Today, the day after my birthday, was meant to be the end all of all abandoned discoveries. It turned out to not quite live up to that mystique, but it was pretty darn good. Post errand running throughout the morning hours, we finally settled into our Blue Sasquatch seats and headed South to Carmichaels, PA. This is fun for me as it is a complete combination of my brother and his wife, so it was a great place to say over and over again. The ride was painless, not quite the lovely ride of the past weeks with all the colored leaves, but it was sunny with blue skies and so it was very pleasureable.
Once we got into town, a winding road took us right smack dab next to several abandoned mine buildings. I am not sure of any of the historical information pertaining to these mines but this: these are the remains of the Hartley Shaft of the Robena Mine. Two of the buildings were the offices and bath house with an elevated walkway to an elevator for the shaft. The other buildings were where they housed machinery and also all the gears. There was a collapsed building in between and this was the actual elevator shaft. We only went into the outer buildings as the idea of a shaft and a hole was a little nerve wracking and there was a lot of brush so I wasn't sure what could or could not be solid land.
The buildings offered lots of interesting items to observe, lots of gears and switches and such. Little girl was enamoured with all the springs, nuts and bolts she was able to add to her collection. However, both places had seen there fair share of vandalism and also dumping. That was a little disheartening since the location had so much to offer but seemed more littered than many we had explored in the past. We still had a wonderful time checking out all the knobs and gears and climbing over all the rock walls and in and out of windows and doors. We also got a chance to try out the new wifi drone which was a little harder to control than we had expected. Videos will come soon, for sure, but for now, it was just fun and games and the drone landing upside down in the brush.
After our industrial exploration, we came across a farmhouse. We don't usually enter homes as they are always closed up and definitely private property. However, this home was wide open and it was a beautiful specimen of abandonment. The outside was glorious. Vines were woven around the whole house, embracing it in an almost cocoon like state. There was a wooden, rickety ladder leading up to the roof, a bee hive in the entryway and even a bird's nest on the porch. The walk up the steps was crouched, trees, weedcs and wines making it rather difficult. However, after reaching the entryway, we could go no further. There was actually no floor throughout the house. It did, however,let us see upstairs and in the basement. The fireplace still stood strong with items still lining the mantle. I wanted so much to get closer, but, alas,no floors. The main man of the house decided he was going to brave the steps. He maneuvered himself to right at the base of the staircase and began to walk up...creak, groan, creak. He changed his mind (without me even saying a word). Both of us were dying to see more, but this place was a little too decayed for the average joe. As we left though, we checked out the basement by looking down. I will say, I saw nothing but junk, dressers, toilets, wood, etc... Little Girl claims she saw a face with arms and legs. I seriously saw nothing, I doubt she did either,but I was ready to go. We had learned some interesting history, explored an area we had never gone, and we had seen things we had never seen before (yikes). Mission accomplished, successful day! Urbex Feldy wins again!!
Once we got into town, a winding road took us right smack dab next to several abandoned mine buildings. I am not sure of any of the historical information pertaining to these mines but this: these are the remains of the Hartley Shaft of the Robena Mine. Two of the buildings were the offices and bath house with an elevated walkway to an elevator for the shaft. The other buildings were where they housed machinery and also all the gears. There was a collapsed building in between and this was the actual elevator shaft. We only went into the outer buildings as the idea of a shaft and a hole was a little nerve wracking and there was a lot of brush so I wasn't sure what could or could not be solid land.
The buildings offered lots of interesting items to observe, lots of gears and switches and such. Little girl was enamoured with all the springs, nuts and bolts she was able to add to her collection. However, both places had seen there fair share of vandalism and also dumping. That was a little disheartening since the location had so much to offer but seemed more littered than many we had explored in the past. We still had a wonderful time checking out all the knobs and gears and climbing over all the rock walls and in and out of windows and doors. We also got a chance to try out the new wifi drone which was a little harder to control than we had expected. Videos will come soon, for sure, but for now, it was just fun and games and the drone landing upside down in the brush.
After our industrial exploration, we came across a farmhouse. We don't usually enter homes as they are always closed up and definitely private property. However, this home was wide open and it was a beautiful specimen of abandonment. The outside was glorious. Vines were woven around the whole house, embracing it in an almost cocoon like state. There was a wooden, rickety ladder leading up to the roof, a bee hive in the entryway and even a bird's nest on the porch. The walk up the steps was crouched, trees, weedcs and wines making it rather difficult. However, after reaching the entryway, we could go no further. There was actually no floor throughout the house. It did, however,let us see upstairs and in the basement. The fireplace still stood strong with items still lining the mantle. I wanted so much to get closer, but, alas,no floors. The main man of the house decided he was going to brave the steps. He maneuvered himself to right at the base of the staircase and began to walk up...creak, groan, creak. He changed his mind (without me even saying a word). Both of us were dying to see more, but this place was a little too decayed for the average joe. As we left though, we checked out the basement by looking down. I will say, I saw nothing but junk, dressers, toilets, wood, etc... Little Girl claims she saw a face with arms and legs. I seriously saw nothing, I doubt she did either,but I was ready to go. We had learned some interesting history, explored an area we had never gone, and we had seen things we had never seen before (yikes). Mission accomplished, successful day! Urbex Feldy wins again!!