Within minutes, I was looking at scenery like this.

The photos above were all on the more familiar (to me), gravel Bloomington Rail Trail. I also spent some time on the paved Clear Creek Trail, where I’ve only ridden a couple of times before.

There were some huge homes right along the trail.

A side excursion on a gravel trail yielded some interesting finds.

I climbed up the gravel trail, and found it intersected with a road. I need to figure out where that road goes. For this ride, once I reached the end of the trail, I turned around. Here, I’m about to bomb back down the hill.

I’m not sure what all the fuzzy stuff is in the photo below, but it captured my attention.

I’m not normally a fan of rail-trails, but it was great to get out for an easier ride for a change, without having to worry about traffic too much. Actually, I was more in riding mode than exploration mode, and didn’t stop too often. I should ride the same trails and stop more to explore. Sometimes it’s amazing what’s right outside your front door, if you take the time to look around.

This speed sign always amuses me in the mornings. It frequently registers up to 35 mph for cars (and sometimes higher), but for me, on my bicycle, on a slight uphill, it ranges from about 12-16. I have discovered that I have to ride in a certain lane position, with no cars going by, to trigger it. It’s a fun game to try to see if I can get it to show my speed.

Here is one particularly colorful tree, taken on October 21.

We had a couple of very windy days this past week, and now many trees are completely bare. It was a rather abrupt transition, from colorful to bare, in some cases.

Here are some shots from a road ride last week.

Finally, here are some shots from the Bloomington Rail-Trail, which is near where I live. I don’t really ride it much, as it’s not very long, but I wanted a rather short, easy evening ride on a cold dreary day and it fit the bill perfectly. I think this will be a great option in the winter.

View Susquehanna Warrior Trail 06/28/2009 in a larger map

I parked by the Garden Drive-In movie theater near West Nanticoke, PA, and got ready to ride. There were some rather ominous clouds, so I braced myself for possible rain.

The trail runs between US Route 11 (a fairly busy highway), and the Susquehanna River. At times, it runs right alongside the road, but at times, it goes into the woods and closer to the river. I was hoping for some nice river views.

The scenery from the trail varies but can be generalized as similar to many scenes here in Pennsylvania: a strange combination of run-down industrial buildings and wonderful mountains. It’s sad and beautiful, all at the same time.

The wildflowers were in full effect.

UGI Power Plant

Some less-than-friendly signs had me wondering if this was a safe area. First were the STAY ON TRAIL. KEEP MOVING signs. (Why?)

This strange sign reads, “Stay On Trail / Keep Moving”

Next, we have, thanks to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, the S.C.I. Retreat (medium security correctional institution).

Pennsylvania Department of Corrections – S.C.I. Retreat

Bridge to the “retreat”

And finally, a firing range.

Firing Range – Keep Out

Views of the river were few and far between. I’m sure there would be some nice views during winter or early spring, when the leaves are off the trees. I did enjoy some nice wooded areas and clearings.

After a while, I reached the town of Shickshinny. This is a small, run-down town. I arrived and caught a glimpse of a military funeral, just in time to have the 21-gun salute startle me. Around this time, it started raining.

Soon, I came to the PPL Riverlands Park. I had only gone 7 or 8 miles at this point. I saw a small trail down to the river and rode down to look around.

I got back on the Susquehanna Warrior Trail, but reached an impasse in just a couple of minutes. The trail continued, but it was waterlogged. I rode a little bit to see if it would dry out. No such luck.

Not convinced the trail ended here, I rode around a bit on some gravel roads until I reached US Route 11. I rode down the road to a bridge to see if the Susquehanna Warrior Trail continued beyond the bridge. I could see the trail below, but it was in worse shape than the last section I looked at. Alas. I took in some nice views before heading back.

I was a little disappointed that I wouldn’t get to ride as many miles as I’d hoped. And I just wasn’t that impressed with the trail. There were a few beautiful areas, but most of it was nothing special. It started raining harder, so I put the camera away for a while … until I took a side road I discovered to a boating access point that was very pretty.

