moonless night and see what you think….or see!

7) The Troy Hill Fire Station

This old building in the center of the Troy Hill buisness community, built in 1901, is the home to not one but two and possibly even more ghosts. Beds shake, covers are pulled off while firemen are sleeping, doors and drawers open and close, the sounds of lockers being opened and footsteps on the stairs, these are all some of the reported things that happen here. The door that leads up to the roof would open up and when checked, no one was there. One fireman tells the story that he went down into the basement and saw a group of firemen sitting around a table playing cards, he did a double take and when he looked again, they were gone! No one has any ideas as to who the ghosts are, perhaps they are firefighters that lost their lives in the line of duty. Who knows?

8) The Evergreen Hotel

Situated at the intersection of Peoples Road and Babcock Blvd, was built back in 1874. During its long life, it was a hotel, an "exclusive gentleman's club" in the 1890's, a speakeasy during Prohibition, a bar, a restaurant and finally ended up as a strip club before it was condemned.

The bar supposedly was the first bar in Millvale to have a TV. Old time stars such as Jimmy Durante had appeared there. In 1971, a leader of a bike gang was gunned down in the Hotel Bar. Some people say it was a stop on the Underground Railroad, but that probably isn't true. It does(did) have quite a history!

The supposed hauntings consisted of slamming doors, lights going on and off, people getting locked in the bathrooms and the cellar. Perhaps it is the ghosts of strippers who have gone on to their final reward.

All that is left today
It was condemned and then torn down in 2011.

9) St. Nicholas Church

St Nichols Church in the town of Millvale was built in 1900. In the 30’s the parish priest hired a world renowned artist, Maxo Vanka, to paint some artwork in the Church. He was to work in the evenings and nights so as not to interfere with the congregations worship during the day. On the fourth evening of his job, Maxo looked down from his scaffolding and saw a man in black making gestures in the air with his arms. He assumed it was the priest that hired him, perhaps blessing the work he had done so far.
Talking with the priest the next day, he denied being in the Church that night.

A few nights later, while working over the altar, he felt the Church grow cold and saw the man again. He was dressed as a priest and looked as if he was praying and blessing the Church. Later, the parish priest confided in him about stories of sightings of a former priest, a priest that had died many years before. He has been known to light candles, knocking sounds have been heard or sometimes he just appears in a pew and prays. The Pastors dogs will start to bark and jump at times, for no apparent reason. These things continue to happen even today.

It is thought that the ghost is guilty about stealing funds from the church and is trying to make amends. When I recently went to the Church to view the paintings, the doors were locked and no one was around. I’ll have to stop by another time! If you get a chance, try to visit the Church, if for nothing more than to see the paintings. They will astound you! While you’re there, a prayer or two might help out also!

****************************

Some other sites just a little further away from the Pittsburgh area are listed below. I've included them because I have been there and thought they were interesting places. I hope you will also!

Snyder Cemetery in Moraine State Park

Heading towards the cemetery in the dark

Strange fog

From its back wall

The Snyder Cemetery

Off to the north of Pittsburgh, just about an hours drive away, is Moraine State Park. What was once a strip mine has been changed back into a place of beauty, a large lake is centered in the park and lots of woods have gained a foothold as they are covering over what once was an ugly mass of land. Hidden in this park is a old dirt road going past the foundation of an old farm house. All that remains of this is the basement walls and a few rose bushes that have managed to struggle on. This is where the Snyder Family once lived. Down the road a piece from the foundation is a small cemetery, still taken care of by family relatives. Here is where the bodies of Conrad Snyder and his family were buried after a horrific fire that leveled their house. Tales have been told of strange green glowing lights and what might be red glowing eyes floating near the graveyard. Strange fog is often seen here. Could it be Conrad protecting his family????

McConnell’s Mill

The Mill and the Bridge

The Bridge over Slippery Rock Creek

Located just over the border of the Lawrence County line, not far from Moraine State Park, is the picturesque McConnell’s Mill. The steep cliffs and the swiftly flowing waters of Slippery Rock Creek have cause more than a couple deaths of outdoor enthusiasts. But the real (?) ghosts that haunt this spot are from many years beyond these recent deaths.

The mill here was in operation from 1852 to 1928. A worker was killed in the mill from an accident with the equipment. His spirit is said to still walk the roads down to the mill, the same as he did in real life! They say if you see him, he will go into the mill, turn on the lights and then scream as he relives that fateful day.

Mr. Moses Whorton was a freed slave, he worked at the mill as a caretaker of the place. He lived there for 30 years, it was the only home he knew since he was 20. A toot on your cars horn is said to bring him around…

Another popular story of the area is that of a young woman who died in an accident in the covered bridge (built in 1874) located right beside the mill. The stories go that if you stop in the middle of the bridge, turn out your lights and turn off the engine, then toot your horn 3 times, she will appear in your rear view mirror. When you turn around…she will be gone.

It’s your call, visit the place, you’ll love the scenery, but maybe you’ll see something else while you're there….something you might not want to see.

The Quaker Church and Cemetery

Down to the south of Pittsburgh, sitting high on top of a scenic hill near Perryopolis, in Fayette County is an old Quaker Church and Cemetery. Built in 1893, it is the 3rd building to stand in this spot. It is made from the stones of the previous buildings. It was first chartered as a branch of the Redstone Monthly Meeting back in 1789 and remained active until the 1880’s. It looks nice and tranquil by day, but at night it can be quite spooky.

Lots of stories have been told but most of them involve the “cursed tombstone”. Supposedly, if you read the description of the young woman’s death which is printed there, you will experience the same type of death! Some say the description of her demise is written on the walls inside the building. Others have said that they experienced the feeling that someone is pushing them.

When we visited the place, on a bright and sunny afternoon, we neither saw nor experienced anything unusual. There was evidence of people coming here to party, graffiti on the walls, but we didn’t see the death description. Maybe we were just lucky…

White Rocks

A bit further south, high above the small community of Fairchance is a strip of rocks, breaking out of the trees. They are about a mile above the village and the journey up to them isn’t as easy as it once was. At one time, a young immigrant from Europe named Polly Williams worked for a local family and she caught the eye of a wealthy local bachelor named Philip Rodgers. She was only 18 years old and he was a few years older. They would meet along the trail leading up to the rocks. Polly thought they were deeply in love, unfortunately, Philip didn’t see it the same way. She wanted to become a proper lady and hoped to be married soon. They were often heard arguing about this. In the summer of 1810, he told her that arrangements had been made for the big event. He asked her to meet him at the rocks.

The next day, her body was found laying crumpled at the bottom of the cliffs by her father. Philip was arrested and claimed that she was alive when he left the rocks. He was acquitted of the murder, claiming she jumped on her own. The townsfolk were dubious about the results of the investigation. Young Polly was buried in a small cemetery on Hopewood-Fairchance Road and her gravestone, which can be seen any time you want to visit, reads…

"Polly Williams 1792-1810."

