How to Get to the Echo in Mcadoo Pa

***June 12, 2019 – American Geode received an email from a gentleman who lived in the expanse, and knew well-nigh this site, and informed us that what we were calling “The Little Grand Canyon” is actually called “The Echo.” We have corrected the title of the article with this new information.

So the American Geode squad had planned for a rockhound trip for quartz crystals in McAdoo, Pennsylvania, and instead of finding the cache of quartz, nosotros plant something even ameliorate,,,,Pennsylvania’a “Petty M Coulee.” Then the American Geode team had heard stories and rumors of rockhounds finding large quartz crystals around McAdoo. We had to go see for ourselves!

The surface area effectually Mcadoo is largely abandoned coal mines, strip mines. There is a lot of abandoned history in the surface area as the coal industry dwindled. Y’all run into the row houses that brand upwardly the pocket-sized towns that dot the areas around the abandoned and airtight downwardly strip mines, and when you are driving you notice the division betwixt new homes and new business is very stark from the older homes and the old coal mining business concern.

The story we were told is that rockhounds were finding quartz around the areas exposed by the mining operations. We drove to the largest strip mine in the area, and it was clearly and heavily marked with “no trespassing” signs. Now we don’t practise anything illegal, but sometimes what we practice may exist “unlegal,” but nosotros do abide by “no trespassing” signs when we see them.

We drove around to some other areas non far from the strip mine, kept finding “no trespassing” signs, and we nearly gave up until, while driving downward one route, Joe noticed a shack on the side of the road, a fella was sanding down the leg of a coffee table or a stool or something, just his porch was total of stones. Joe said “pull over!” and we did. I let Joe do the talking in these situations, he is kind of like Anthony Bourdain and has the gift of being to strike up a conversation with just about anyone he encounters. Well, after Joe spoke to this fella for v minutes, he comes back to the machine with directions where the locals find the quartz crystals!

And so we followed the directions that our new friend Drew had shared, and nosotros were able to find the path he told u.s. would lead to the locale to find the quartz.

We followed the paths, that were not marked “no trespassing,” but they were not exactly marked “welcome” either. We stopped in our tracks when we saw what looked similar THE GRAND Coulee! This gorge, unknown if human-fabricated or natural, was giant, steep, sheer cliffs, beautiful, and a site to behold. Hither are the photos:

Now we are pretty reckless at American Geode, but without the right equipment nosotros were not going to scale the Trivial 1000 Canyon to find the source of the large quartz crystals. We did notice the area however. Look closely in these photos at the blue rope, tied to the tree? We had been told that people scale downward that thin rope, more than like cord, to an overhang where one tin can dig into the side of the mini canyon. Expect closely, the rope, string really can be hard to spot.

Then we may return to this spot in the jump with proper equipment, only nosotros did brand a wonderful discovery during this trip. The Piffling Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania is a sight to behold.

When we were walking about, look what we constitute on the ground!