October 16, 2020
Canton to Sayre
I'm in a New York State of Mind
It gets pretty quiet at night way up here in Bradford County. I slept good and slept in, for me (0715 hours). This would be the last day of my adventure and it would start off late, due to rain and Lisa's great breakfast at the Grover Guest House. She told me about other cyclists who had stayed there while traversing the J-Trail.
I asked her if these mountains had names (because I didn't see any on the map). She said they do and are usually named after the people who live nearby and who own them in some cases. She rattled off more names than I can remember but one that stuck with me was Parker Mountain. A few miles down the road, I saw a home with the name Parker engraved into a stone out front.
The air outside had cooled off considerably from yesterday. It had rained, so it was still wet outside and overcast. Temperatures were not to rise above the 50s (degrees Fahrenheit) on this day. The three German Shepherds kept a good watch on my bike overnight while it rested on the back porch. I packed up, bade Lisa goodbye, and headed out "into the brisk" at around 0930 hours. She sent me off with a big piece of her homemade cake, another portion of which had fulfilled the role of dessert last evening. Did I mention the Grover House is a great place?
Back on SR-14, there were some vehicles but it was quieter than I expected. Canton was 3-4 miles to the North and was a larger settlement than I had imagined. There were ample services, if I happened to have needed anything but since I did not, I kept on moving. Route J called for a turn onto SR-414 to continue in a Northeasterly direction. Brian had said last evening that 414 wasn't much better than 14, but I was resigned to my fate, and took it. Cell phone and data service were spotty for me so I didn't bother to look at any online maps for alternates. When I made the turn, the new route (414) actually seemed a bit wider than the old one (14) did.
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The Garmin profile for the day was a downward trajectory but this is Pennsylvania and nothing runs downhill for very long. The hills were still on both sides of me and the road had a rolling character that required some effort on multiple occasions. I passed an orchard where the trees were laden with red and green apples. Local pumpkins seemed to be for sale at every other property that was passed and there are some large cattle farms in the area as well.
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SR-414 rolled along like that for the 20 odd miles it took to reach the next bit of civilization. Along the way, I passed through the little town of Monroe and 3 Townships called Canton, Leroy, and Franklin. I was making good time and reached Towanda around the Noon Hour. Since it was still damp and chilly, I needed a nice coffee shop to hunker down inside of, for a break. The Community Cup, on Main Street, filled the bill with a hot chocolate and some soup to warm me up.
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The J-Trail route planners followed their usual custom of placing signs right down the gut of another narrow and hectic small town business district. I was dodging moving vehicles and the opening doors of parked cars while also searching for a coffee shop when I spied a perfectly good and much quieter road running parallel to Main Street. It is called the John B. Merrill Parkway and is located a couple of blocks down closer to the river. I made a mental note.
After my coffee break, Main Street was left behind at least until I got through town. The Merrill Parkway ran for a good distance before eventually spitting me back out onto US-6, aka York Street or the J-Trail. Once again, this adjacent road delivered me from the congestion of another busy business district. My recommendation is to re-route the J-Trail onto Merrill Parkway to get through Towanda. As is the case with the other towns, since the parallel alternative routings are only a block or two from the main drag, if a passing cyclist needs or wants something (like I did) it is literally a hop, skip, and a jump to where the action is.
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I was not on York Street for long before the J-Trail signage called for a right turn and a crossing of the Susquehanna River in North Towanda Township. The bridge was high above the riverbed, affording some good views of the surrounding wild area. I stopped on the lightly used bridge deck to enjoy the view.
Shortly after crossing the river, the route signage directed me to a left turn and a downhill onto Riverside Drive. Since it followed the river bank, I hoped the road would be flat. But for the next 5 miles or so, it was anything but. The Buzz, the baggage, and I climbed a series of tough little hills before finally reaching the summit with approximately 36 miles under my belt and 15 more to go.