“Behold with pity you that pass by

Here do the bones of Polly Williams lie

Who was cut off in tender bloom

By a vile wretch her pretended groom”

Some claim that Philip went and joined the Army and when he returned he also took the leap. “They” say that Polly still haunts the cliffs, searching for her lover….or is it her murderer? Still searching for her ring in the fog…

Happy Halloween!

Prayer Chain to Help Stop Abortion

2011-10-03T04:35:00.000-04:00

10/2/11

(Pictures will enlarge when clicked)

Parishioners of St. Bonaventure Church came together on a rainy Sunday afternoon to silently pray for the end of abortion. This was the 9th year they have come out to line the street in front of the Church to show their beliefs to the passing traffic. This Sunday was a wet, cold afternoon. Umbrellas and sweatshirts were the norm, along with the strength of their beliefs.

God bless us all and forgive us for our sins. Help those who are undecided on their child’s future, help them make the proper choice, one of the most important choices they may ever make! Give us all the strength to make the proper choices in our lives!

Amen

Father John leads a prayer before we started

AMEN!

An Iron Furnace and a Couple Caches on a Cool Fall Morning

2011-10-02T13:36:00.001-04:00

9/30/11

When I took the dog out for his morning walk, the stars were bright and shining in a nice dark sky. Clouds were on the horizon though and by the time we returned to the house, they had covered over all of them. Clear patches moved across the sky, giving me only occasional glimpses.

The weather forecasters were calling for a 50% chance of rain today, but that also means…a 50% chance of sunshine. I packed the dog and some gear in the Jeep and we headed towards the Laurel Highlands. I was hoping to catch a view of the sunrise, so we left around 6. Unfortunately, the clouds were increasing and all I experienced was a gradual brightening of the scenery. Still, it is always a great experience. Slowly details started to become evident, the distant mountains which were once just dark shapes started to show muted colors and it wasn’t long before the colors of the trees started to become visible. Fall had definitely started, the leaves were showing lots of browns and oranges.

I had a list of 5 caches to do and was hoping to do a little radio work also. I figured I’d do the caches and then take a hike on the Laurel Highlands trail. At one of the overlooks I would see if I could make any contacts with my portable radio.

I have to say this, I am definitely not used to Rush Hour traffic! Even at 6:30, these drivers are nuts! Cutting in front of people, speeding, drinking, smoking and eating while their driving….all at the same time. Yikes! I saw a woman, holding a cigarette in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other, with a can of pop (?) between her legs. She was attempting to adjust her radio as we drove down the highway. I am so glad I don’t have to deal with this stuff on a daily basis!

My first cache was a micro hidden at a fast food joint just off the turnpike. Since it was after 7, the place was booming. People were sitting in front of where I figured the cache was hidden. I gave it a quick look and continued on, it wasn’t worth the time or the trouble.

Three of the caches would take me to old cemeteries located between the Donegal exit on the turnpike and Normalville. Normalville, a small community that made the papers a few years ago when a couple hunters shot 2 cows, they thought they were deer. Bad enough they shot one, BUT TWO? It gives the hunters of Normalville a bad name. Anyway….

The first cemetery was called The Hopewell Cemetery. I took the wrong road for this and ended up driving around it, never getting closer than a half mile. My route took me through some really nice woods, the road narrowed down to just a cars width. The trees hanging over the gravel made a semi tunnel and a nice small stream flowing beside it, gave it a nice postcard look. I wasn’t sure where the cemetery entrance was, just that it was a small plot of ground situated on a hill top. I had left my DeLorme Gazetteer at home and this was just when it would have come in handy!

In my travels today, I came across workers putting in pipelines on more than one occasion. For awhile, I had to sit and wait as they moved some equipment across the street before I could continue on. They had everything there from dump trucks to heavy duty back hoes to Bobcats and quads. It was a place I didn’t mind sitting and waiting.

I finally came around to the cemetery entrance, I could see the graves from the road, sitting on the top of a hill behind a small farm.

Dirt road from the cemetery

(pictures will enlarge when clicked!)

The road was merely dirt, dropping off of the blacktop by a good 8-10 inches before cutting down across a meadow into a small valley, crossing a stream and then climbing back up to the peak of the hill beyond. The cemetery was a fair sized one with maybe 50 graves in it. A white wood fence surrounded the front and side of the plot with woods behind. The cache was in the woods, past some thick thorn bushes.

After finding the cache, we walked through the woods to the clearing on the other side of the trees. The dirt road continued on past here and we followed it for a short while to see the view before heading back to the car.

Red
Our next cemetery was called The Dan Snyder Cemetery. I had a better idea of where this was located (I checked my maps the day before!) and took a pretty direct route towards it. The road leading to it was easy to miss. It was just a small break in the bushes with a faded sign pointing up into the hills beyond. This road was dirt also, complete with big puddles in it. Electric fences bordered it on either side, on one side cows watched us go by impartially, the other had old trailers and half collapsed buildings peaking through the brush. Old cars sat in the fields, slowly rusting away, one that caught my eye was a Mustang Fastback, with the big rear window still intact.

road leading to Snyder Cemetery

A bit further up the "road"

Decaying cars

The road twisted and turned and slowly wound its way about ¾ of a mile into the woods. We climbed higher and higher and finally came into a nice green pasture with the cemetery perched at the high end. A tree sat just below the gated entrance. This was another fair sized plot. With about 50-60 graves in it, it spread over a nice piece of real estate. This would be a great place to put a house!

The cache here was on the outside of the cemetery and the owner asked that we didn’t climb over the fence to get it. SO, naturally, Red and I took the wrong way to get there. We encountered some REALLY BIG thorn bushes. At one time, they were wrapped around my legs and were snagged on my vest at the same time. It was as if they were moving to grab us. After finding the cache, we took the other way around the cemetery and of course, it was a nice and clear path with no jaggers except at the very end. (Never fails…)

Red at the cache

Back on the (real) road again, we continued on into Normalville and turned onto Rt. 653 and dropped down into the valley where it crossed Indian Creek. Once across the stream at White Bridge, I turned on the first left and then found a small dirt road dropping off and heading towards the creek. Common sense (If I can really say I have any…) told me to stop right there and continue on by foot. The road continued on but it passed through some really big mud holes and crossed a small stream. I didn’t want to get stuck down in the woods and have to hike back to civilization to get a tow truck. The walk to this cache wasn’t far, the toughest part was getting around the mud bogs and crossing the stream and staying dry. The place is a swimming hole so it gets lots of off road traffic, destroying the road in the process. How many times have I seen this before, a nice location that slowly is destroyed by the 4 wheelers and partyers?

