Rails to Trails

The next morning I woke up and continued on along back roads towards the state parks in the area. The route I had planned on taking had a bridge out, so I took a detour along another route, and this took me along a beautiful river in a valley. Along the whole way was a railroad track that had been converted into a bike path. At one point I stopped to check out the river, and where I had stopped happened to be a camping spot, so I carried my stuff to a campsite right by the river and set up camp. I then rode about 7 miles south and rode through a small town. When I got back to camp I noticed a couple stopped taking pictures of something on the ground, and when I went to see there was a large Timber Rattlesnake coiled up at the base of the tree. I went for my camcorder, and got some cool footage. I then went back to camp and fell asleep fairly early in my hammcok.
The next morning I woke up early and got stuff together to ride my bike and then went to my car and charged my iPod for about an hour before hitting the trail north. The valley had some amazing small towns I rode through, and everyone waved as I passed. Along the way I stopped in several places to take pictures and look around. One place in particular, Rattlesnake Rock, I stopped for a long time to have lunch. It got the name from a hunter in the 1700's who was passing it in a canoe and noticed over 30 rattlesnakes sunning themselves on the rock. I sat on the rock and didn't see any snakes, but I did eat lunch and watch the river flow past me. I then continued on as the trail broke away from the side of the road and headed into a forest. I rode along this a ways and saw a doe with a fawn getting a drink from the river. After going about 16 miles I turned around and headed back. Along the way I heard a rattle and saw a snake on the side of the road. I stopped and watched him cross the road. I got back to camp and set about starting a fire before it got too dark, and right after the fire got going good, it started to rain. It wasn't enough to put out the fire, as it only lasted about twenty minutes. I then sat around the fire until I went to sleep. I am now on the way to Watkins Glen and SuperBall to see the band The Phish play their loud and obnoxious rock and roll music. Updates to come.

Shout out to my lovely sister Rachel, who is expecting a baby soon!!!