The View at the Top

Tuesday, May 23. York Furnace to Hopeland, PA.

We have stopped for the night at the Starlight Campground Resort, and have the best site in camp! It took a monumental effort to get here, because the campground sits at the top of a hill. The very top. We crawled our way up here and after catching my breath, the view from the top of the mountain took it away again.

Today's ride started early, and we woke to temps in the low 40's. We made breakfast and then broke camp, beginning our ride with a long, slow crawl out of Otter Creek Campground. We spent the next 2 1/2 hours climbing steep elevations and then losing all the climb on a sweeping descent. Around 11:30, our final climb and descent dumped us out right in front of the Susquehana River! Fortunately for us, a coffee shop was right there too, so we stopped in to warm up and take a break.

Turns out that the folks at the coffeeshop are actually kayakers, and the coffee, ice cream and gift shop is a side venture. The kayak business' motto is "Go Play Outside". Today they were hosting a high-school field trip; an ecological and biological tour of the Susquehana. It felt a bit too cold to me to be out on the water today, but the weather report for the Memorial weekend looks promising.

As both the kayakers and Wayne, our Camp Director had promised, the road evened out past Marietta. For about an hour. Then we were back into the steep climbs from the morning. On one break from all this climbing, I spotted a team of 6 horses pulling a wagon-load of hay. Matthew identified the farmers as Mennonites, not Amish--something about the hat, I think. I did get a couple of pix of the horses, which I'll upload at the next library. Later on we saw a couple of Mennonite women (different hats) at a Quilt Shop. I didn't stop . . . I couldn't have bought anything . . . Nowhere to stash stuff!

Once in the campground, we met Jonathan and Andy, both down in PA from NH. They're on motorcycles, and have taken a 5-day trip to enjoy some of this great weather. We might meet Jonathan again once we get into NH--he runs the bike shop at a well-known resort on Hwy. 26.

We're now freshly showered, laundered, and stuffed full of another fabulous rehyrdrated dinner thanks to Suzi and Jim. Matthew has built a fire, and the view from my picnic bench across the valley is stunning. Fir trees are silhouetted against a dark blue sky, lit up with stars. Across to the horizon, the towns below have lit up as well. This night, this view, is our reward for our efforts today.