Friday, July 22, 2011

Man Made Wonders

Built in 1850 the Paw Paw Tunnel, located in Paw Paw, WV, along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, is a hand-carved 24 foot tunnel lined with 6 million bricks.  It was used to transport countless tons of coal, farm products and manufactured products by mules and canal boats until 1924 when the canal was closed.

When you stand in the middle of the tunnel, you really are standing in complete darkness.  You can tell the flash from my camera surprised everybody.
The towpath along the canal guided you safely through the tunnel.  The temperatures inside were cool and very welcoming giving the temperatures outside were in the 90's with high humidity.  Sometimes water droplets from the ceiling of the tunnel would explode on your head and shoulders which felt really refreshing.
When you reach the other end, this is what you find.  Bikers love this path.
We stumbled across this little guy.  Guess who was really excited about this find?  Can you locate the tadpole swimming close by?

After our hike, we were famished.  The water pumps along the trail provided refreshing spring water.

2 comments:

Jan n Jer said...

Great pics....I remember this tunnel...pitch black in the middle. Interesting history too!

Living Life said...

Great facts about the paw paw tunnel! And yes, I see the surprised expressions on the faces of your loved ones when the flash went off. This looks like a fun day trip for the whole family!