It was an enjoyable ride, and the rail-trail provided a pleasant way of riding some easy miles. But I only got to ride a little over 17 miles. I was hoping for closer to 25. Was it worth driving to this trail? Yes, it was worthwhile to ride it once, but I’m not sure I need to do it again.

View Bunker Hill and Schooley 06/23/2009 in a larger map

Even though this ride is becoming fairly routine, the scenery is constantly evolving. I was surprised how many wonderful wildflowers I saw during this ride. In Indiana, May is prime wildflower time — but here, the flowers seem relatively inactive until June.

I saw quite a few Tiger Lillies, which are Sarah’s favorite flower, but didn’t get any particularly interesting photos of them.  They are lovely.

Heading toward Bunker Hill

My favorite view from Bunker Hill Road grows more and more green and vibrant

A patch of wildflowers enhances the view

I hadn’t ridden in probably a week. We spent part of last week, and last weekend, on the road and in Bloomington, getting an apartment lined up. The Bunker Hill climb was harder than usual.

A neighboring ridge, as seen from Carverton Road

Carverton Road

Wildflowers

Closeup

Frances Slocum Lake

Some nice landscaping by the lake

As I was climbing on Mount Zion Road, I saw some absolutely beautiful clustered flowers. Some were pink/purple and the others were white. My handy wildflower book let me down a little bit here. My best guess based on the book is that these are some kind of Beardtongues, but nothing in the book quite matched what I saw. Any help identifying these would be appreciated. In some of the photos, you can see a little hair inside the flowers.

Mt. Zion Road

I rode over to Schooley Road, took a few photos and then made the awesome descent down the mountain. I’m a little less than pleased with the way my new brake pads are working out. I have used the salmon Kool Stop pads quite a bit in the past, but on this bike they feel too squishy. I think these pads may be shorter than the black Kool Stops I had on there before, and that might contribute to the problem. Anyway, I went slower than usual since my braking power is not quite ideal.

I rode over to the West Side Trail and took it most of the way home. It’s weird to go from climbing a mountain, to making a blistering descent down it, to riding on the perfectly flat roads in the valley, and then this trail. The feel of the ride goes from gueling to intense to a walk in the park in very little time.

That said, I love spring. Especially now — since we moved to PA in October, we have never seen this place green. It sure feels like things have been dead and dreary for a long time. So I glad to finally see things coming to life.

Here are a few shots from the Back Mountain Trail from a ride I did last week. It sure looked different than it has in past rides.

View West Side Trail 04/09/2009 in a larger map

The trail is pleasant enough, it’s smooth and flat and has some nice views of the river, some mountains, and the small, private Wilkes-Barre Wyoming Valley Airport.

Arriving at the West Side Trail

Eighth Street Bridge

Susquehanna River

Wilkes-Barre Wyoming Valley Airport

Mountains

The trail runs for about 2.5 miles before joining up with the sidewalk along US Route 11/Wyoming Avenue (know locally as “The Avenue”). Now, The Avenue is a busy four-lane road. I have seen plenty of people riding their bikes there, but I wouldn’t want to do that. It’s a very busy road, and I encounter a lot of idiotic motorists when I drive there.

At the intersection is the Wyoming Monument, which commemorates the Battle of Wyoming, which took place back in 1778. According to Wikipedia, “More than three hundred Patriots were killed in a battle followed by a massacre, in which the Iroquois raiders hunted and killed fleeing Patriots before torturing to death thirty to forty who had surrendered.” It was more than a little weird to be riding along and suddenly come across an obelisk and a couple of canons. And weirder still to imagine a massacre occurring in what is now a park.

Battle of Wyoming Monument

I rode on the sidewalk for about a block or two and then got on Susquehanna Avenue. This is a pleasant, low-traffic road through mostly residential areas. I found an interesting-looking side trail/dirt road and followed it. I followed it down by the river, where I could see a small island. There were side roads branching off of it, but I did not take the time to explore those.

Pond

Grasses

A makeshift snowboard, now abandoned

Susquehanna River

The Trucker, with fields and mountains in the background

Power lines

Cattails

The Trucker again

Small island

The rest of the ride was on roads, most of which were not too memorable.

