Epic Hike - for School!

Hi and welcome back!

Mr. Rabenold

On Easter weekend we had an extra credit hike for school.  We hiked up Mount Pisgah near Jim Thorpe, which is pretty much the biggest hill in the area.  

About 50 people showed up, which I thought was a lot for a Saturday on a holiday weekend. 

My social studies teacher, Mr. Rabenold, started out by telling everyone about the history of Jim Thorpe and the Switchback Railroad, which we would be hiking along.

We started on a fairly short, yet steep switchback trail that ended at the top of Mt. Pisgah with an awesome view.  We could even see a few miles out to a waterfall in the distance.

At the top of Mount Pisgah with C.S. and C.S.

After that, we went on a long, slightly downhill trail. While on that trail, we saw the first known coal mine in North America. It wasn't much to see, though, because it was small and overgrown.

The Mine Entrance

The coolest part was when we had to walk across a 100 foot section that was only about a foot wide, and if you fell, you would fall/slide for 25 feet.  Luckily, no one fell.  The rock face was about 75 feet high, and it was a steep slab above the trail and to the right.  Dad, C.S. and I decided we're going to come back with our rope and try to climb it.

Inside the Mine

At the bottom of that last section was another abandoned coal mine that we all went into. Mr. Rabenold,  wasn't sure if there were any vertical shafts, so we weren't supposed to go too far into it. But my dad and I are going to come back and go deeper with headlamps to see what we can find.

Thanks for reading!