This cache was hidden in some Mountain Laurel under a stump. I tied Red to a tree and searched around a bit and found it rather quickly. Signed in and then we stopped and enjoyed the stream for a bit. Across the stream, on an old RR bed, work was being done for something, perhaps the pipeline was going through here also? There is a great cache hidden on that side…involving an old mine….or so they say! I hope the construction doesn’t bother it.

Looking at the map I had stapled to my next and last cache description, I saw I could continue on this same road to get to the next hide. But first, before I find that, I had an iron furnace to find!

My map

After driving bit, I stopped to check the map and realized I was within 200 feet of the furnace. I parked and looked over the edge of the hill and could just barely see it through the trees. I found a section of hillside that wasn’t steep enough to kill me when I slipped, and headed over. Slipping once or twice, I managed not to fall and was at the bottom real quick. I was upstream from the furnace and from this side, it looked in rather sad shape. The one side had collapsed and the stones had flowed down into the stream. Trees were growing in the rubble.

I have searched for and seen a lot of Iron Furnaces in my travels and it is always a rush for me to see these structures hidden in the woods. In places you often would never expect to see them. I’ve found them in places miles away from any town or community. Once the resources ran out, they were abandoned and forgotten. The buildings around them were burnt, torn down or rotted away. All that is left to show that this early industry once was here, is the large stack of stones that made up the furnace itself. Over a couple hundred years, nature can erase a lot!

Looking downstream

Further downstream, it looked much better with the sides intact.

Looking upstream

Coming around to the front side, I was either on someone’s driveway or another gravel road. A house stood across the road and I didn’t want to invoke anyone’s wrath by trespassing on their property, so I took a couple more shots and continued back to the car. The front was intact and slightly hidden by overgrowth but easily seen

Front side

This was the Fayette Furnace, or The Bucks Run Furnace. My research shows it was either built in 1815 or possibly in 1827. It was owned by a Mr. Roberts and Associates. It produced iron pigs and castings and by 1830, employed 40 to 50 people. The furnace was used until sometime around 1840. In 1960 the furnace was complete, but when it was checked again in 1981, the back wall had collapsed.

It is a shame that these furnaces aren’t taken better care of, the undergrowth cut back a bit to expose the structure. This furnace is actually in pretty good condition considering how old it is. At one time there would have been wooden structures around it. There was usually a bridge or ramp leading to the top to allow the men to prepare it. These wooden structures are always the first things to go on these furnaces. Either rotted away or taken for other jobs. Often, if there is a near-by road and the stones are in good shape, they are taken for walls and other building projects. You don’t worry about history when you’ve got a job at hand. (unfortunately)

(The pyramids used to be covered with polished limestone, most of which was removed and used to build the near-by towns)

I continued on up the hill towards my final cache.

Road

The road went from a normal gravel road to a slim stony road, passing a sad collection of double wides and assorted junk cars. Greasy motors and discarded washing machines littered the dirt yards. I felt as if I was in Appalachia…soon the road turned to dirt and the steepness increased. Stone ledges crossed the road from time to time and there was no where to turn around if I wanted to turn around. Occasionally there would be a “road” leading off to one side or the other but not very many of them, but my goal was to continue on..straight up the hill.

The cache at this cemetery involved Jeremiah Johnson. It told a story was told about him and his life. It seems he was a sheriff in Normalville before he passed on. He was a man of legend and I hadn’t realized it, but a movie was made about him. Anyway…he eventually ended up here on top of this mountain in western PA. The cache wasn’t as easy to find as I thought it would be, I actually looked at the hiding spot a couple times. My GPS was bouncing around between 5 feet and 150 feet. Finally, I put it down and just relied on my “geosense”. I found it with-in a minute that way!

I ate some lunch there and enjoyed the quiet for a bit but soon it started to sprinkle. The clouds were getting darker and thicker and so I put my hike on hold and headed back towards home.

Looking down the mountain

Steep "road"

Before I got on the turnpike, I found a high hill and attempted to do some radio contacts. I used my Kenwood TH-F6A to see if I could hit the repeaters in Pittsburgh. I could get the repeaters, but no one answered my calls. I tried calling CQ on 146.50 MHz (simplex) but like before…no one answered. Oh well, perhaps another time.

I jumped on the turnpike and the rain started, it came and went as I drove. Coming into Hampton Township, the clouds ahead were black and angry, but I was driving in sunshine.

Coming up to the rt.8 exit

Soon I was home again, the Jeep had a new coating of mud on its wheels and fenders, the dog and I were happy and we didn’t get wet, all in all…...............

another good adventure!

Hand Drawn map of Philadelphia

2011-09-23T06:49:00.000-04:00

Philadelphia, PA, drawn by Chelsey B.

(will enlarge when clicked)

9/23/11

I received this in the mail yesterday from my daughter. Knowing how much I like and enjoy maps, she thought I might like this one.

She made it for a friend of hers, to help her get around the city. I was sent a copy of the original and I darkened it up a bit to make it a little easier to read.

A classic style of map, all the important roads are included and are named, the unimportant ones are excluded, important landmarks are listed (Including the LOVE sculpture, and City Hall) a NSEW compass rose is in the corner beside the legend. Just about anyone could find their way around the city using this map. Well done Chelsey!!

This reminds me of some of the maps I saw when I was visiting Chelsey last year, at an exhibit of hand drawn maps at Arcadia University. I wrote about it here…

http://booksadventuresandlife.blogspot.com/2010/12/visiting-philadelphia-museums-and-auto.html

(Personally, I like hers better than the ones I saw there, don’t suppose it has anything to do with the fact I know the cartographer…)

IPOY!!

Light Pollution- Another Rant

2011-09-22T05:58:00.001-04:00

(Picture by Babak A. Tafreshi)

9/22/11

Every day, before I go to work, I take a walk around the neighborhood. This is often around 3AM. The area is dark and quiet. Occasionally there is fog or rain, but if I’m lucky, there is a clear sky and lots of stars visible.

Behind my house is a shopping complex, with a BIG parking lot, complete with lots of lights. This causes a glow that surrounds my house. That is bad enough, but not what I’m talkin’ about today…

As I make my way around the 2 circles that make up my neighborhood, there are lots of spots which offer wide open views of the sky. My own house is under trees and like I said before, near the bright lights of a shopping center. To see a satellite pass overhead or to see an Iridium Flare or a planet grouping, I have to walk a fair distance away from the house. Now, being in a neighborhood, I can live with the occasional porch light. On foggy mornings, they make some great shadows in the clouds! BUT…there are a couple people who have motion sensors on their houses. Connected to these sensors are BRIGHT spot lights.

