Roadtrip Day 22...One Crooked Bridge

Day 22

Sunday, June 8, 2025

    In a place named Jersey Shore, odds were good there would be a diner.  I considered it.  In the end, I had breakfast in the attached restaurant.  

     It was really quiet this early on a Sunday.  So, I had the  chance to chat with the staff about the road ahead.  

    When I planned this trip, I was going to hit a trail to a place called Gillespie Point.  It's .9 miles up a steady incline to an amazing overlook.  

    This morning, I checked some recent reviews that mentioned tricky washouts.  The trail is described as "narrow with steep dropoffs."  

    So, Plan B.  Based on the restaurant staff's recommendations, I'm going to follow the rail trail and dip in and out.  

    The first stop was only three miles up the road.

        With a good sized lot, it gets a lot of use.  I met plenty of runners and cyclists and got a good morning from all of them.

    It was just over a mile and a half up to my goal,  one of four bridges over Pine Creek.

     That's not an optical illusion.  The top is actually angled.  No idea why though.  It's on a straightaway.  While it's at a 30 degree angle to the shore, I doubt that would make a difference.

   Weird.  I even reached out to a few bridge engineers in Twitter.  Never heard back.

    There's another bridge a little further north.  From the map, it looked like at least eight miles of dirt road to the trail access.

    Instead, I made a brief stop in Little Pine State Park.  

     I just walked around the dam, though the long lake loop was tempting.

     The staff at breakfast suggested Pennsylvania's Mini Grand Canyon.  The rail trail cuts through the base of the canyon.

    So, I punched Leonard Harrison State Park into the GPS  and followed along. It started getting a bit concerning when one dirt road lead to another.  

    I've had it do that before and it's trying to bring me in the shortest route, down impassable roads.  With no cell service, and my current road not on my AAA map, I just rolled with it.

    A mile from the park and I was suddenly on Hwy 606, paved.  The downside, the rain had become steady.  After all that, there was no way I wasn't at least headed to the overlooks.

    

   That line to the right of the river is the rail trail.

     There's a trail down.  With more time and on a dry day, I would have done it.  Today, just not feeling in.

      My home for the night was a bit further than I had anticipated.  The drive was much like this...

     As sometimes happens, my GPS didn't recognize the motel's address.  With no cell service, it was time to go old school.  This is why I still carry paper maps. 

   Eventually, I'd work my way to Hwy 6 and the town of Tiona.  My home for the night was the Rest Stop Inn.  

     A bit different than the previous place, but certainly fine.