Coming to Visit

My oldest is finally coming to visit this weekend; an event I am very much looking forward to. The last time we were here she kept shushing me to be quiet along this part of the path. She wanted to hear the chipmunks and other animals scurry about in the foliage.

On our way to the back to the car we passed three or four teenagers eating lunch at one of the benches. They had carried in a silver boom box and were listening to hip hop. An unexpected site to see in the middle of the woods.

It doesn't look like we will get a chance to visit the Mill this weekend though.

This photo was taken on June 28, 2009 in McConnells Mill State Park on Hell's Hollow Trail.

Alpha Falls

This waterfall is a short ways off the Alpha Trail. My daughter and I were quite surprised when we came across it while hiking. After a little research:

Alpha Falls, also known as Gardiner Falls, is the mouth of the valley leading from Alpha Pass. The falls most likely formed after lake drainage through Alpha Pass was complete. Later lake drainage eroded the main gorge to its present level, leaving the valley above the falls "hanging" along the gorge wall. Many waterfalls along the walls of the gorge are at the mouths of similar "hanging valleys."

Almost none of the Homewood Sandstone has been eroded at the top of the falls, suggesting that the valley has never had much flow since glacial lake drainage ceased.

Source, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Web Site. July 23, 2009.

This photo was taken in McConnells Mill on June 28, 2009.

Hell's Hollow Trail

There are several stories on how Hell's Hollow received it's name. Here is one I found:

"Hell's Hollow" was named by the early settlers, and is an extremely suggestive appellation, for a gloomier place can hardly be found. It is related that the origin of the name comes from the fact that a traveler in an early day became benighted and passed the night in the hollow. When asked the next day where he had slept, answered that he "didn't know, unless it was in hell!" http://www.usgwarchives.org/pa/lawrence/1877/sliprock.htm, History of Lawrence County Pennsylvania, 1770 - 1877, by S.W. and P.A. Durant.

In another version, the blazing iron and lime furnaces at the time convinced the lost traveler that he had wondered into Hell itself.

Contrary to its name, Hell's Hollow is quite beautiful. It is well know for its wild flowers which eventually I will have photos of. The trail winds along Hell's Run and end at a spectacular waterfall near an old lime kiln.

I will be posting more photos and info later. If anyone has their own stories, please feel free to post in the comments.

This photo was taken on June 28, 2009.