On 2 of them, I’ve learnt where to walk to avoid setting them off, but one of them is unavoidable. This one in particular really gets my goat.

His lights are pointing at the street. There are 2 lights that cast a web of illumination over ½ the block. Usually, I can live with them, they are bright but not too extreme. (If that is possible) But when you walk past his house, the lights brighten! They go into prison break mode. They are pointed right into your eyes! When I’m walking toward them, I can’t see the road under my feet. When I am on the opposite side of my circle, the houses there act as reflectors and bounce the light into the dark spots. Stars…forget about it. A stick or rock in the road…forget about it. A burglar, no problem, there are lots of shadows they can hide in now!

This is light pollution!

This is Light Trespass!

This is stealing my night away from me!

I’ve thought about discussing it with him, but I don’t know him well enough to really bitch about it. We have talked about astronomy and dark skies, but he really wasn’t impressed much. Yeah, I’ve thought about cutting his wires or even twisting his lights down so they aren’t glaring in my eyes as I walk in the mornings. You know, there was an amateur astronomer here in Pittsburgh who would paint the street lights with black paint to darken them……hmmmm

In the mean while, I will let my blood pressure rise as I walk past his house each day….

What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. I’m getting real strong these days!

That’s my house there, the bright blob down below Lake Erie. ;-)

(I think his spot lights were on when this shot was taken….)

Lastly, here are a couple quotes about stars and dark skies…

************************

“The stars are the street lights of eternity.”

~Author Unknown
****************

“Fooey! The porchlight is burnt out, and I can't see whether it's dark outside or not.”

~Dave Beard

********************

"The moon and the stars no longer come to the farm. The farmer has exchanged his birthright in them for the wattage of his all-night sun. His children will never know the blessed dark of night."

-- Leslie Peltier in his autobiography, Starlight Nights

************************

"Silently, one by one,

in the infinite meadows of the heaven,

blossumed the lovely stars,

the forget-me-nots of the angels."

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, 1847

*************************

"I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."

-- Sarah Williams

What a Great Weekend!

2011-09-19T09:59:00.000-04:00

9/16-18/11

Chelsey came into town to do the Walk for The Cure, Jim was visiting Pittsburgh to see a friend get ordained, we visited a bike museum, did the walk, ate some great meals and had some great conversations....

It was a great weekend! Here is how some of it went down.

(Pictures will enlarge when clicked)

I had Friday off and my buddy Jim, from New Hampshire was in town. Since both of us are bike lovers, we decided to visit a place that I didn't even know existed. A bicycle museum, called Bicycle Heaven, located in the Manchester area of the North Side. We arrived right after it opened and had the place to ourselves for the most part.

They do it all, sales, repairs and displays!

Bikes outside the entrance

Rare bikes, DON'T TOUCH!!!

I could be wrong, but I believe they said that only 500 of these bikes were built, in the 1940's. They are Bowden Spacelanders and were made out of fiberglass. There are only about 50 of them remaining and 4 of those are on display here.

They have a "couple" Schwinn Stingrays here...

Lots of posters

Old and new...(bikes that is..)

Tons of parts

Old used seats

New Chain Guards

Modern bikes also

Lots and lots of Schwinn stuff

Want a black tire, they have em', they also have colored ones..

If you have some free time and you like bikes, stop by and visit. I have a feeling you'll enjoy it!
Bicycle Heaven
Located at the R.J.Casey Industrial Park,
near the Manchester Craftsman Guild on Metropolitan Street.

After all those bikes...we went to lunch at Over The Bars Bicycle cafe

What better place to go after looking at all those bikes?

And of course, I had to get a picture of Jim and the city.

On Saturday, my daughter Chelsey, Ann Marie, family members and friends and myself, along with a very large group of people did the Walk for the Cure. This was to get funds to help in Juvenile Diabetes research. Thousands of people marched and even more helped raise funds for this great cause!

Our team was the Smartie Partie.
(What can I say, I didn't pick the name. I sure do like those Smarties though!)

My supplies for the walk

I had to bring dog supplies, leashes, biscuits, bags to clean up if needed and most importantly, a towel to clean off his constantly drooling mouth.

For myself, there was the camera, notebook and pen, test kit and glucose tablets. The standard kit.

What a cute pair

Ann Marie and Red, Red howling as usual

Need I say more? (Its never too late to give a donation...)

The Smartie Partie Team after the walk

Red and his T-Shirt

On Sunday, Chelsey, Jaime and Ann Marie and I went down to the Strip District to get Steeler Shirts and some breakfast.

Waiting for the tables to be stocked

There are always flowers in the Strip

A reference to the Batman Movie that was just filmed here?

One of the better places to get breakfast!

I hated to put a shot of my daughters butt as the last picture on this blog, but it is really a picture of her insulin pump!

She makes me proud, tackling her diabetes head on, dealing with the problems and staying abreast of the advancements. Never being ashamed of it. It is just another thing in our busy, complicated lives. Thank heavens we have all the research that has been done already, it has made the diabetics lives so much simpler! We all thank those that helped out on the walk and those that are doing the research. Hopefully, we will have a cure in our lifetime.

Time Flies 9/11/11

2011-09-11T13:53:00.000-04:00

Time Flies

9/11/11

Time Flies 9/11/11

It’s hard to imagine that 10 years have gone by. So quickly it seems.

I can only guess that it didn’t go by so quickly for some of us, those whose lives were forever changed on that fateful day. People who lost family members through the acts of the terrorists. Families that lost loved ones in the aftermath, the heroes that helped out after the terrible events. Families that lost their loved ones through the wars and battles that evolved from these events. I can only guess that their days went by slowly, full of sad memeories of their loved ones.

My prayers go out to them.

Life didn’t change on that day, it continued on, we live in a world of war and violence. From Cain murdering his brother Abel, it continues on. We can only try our best to change that fact. Love and Forgiveness. To love our enemies and to forgive those that do harm to us. No one ever said this was easy, but then again, as is so often the case, to do what is right, is often the toughest of our choices.

“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…”

AMEN

Fixing Intermitent Audio with the Icom ICV-8000

2011-09-08T18:23:00.002-04:00

How I solved the Intermittent Audio Problem with My Icom ICV-8000

9/8/11

I have had 2 Icom ICV-8000 radios for at least 7 years. They are 2 Meter Transceivers. One is about a year older than the other. One is in the car and the other is in the shack at home.

The one at home is the older of the 2, starting out in the car and moving into the house when I bought my second one. I enjoyed working with this radio and since I knew how it “worked”, I thought a second one would be wise, no need to remember all the special ways things work for 2 different rigs.

The radio has the ability of transmitting up to 75 watts if needed, which comes in handy at times. They also have 200 memories which are more than enough for my use.

