After what felt like months (wait, I think it has been several months), Rich and I finally had a chance to do some mountain biking and exploring in dry weather. Like our recent benchmark recoveries, this ride was also in Susquehanna County. A Rail-Trail Guidebook that we picked up at the bike shop last week contains an entry for the Endless Mountain Riding Trail, a ten mile stretch between Montrose and Alford. We had to check it out!
It was a cold morning, as the entire month has been so far. Our morning chores (making and eating breakfast, fixing my chain, and finally installing Rich’s “new” bike computer) took us until around 10:30, though, so by then the sun was out and the air was starting to warm. We decided to begin at the Montrose trailhead because it sounded much easier to find: just park behind the Pump -n- Pantry. Indeed, the guidebook said that accessing the trail at Alford is confusing and should be avoided. (Of course we’re going to try it next time. We thought we might even have a chance to scout it out today, but we ran out of time.)
It was easy to find the parking area and trailhead behind the Pump -n- Pantry, to the left side. The trail appeared to be dry, and the surface (a worrisome “original ballast” according to the guidebook) was actually fine cinder and roots. Not bad at all. We passed behind the Montrose Golf Club; this is a peaceful and scenic area. The trail basically follows Route 167 for much of this first portion. When we came to a crossroad (SR 2011, I believe) we took a quick break and easily spotted the first stage of a geocache hidden nearby. We knew we didn’t have time to complete the cache today, but we investigated the first stage and the concept does seem interesting enough (it’s based on “National Treasure,” if that wasn’t apparent from the name). We may come back and complete it eventually.
Today, we just rode on. There were a few confusing unmarked junctures, such as when the trail crosses over Route 167 near its intersection with Route 706. Rich found the connection, but it was far from obvious to me. After this point the trail turns to the north. We passed through an open lot that ruined, a bit, our wooded-trail experience. This area also was adjacent to the highway, which was a slight disappointment. From here, the trail basically follows Route 706 right to Heart Lake, the only mildly interesting structures being a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall and a heavily rutted farm field. Several cats crossed our path as well, and the scent of spring flowers was in the air, especially once the wind picked up in mid-afternoon. At the approximate halfway point of five miles, we decided to turn around. I would have loved to explore further, but the trail was a muddy mess in spots and more importantly, I had to be at work by 6:00pm. (And most importantly, we had to get something to eat first!)
On our return trip, we made a halfhearted attempt to look for LY1726. It must be easy since a number of geocachers said they found it with little effort (some said it was visible from the car!), but we didn’t see anything in the vicinity of the coordinates. I realize this mark is scaled, so it’s possible we need to get some better coordinates from the topo map instead. We didn’t have enough time today to poke around, so we’ll save it for next time.
Our return trip was quick, as they usually are (barring torrential downpours like we suffered last Summer at Lehigh Gorge). We were back at the car a few minutes after 2:00pm and on our way to La Tonalteca. I didn’t have much time to rest or get ready for work tonight, but the exercise, adventurous day spent with Rich, and the belly full of delicious Mexican food made it all worthwhile!