Easy Hemlock Township ride

I did an easy 23.0 miles out into Hemlock Township yesterday. I had originally planned for 24, but cut it down to 20 due to timing constraints, then ended up doing a detour that made it 23. Although I didn't really need it on this ride, I now have a second bag for my bike, which will be useful for longer rides.

Useful for carrying things

The first few miles were fairly routine. I rode over to Arbutus Park Road and then followed it to its end, where it became a trail. I went unusually slowly down the trail this time. By now, though, the forest had completely turned green. Much nicer than in the winter or early spring.

 The view from Shawnee Road

The trail that Arbutus Park Road becomes, curving around a ravine.

After a while, the pavement returned, but was still bumpy. At one point, I rode over a patch of sawdust and wood shavings that were in the road for some reason. After a while, the pavement returned to normal and the road made a short, fast descent to Millville Road. From here, I turned onto Summit Ave and took that to the Bloomsburg Rail Trail.

Bloomsburg Rail Trail

The trail was completely flat the whole way, though I only followed it for a few tenths of a mile. It was nice to ride between the reddish cliffs and the green leaves. At the end of the trail, I crossed Fishing Creek into Fernville and then took Drinker Street to Red Mill Road. I was on Red Mill Road for a while before turning onto Frosty Valley Road and crossing Pennsylvania Route 42. I usually notice the slight ascent on Red Mill Road, but  not this time.

Green flowers

Frosty Valley Road began with a descent to Hemlock Creek. For the next few tenths of a mile it was flat. After a while, I turned off onto Schoolhouse Road and crossed Interstate 80.  I had run on that road before, but never biked there. I stopped near the bridge for a couple of pictures.

Interstate 80

On the other side of I-80, Schoolhouse Road descended to Frozen Run (which wasn't frozen) and then made a gentle ascent through the quasi-rural countryside of northwestern Buckhorn, with fields and houses. After a while, I crossed Hemlock Creek again (it was a lot smaller and mostly dry this far upstream) and came to Pennsylvania Route 44.

 Not-Frozen Run. What is it with misleading place names?

Rural scenery in the Buckhorn area

 After a short stretch on Route 44, I turned onto Dahl Road, where I would spend the next few miles. I crossed Hemlock Creek yet again and began ascending slightly up the valley of West Hemlock Creek. The last time I came this way, I turned onto Orchard Drive, but this time, I continued on Dahl Road. I had thought it would be forested, but it wasn't. Mostly it was fields and houses, though dark forests and the riparian buffer of West Hemlock Creek were off to the left. On the right, there were a few interesting outcrops of shale.

 Shale outcropping.

 Flowers. Not exactly my favorite color...

Interesting tree stump

After a while, the road became steeper, but I soon reached Rambo Drive and turned onto that. On Google Terrain, it had seemed like it would be bad, but it turned out to be not too difficult. On the other hand, the climb up Orchard Drive wasn't easy. I was surprised to find that this stretch was unpaved. The pavement was mostly the typical reddish-pink of unpaved roads around here, but there were a few tan patches.

 Surprising unpaved surface

View from Orchard Drive

Orchard Drive eventually flattened out and took me to Wagner Drive. I went along Wagner Drive for a bit to get a nice picture looking eastward. Then I decided to take a detour and ride down Wagner Drive to the county line. It was a nice descent, first going through farmlands, then becoming unpaved and shooting through a tunnel of green.

 View from Wagner Drive. If you look very closely, you can see the nuclear power plant on the horizon at center-left. The power plant is just over 20 miles from this spot.

Field and Montour Ridge

At the bottom of Wagner Drive, there was a bit of climbing and descending along Interstate 80 before I reached the Montour County line and crossed over I-80. Then I began heading east in Columbia County along Frosty Valley Road. The next few miles were quiet and mostly downhill. A couple of nice views. At one point, I saw a farm with many sheep (and at least one ram) and some chickens.

Knob Mountain isn't the nearby green ridge, but the distant blue one.

After crossing Hemlock Creek one last time, I reached the end of Frosty Valley Road, I rode down Red Mill Road, into Fernville, and then into Bloomsburg via the bridge across Fishing Creek. I managed to avoid the one-way-street maze by riding along Ridge Street all the way to Iron Street and then riding along that to Glenn Ave. One thing I didn't avoid was hills; I was on some of the hilliest roads in Bloomsburg.

 Slightly altered...

David Stroup Fountain at Market Square

 Fortunately my route didn't take me up this (though I have been running there a couple of times).

 Dorm

Instead of riding up Turkey Hill to Upper Campus, I took an easier route, going straight instead of turning onto Country Club Drive and reaching Pennsylvania Route 487, which I took to Crestwood Drive. A short, steep descent took me to Highland Drive and from there I rode through a little trail into my neighborhood. I arrived back home a few minutes later. My time was 1:44:19 and my pace was 4:32/mile (13.2 miles per hour). A bit slow for such an easy course.

 Elevation gain: 1339 feet, total elevation change: 2679 feet. Highest point: 983 feet, lowest point: 473 feet.

Route map. (source)(license)