The great outdoors even greater on the trail
Southwestern Pennsylvania is unique in its outdoor beauty. Combined with our four seasons, the result is really some place special.
My favorite way to experience the outdoors is to ride my bicycle along the many trails that traverse the area. Much of my riding takes place along 鈥淭he Great Allegheny Passage,鈥� a bike trail that runs from Pittsburgh to Washington D.C. My goal for this year was to do 4,000 miles and on the November 18 my total was 4,025.
Since I retired ten years ago, I have biked 29,391 miles, which is almost 5,000 miles more than the circumference of the globe. I usually ride from Ohiopyle to Confluence and back logging 23 miles in a couple of hours. The longest ride this year was from Myersdale to Cumberland, Maryland a distance of 34 miles, and last week, I went 32 miles on the section from Pittsburgh to McKeesport. The Ohiopyle section is the most beautiful with the river, forests and mountains offering unparalleled beauty.
Along the way, I saw bears, owls, hawks, hundreds of deer and thousands of turkey. A bit of biking last winter took me to the Everglades where we saw eagles, egrets and alligators. I also met interesting people traveling our bike trail from all over the country. My favorite was the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer and his wife from Canada. One quickly becomes a friend on the trail and a number of encounters ended with a shared breakfast or lunch and a few trail stories. Everyone comments on how beautiful the area is and how friendly are our people.
In the spring, I love to see the first hints of growth as the white bloodroot and lavender spring beauties make way for the hillsides covered with white and red trillium. Purple wild geranium takes their place along the edge of the trail and occasionally entire hillsides light up with Virginia bluebells. The wildflower show recedes as the trees begin their budding and gradually spread their canopy of green over the entire forest.
Then its summer and the dappled light of the sunshine and forest do their dance along the trail. The trees act to air condition the trail and keep it comfortable when the temperatures begin to climb.
Late summer brings the fog as most of the trail follows the river and a new set of colors play as a result of the water and sunshine. Now it蘑菇视频 time for fall and what more beautiful place to view the colors than along the trail. As the leaves fall off, the trail brightens with more sunshine and Mother Nature gets ready for winter. The sights, sounds and colors of life outdoors will take a rest and ready itself for next year.
Perhaps you may want to join me on the trail next spring. It蘑菇视频 a great exercise, cost almost nothing. and if you like to find a bit of serenity from this sometimes mad world we live in. the bike trail offers a lot.