First thing in the morning, we had breakfast and a lovely conversation with other cyclists who were also spending the night at the B&B. Day 2 was planned to be light in mileage so we had time to go slowly and enjoy the ride. We left Connellsville after taking a picture of an interesting catholic cluster (Virgin Mary and St. Francis). We steadily climbed and left mountain ridges behind that were an extraordinary hurdle for early pioneers, although they do not look like much today.
The trail today was lovely. Lightly traveled and shaded. The ascent was noticeable as we slowly moved from river level to the top of the gorge. Pedaling felt definitely harder than yesterday. We kept passing through waterfalls and amazing giant rhododendrons; the trail must be incredibly beautiful when they are in bloom. We went over several wooden viaducts which were really bumpy. We heard and enjoyed many birds; the area we went through yesterday and today has been designated as one of Pennsylvania's Important Bird Areas by the National Audubon Society.
We arrived into the small town of Ohiopyle in time for lunch. After eating we spent some time walking by the river, where we learned that George Washington tried to go through the rapids behind and failed, and had to retreat.
The reason why the day was light today is because we were planning to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright's house Fallingwater. We were planning to bike there but we were repeatedly talked against it. We hoped for a shuttle but nobody had a clue. Because our plans to visit Fallingwater had been shattered, we had a lot of time. We lazily spent some time sitting by the riverbank and wading in the cold water under the bridge before we decided to ride the last few miles to the day's final destination (the noseeums played a role in that decision).
While biking upstream, we heard a lot of people on the water: kayakers, canoers and rafters. We also learned that otters were successfully introduced (after 75 years of being extinct in the area) and that they are thriving in the now very clean river; unfortunately they are very hard to see.
We finally crossed the river and made it to Confluence, PA (named like that because it is at the Confluence of the Youghiogheny and Casselman rivers, and Laurel Hill Creek) where the River Lodge was waiting for us. For the next two nights, we have a cool place to stay which is a loft (with one bedroom) on top of an antiques warehouse.
We finally crossed the river and made it to Confluence, PA (named like that because it is at the Confluence of the Youghiogheny and Casselman rivers, and Laurel Hill Creek) where the River Lodge was waiting for us. For the next two nights, we have a cool place to stay which is a loft (with one bedroom) on top of an antiques warehouse.
The place is surrounded by a beautiful garden (Picture). Cell reception is null in the sleepy town; we mitigated it by heading to dinner to a good, Mexican-inspired place that is one of the few spots around that has Wi-Fi, besides decent food and decent beers.
Beer of the day: Rivertowne beers, Export, PA. Runner-up: Dale's Pale Ale for $4
Dinner: Lucky Dog Cafe
Bird of the day: Black-throated blue warbler (very abundant)