These radios do have a couple problems, only one of which has bothered my radio. At times, the audio drops out. I can tell that the radio is still receiving a signal, the dial is showing the incoming transmission, it just isn’t getting to the speaker.

After some internet searches, I came up with what the problem was. It seems that there is a cold solder joint in some of these radios. (The one in the car hasn’t been bothered with it) Calling the service department at Icom doesn’t seem to get any results other than the offer to fix it at regular service prices. (So I’ve heard)

The fix is fairly easy and as one of the posts I’ve read said, “The longest part of this fix is waiting for your soldering iron to heat up.”

I originally fixed this radio about 3 or more years ago and it has worked fine since. Only in the last couple weeks has it returned. So, I looked up the fix once again, disconnected the radio and dove in.

(One of the posts said the fix usually lasts about 2-3 years before you have to do it over again. I only mention this to imply that I’m not a bad solderer.)

Here are some pictures of what I did.

First, I had to get the radio out of the bracket and out from the tiny space I had it squeezed into. I disconnected the antenna and the power and turned the radio over onto its top.

Will my hand fit in there to get this out? Of course!

(as always, the pics will enlarge when clicked)

Unplugged from power and antenna!

Bottom of radio

There are 4 small Philips head screws holding the cover on. After taking these out and putting them in a container, (I know I’d bump them and loose one if I didn’t put them somewhere safe!) I carefully lifted the cover off. There is nothing attached to it so I placed it over near the screws and continued on.

Removing screws

Removing top

Looking at the insides of the radio, with the front facing you, on the left had side, there is an IC with 5 legs on it.

Arrow in upper left corner of picture

Magnified view

I re-melted the solder on the 3 inside legs, the outside 2 looked very good, no need to touch them, yours might be different. After checking to make sure I didn’t short any of the legs out and taking a good look at the solder joints, I re-hooked the radio up and turned it on. I made a contact and watched the dial on the radio. After that, I put it on scan and listened to some QSO’s and waited for the audio to drop off. After an hour with no problems, I put the cover back on and repositioned the radio in its holder.

CQ,CQ, AB3AW, Testing

Ready for the next QSO

Hopefully, it will last as long as the last fix. So far….so good.

Hope this helps someone.

“73” AB3AW

Haunted....or Not?

2011-09-06T10:11:00.000-04:00

Haunted.....Or Not?

9/3/11

(Pictures will enlarge when clicked)

On Saturday, Ann Marie and I took a road trip down to the Westmorland/Fayette County area. Naturally, we took Red along and had a list of possible caches to do on the way. Now, how many we found or did was unimportant, it was more what would we see than how many would we find.

It was a beautiful morning, the sky was blue with a few white clouds drifted through it. The temperatures were already high as we were leaving at 9. We took lots of water along with us.

Of the ten caches we brought with us, 7 of them were located in or around cemeteries. Looked like a theme of some type. The first 3 were fairly simple, they didn’t require any tough hikes, climbs or any real head scratching. Then we came to the “Haunted Quaker Church”, which is what I want to tell you about…

Situated on top of a high hill in Fayette County, appropriately enough on Old Quaker Church Road, was an old Church which has the reputation of being haunted. We had a good idea of where this was located, but after driving around for ten or twenty minutes without finding it, we pulled over and consulted the ever present Delorme Gazetteer. (We go nowhere with out it!) A quick realignment of our directions and we were soon there.

Coming to the top of a winding, twisting road we finally found it. We had gone up and down and around, through the farmlands, enjoying the views of the cornfields and farm buildings scattered through them. Rounding a bend, as we neared the top of the hill, we first saw a batch of antennas and then, off to the side of that, a small cemetery. In the center was what looked like a hovel, straight out of an Irish novel. I half expected an old woman in a long, black threadbare ankle length dress to step out of the door.

The cemetery was surrounded by a wrought iron fence. A fence that was covered with vines and thorn bushes in places and falling down in other spots. Some posts planted in the ground beside the road kept us from parking right there, so we parked a little way down the hill and hoofed it back to the top.

It had obviously been there for a real long time! The building was made of large stones, held together with some type of cement and the pressure of the years. It also had a little help from a couple long bars piercing the four walls and holding them all together.

The roof was old rusty corrugated iron, colored a deep brown hue from years of rain. The door was missing and the glass in the 2 windows on the front side was all broken out. Bars were mounted in front of the windows giving the building the look of a prison or a jail rather than a Church. The wood work was decaying and broken away and the cement work was slowly crumbling.

Inside, it was one large room. It was nice and cool. There were fireplaces at either end, one having a pile of stones in the fire pit, remnants of the chimney which was slowly collapsing in on itself. The floor was dirt and littered with a scattering of trash, mostly cigarette butts and empty cigarette packs. A few stones from the walls were lying around also. The walls had a variety of names and initials covering them. At one time, plaster had covered them but most of it was long gone. What remained provided a wonderful canvas for the signatures. The back wall had 2 windows on it, the same as the front, but these were boarded over, perhaps to protect them, I had a feeling that there probably wasn’t much behind the boards.

Surrounding the building was a small assortment of gravestones. The stones were all sizes, both large and small. The hilltop gave them all a wonderful view. It was nice and neat, the grass had been cut within the last month, and someone had trimmed around the stones. The oldest stone was from 1805.

There was a place on the front of the building where a plaque had been mounted at one time, but it was long gone when we visited. We only could gather what little history we read in the cache description and what we gathered from the building itself and the graves around it.

Now, rumors have it that somewhere here, either on one of the gravestones or possibly written on one of the walls is a description of the death of a young woman. Anyone who reads this description is doomed to die the same type of death themselves! We looked over the walls, both inside and out and the gravestones, but didn’t see the cursed paragraph. No matter how hard we searched. Maybe it is because we came at noon rather than at midnight…

As far as it being haunted, well we didn’t see anything that would suggest that. There were no weird noises, no strange feelings or sensations and no signs of any apparitions. Like I said before, it might be that we were there at the wrong time. It was beautiful there, in fact it was hauntingly beautiful, but that was it. Next time, we will have to come down at midnight instead of noon! No ghosts, no spirits, no death curses.

(At least as far as we know so far….)

1969 shot ( from Internet)

How it looks in 2011

Here are a couple things I gathered off the internet about this place. You have to take it with a grain of salt, I don’t know how much is true and how much is made up….you decide. Best of all, take a ride out and visit the place yourself, on a dark night I would suggest, and make up your own mind!