I’m glad I found the West Side Trail, and Susquehanna Avenue. These could both be useful as parts of a longer ride. I wish the roads between the Levee Trail and the West Side Trail were safer.

In general, it can be a little frustrating trying to find routes through town. In some places, there are large areas with no through streets aside from the major thoroughfares. The West Side Trail and Susquehanna Avenue give me a good east-west route, but I have to go a bit out of the way to get to them.

I almost took my old mountain bike, which in the past has been my winter bike, but then I realized that I hadn’t ridden the Trucker in snow yet and took it to see how it’d fare.

The roads were a little slick from the wet snow, but not icy. I really had no problems with traction.

Dark road

Some Christmas lights

Warehouse

A huge puddle, and the limo I noticed previously

Church (this also gives you a good idea of my headlight beam)

Riding on the Levee Trail

I tried a few different modes on my camera before I figured out which one worked best in these conditions. I had the best luck with Night mode, with the flash set to Slow Sync. This fires the flash, but also keeps the shutter open longer to fill in the background. Having the flash fire is nice to illuminate the snowflakes.

Riding

Abstract

Another action shot

Market Street Bridge

Pond

Intersection of Bennett and Wyoming

Back home

The Trucker handled very well — better than I would’ve expected, in fact. The only problem I had was that my fenders got clogged with snow. It didn’t prevent me from riding, but I could hear it rubbing, and it was mildly annoying. I don’t remember having this problem with the fenders on my old mountain bike, although they have extra clearance, and this snow was particularly wet and sticky.

Front fender,  clogged with snow

The other day, I discovered a whole new section of the Levee Trail system. In the past, I’ve stopped at a “no trespassing” sign, but I rode past it and while I thought the trail ended at K-Mart, it continues past that for a while, and then connects with a strange, apparently unnamed road that connects to a road close to where I live. This means there’s a closer access point to the trail that avoids a lot of traffic. Needless to say, I was pleased to make this discovery. The section I explored was paved; there were also some gravel and dirt trails branching off from the main trail that I have yet to explore.

The scenery is quite varied, with some sections feeling nearly rural, and some residential, industrial and retail areas. First, here’s the map.

View Larger Map

Church

Market Street

Getting on the levee trail

Another view

Riiiiiight.

It’s strange, the “NO TRESPASSING” sign is right by the railroad tracks. There is an identical sign on the other side, but the trail is open on both sides. I guess they just don’t want you crossing the tracks?

Railroad tracks

A water tank of some kind

Kmart — the trail also goes by some other stores. It could be useful for actually getting around.

Riding toward the mountains

Some (probably abandoned) fuel tanks

Locks

Another view of one of the tanks

Z&B Body Shop

Unmarked road. This section feels almost rural.

Signs of industry

Dirt road. If I’d been on my mountain bike, or it hadn’t been so muddy, I would’ve checked it out more

Even though I was close to home, I turned around and rode back the way I came. I wanted to explore some more and ride a few more miles.

Small gravel trail paralleling the road

The trail let out behind a business

Another church

I just noticed a limo in the above photo. What the heck was a limo doing in the seedy underbelly of Edwardsville?

Industrial buildings and distant mountains

An abandoned restaurant, or something

Tanks again

These things cool. Notice the staircases don’t go all the way down anymore

Alley

Abandoned Amoco center. Peak oil? Localized economic woes?

Abandoned Amoco

Strange walkway

Messing with perspective

Gravel road/trail

Dirt trail. This will be fun to explore, at some point. It was a muddy mess.

There seem to be a lot of offshoot trails. This will be fun to explore, and maybe I’ll map out the entire trail system.

I had to drive for about an hour to reach the access point where I wanted to start near the town of Jim Thorpe. It was a gorgeous drive to the area, on a part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, then some smaller mountain roads with some impressive foliage. However, at higher elevations most trees had already lost their leaves, and I was surprised to see snow on the ground, presumably remnants from a storm we had last week. I knew it had snowed, but was surprised there was still snow. It merely rained in the valley where I live.

