Disaster in Coal Country

We caught this wolverine -- by hand -- and let it hitch a ride with us from Mobe to... this grainy spot called "Scofield Reservoir" in the mountains south of Salt Lake.Pulled into a campground to check it out. It was full but before we moved on Paul gave a guy a jump. He gave Paul a kiss and has been sexting him up to fifty times a day. Please make it stop.Anyway, Scofield was recommended to us by Utah Tourism. At one time, 2000 people lived here but today it's pretty much a ghost town except for a few people who keep vacation homes so they can fish for carp in the nearby reservoir.The wolverine and I were bummed since the one interesting place in town......the Mountain Tavern, was long gone.Looks like whoever had the place was run out of town on a rail and split on a moment's notice. Candy, food, drinks were all left on the shelves. The menu board had a turkey sandwich for $1.90 so this place has been boarded up for years. When was the last time a sandwich in a sit-down restaurant was under two bucks?Since there's no place to drink inside, the locals drink outside. There are no trashcans here. But there is a jail to lock up the drunk. Remember, this is LDS country so drunks are looked down upon.Another old building.And yet another.This is really creepy--a Jaycee Dugard-type of compound (look it up) where we could hear people whispering behind the metal fence.Scofield has about sixty people and 60,000 ground squirrels. They've taken over, digging so many holes and tunnels beneath the town that it's in danger of collapse.We were the only people and wolverine camped at the Scofield RV park. The other RVs had been abandoned by their owners. Something scared them off. Maybe it was this. Not the "Scenic Byway" sign but......the mountain of garbage just behind it. Nice, huh?Actually, despite the trash strewn about and the paucity of living people, Scofield is the "capital" of Utah's coal country. This has been a coal mining region for more than 100 years. Bituminous or "soft" coal that burns more cleanly than so-called "hard" or anthracite coal. You don't realize how big an appetite America has for coal until you come to a place like this.This mountain of coal is 17,000 feet tall, making it the highest in Utah.We tried to sneak into the mine but were found out. This is the Skyline Mine, not far from another local mine where a number of men died in a mine explosion just three years ago.Which brings us to another local disaster that took place long ago.In late May, 1900, the Scofield coal mine collapsed. The exact reasons remain unclear but an underground earthquake and subsequent methane gas explosion are suspected.The Scofielders quickly sprang into action to clear the debris but it was already too late for 199 miners who lost their lives. At the time it was the deadliest mine disaster ever in the United States. (In 1907, 362 miners died in an explosion at Monongah, West Virginia, making it the worst in US history.)Paul found the remains of the long-gone miners at where, else? The local cemetery.A monument honors the fallen miners. It says they were "curshed" in the explosion. Didn't anybody proof-read this thing before it went up?A huge lump of coal.A headstone. One family, immigrants from Finland, lost six sons and a number of cousins and uncles in the blast. And I thought TV was dangerous.The wolverine looks for ground squirrels. Most people we know visit art galleries, music festivals, shopping malls and amusements parks during their trips. We visit coal mines, skanky ghost towns and cemeteries. We know how to do it.

Next stop, where mammoths walked in Mormon-land.