Summer has finally arrived in NEPA … a day late and a dollar short, as usual, but I’ll take it. A ride in the cool shade of the Gorge would be perfect for a humid day like today, we decided. Construction on I-81 “encouraged” us to choose a different route to White Haven, so we took I-380 to Tobyhanna instead, following Route 423 to Route 940 and taking that all the way to White Haven. This was auspicious for several reasons; not only did we find an interesting State Game Lands (#127) alongside Route 423 that looks nice for mountain biking, but we also discovered (once back at home) that we had passed right by a USGS triangulation station near Brady’s Lake that we’re eager to check out next time we’re in the area.

Somehow after a filling breakfast I still had room for pastry. Hey, we had to investigate the White Haven Bakery that we’d discovered last time we were here! We split a sticky bun (sticky and nutty, no raisins—a very good bun, second only to the Amish-made ones at Reading Terminal Market) and a small cup of coffee, and then we hit the trail.

We had a good ride, 34 miles in all—White Haven to Penn Haven Junction and back, but we also rode a little way up the side trail at Penn Haven Junction, the one that follows that other railroad along Black Creek west toward Weatherly. We just wanted to see what the trail was like and if there was anything interesting there to see.

It was definitely hot and humid, not much of a breeze until later in the afternoon. We could really feel the heat whenever we stopped riding. It was best to just keep moving. The trail was very busy, but hardly anyone was out on the river, which was a real surprise.

Rich shot one video at the falls near Rockport. But it kinda got ruined by some old fart and his wife sitting on the rocks by the pool. As luck would have it, he stood up just as Rich was panning down the falls and he didn’t see him get up until the end. To top it off he had to, um, scratch himself. Right after that the sun came out and the scene was way too contrasty to attempt re-doing it.

Given the heat, we tried to stay hydrated as much as possible. We were really famished by the time we got back to the car! We came home the regular way through Mountain Top; by then they had finished working on I-81. It seemed like a long day, but we had a lot of fun and got a terrific workout. At some point we decided to have a quick supper at the Tipsy Turtle on the way home. (We’d already had pizza for supper on Friday.) The Turtle Bites and the beers sure hit the spot!!!