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The Sheshequin Path once connected the Iroquois Territory with the Shamokin Lands in the East. Part of the path roughly follows the West Branch of the Susquehanna River and Towanda Creek. From a historical sign, I learned that I had been riding along it since having reached Trout Run, yesterday afternoon. The Native Americans who once roamed here referred to the surrounding area as the Dismal Wilderness because of the thick forest and often gloomy weather that caused more than one traveler to become lost within. These days, a lot of wild lands still exist and the woods are still thick in spots.
On Riverside Drive, there were some memorial plaques and the name Sheshequin seemed to appear frequently. At one spot, there was a larger than life statue of a Native American. It looked to me like a good spot to pause for a brief rest.
The end of this journey was nearing, it hadn't warmed up appreciably, and the rain began to fall so I didn't pause anywhere for long. Riverside Drive continued onward, past a flattening landscape replete with dairy farms and hills with changing leaves. I took it all in but could also feel the excitement building from anticipation of completing the trip... and seeing my wife again.
After my trip, a friend familiar with the area told me there is a triad of small communities at the Northern Keystone State border with New York. They are Athens and Sayre, Pennsylvania along with Waverly, New York. This Penn-York Valley was a place I had not been to before. No large Pennsylvania cities were nearby but Elmira and Binghamton were up the road a short piece in the Empire state. I crossed the Susquehanna River again and entered Athens (PA).
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The J-Trail follows a main road through Athens, SR-199. There were some parallel options but after a long week I was in not going to quibble. After a quick stop at the Kwik Fill (for a nature call) I continued onward. The limits of Sayre, the last Pennsylvania borough on this trail, were reached at... you guessed it, the afternoon rush! But it didn't matter as I was on a mission and nothing was going to stop me.
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Of course, there was adversity at the very end of the ride in the form of construction and a road closure sign! There was no way after having come all of this way that I was going to be denied. Scouting out the closed North half of the road (the other half had one-way traffic heading South) I saw a sidewalk and headed for it. Riding where possible and walking where necessary, I reached the end of the construction and the state line. The border was located directly under an elevated and limited access highway, NY-SR-17. It was adorned with the traditional puke green peeling paint, rusty steel, and faded-stained concrete. The highway was noisy also. While this was certainly not the most picturesque state border I had ever crossed, it was definitely worth the "Kodak Moment."
I rode a few miles back across town to meet my wife, who was waiting for me at the Holiday Inn. After getting cleaned up, we went to dinner at the Bluestone Brew Pub in Sayre. It is a nice place to be sure with their own brewed beer. I asked how wide is their distribution range and the answer was not very. The lady in charge told me they send some product down to Penn State but they usually and quickly sell everything they brew to local establishments and patrons. That's the way it should be, keeping things fresh and local. I'll have to return sometime for another round.
All in all, this was a good trip. There is room for improvement of the route but the planners did their best with what was available, some 20+ years ago. Were this ride ever to be attempted again, a closer examination of alternate roads and their elevation profiles would be appropriate.
J Trail Update (December 2021) - On a recent car trip that included a bit of Route J, I noted that PA Bicycle Route J had been re-routed to the other side of the Susquehanna River, on US Routes 11/15, from Marysville to and through Duncannon and then further North to meet the former alignment at Clarks Ferry. This revision avoids the high speed highway (US-322) and narrow tunnel that cyclists had to navigate (on the opposite shore) in the old days. I believe there is a You Tube video that can be found, showing this treacherous path for a bicycle.
Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUtg0XPAhCI
Thankfully, this is not the Route J alignment anymore! The new alignment on US-Routes 11/15 can be heavily traveled. Although not ideal, it is better than riding on US-322.
Due to the danger, I had "written US-322 out" of my route for this tour in October of 2020. Now that this re-alignment has been done, it might be possible to stay on the J Trail through this area.
As Don Juan, the main character in Carlos Castenada's book, "The Teachings of Don Juan, A Yacqui Way of Knowledge" once said,
"For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length--and there I travel looking, looking breathlessly."
The J Trail and this ride had heart and I am happy to have finally completed it after 10 years of dabbling. Hopefully, the next rider will be inspired to finish it a little more quickly.
Today's ride: 51 miles (82 km)
Total: 357 miles (575 km)
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All the best,
Dino
9 months ago
8 months ago