************************

PROVIDENCE MEETING HOUSE/CEMETERY (Perryopolis, Fayette County) The Providence Meeting House, as it is locally known, is the third building to stand on this site, erected in 1893. It was constructed from the original stone of the previous meetinghouse. The Providence Meeting House was first chartered in 1789 to Mr. John Cope as a branch of the Redstone Monthly Meeting, which consisted of several Quaker families. It was active up until the 1880s. Only one acre of the original ground remains, and a gated cemetery surrounds the sole structure. The Quaker Church is the subject of much local folklore and haunted stories, and though it is very peaceful with gorgeous views by day, it is rather spooky by night. The legend is that a young girl died at the cemetery. A description of how she died is written on the wall of the small meeting house beside the cemetery. The kicker is that if you read the description, you'll die the same way. (No, we have no intention of finding out what it says!) It's said that a witch was killed in the Meeting House during the 1800's – but lately the deserted room been rumored to be a place where black magic and animal sacrifice was practiced. The inside walls are covered with pentagons and ritual writings. There are reports of orbs being photographed in the building, and extreme cold when it's entered. The Mon Valley Ghost Research Society investigated the meeting hall, and believe it's clean of paranormal activity, but badly abused by teens using it for a party house. The cemetery, though, is a different matter entirely. The tale is that there's an unlucky stone, and if you step on, you'll be dogged by bad luck. It's said that one person died within the week of stepping on the cursed marker. The MVGRS heard voices, one of which was taped as saying “Don't tell her anything”, possibly referring to one of the investigators. Other visitors have been pushed to the ground by invisible arms. Is it a case of rowdy teens horsing around or disturbed spirits that just want to be left in peace? (Gateway Mon Valley View newspaper “Hex or Hoax? Creepy Stories Haunt Quaker Cemetery Grounds,” October 25, 2005)

***************************

Cemetery notes and/or description:

The Providence Meeting (locally known as the "Quaker Church") was a branch of Redstone Monthly Meeting, and received a charter for a "Preparative Meeting " in 1789, and was fully recognized and established in 1817. The most active period of the Providence Meeting appears to have been from the date of organization until about 1832. A gradual loss of vitality set in after this time. Hinshaw states that death and removals caused the membership to be so reduced in number that the remaining members were transferred to Redstone Meeting at Brownsville between 1832 and 1870, and on 12 Mar 1872, Louis Cope and Samuel C. Gilbert for $1787 sold to Samuel Strickler, a tract of land called "Barkway, containing 15 acres, situate in Providence, Perry Twp, adacent to the land of Benjamine Brown, excepting one acre containing a graveyard and meeting house (Fayette Co, PA, Deed book 25, p148)

By 1893 the empty stone building of 1795 was in disrepair. Mrs. Elma Cope Binns and associates set about the construction of a memorial building on the place where the Providence Meeting house stood. The stone and other materials remaining from the old structure were used to erect a building of a somewhat reduced size. According to Hinshaw, this reconstruction was carried out in 1895 by Mrs. Mary Binns, a descendent of the early Quakers.

In 1997, this building and cemetery were added to the National Register of Historic Places (#97001243)

*****************

There are a lot of places in the Pittsburgh area that are rumored to be haunted. We have been to some of them, such as The Troy Hill Firehouse and the Inn in Harmony and the cliffs at White Rocks, near Fairchance just to name just a couple. Some others worth visiting are

• The Elfinwild Fire Station in Glenshaw

• The house on Glenshaw Avenue

• The Clayton (The Frick mansion)

• The Flowershop in Etna

• The Munhall Library

• The Lawrenceville Carnegie Library

Irwin Road in North Park

I’ll have to look into these and some others I’ve heard and read about!

****************

So, to finish off the day,

We spent about an hour at the Church before heading on to other sites. There was a geocache there, but we never did find it. It was really well hidden! We drove around the surrounding area for a couple more hours before we headed home. Our last stop was a visit to Jacobs Creek, a mile or so up from where it enters the Youghiogheny River. We found a nice wading pool and stopped for awhile. The water felt really relaxing after driving around in the sun in the 90 degree heat. It was cool in the valley and the water was cold but not freezing. It was just what we needed to cool us down.

Red (?) and I enjoy the stream

Some other time, I’ll have to tell you about the cache where I found a hand….

some other day….

Stargazing and a Geocache

2011-08-29T05:37:00.000-04:00

Stargazing and a Geocache
8/27/11
The East Coast was being threatened with the approaching Hurricane Irene, cities were being evacuated, preparations were underway to shut down transportation systems and rain was already coming down in sheets in coastal towns. Here in Pittsburgh, the skies were blue and the weather forecasters (who I would trust with my life, ha) were calling for a clear night and a sunny day on Saturday.

Since this was a new moon weekend, AMB and I decided to drive down to a hill overlooking the Youghiogheny River to do some stargazing. If we were lucky, we would be treated to a nice thin moonrise about an hour before a nice sunrise.

Well, you know how most “perfect opportunities” turn out….

We left around 2:30 in the morning with lots of bright stars overhead. Things were looking good. I should have realized....

Our "secret" Stargazing Spot

(pictures will enlarge when clicked!)

As we got closer to our destination, a nice high hill deep in State Game Land #51, not far from Dunbar, PA. we went from paved roads to gravel to dirt roads. Things went from nice and smooth to rocky and bumpy. I was going mostly on memory, there weren’t many turns to make but without any moonlight to help out, things looked really different at night! I was looking for an area where people had parked when they went hunting, a rather large flat area with a couple dirt roads leading out from it. One of these “roads” led up to the top of the hill we were going to. Instead of what we were looking for, we encountered a large area full of deep grooves and mud holes. Logs were scattered around and I couldn’t see where the road continued on to. I had to get out a couple times with a flashlight to where I should go and whether or not I could get back if I continued on. I was looking for a rutted hillside with a dirt path leading up to the top. With some walking around in the dark, I finally found where I wanted to go….at least I hoped so. Even in the daylight I think it would’ve been tough to find this path.

We started up, straddling some deep grooves and dodging some big rocks sticking out of the hillside. We were going up a steep hill, but looking out the side windows, you would never know it, we couldn’t see anything!

Once at the top, we got out and took a look around. We were there, right were we had planned to go! OK! We still had another 10-15 minutes until moonrise. The seeing wasn’t real good. Jupiter was nearly directly overhead and was more a blob than a sharp distinct point of light. We could only see some of Orion and it wasn’t until 10 minutes or so before we could clearly see the belt stars. We could only see the nebula with binoculars. The Pleiades came into view but things near the horizon were looking rather grim.

AMB and Red looking at the stars

As the sunrise approached, so did the clouds. Soon all was hidden except Jupiter and not long afterwards, that also was hidden. There were some nice colors in the sky towards the east, fueling our hopes for a nice sunrise, but…that never happened. We missed the moonrise and the sunrise and in fact, it wasn’t until after I was back home that I saw the sun again.

Is Sunrise coming?

