Mountaineering the Kaymoor Miners Path in New River Gorge is a brief however intense plunge into each pure magnificence and industrial historical past. The path begins with a steep, rocky descent by means of a lush Appalachian forest earlier than reaching the highest of an epic picket staircase—over 800 steps—that leads deep into the gorge. Alongside the way in which, the path passes remnants of the Kaymoor One coal mining operation, together with ruins of previous buildings and rusted equipment overtaken by moss and vines. On the backside, you are rewarded with views of the New River and a hauntingly quiet mining advanced that when buzzed with life. The hike again up is a take a look at of endurance, however it’s a uniquely immersive journey into West Virginia’s rugged previous.
Trailhead elevation 1,969′
Do not miss exploring the ruins
Mountaineering the Kaymoor Miners Path
After an early morning at Infinite Wall to catch dawn, I seize breakfast and head out to the Kaymoor Miners Path—one of many few hikes within the gorge I’ve but to cross off my checklist. It’s already a scorching 88 levels at 9:00 a.m., and I do know the climb again up will probably be brutal. I chug some water, depart the parking space, and make my method to the trailhead.
Right here, I decide up just a few new particulars concerning the mine that construct on what I’ve already realized by means of my very own analysis. In 1873, Abiel Abbot Low—managing director of the Low Moor Iron Firm in Low Moor, Virginia—bought the property. It remained untouched till 1899, when the mine was lastly opened to offer coal and coke for the corporate’s blast furnaces. Two cities had been established to accommodate staff and their households: Kaymoor High on the rim of the gorge and Kaymoor Backside down by the New River. Extra on that later.
The path kicks off with a mixture of rocky path and quick picket stair switchbacks. It is not often stage however not but punishing, and I begin to marvel when the notorious 800-plus step staircase will present up.
At 0.6 miles in, I arrive on the Sewell bench and the enduring metal I-beam signal that reads, “Your loved ones needs you to work safely.” A century in the past, coal miners rode a mountain haulage rail—angled at a steep 30% grade—from Kaymoor High down 500 toes to this very spot to start their lengthy, grueling shifts.
Just under, the 821-step staircase looms—however earlier than I descend, I take time to discover what stays of the bench-level constructions. To the left, the previous cinderblock lamp home, the place miners saved their lamps, and superintendent’s workplace—each constructed within the Fifties—stand in quiet decay.
Close by, a light security board as soon as tracked the mine’s accident-free streak. Throughout Kaymoor’s 62 years of operation (1899–1962), 21 miners misplaced their lives, largely as a result of cave-ins, electrocutions, and hearth. Some deaths had been particularly ugly: Tonney Harris, run over by a prepare in 1907; Amos Howell (age 18) and Elmer Butler (age 25), killed when a cable snapped from the mountain haulage, sending them plummeting 70 toes over a cliff in 1913; H.M. Taylor, struck within the head by a runaway iron wheel in 1915; and Louis Rombaut (age 22), cranium crushed towards a roof in 1922. And sadly, the checklist goes on.
Beside the security signal is a sealed mine entrance as soon as utilized by miners to entry horizontal shafts deep underground. A rusted mine automotive nonetheless rests on its unique tracks out entrance.
To the appropriate sits the powder home, as soon as used to retailer black powder, dynamite, and fuses. Its heavy metal door with a round vent nonetheless hangs in place, a testomony to the craftsmanship of the time.
Earlier than persevering with down, I look throughout the gorge and understand I’m staring instantly at Infinite Wall and Diamond Level, the place I’d stood earlier that morning. It is a actually nice view and I pause for a second to take all of it in.
Then, I start my descent. About midway down, I go the previous cap home, used to retailer blasting caps for detonation.
Simply past it, a rusted 20-foot-tall metal water tank—used to gather water from contained in the mine—rests on its concrete pad.
Beneath the staircase, seen practically all the approach down, are the previous I-beam tracks of the mountain haulage system that when ferried males and supplies up and down the slope.
On the backside, I attain Kaymoor’s ruins: the stays of the once-bustling coal processing plant and energy station.
The buildings are crumbling, held collectively by little greater than rust and reminiscence.
But again in its heyday, Kaymoor was probably the most productive mines in New River Gorge. Its first cargo—58,900 kilos of coal—left the location on August 23, 1900. That 12 months alone, it produced over 64,000 lengthy tons. Over 62 years, it cranked out greater than 16.9 million tons of coal—sufficient to fill 18 Empire State Buildings from high to backside, and processed a million tons of coke to gasoline blast furnaces.
To assist such an enormous operation in such a distant location, the Low Moor Iron Firm constructed two firm cities: Kaymoor Backside alongside the New River and Kaymoor High on the rim of the gorge. Each townsites had been named after James Kay, a Low Moor Iron Firm worker answerable for overseeing its building. Between 1901 and 1905, 112 homes had been constructed alongside the river for staff and their households. By 1923, the mixed inhabitants of Kaymoor High and Backside reached 560, with 140 individuals employed instantly by the mine. Under is a photograph of Kaymoor Backside, courtesy of the NPS.
These had been true firm cities, with the Low Moor Iron Firm not solely offering housing but additionally setting up colleges, church buildings, firm shops, a theater, and even tennis courts. Kaymoor High was developed later, between 1918 and 1919, with round 20 properties constructed to accommodate workers working the higher sections of the mine and the incline railway.
This infrastructure served each to assist every day life and to maintain staff carefully tied to the corporate. And by tied to the corporate, I imply tied. Miners at Kaymoor had been paid in company-issued foreign money generally known as scrip, which may solely be used at company-owned shops. Exterior the confines of Kaymoor, this scrip held no worth, successfully trapping staff throughout the firm’s financial system. In accordance with a 1904 firm report, the typical miner earned $36 per thirty days. Lease for housing in Kaymoor High or Kaymoor Backside price $5 per thirty days for an unfurnished house, or $8 per thirty days for a furnished one. 78 properties had electrical energy for an extra $2 per thirty days and solely 25 had operating water.
Meals and family items had been additionally bought at inflated costs utilizing scrip. For instance, a 24-pound sack of flour price $0.75, bacon was $0.20 per pound, espresso offered for $0.30 per pound, molasses was $0.40 per pound, potatoes had been $0.30 for a one-pound sack, and a dozen eggs went for $0.20. These costs had been typically practically double what the identical items price exterior of Kaymoor, however as a result of miners had been paid in scrip, that they had little alternative however to purchase from the corporate retailer.
As demand for coal declined and mining operations started to gradual, the city’s inhabitants dwindled. By 1952, Kaymoor Backside had been deserted, and in 1960, most of its remaining constructions had been destroyed in a hearth. At its peak, the mine employed over 800 males—lots of them immigrants or African Individuals in search of new alternatives. However by the Nineteen Forties, the coal seam started to provide out, and after WWII, demand waned. Automobiles made it simpler for miners to commute, and the once-thriving city across the mine started to fade. By 1961, manufacturing had dropped to only 10,515 tons. A 12 months later, it was throughout.
Sixty-three years later, I’ve discovered that mountain climbing the Kaymoor Miners Path is greater than only a scenic and bodily demanding trek—it is a highly effective window into the previous. As I descended the steep, rocky path and navigated the 821 steps right down to the remnants of the previous mine, I couldn’t assist however mirror on the lives of the lads and households who as soon as referred to as this place house. Standing among the many rusted equipment, crumbling foundations, and deserted rail tracks, I gained a deeper appreciation for the sheer grit and sacrifice it took to make a residing within the coal mines. The path doesn’t simply inform a narrative—it makes you are feeling it.
