It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down. I had the thumb drive in, I was drivin’

Trees went by, me and Geoff were singin’ “Silent Lucidity”, I was flyin’

To be clear, I was driving my minivan to the ghost town known as Blue Heron, Kentucky. Blue Heron was a company town, built to house the population the company estimated they’d need to work their imaginatively named Coal Mine 18. The mine and the town were in use from 1937 through 1962. When you arrive at the site, it’s hard to miss the town’s lone intact building. It was the coal sorting / rail car loading facility, known to most of the town folk as “The Tipple”. See it now…

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Apart from the above, Blue Heron doesn’t have an awful lot to see, but there is plenty to read and even hear. Interpretive signs have been installed at several old building sites. Most of these sites also feature audio playback, so you can hear stories of Blue Heron from people who lived there.

Some of the building sites are easily wheelchair accessible. Others are located along smoothly paved walkways, but some of the walkways are quite steep. The latter are accessible to wheelchair users who have big, beefy arms.

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On the way back to my cabbage, I stopped by the imaginatively named Natural Arch. I got a few good photos of the area scenery, but I didn’t like the lighting of the arch itself. And I learned some time ago that, when the sun is your only light source, you should NOT try to re-position your light source. That brilliant, blinding bastard will burn the bejesus outta your breeches! Anyway, here’s a quick look at the area scenery as seen around 5:30 PM on Day 5…

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There are a couple of trails you can hike to get to the base of the arch. It sounds like those trails will take you to other interesting rock formations, too. But since I knew I’d be driving right by here the next day, and I expected the lighting would be better, I chose to call it a day at this point.