The Delaware River

Day 75, June 15, 2011, The Delaware River

97.8 miles, averaging 13.1 mph

Route from Upper Black Eddy, PA to Rockview Valley Campground, Montague, NJ

Best Moment – There were two moments that really stand out from today’s ride.  One was the kid who helped me find the route – see worst moment for a more compete description. 

The other best moment from today was meeting Dan.  Dan was out for a 30-mile ride and passed me on an uphill.  He asked where I was headed.  When I told him, Maine, he asked if I could use an ice cream cone – he’d treat because he wanted to hear my story.  He had recently retired from the Portland, PA school system where he had taught science and was a guidance counselor.  His wife had just been diagnosed with ALS so he had become her caregiver.  Dan mentioned having always wanting to do a long bicycle ride and that he had once ridden across Pennsylvania with his wife as the support person – they stayed in bed and breakfasts.   

Worst Moment – Today there were three times when the routing instructions had to be changed for detours or were extremely difficult to follow.  There was one place where they just closed the road – I went over the barricades.  In another place, there was a detour that went up mountains. Then trying to find the Appalachian Trail over I-80, was nearly impossible.  In fact had not a wonderful hiker asked me where I was trying to go, I might have never found the route.  He was on his way to hike to the top of the Water Gap on the Appalachian and walked with me to make sure I got on the right road. (The kid lived in the area and was an active hiker and cyclist – his help is really tied for best moments)

The route crossed into New Jersey early this morning.  I found myself riding through Hunterdon County.  (This is the county that we used to live in.)  The western part of the county was nearly as hilly as the area around Califon.  After crossing the Delaware River at Milford, I turned left and followed the Delaware River or its tributaries nearly all of the way to Montague.  Beautiful, beautiful river views.  There were also great views of the entire Delaware Valley area.  At one point was sort of a déjà vu moment to see homes on stilts to avoid damage when the river floods and another with a “high water” mark that was nearly at the roofline commemorating some flood.

With all of the rain that this area has been getting, wildflowers and roadside grasses are lush.  There were several places where waterfalls came tumbling down over rocks from higher elevations. It is such a great sound to listen to – that of water rushing over rocks.

Here are some views of the scenery and the roads that I was on and some of the roads that Neita would not have wanted to travel in Ruby.