A sea of brilliant green foliage blooms in stark contrast against barren coal fields, gray and lifeless, existing like a windswept industrial desert of black dirt. Just ahead, a warped set of railroad tracks cuts through a wasteland of coal ash, piles of discarded tires, and assorted 55-gallons drums freckled with bullet holes. An abundance of empty Coors Banquet Beer cans from epic parties past scurry across the ground like industrial Pennsylvanian tumbleweeds, pushed by the wind. ATV tracks zig-zag through the landscape scarring the soil below with ruts and deep narrow ditches, creating artificial channels for which the rain meanders through, further eroding the landscape into a nearly unrecognizable alien-like terrain.

Rising up in the distance, the smokestack dominating over the long shuttered Huber Coal Breaker seems to scratch the sky above, slowly growing closer and taller, as I continue down the rail-bed toward the colliery property. The late spring sun feels harsh against the exposed skin on my neck, its rays bake the barren ground and the heat emanates up from the blackened sooty soil; it feels as if I'm walking through a natural oven. Each step forward kicks up a plume of coal ash, so light and dry that it hangs in the air like a cloud of smoke, glistening as rays of light cast through the powdery particles. I continue to push toward the looming smoke stack, my permanent beacon of a landmark, leading me to where I want to go.

Without a moments notice, the sun takes respite behind a large fluffy cloud which casts a shadow across the entire valley and almost immediately the vibrant green foliage seems to wilt without the sun's radiant energy, as I too take a moment to sit within the forgiving cool shadow to admire the desolation abound. This coal country land remains as a testament to both man made destruction and ingenuity. The Earth here has been pillaged, abused, and destroyed for over one hundred years. The surrounding mountains have been hollowed out for their internal coal and the natural topography as been entirely retransformed by human erosion and movement. It's a captivating yet sobering introspective look into how society has come to be and has progressed throughout the years.

The coal soot which stains my skin black today, once powered much of the country and it was all mined and processed right within the Pennsylvania coal fields. Far too often we see only the positive byproducts of the industrial landscape which otherwise exists out of sight and out of mind. Today, Coal Country remains as a massive man made scar, a post-apocalyptic ruined landscape indicative of an industry that was once thriving and powerful and how starkly that can change. The surrounding hills were once abundant with working men, like an army of ants, constantly moving material from within the underground mines. Atop the Earth's surface, the valleys were littered with collieries and factories to process the raw coal, all-the-while smokestacks constantly pumping out thick smoke which seems to have permanently cast the entire area under a black and white film. Hard working men and women at this time paid no mind to the effects of pollution, not because they were greedy but because we so often fail to recognize the negative effects our efforts stemming from preserving our ways of living may cause to the greater environment. However, our ever evolving human desire to want more and want it cheaper, easier, and quicker has since abandoned this coal rich landscape in favor of newer technologies. No longer do men work the mines nor do the coal breakers process material, tinging the sky with black clouds.

Today a shadow of past industry has been permanently cast over this forsaken land. But not all is doom-and-gloom. Amongst the disparity and bleakness of the stripped mountains and rotting factories, nature has begun to reclaim what was taken away. Trees sprout heathy and tall from the ashes of dead brownfields' and the hulking ruins of massive abandoned factories have been raised, returning vast open swaths of land back to nature. It almost seems that the foliage blooms brighter in coal country, for against a backdrop of gray, the greenery remains most pronounced. I feel particularly lucky to have been able to experience, explore, and photograph this transitional period of post-industrial fallout and renewal, for in one hundred more years who knows what will have changed.

I have no doubt that nature will heal the scars from our previous industrial endeavors. But I also recognize that the way we used the Earth in the past gave birth to the society that has made life so much easier for us today. Progress has always been advanced in steps, for we could not have proceeded to cleaner nuclear or wind energy before we discovered burning coal. Such is just the natural progression and evolution of technology. There is an infinite amount of wisdom and knowledge to be discovered from studying our past and coal country is one of those places that bleeds American if you're willing to dust off the top layer of silt to study the scars below.

As the puffy clouds above disperse, the sun returns in full fever from its brief nap. I too break from my shadowy rest and continue down the beaten rail bed, skipping over jagged ties to avoid an embarrassing fall. I can tell that I've made it near my destination for the towering edifice of the coal breaker peers at me through its many missing and shattered window panes, seeming to smile at me with a mouth full of busted teeth. An imposing chainlink fence wraps around the perimeter of the property, however, its no match for the ATVs which have plowed over a section of the fencing allowing for an easy entrance.

Wandering through the forgotten property I immediately fell into a stupor of fascination, taken back by the massive size of the intact breaker ruins. Expansive coal chutes criss-crossed across the blue sky backdrop above, as monster truck sized tires lay discarded about the ground. A thick forest of lush greenery surrounded every decaying structure on site, giving the illusion that I was on an entirely different planet. The colliery buildings stood like prehistoric dinosaur skeletons within an ancient cretaceous forest of neon green brush. Each building I entered was a douse of industrial history to explore; a rotting carcass of conveyors, pulleys, and catwalks to climb and photograph. So much was going on inside these buildings that at times nothing made sense and it seemed impossible that humans could have even constructed such a mad place. I felt like an archeologist attempting to study the Great Industrial Pyramids of Pennsylvania trying to understand first hand how the industry worked here. Walking into the ground floor of the main coal breaker I was confronted by a set of twin gears, colossal enough the grind up even the most burly of men into a pile of broken bones. I truly felt like I had just entered an Industrial Hell of misfit and oversized objects, a real life game of Chutes and Ladders lay ahead of me.

I followed my urge to climb up the the highest vantage I could find, which overlooked the small town of Ashley, PA as the wonderful crumbling brick ruins of a 1930's era power plant lay just below my dangling feet. I quickly became lost within the mass hysteria of industry, spending hours exploring everything I could get into and climb up onto. Few locations spark my imagination and curiosity as intensely as do industrial ruins. Looking back on these pictures brings me right into the train of a fascination and mindset of that day. At the time of this adventure I did not realize it, but it would be my first and only time exploring the Huber Breaker.

In years past I've read the news articles about Huber Breaker's demise. It pains me to see the photographs depicting the fall of such an incredible industrial playground, for my greedy self wishes I could have gone back to explore it time and time again. Today, Coal Country still remains as a scarred landscape, however the wounds from our past wreckage are quickly healing, nearly as fast as the physical industrial ruins are being dismantled and eradicated from the surface of the Earth. But there is still much to explore out this way in Coal Country, it just requires much more of a keen eye and a willingness to dust off the surface and dig through the physical history all around. While the last of the great old coal breakers have fallen to the scrap heap, an entire underground world still remains.