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This volume, and subsequent volumes, include accounts of the author's explorations of little-traveled byways and remote hilltops in the mountains of Pennsylvania. His descriptions and photos of the unique and unusual places he discovered will appeal to all those who seek adventure and who like to explore odd and mysterious places; places like the Devil's Dining Room, the Indian Steps, the Thousand Steps, Ticklish Rock, Umbrella Rock, and many others that are highlighted in the Pennsylvania Mountain Landmarks series. Much to his delight he also found that there are human interest stories and historical accounts that cling to these same spots and which seem as old as the rocks themselves; tales, that are steeped in the spiritual charm of the Native American and imbued with the pioneering spirit of the Pennsylvania wilderness as it existed when the earliest settlers penetrated its dark interior. Such accounts are the stuff of which legends are made and which add color and mystique to the mountains, forming their very soul. It is this breath of life, hints of a less-complicated and more compelling past that led the author to find the spots where it still survives, and to bask in the local color and lore that surround those places.
In this volume:The King's Stool (Dauphin County)
Stairways to the Stars (Berks et al.)
Umbrella Rock (Elk County)
The Three Sisters (Huntingdon County)
Lewis' Rock (Cumberland County)
Infernal Evidence (Clearfield et al.)
Memento Mori (Jefferson et al.)
Picture Rocks (Lycoming County)
Boxcar Rocks (Lebanon County)
Warriors' Mark (Huntingdon County)
Vampire Rock (Clinton County)
More of the Same (multiple counties)
About the author
Jeffrey R. Frazier was born and raised in Centre Hall, Centre County, where he says he grew up in a "Tom Sawyer sort of way", later graduating with a BS from Penn State in 1967, and then an MBA from Rider University in New Jersey in 1978. Some of the fondest memories of his boyhood include explorations of out-of-the-way spots in the mountains and accounts of the legends that seem to cling to them, and beginning in 1970 he began collecting those same kind of anecdotes from all over the state; ranging from the Blue Mountains of Berks and Lehigh Counties, the South Mountains of Adams County, the "Black Forest" area of Potter and Tioga Counties, the Alleghenies of Clearfield and Blair Counties, and the other counties in the middle. He has compiled his vast collection of tales into a series titled Pennsylvania Fireside Tales. This volume is a continuation of his work, written in a format that the average reader can enjoy, especially those who love the green valleys and cloud-covered mountain peaks of Pennsylvania as much as he does.