Nice morning colors, but no sunrise
So, happy that we at least saw some stars, and got a couple nice pictures of the colored sky, we packed our gear back in the Jeep and headed towards a near-by cache. The ride down the hill led us right into a fog bank that we stayed in for most of the ride to the cache.

High on the Hill, our observing spot

Looking South

Packing to go

Down into the fog

We had no problems finding the start of our hike to this cache. Once again, we were deep in SGL #51, only this time, we were on the western side of the game lands. The roads was mainly dirt and rocks, sometimes a foot or two below the surrounding ground. You wouldn’t want to bring the family car here!

We were looking for a multi-cache called “The Indian Springs”. It wasn’t listed as a very difficult cache, but you never know until you find it, especially here in the Fayette Cong!

We had to find 3 different hides, the first 2 would lead us to the final cache. The first one was fairly easy, we just followed a steep, rocky road, down into the woods.

Heading down into the woods....

On either side were lots of brambles and a scattering of ferns. Occasionally we could see large rocks or cliffs. The first find was hidden about 30 feet away from the “road”. I had to go through some sharp thorn bushes to access it. I’m glad I was wearing long pants. Inside it were the co-ordinates for the next hide.

Red pulling Ann Marie along

I’d like to put a brief paragraph about the dog here. At home, when I am walking him around the neighborhood, he is a perfect dog, walking right beside me, only occasionally pulling at his leash. Most of the time, the leash is hanging in a nice gentle loop between us. He hardly ever barks. BUT, get him out in the woods and his nose takes over, he starts pulling at the leash, and howling at who knows what. It is the hound in him I know but hopefully, this will change as he gets more and more trained….but for now, he can sometimes be a real pain in the butt! ;-)

Going to the next cache, we continued along the same road. Before long it went from rocks, dirt and mud to a simple path consisting of two slim dirt trails leading through a narrow width of high grass. As we progressed, the trail became tougher and tougher to locate and soon, about a 10th of a mile away, we started to bushwhack. It wasn’t long before we started to see huge rocks spaced randomly amongst the trees. Monstrous in size, they were bigger than houses, and all around them were jagger bushes, full of big, sharp thorns, just waiting to grab us as we worked our way through them.

Giants in the woods

The cave entrance

It appeared as if we were heading towards a large group of these behemoths and soon we were with-in 40 feet of our next find. I had a pretty good idea of where we were going, it was a large opening in-between 2 rocks, you could feel a cool breeze coming out from the cave entrance. We were looking for someone’s initials, carved near the entrance and the year carved below them.

Red looking down into the cave

First, I had to go and look in the cave. It was about 10-15 feet high at the opening but tapered down and closer together as it went deeper. A large set of steps dropped me down below ground level to a small puddle of clear water. Perhaps this is the Indian Spring? Past this water, the cave continued on and around a bend to disappear from my sight. Unfortunately, this was as far as I was going today, whether it continued on or just stopped I don’t know. In my mind, it continues on for miles.

AMB doing the math

Off to find the final

There were a couple different initials carved near the entrance, but not the ones we were looking for. We looked and looked with no luck, going back over the walls of the entrance, this time using a flashlight. Finally, underneath a small overhang, we located them. We had looked right over them without noticing them. We added the numbers in the year that was carved there, to the numbers that the cache owner had given us and soon AMB had the co-ordinates for the final cache. We headed out of the cave and soon had the cache in hand.

We signed the log, rehid the cache and started back towards the car. The return seemed to take less time than the hike in, even the bushwhacking sections. At the car, we gave the dog some water and headed out of the game lands and back towards home.

We got back around noon, 9 ½ hours after we left. We had another fine adventure under our belts. Driving through the game lands in the pitch dark, working our way successfully through the maze of a logging area, four wheel hill climbing in the dark, some dark sky stargazing and then a challenging geocache hunt in some pretty un-friendly woods along with finding a nice deep cave, what more could you ask for? What a blast, we’ll have to do this again!

For more information on Geocaching or the cache we were searching for, go to

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=79c66996-deab-42ea-ae40-5815dfa723d1

Earthquakes and Ham Radio

2011-08-24T04:43:00.000-04:00

Well, as I'm sure everybody knows, there was a rare 5.9 magnitude "East Coast" earthquake yesterday afternoon. I myself, didn't feel a thing, I think I was at the library when it happened. Luckily, so far there have been no major problems or injuries. Just a lot of exciting new stories for people to tell!

It seems that cell phones were disprupted for a bit in some locations after the tremor. These are the phones that everyone will rely on after any major disaster. (Just a hint of sarcasm) They are one of the reasons that Amateur Radio is being looked at as more and more "un-nessesary". Well, while those phones were out....the radio amateurs were all up and running. There when they are needed! Luckily, none were needed yesterday, but if they were, there would have been lots of volenteers ready to help out, to rely messages to and for police and firecrews, to help in passing messages to loved ones, to help out in search and rescue operations.

W2LJ wrote an interesting blog talking about just this...

http://w2lj.blogspot.com/2011/08/poo-pooing-poo-pooers.html

Ham Radio....its not just old foggies sitting in front of their Morse Code Keys....it's a bunch of educated people, both young and old, skilled in modern technologies, lots of whom are ready to help at a moments notice!

"73"

Phil- AB3AW

A Couple Shots from Phipps

2011-08-20T10:38:00.000-04:00

8/19/11

I had to meet someone at Phipps yesterday and since I arrived a little early, I took a few photos while I was waiting.

The reflecting pond outside Phipps Conservatory

(pics will enlarge when clicked)

I was amazed at the nice deep colors of the flowers floating in the ponds outside the buildings. I thought I'd share them with you....enjoy!

(remember Pac Man?)

Searching for the "Haunted Rock of Irishtown"

2011-08-17T18:43:00.000-04:00

8/17/11

The weather forecasters had said that today was going to be the last “nice” day for awhile. My work schedule for the day was really low, so I decided to take a little of my vacation time.

I had heard about a “local haunting” and thought it would be fun to try and track it down.

The rumors go that there is a big rock on Old Irishtown Road that is visited by a spirit. This legend has been around for decades, if not longer. They say that when you visit it, you might see a man holding a glowing lantern. He is dressed in old style work clothes and is wearing a large top hat. They say it is the ghost of John Stone, an immigrant from Dublin, Ireland. He was killed at this rock by an iron ore cart that derailed here over a century ago.

Irishtown Area, near Dunbar, Pa

(Green-road routes, Red-foot route)

(pics will enlarge when clicked)

The road this is located on is in a State Game Land and it turned out to be quite evasive. I drove right past it a couple times. The first time, I drove along until it was obvious that I had missed it. I turned around and slowly retraced my tracks. The needle of the GPS pointed into the woods alongside the road.

