Westward, Ho! Day 7: Riding with Scooter in the Sticks

Great day of riding today!  Not in terms of miles covered, or scenery seen or even destinations visited!  No, it was great in terms of riding companionship!

For I was able to meet up with Steve, of Scooter in the Sticks fame, and he and I rode for hours and miles along nicely winding, tree-lined, back country roads with not much traffic.  

After initially meeting at a coffee shop in the PA town of Huntingdon, we set off towards the west side of town, past the prisons and arrived at some cool looking rock formations called Pulpit Rock:

Pulpit Rock

photo courtesy of Steve W.

Steve taking a picture of me as I photograph him by Pulpit Rock 

We did some minor exploring of the rock formation behind pulpit rock, but not much, for the road called.

photo courtesy of Steve W.

Miles and miles of nice and easy riding later, we stopped at Couch's Sandwich Shop for some Hoagies and chips.  We then took our lunch to a nearby state park and found ourselves a vacant picnic shelter to consume our lunch:

After lunch, Steve guided me through valleys and small mountain/ridge passes.  We cruised through the Big Valley which is predominantly Amish; cruising by their distinctive horse buggies being pulled strongly by graceful horses.  Those horses were working pretty hard too.....

At the top of the last ridge, we stopped to take a look at the Big Valley:

The Big Valley

Steve remarked this was the busiest he'd seen this spot, with the

paving operations clogging up the place.

We continued on our riding, eventually returning to the vicinity of Huntingdon.  We found the way to the Ridenour Overlook and parked our bikes for a look see of the Raystown Dam.

photo courtesy of Steve W.

Here's the view from the main overlook:

Raystown Dam

300 yards away, was another look, showing part of the big lake that stretches to the south:

photo courtesy of Steve W.

Zoom photo of skier below us

After a brief period of chatting in the shadow of a tree by the parking lot, we geared up and headed back into Huntingdon.  I got gas and then Steve and I said our goodbyes.  He had an hours worth of riding to still do to get back to State College and home.  I had less than that and got back to the campsite with no issues and started packing things up for the drive tomorrow.

Long ride tomorrow, trying to get back towards the half of the country where there is BLM land for boondocking!  I'll be using the I-70 route and trying for the military campground within the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, OH.

Westward, Ho! Day 6: Lazy day in the Seven Points Recreation Area

 The day started early enough, I drove out on the Sammy to explore the other campsites and gauge the facilities provided by the COE (Corps of Engineers).  Every campsite is 95% full, resulting in a crowded looking conditions.  Most of the campers appear to be from Pennsylvania, so locals who've discovered the good deal that a COE campground can be.

There was fog in the higher grounds:

I talked with a park ranger who recommended I go check out the wild birds at the boat ramp located at Shy Beaver.  Such an interesting name, I decided to go!

The actual site was a bit disappointing, all I saw were the ducks below and crowded conditions at the boat ramp parking lot.  Oh well.

Heading back (it was a good ten miles from the campsite), I stopped at a convenience store near Entriken to gas the Sammy up and get some eggs.

I returned to camp, it was mid-morning by now.  I went for a short hike but found nothing worthy of snapping a picture of, just wide open views of the water with boaters cruising about in a haphazard manner.   Apparently, Raystown Lake is Pennsylvania's largest lake and attracts 1.1-1.3 million visitors a year, I think most of the on boats!

Typical of a COE campground, it helps to have a boat to get around.  

I basically read/napped the afternoon away after lunch.  I woke close to 5 PM!  Tomorrow, I plan on meeting with Steve, of Scooterinthesticks.  Should be fun, we'll get a ride in, perhaps check out the Raystown Dam area, perhaps get a lunch.

Westward, Ho! Day 5: Seven Points COE Campground

Monday, August 2

I said my goodbyes to Lee and Lyn and left their home in Virginia to drive to the vicinity of Hesston, PA.

Here's one last pic of myself and Lee.

Why Hesston?  It's near several COE campgrounds bordering Raystown Lake and they're close to the Pennsylvania city of Huntingdon; where I plan to meet up with Scooter in the sticks' long time blogger: Steve!  Stay tuned for that, later this week.

The drive from VA, through WV and even a bit of MD before reaching the PA border was uneventful.  The weather was sunny and warm but not too hot.  I even had to turn down the AC in the VRRV as I drove along!

I got checked it at the gate with no issues and found the campsite, again with no issues.  It's a nice spot, at the end of a row of campsites so at least I've some privacy on one side of the VRRV!

I even have a small view of Raystown Lake which was created by the Army Corps of Engineers or COE; same outfit that made these campgrounds.  It's a pretty steep climb down to the water's edge though and limited spots where one can safely reach the water.  Still, it doesn't suck as a campsite.

Sunset tonight was "OK"