Ohiopyle

    
          The GAP from Confluence to Ohiopyle is all about the river.  George Washington camped at the junction of three rivers  (a place then called Turkeyfoot) and declared it a good location for a fort.  (Then he went off and started the French and Indian war.) 
Future citizens called it Confluence, but the waters still run cool beneath green wooded hills to the FALLS near Ohiopyle which turned Washington back.


The trail is wide and well drained running flat along the side hill 50 feet above the water level.  The trees are tall and the sun filtering through is magic. Little waterfalls course down the hillside after last night’s rain.
It’s crowded on a Saturday morning and most riders were coming toward us from the rental places in Ohiopyle.  Lots of family groups.  There are also a fair number of fishermen as this is Trophy Trout water.  As the sun rises, the plastic boat and raft people launched and we paralleled their progress down the river. This is the easy Upper Yoch: the big water starts below the falls.  
We dally around the falls which are center stage in Ohiopyle. (The town is surrounded by 20,000 acres of  State Park) Busy, busy place with outfitters and food places and lots of milling around.  Taking Tom and Carole’s early morning advice, we ride past town to watch the rafts and yaks from the high bridge as they entered the heavier water.

Back in town we had a great sandwich and salad at the Firefly Grill and headed back.  This color coordinated couple was on a B&B tour which would take them to Cleveland. 


In camp we continue to collect stories from the fishermen and every story brings us closer to anteing up the $52 for an out of state license…
After dinner we meet a grandpa and his eight year old “stoker” on a recumbent tandem bike.  They are setting up camp near us and we hope to hear some more about their trip down from Pittsburgh. 

The Great Allegheny Passage–the GAP

We are in the final packing stages –the Serpico clan is off to Maine, and twobikes will be headed for Confluence Pa to set up a central campsite for day rides on the GAP.  Pre Airstream we would have ridden this 150 mile trail end to end (and then wondered how to get back.)  We still think that method of touring is a little more adventuresome (read unpredictable -- full of uncertainties about food, lodging and weather ) but this trip we are emulating our heroes, Tom and Carole, who have perfected this type of RV supported bike touring.  Reports will follow, but as a warm-up, take a look at these videos.

Beautiful introduction to the GAP
a little history of the Gap

I hear Banjo Music…

We attended another of the second Sunday concerts at the Mount Laurel NJ library hosted by our own Joanie Serpico.  We have discovered that the audience of regulars have a wide and eclectic taste in music and these concerts serve up groups of surprisingly high quality.  The octogenarians  also have quite specific tastes in snack choices, but they ALL love Mrs. Serpico.
The “Banjo Rascals” have  played on and off Broadway, The Kennedy center, TV and movies. When Joanie did a shout out to her parents “from Alabama”, they modified their patter and play list to cover every song ever known to include Alabama short of “came from Alabama with a banjo on my knee…" --which was just as well.  Several appreciative audience members welcomed us to New Jersey and told us how much Joanie has done for their enjoyment.   Yeah, we like her too.

“Let the fun begun!”

That’s Anthony’s new line, and of course it “begun” as soon as Meme, his 24/7 playmate, arrived. They are occasionally sighted moving from one play venue to another within the house and the giggling is nearly always in the background. 

Today they included the whole family in a trip to the Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill Pennsylvania.  This area is blessed with several estate gardens well over 150 years old and open to an appreciative public.  Because of the age, the trees are fully mature and collected world wide. The plantings are time tested and perfectly maintained.  The weather was cool and cloudy after a morning sprinkle.



CLICK HERE for Pictures from Morris Arboretum

Big Miles

Today we leave our favorite place, Cades Cove, for a long, familiar drive to New Jersey to see some of our favorite people --grandson Anthony Serpico (age four) and his parents Joanie and Tim. We will take two days to cover the 700+ miles.  The route up Interstate 81 and across the Pennsylvania Turnpike is routine. We start with no intermediate destination in mind.
 " How about Shenandoah NP?"


  ""There is a mysterious Airstream only park reported in West Virginia..."  


Eventually, with over 500 miles behind us, we pulled into Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Pensylvania.  It's a lovely park set in deep woods.  The facilities are new, but the campsites give the feeling of a long settled place -- heavy shade, tall trees, a minimum of asphalt and some LEVEL gravel pads and electricity after a week without.  We don't  even  unhitch, but the surroundings make us wish we had longer to stay.  The Appalachian Trail winds through. (This is the place where tradition requires thru hikers to consume a  half gallon of ice cream; no one seems to object to the practice.) It is also a great place for families to share a few nights with their hikers. 

Quiet. cool night.  In the morning we did a thorough cleaning and headed out wishing we could ride the bike trail, maybe hike a little and fish the trout stream that wanders through.  Surely next time.

Fishing Abrams Creek

Abrams Creek wells up at the West end of Cades cove in the GSMNP, having flowed through  caverns under the cove. It joins Mill creek just at the trailhead bridge for the Abrams Falls hiking trail.  It’s a pretty busy place –-hikers going and coming, others just riding down from the cove road for a looksee. Its bed is jumbled strata standing on end with bridges of moss covered rock just inches under the surface with 6 foot deep holes on either side.  Deer love to wade and crop the moss and bears frequently use the “bridges” to cross the creek. The rocks that are not moss covered are slimy as greased cannonballs and loose.  Abrams is also just full of trout.
Staying at the Campground in Cades Cove makes this the water of choice.  Morning or night, the fishing is always bracketed by five miles of pleasant driving thru the cove and real chances at sighting deer, bear and turkeys. 
Some memories from four days fishing Abrams.

• Patty fishing upstream of me while a deer wades within eight feet of her, munching on moss.  I took some satisfaction to see a four legged creature also slips and stumbles on the rocks!
  
• Patty holding a virtual seminar on catching trout in the junction pool just below the footbridge.

“Look dear, that lady is fishing.  Are you catchin any?”   
“Well, I just…..OH! there’s  one….”  She did that 5-6 times two nights in a row.   

• After one little demo, the family wandered away and quickly returned.

“ You want to see a bear?  He just crossed right behind ya.”  Sure enough, there were wet tracks and a black bottom just topping the hill. 
One might ask what fishing success Al was having these nights.  One might ASK…
      

Bicycling Cades Cove

Cycling in Cades Cove on a sunny morning is pure delight -–especially if it is one of those bicycles-only mornings.  The new pavement (Thank you President Obama) is glorious; you can concentrate on the scenery and there is a very good chance that deer, bear and turkeys will be close and undisturbed. (On an earlier ride,  Al had a Tom Turkey gobble from just off the road as his brake squeaked; Patty stopped for a rustling in the leaves and a full grown black bear crossed just in front of her and casually climbed a small tree 20 feet away.)  Combine the scenery, the wildlife and the historical structures and it is near perfect.  OK, there are a few serious grades to remind us of our age.

.
Riding the cove was a perfect morning warm up for a nice lunch and a nap.