Potomac Highlands

One late October weekend, I turned leafer, that is, I became a tourist who seeks out peak fall foliage. My destination was the mountains of West Virginia and though I missed the peak colors by about one week, there was still plenty to see and do in region.

Leaving from work Thursday night, I drove as far as Winchester, Virginia. For most of the drive, I listened on the car radio as the Phillies extended the World Series. The next morning, I continued west to Silver Lake, West Virginia, home of the smallest church in "the 48 (sic) states," but more important to me it was the starting point for a short hike to Backbone Mountain, the highest point in the state of Maryland. After a brief detour to see the Fairfax stone, which marked the western limit of Lord Calvert's land grant, I stopped at Blackwater Falls State Park. The quiet falls were still worth a visit, but the view down Blackwater Valley from Lindy Point turned out to be the main highlight.


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A half-hour down the road, I tackled the most challenging hike of the trip, a two-mile climb 800-ft up the side of Seneca Rocks. Afterward, I toured the grounds of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, home to the largest radio telescope in the world. Later on the trip, I learned that a distant relative headed the facility for critical period. I ended the day a Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virgina, but sadly arrived after sunset.

I started Saturday with a chilly ride on the Cass Scenic Railroad, the only tourist-line to operating Shay locomotives. Next, I drove to the New River Gorge via the Highlands Scenic Byway. Along the way, I stopped at several scenic overlooks and took a few short hikes, including one through Honeycomb Rocks and another through Cranberry Glades. At the New River Gorge, I hiked to Long Point for one of the best views of the dramatic steel arch bridge that spans the chasm. In Beckley, I took a peek at Crossroads Mall, a property my companies owns. I spent Saturday night in Stuanton, Virgina.

Sunday, I visited Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's estate, outside Charlottesville, and the campus he designed for the University of Virginia, in town. A short visit with my aunt and uncle in Washington D.C. spelled my long drive back to Philadelphia.

Statistics
Total Miles: 1,226 miles
• Car: 1,203
• Hike: 14
• Train: 9
Total Counties: 59
New Counties: 29
Fuel: 38.6 gallons
MPG: 31.2
Cost: $581.64

Lindy Point - Blackwater Falls State Park

NRAO Green Bank Telescope

Cass Scenic Railroad

New River Gorge Bridge

Monticello

Sierra Nevadas

Back in September, I took my big trip for the year, a trip focused in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, but with extensions into the Bay Area and Cascades. In the span of eight days, I climbed summitted no less than four peaks; entered as many national parks and twice as many more state parks; crossed the mountains three times, twice via scenic byways; toured two historic homes; gazed on the Milky Way as never before; and seen, among others, Mark Twain's desk, the locomotive used in Back to the Future: Part III, the site of the gold discovery that set off the California Gold Rush.

I flew to San Jose one Friday night after work and started my explorations the next day in rugged landscape north of the Golden Gate Bridge. That night, I stayed with my aunt in Northern California. From her cabin, I sought out two nearby attractions: to the north a hike in Lassen Volcanic National Park and to the south a Bidwell Mansion led my aunt herself. Labor day found me cruising the Feather River Scenic Byway on my way toward on overnight in a $20/night hotel in Reno.

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Changing the pace a little, I spent majority of Tuesday in one place, Virginia City, Nevada. Bidding good-bye to one city born of silver mines and sustained by the tourist trade, I headed 100 miles south to a gold-era ghost tour preserved as a state historic site. I closed out my fifth day on the road, with a short investigation of Mono Lake and a moderate warm-up hike in Yosemite National Park.

I dedicated Thursday to the single task of hiking to the top of Half-Dome, an rewarding, nineteen-mile-eleven-hour endeavor. To follow a day spent almost exclusively on foot, I recovered with a day spent mainly in the car, but not without leg-stretchers at a railroad museum, state park full of giant sequoias, and delightful dusk hike on Lake Tahoe. I closed my time in the mountains with a visit to Sutter's Mill in Coloma, and closed the loop on the trip at Winchester Mystery house, practically in the flight path of San Jose Airport.

Statistics
Total Miles: 7,174.5 miles
• Plane: 5,677
• Car: 1,433
• Hike: 61.5
• Train: 3.0
Total Counties: 29
New Counties: 15
Fuel: 42.8 gallons
MPG: 33.5
Cost: $1,067.91

Driving Elevation Profile

Day 1 - Golden Gate Bridge

Day 2 - Lassen Volcanic National Park

Day 3 - Feather River Scenic Byway

Entr'acte - Reno

Day 4 - Virginia City

Day 5 - Bodie

Day 6 - Half Dome

Day 7 - Lake Tahoe

Day 8 - Winchester House

Extending the Season

Usually, I pack my bike up for the Winter in early November. Colder weather and shorter days play a part, but mostly after a long season I'm usually ready to move on to other interests this time of year. However, my interest held longer this fall so, perhaps partly inspired by UM's first winning season, and thus first bowl appearance, under Rich Rodriguez, I extended the season with a modest ride yesterday. It's also worth noting that I had only ridden twice so a fairly expensive repair.

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The ride was pretty straight forward. I rode north through Fairmount Park and Wissahickon Gorge. Plenty of other people were out enjoying the fall weather. Leaving the park, I continued north for a few more miles. Around Oreland, I started weaving in and around residential neighborhoods in a generally southeasterly direction. I reached Washington Avenue around 1:45PM, which provided a direct shot back as far as the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. I finished my trip riding down 29th street a few blocks east of Fairmount Park.

Statistics
Length: 39.3 miles
Ride Time: 3 hours 39 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 52 minutes
Avg. Speed: 10.8 MPH
Max Speed: 27.7 MPH
Max Elev: 367 ft.
Cumulative Ascent: 1,600 ft.

Forbidden Drive

Wissahickon Creek

Fire Bush

Autumn Mosey through Delaware County

Last Saturday, I took advantage of the peak fall color weekend for a 50-mile mosey around Delaware County. I use the word mosey to indicate the very random nature of the ride. Usually, I pick a destination; ride directly, or very nearly so, there; and then return on a similarly determined trajectory. On this ride, I was more concerned with finding pleasant fall scenes, and I managed at that quite successfully.

I started riding west through West Philadelphia until I reached Upper Darby. Then, began a southwesterly tact, which took me through Lansdowne. In Norwood, a town I don't think I'd heard of before, I bought a pork sandwich from a grillmaster set-up at the Civil Air Patrol barn. I wasn't particularly hungery, but it smelled too good to pass up. After that break, I turned northwest in search of Swarthmore's campus passing over some idyllic fall colored lanes along the way.

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Four years go, when I first started to get ambitious which my biking goals, I ended the season with a similar fall ride with Swarthmore and nearby Springfield Mall as my targets. This ride brought back memories of that trip. In better shape today, I didn't turn back at Swarthmore, but continued west to Media, where I arrived in time to glimpse part of the Halloween Parade.

While moseying is an enjoyable way to ride, it is slower and now it was getting late in the day so I started the return ride. I triedto keep north, which isn't always easy in that neck of the woods, so that I could finish my ride through Fairmount Park. It was the last weekend that King Drive would be closed to automobiles until next Spring. After a quick survey of the Schuykill River from Strawberry Mansion Drive, I coasted on to King Drive and back in to Center City.

Statistics
Length: 54.2 miles
Ride Time: 6 hours
Avg. Speed: 10.2 MPH

Swarthmore

Media Halloween Parade

North Latches Lane