It always amazes me how quickly the countryside east of Pittsburgh become "Central Pennsylvania," that vast land of wooded hills, and winding rivers, and crooked lanes, and ancient towns. These are the remains of an old railroad bridge over the Kiskiminetas River, along the West Penn Rail Trail, just north of Saltsburg, Pennsylvania. When I got to the town, I opted to ride my bike northward on the trail because the town itself lay to the south.
The fall colors that usually belong to October were postponed till November by summer-like heat. But then heavy rains washed them all away in only a matter of days. We went straight from summer to late fall, skipping the beautiful half-season in between. I'd never even heard of the West Penn Trail before finding it online last night, probably because it's less than 20 miles long. Its ragged, muddy course runs along the "Kiski" River on the bed of the old West Penn Railroad. When I struck off, at 9am, a thin sheen of ice still capped the puddles in the roadway.
What a bracing, lovely autumn day to ride an old railroad grade. In less than two miles, however, the puddles in the trail became reflecting pools...some of them pretty deep. I dismounted to walk the bike around the little ponds at first, but I figured out later that many of them can just be ridden through. I was getting discouraged and none-too-impressed with the West Penn Trail. All the water made for slow going. It wasn't until I got home and looked at a map that I learned the trail only runs a mile and a half north out of Saltsburg before petering out. Most people start in Saltsburg and then head south for 16 miles or so to a spot near Blairsville. In other words, I was riding the old railroad grade, but not a maintained rail trail.
This was good to learn because when I'm biking on a rail trail, I like to pretend I'm a choo-choo train, and the big bogs were spoiling the illusion of flying through the countryside. I hoped for better riding when I turned around and went south. But first, I took a little spur trail that led up to an active rail road and another body of water called Blacklegs Run.
My bike is a 20-year old Schwinn that I bought for $45 at the a flea market at the Chautauqua Institution. It's a good bike, but old and hardly up to doing a lot of cross-country riding. Ah, but the day was perfect, chilly and bright, and the hinterlands were calling.
Several pretty farms opened up along the trail. The best one was impossible to photograph through all the trees, but I could see it across the river, sitting right on the water's edge: a white clapboard farmhouse behind a row of pines, a green bank sloping down to the river, and all the white sycamores standing just at the water. It looked like an autumnal scene from Currier and Ives--if they did fall scenes.
And then you've got the borough of Saltsburg. This place is worth exploring. It's typical of Central Pennsylvania, a little bit ragged and a little bit pretty. It's situated beautifully on the Conemaugh River--which is joined by Loyalhanna Creek to form the Kiski. And it's got some great old buildings. This former grain store is now an outfitting place for kayakers and cyclists, but like much of the town, I wasn't sure if it was still in business. Fall might be the "off-season" for towns like this. It did have a fashionable-looking pub, an antique store, and a variety of shady front porches crowded with potted plants and worn wicker furniture.
Look at these great old storefronts.
And enormous Victorian houses.
You might call Saltsburg "quaintly-grimy," like much of the state, actually. The old stone house from the 1830s in the middle of this row is now a museum of sorts. It was closed at 10:30am on a Wednesday morning when I went through. I've never seen so many public benches in a town. And none of them in use.
I liked the Presbyterian church's spire. Better than that, I liked the Lutheran church's name: Sons of Zebedee Lutheran Church. Really, "Sons of Zebedee"? Sounds like something out of Harry Potter.
To really enjoy the West Penn Trail, ride south out of Saltsburg. For almost four miles, the trail is wide, and groomed, and dry. It follows the lazy Conemaugh River upstream toward Blairsville.
Here, there were a few maples still in leaf, which made for a scenic ride along the water's edge, a bright outdoor cathedral of yellow windows and deep blue ceilings.
After nearly four miles, the trail leaves the old railroad grade and strikes off to follow the course of Elders Run. This is a hilly section that ends up doing some pretty major climbs before crossing Loyalhanna Lake. I followed this until it crossed Tunnelton Road, at which time I turned back to explore Saltsburg before looking for Hankey Cemetery and heading home. I hope to come back someday to do the lake crossing.
If only all my days could be spent like this one...and all my ways look like this.
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