Can ya dig it?

It's no secret that we spend a great deal of time in Elk country.  This past weekend our jaunt up on the hill had a bit of a different twist.  It was a bit early for good elk watching so we were looking for ways to kill a little time.  We noticed a sign leaning against a tree advertising for a pavilion sale. Typically I'm not much for garage sales and the like but for some unknown reason I found myself doing a quick spin around with the Jeep which really surprised my wife.  We pulled in and were immediately greeted by the warm and friendly property owner.  It only took a few seconds to realize that this was going to be a fun stop because this friendly couple had lots of history to share with us and tons of old stuff to show us.  I think they enjoyed talking just as much as we enjoyed listening. 

 There was one particular item that they quizzed us on and although we failed the quiz they were kind enough to let us snap a few pictures of it.  The item itself isn't all that amazing and most people would just look at it and say, "big deal, it's just a crude ladder".  But it's more than just a crude ladder because this crude ladder was found near the old Benezette Cemetery.  Have I peaked your interest yet?  This ladder is very old and was used way back when the holes were dug by hand and without these newfangled backhoes.  This ladder was used for the grave digger to get up out of the hole.

Pretty awesome, how about it!!  Whoda' Thunk there would still be one of these grave digger ladders in existence.  I can't help but wonder if perhaps when these gravediggers dug their first hole if they didn't stand down in that hole and say, "geez, whoda thunk we would've needed a ladder to get outa here".