There are closer access points to where I live, but the trail gradually climbs in one direction, and goes downhill in the other. I was planning to ride all the way to the end of the trail and back, and I wanted to get the climbing out of the way first, which meant starting at the southern end of the trail.

After taking a couple of wrong turns, I found the parking lot, used a nearby bathroom and headed out. I took my good camera on this ride. I don’t normally take it on rides, but this promised to be an easy ride with some great scenery. At first I carried the camera in my handlebar bag, but eventually found I could simply put the strap over my shoulder and let the camera rest on my back. This prevented it from hanging and swinging around in front of me.

I started riding, and saw a sign warning to watch for black bears. The trail surface was fine, hard-packed gravel, and made for some very smooth and easy riding. I must have stopped 5 times in the first mile. The scenery was absolutely amazing. It was overcast and a bit of a dreary day, but the foliage was brilliant.

First glimpse of the gorge

The Trucker

Foliage

The trail ran right next to some active train tracks for a while, and also periodically had markers with  explanations of sights along the trail. I didn’t stop and read all the signs, but there was one thing I found interesting. A pipeline, built in 1886, spanned the gorge, and a sign explained that it used to be an oil pipeline. Now, it carries fiber optic cable.

Pioneer Pipeline

Shortly after that stop, I saw a smaller trail running off the side of the main trail and down to the river. I followed it and found a sandy beach and some nice views different from those on the trail.

Interesting coloration

Rock face and rhododendrons on the opposite side of the river

The Trucker

Panoramic view from the gorge

Another view from the trail

I stopped to take a photo of a small waterfall, and started to hear the rumblings of a distant train. I stayed in that spot, with my camera ready.

Waterfall

As the train approached, I could see it was a small tourist train. People waved, but I was too busy being aloof and taking photos to wave back. Waving to crowds isn’t my thing. I’d make a poor politician.

The train approaches

A few minutes later, I passed the train, which had stopped for some reason, and never saw it again. The tracks diverge from the trail at a switchyard, but I’m guessing the train turned back at some point. Otherwise, I should’ve seen and heard it pass on the tracks, which moved to the other side of the river.

The trail diverges from the tracks

It had been a cloudy, overcast morning, but the sun was doing its best to burn through the clouds. Finally the sun came out and I enjoyed the warmth of the sun, and beautiful blue skies for some time. I saw a rock jutting out over the river and had to stop to take in the view. I was getting hungry, so I thought maybe I’d eat some lunch.

Walking out on the rock platform

F
The view, unobstructed

Looking in the other direction

After taking a few photos, I realized I had forgotten my lunch on the kitchen counter. Whoops! I was pretty hungry, and mad at myself for forgetting my lunch. Fortunately, I had some Nutter Butters (which are great riding snacks) and energy bars. I sat on the rock platform and reveled in the sun’s warmth, taking in the sights and sounds. Some cyclists rode by on the trail, and one of them asked “see anything down there?” I was a little baffled by the question. I was simply stunned by everything I was seeing all around me; I couldn’t in good conscience answer “no,” even if I wasn’t looking at any one thing in particular. “Just the river,” I muttered.

A restful place

Resting on the rock (yes, the rock is on an angle, I’m not just leaning wildly)

I got back on my bike, and passed several more small waterfalls. Most of the time, I heard them before I saw them. I didn’t stop again until I saw scene that looked like a painting.

The backdrop isn’t a painting, although it looks like one to me

With all the river scenery on one side, it would’ve been easy to completely miss the sheer rock faces on the other side. I noticed as I rode that the rock varied greatly: the rock walls ranged from light tan to nearly black stone, each with its own texture, shape, cracks, etc. Some had leafy plants growing on them, others had lichen or moss, while other were just bare stone. At this time I saw rock overhangs behind a row of trees. I heard and saw water dripping from the rock above, and a small stream below.

The trail passes a row of trees hiding a rock face

Dripping rock overhang

A creek empties into the Lehigh River under the bridge

Next, I passed a small waterfall labeled “Luke’s Falls,” and a small, strange round building, then reached another access point for the trail that offered an impressive view of a tight bend in the river and another small waterfall. At some point the sun lost the battle with the clouds and it grew increasingly overcast during the rest of the ride.

