Heathens that we are, Rich and I had the Lehigh Gorge trail to ourselves … completely … this Easter Sunday morning. While everyone else was apparently searching for baskets, hiding eggs, falling asleep in church or whatever else they do on this holiday, we enjoyed an absolutely blissful morning on a trail that would never typically be deserted on a sunny, warm weekend day. The usual springtime green is still a long way off, but the sun removed the morning chill rapidly in a way that reminded me of a dry June day. We rolled quietly, unimpeded, all the way to Penn Haven Junction. I checked the benchmark while Rich soaked up the sun with a grin on his face.
It wasn’t until much later, well into the afternoon and halfway through our return trip north, that we began to encounter people on the trail arriving by ones and twos and then whole families. The spell of the day was broken, at least for us, and we rode into the White Haven parking area to find it nearly full, as usual. For a few hours, at least, we’d owned this enchanted area.
One drawback to adventuring on a holiday is the lack of snacking options. Nothing in White Haven, including the pizza place or the bar at the end of Susquehanna Street, was open. We called several other places, including the Tipsy Turtle, to find them all closed. Our last hope was Taqueria Oaxaca—and the Mexicans came through for us! I think we crashed some kind of a Mexican Easter party when we arrived. The mood was festive and the music was loud and we were the only non-Mexicans within a mile of the place, but we still felt welcome. I thoroughly enjoyed my tacos dorados de pollo, and Rich devoured his huarache. The melon agua fresca is almost as refreshing as beer after a long ride. Rich and I shared a lot of laughs today.