Stories from a HUSBAND - FATHER - SON - GRANDFATHER - UNCLE - BROTHER - FRIEND - TEACHER
WHAT A DAY WE ARE HAVING!
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Mark and I pushed our ride time back to 9AM yesterday with the hope of hitting a small, rain-free window of time during what was predicted to be a soggy day. We even decided to change our destination and headed towards Michaux State Forest. As we got off of the exit ramp of Interstate 81, I noticed a sign for Colonel Denning State Park...pointing in the opposite direction of our destination. Turning to Mark, I asked if there was any riding there. With no hesitation, and with the rain coming down, Mark turned his car away from Michaux. It was the beginning of one heck of a day.
I love this pic of Mark...riding in the clouds somewhere on Bower Mountain Road -- July 6, 2017
Colonel Denning State Park is located in Doubling Gap (named for the turn in Blue Mountain as it doubles back on itself)...adjacent to Tuscarora State Forest. Mark and I used the parking area at Colonel Denning as our starting point...but we spent the bulk of our day mountain biking the miles and miles of fire road in Tuscarora State Forest. In near tropical conditions we turned pedals for almost 30 miles and climbed nearly 4,000 feet. All along the mountain roads the clouds and fog and rain created surreal views of the forest. Our ride found us exploring an old CCC Camp, admiring (from a distance) a three foot rattle snake, checking out Doubling Gap Overlook, walking out and into the clouds which engulfed Horsehead Rocks, observing construction of the Keystone Pipeline, and stopping at Dead Man's Curve to paying respects to a CCC working who was killed while helping to construct the very road we were riding on. For Mark and I, it was the perfect ride on a rainy and humid summer day. Mark said it best while we were looking at the rattle snake just feet away from Doubling Gap Overlook..."What a day we're having!" Nothing I could say would have described it better.
Giving my bike a chance to rest after climbing Elk Hill Road -- July 6, 2017
Riding up Bower Mountain Road...seemingly above the clouds -- July 6, 2017
Not being able to see beyond the clouds as I stepped out onto Horsehead Rocks was very eerie -- July 6, 2017
The only thing to see at Doubling Gap Overlook was the rattle snake just a few feet behind us -- July 6, 2017
In 1934, CCC worker Henry Hamerski was accidentally killed when he was run over by a bulldozer while constructing the road. His body has since been relocated closer to his family in Latrobe, PA -- July 6, 2017
Mark Lentz and David Raymond pausing before our last descent of the day...2 miles down Elk Hill Road. It really was an amazing day -- July 6, 2017
Life is a journey...not a destination.
David A. Raymond -- July 7, 2017
Colonel Denning State Park is named for William Denning...a Revolutionary War Sergeant (no one knows who unofficially gave him the title of Colonel) who manufactured wrought iron cannons for the Continental Army. William Denning is buried nearby in the Big Spring Presbyterian Church cemetery in Newville, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, none of his cannons are still in existence -- July 6, 2017
Here's the GARMIN map and stats from our amazing ride in Tuscarora State Forest:
A day off of the bicycle doesn't mean a day spent inside. With the end of summer in view, and the school year encroaching soon, I took my sixteen year old son, Alex, and his buddies (Robby and Austin) to Michaux State Forest for a day of hiking, picnicking, and exploring. Our day today was split into three parts. We planned to hike up through Tumbling Run Game Preserve, have a picnic lunch at the furnace stack in Pine Grove Furnace State Park , and then hike up to the top of Pole Steeple. Although the trail head at Tumbling Run is not marked, it is easy to get to if you know what you are looking for. After passing Pine Grove Furnace State Park on state route 233 (headed South) you will be looking for a obvious gravel parking area located on the right between Woodrow Road and Dead Woman's Hollow Road. It is important to know that the last "nice" bathrooms are located at the furnace stack at Pine Grove Furnace ...
Back in July, my wife, Robin, and I visited the city of my birth...Cumberland, Maryland...and spent some time riding on the C & O Tow Path. It was a really neat experience. I was born there and grew up thirty miles north in Bedford, Pennsylvania...but the extent of my time in Cumberland was limited to hanging out at the mall when I was a teenager. Robin and I had a great time...riding south out of Cumberland and then turning off of the C & O Tow Path, through Knobley Tunnel...straight into West Virginia and then crossing back into Maryland. Our ride got super nerdy when as we passed the spot of Fort Ohio and Fort Cumberland...both French and Indian War outposts...and then to an old wooden house that served as the headquarters for Colonel George Washington while he was stationed in Cumberland during the French and Indian War. Not far away, on the sight of what was once Fort Cumberland I paused for a photo with a statue of young Washington. It w...
For centuries, people from all over the world have traveled to the Bedford Springs for different reasons...each hoping to find their idea of treasure. Some came for rejuvenation, others for healing, some for escape...but for me and the kids I grew with, Davey Lewis' Cave is what first lured us there. The story of Davey Lewis fascinated me as a kid..."the Robin Hood of Pennsylvania"...who robbed from the rich to help the poor. Some saw him as a criminal..others as an "equalizer." Legend has it that he would hide out and escape through a series of caves located near the Bedford Springs Hotel and that part of his treasure might still be there. What kid wouldn't want to search that cave? On more than one occasion, I've visited Davey's cave in woods on the other side of Shober's Run with Jake, Robbie, Beau, and other neighborhood kids hoping (but never finding) whatever it might have been that Davey Lewis left behind. Taking a break and do...
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