Coal seam mining at the Hemlocks

       Well I did it, like hiked over there, got some coal in bucket, and hiked back home to the Compound. It is still too warm right now to heat with, so I will wait a few hours to see if this anthracite coal smells like sulfur when burned. I don't expect that to happen, but that is why we experiment. Now right now the outside temperature is around 55F, and the inside temp is like 66F. The outside temp is supposed to get down to the mid 20'sF later today. Bottom line, right now it is a nice winter day outside.

            The site is around 400 meters from the house, and is further identified by having an obvious coal slag pile there, plus I left a pick axe with a green long fiberglass handle on it, there, too. It is out of the weather due to the overhang there.

            And there is another exposed coal seam around 100 meters closer to what I call Colton Point. That seam is around 12" thick, but there is scant evidence of our ancestors using it.

            Last, the whole episode took about 1/4 day, but I would plan on 1/2 day for anyone or any group who travels there to mine coal.

            And there are three obvious routes to use.  All begin and end at the main House. Route one is to proceed down the trail to the pond below the main house, and then follow the bluff line until you get to the seam. Route two is to go the Colton Point Gap (around a 600 meter walk), go down it, and then go about 200 meters to the coal seam, intercepting the other coal seam along the way. Route three is just to have one person go to the seam and mine it, and have another person on top of the bluff line to haul the bucket of coal up, and carry it back to the house.

            And today the ground was wet and slippery. Where as in the warm season 15 years ago or so, I recall one sandstone spring; well today I had to deal with like seven of them. So worse case, sometimes it was more like pulling myself up the passage, trying not spill the bucket of coal, rather than just hiking.

            And again last, I violated one simple safety procedure. Basically, it is to leave a record of where you going so others can have a hint of where to find you if you don't come back.