Strange small round building

Luke’s Falls

Panoramic view of a bend in the river

Another view of the bend

Another small waterfall

There were bathrooms at the access point, but I didn’t stop. A couple of minutes later, I found some larger falls. These weren’t labeled, so I’ll claim them, and call them Apertome’s Falls.

Apertome’s Falls. Eat your heart out, Luke!

Apertome’s bicycle by Apertome’s Falls

A closer view of part of my falls

I didn’t stop again for a while. I got to thinking that this ride reminded me a bit of our drives on the Blue Ridge Parkway: the scenery never gets old, and never ceases to inspire awe, when you’re there. But then you get home and find that all your photos look alike, and all fail to capture the magnificence of what you saw.

The trail gradually climbed further above water level. Eventually, I saw some strange structures on the right that I believe may be remains of some old locks. I’m not really sure what they were, but I wanted to explore, and there happened to be a faint trail leading right where I wanted to go. I parked my bike by a tree and hiked over to see what kind of views I could get. I hiked down a little, and then back up onto what was now nearly a peninsula.

Strange carved-out rock

Shot showing some of the rock structure below

A better view of the gorge

Looking back at the bike

BIke

I rode on. By now, I was starting to feel the fact that I’d been climbing for the past 18 miles, even though it was a gradual climb. The trail continued to rise further above the river, providing some different views. I am fairly certain that I passed by the point where we stood and looked out over the gorge from Hickory Run State Park last weekend, but I wasn’t able to recognize the exact location. I also felt it was getting colder and windier, and the sky looked a bit ominous. But I wanted to ride the trail to the end, and then ride back. It was easier knowing the trip back would be almost entirely downhill.

I passed under a couple of bridges (one of which I later figured out was I-80), and by another waterfall or two. I rode on what I determined must be a new section of trail, as it was rougher and seemed to have seen less traffic.

New trail

Passing under a bridge

Riding under I-80

Small waterfall

Eventually, I reached the end of the trail. I turned around immediately and headed back, although I did stop for another snack. I enjoyed riding downhill. My crusing speed, which had been about 14-16 mph on the way up, was now closer to 18-20 mph without expending too much effort. And this is on gravel. Fun times.

However, I’d be lying if I said the riding never got boring. It was dull for a while, because it’s a lot less challenging than what I’m used to. But this ride wasn’t about pushing myself, it was about being outdoors, taking in the scenery, and doing over 40 miles of easy, worry-free riding. It was exactly the kind of ride I hoped for, and it felt great to log some more miles after a long period with little riding, and heading into a winter that I suspect will see me riding less.

On that note, I stopped very few times during the return trip. I focused on just riding, and lost myself in the rhythmic pedaling. It was an incredibly relaxing ride.

Gently curving trail

It continued to get colder, and of course I felt colder because of my higher speed and lower level of effort. As I got about two thirds of the way back, the sun came out again. It was getting low in the sky, at least relative to the surrounding mountains, and the light warmed, casting a glow on the foliage. By the last leg of my ride, I had lost any notion of boredom, and I slowed to soak up some sun rays, and the views.

Another great view of the gorge

Back by the switchyard

Last view of the gorge

Once back in the parking lot, I talked to some other cyclists for a while. One lady had a Cannondale touring bike and seemed impressed with my Surly Long Haul Trucker. She asked me a few questions about how it’s set up and she showed me her Cannondale; it looked like a pretty nice bike. She and her husband had just been riding and they saw the Trucker and struck up a conversation.

I’ll definitely be returning to the Lehigh Gorge trail — hopefully, next time Sarah can come, and we can ride out as far as we feel is necessary and (mostly) coast back to the parking lot. I also want to explore the Switchback rail trail, which is in the same area only on top of the mountains, and its offshoot mountain biking trails. I love that you can explore this same area in so many ways: we saw it from the top of a mountain in Hickory Run State Park, now I’ve ridden in the gorge, and I can’t wait to see it from above again from the Switchback area. You can also go rafting down the river, or skiing or snowmobiling on the trail during the winter. I want to explore this beautiful land in as many ways as possible.