While in the Poconos celebrating my mom’s birthday, I took my bike along for a ride. Merli-Saronski in Carbondale, PA had been recommended, so I set out to explore the park Saturday morning under overcast skies. A blue trail from the parking lot offered some nice singletrack along the top of the mound that makes up the park. It dropped me along the lake and the “beach”. I rode and walked a bit of the yellow trail around the lake, which was a little too narrow and root-strewn for biking.
The red trail proved a bit more technical, and ultimately led me to a long blue descent. Though it seemed to be a little too much downhill without any climbing, I was committed and ultimately found myself along a river a few miles from the park entrance. Rather than the long, steep climb back up, I bailed to the road to get back to the car. The final leg up to the parking lot was a long climb on which I did my best “Dead Elvis” Lance Armstrong impression (see Lance Armstrong’s War.)
Talking with a local in the parking lot, I learned the main loop is the orange trail, with blue off branches, and the longest descent in the park that I had done. He also gave me a lead on lunch: the “Second best hot wings in the world” at the Windsor Inn. (They bow to the originators in Buffalo.)
