Tunnel #7

After visiting Silver Run and looking for marbles in Cairo, we still had enough daylight left to hunt for one more tunnel. We settled on finding Tunnel #7, also known as Calhoun's Tunnel. This one, 770 feet long, is located in the small town of Pennsboro. Once again we had to ask someone for directions as our map was not clear. The man we asked was helpful but when we tried to follow his directions we were still confused, so we pulled over once again to look at the map. To our surprise, the man we'd asked directions from pulled in behind us and offered to lead us to the right place. What a nice guy.

When we got to the parking area beside the rail trail, he asked us if we had a flashlight. Well, I had the one on my phone. The next thing he said surprised me. "Do you have anything for protection? Like a heavy flashlight or something?" He went on to say that there were some not-so-good people in the area, and the tunnel being in a lonesome place, but close enough to the houses where these people lived, well, anything could happen.

You know, I'd never considered the potential danger of these dark, lonely tunnels. Larry took the man at his word, and retrieved a piece of pipe from the van. I was surprised he had it, but he said it was a breaker bar for the lug wrench, in case we had a flat.

Somehow, though, the man's well-meant warning took the fun out of finding tunnel #7. I forged ahead anyway, but Larry was on edge and wary. I admit, I was glad he had the pipe.

So we walked through the tunnel, which actually crossed under US Route 50. I saw many bike tracks in the mud in the tunnel floor, which somehow made me feel better about the place. Still, I was glad to get through it and back again.

You can see how this tunnel takes a slight bend. I am amazed at the brickwork in these tunnels--and at how water trickling down the walls leaves calcium deposits and in some places even forms stalactites.

While this wasn't one of the haunted tunnels, it sure won the prize for creepiness. There must be some story about this tunnel that I have not found, and our informant certainly had his own misgivings about it. Maybe one day I'll come across the tunnel's history.

Burning Bush has naturalized in some places along the trail.

A sassafras leave stands out in gold on green grass.

A huge sycamore leaf, one of many we saw on our walk.

The North Bend Lodge looked pretty welcoming when we returned.

Neither of us were very hungry, but went into the restaurant for a piece of pie (lemon meringue) and some decaf coffee before heading up to our room. Comfort food, maybe? That night I dreamed of trains and tunnels.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.