I returned to the last road I had passed, hoping it would return me back towards the elusive rock. Following it to the end, once again, the arrow of the GPS pointed up the hill towards the road I was just on before. Wrong again.

Retracing my tacks another time, a came to a batch of trailers situated in a small clearing, a gang of dogs was roaming around in front of them, joining together to chase my car as I drove past. On a tree in the driveway was a sign saying “Private Property”. The GPS arrow was pointing right at the trailers. As I slowly drove past, I saw a small dirt road towards the back of the property, hidden by the trees and weeds.. Taking a chance, I pulled in and lo and behold, there was the road I was looking for. The trailers were situated almost on top of it. It was just a little wider than the Jeep and in no time, I was past the dogs and was going down into the woods.

The haunted rock (?)

The rock was about 100 yards past the trailers. I had gotten the coordinates from a geocache located near-by. The cache was located a bit further down the hill from the rock. The cache also gave some of the details of the “haunting”.

After finding the cache, I stopped at the rock and looked around. I didn’t see or hear anything. BUT, it was 7 in the morning. The rising sun was coming through the trees on a slant and everybody knows that ghosts only come out at night, at least that’s what I had heard! I did hear some howling in the distance……but that was only the dog in the car.

Perhaps I’ll stop back some other time, in the evening. We’ll see what happens then. Maybe I’ll see the ghost…or maybe the people from the trailers……either way, it could be scary!

After this, I headed towards Ohiopyle. There I found 2 more caches that were located in places I had just visited in the last month or so. I had been right by them and didn’t even know they were there.

Red at Cucumber Falls

Ferncliff Natural Area of Ohiopyle

From there, I returned to the town and took a hike around the Ferncliff Natural Area. It is a nice hike, about 1.7 miles long, fairly level and passing the falls before heading into the woods.

Red by the falls

You pass over a batch of fossils as you continue on.

Using my foot for comparison

These are both Lepidodendron Scale fossils

The river drops 100 feet in one mile and so, as you walk along, the river drops further and further below you. There are a couple spots where you can see the river below and if you’re daring enough, even go down to it.

Rafters

"Down by the River Side"

Rafters going under the Rails to Trails Bridge

Before we knew it, we were back in the parking lot. I returned to the woods and hiked to where the Ferncliff Hotel used to stand. It had over 50 rooms and was at least 3 stories high. Now, all that remains is a stone wall or two and some bricks in the trail. The woods are slowly reclaiming the site.

Back in the parking lot, I BS’d with a RR worker on break and then walked into town and visited the coffee shop. While we were there, Red was tied up outside and he made himself known. The owner and his wife and daughter came out to pet and admire him for awhile. Red loved it!

With coffee and snack in hand, I returned to the car and we headed back to Shaler. We were home by two.

The forecasters were right, it was a beautiful day. Blue skies, nice white puffy clouds and not a single sign of ghosts….

Weekend in Northeastern Pennsylvania

2011-08-15T11:18:00.002-04:00

Weekend in Northeastern Pennsylvania

8/12-14/11

It was Friday and Ann Marie and I were heading north. We left a little before 6 and started out following Rt28 towards the top of our maps.

After Kittanning, Rt28 turns into a small, hilly 2 lane road. It goes through little towns and communities as it takes you up and down. It is the nice section of Rt28! Just pray you don’t come across any trucks on this road!

In Brookville, you have to get on Rt80 and travel east for 2 exits and then once again, you are back on the smaller roads.

Old Streetcars, archived above RT80

(pics will enlarge when clicked)

Moonrise

It was just a little before 10 when we pulled into Betula. A friend has a camp here and he was good enough to lend it to us for a couple nights. This would be a great place to use as a base camp for our explorations.

Betula

After getting unpacked, eating some dinner and starting a bad Scrabble game, we finally called it a night.

The next morning, we got off to a Fairly early start, hoping to miss the rain storms that had been forecast.

We were heading to Bradford, home of Zippo Lighters and Case Knives. The caches we were hunting for were across the valley from the plant.

The Zippo Plant

Making our hike up the hill a little easier, someone had planted a bunch of caches every 1/10th mile. Oh Yeah…it was a real hill! All of these first caches were dog related. Cool!

We were hiking only about a mile and half to the final cache, but we had to go up 600 feet, rather quickly.

AMB at the bottom

Our route

It went up…

And up…

The final 2 caches on this trail (out of 11) were the real reason we had come here. They were both hidden by the same cacher, Zenrider. The first was hidden on some huge rocks. (Bear Rocks Cave) It was hidden on a ledge about 20 feet off the ground. All we needed to do was find out how to get there.

At the cache site

A little exploring found a narrow passageway out to the ledge. At first I couldn’t locate the cache but when I turned around, there it was right beside me! If it had been a snake….it would’ve bit me!

Looking through the passageway

After signing the log, we proceeded back through the rocks, which looked sort of like beached ships, (these rocks were huge!) back to the main trail,

Red showing off his climbing skills

where we headed in the opposite direction towards our next and final find. A couple of overgrown trails brought us to a flat area with a large hole in the ground. This was obviously the place!

This is it...

We decided to eat our lunch before finding the cache. We devoured a couple hoagies and then I went underground.

Looking up..

A short while later, I had found the cache and had updated the log.

Got it!

Which way did he go..?

Soon I was back on the surface with AMB and Red

AMB and Red

Back at the camp again, we ate dinner, watched a movie on TV and finished our Scrabble game. (This had to be the worst Scrabble game we’ve ever played!) Then we went outside to watch the moon rise. We saw a couple faint Perseid Meteors, but nothing to write home about. A nice Iridium Flare topped off the evening.

On Sunday morning, it started to rain as were eating breakfast. The gentle drizzle turned into a downpour as we got ready to load the car. It was tough staying dry. By 10, we were on our way.

Rainy morning in Betula

We took a different way home, just for as change of scenery. The rain let up about half way through our journey. Nice skies accompanied us the rest of the way home.

We saw deer, rabbits, a skunk, some llamas and even a BEAR on this trip. We were lucky, we could have hit the bear, but thanks to AMB’s driving, we missed him! All in all, it was another great trip….

as always!

Falling Stars

2011-08-10T06:29:00.001-04:00

8/10/11

(photo compliments of Google)

As I walked the dog this morning, I saw 2 bright Preseid meteors. Hopefully, this is an indication of what we will be seeing this weekend. Ann Marie and I (and the dog) will be heading to the small community of Betula in north central PA. While we are there, we are going to visit Cherry Springs State Park. This is a dark sky park! It is suppose to be the darkest part of PA. It is the "Holy Grail" for astronomers.... an area that has no lights!!!!

It will be the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower, but it also will coincide with the full moon. Still, we will take it!

Now, what do you think the chances are that it will rain?