Allegany or Allegheny?

(September 18, 2015) As I wrote earlier, I rode to southwest New York State over the Labor Day weekend to camp with my sister, her family, and their friends. I enjoyed the break from my hectic professional life. The late-night fires and tasty alcohol ensured a good night's sleep the three nights I was there.

As I put together the photos for this blog post and began writing, I became confused--even more than normal--about the spelling of the park's name where I camped. I doublechecked and sure enough, it's spelled Allegany State Park. However, I am familiar with the Allegheny River, which is more famous and flows into Pittsburgh, PA where it joins the Monongahela to form the Ohio River.

Allegheny National Forest

Just to the south of Allegany State Park, across the state line in Pennsylvania, lies the much larger Allegheny National Forest. My sister has camped here as well, near the Kinzua Dam in the Allegheny National Recreation Area. I hope to camp there with her someday.

Access to Allegany State Park

The park is divided broadly into a north section, called the Red House Area, and a southern section, referred to as the Quaker Run Area. My sister was camped in the Red House Area. I arrived from the south on US 219. After a stop in Salamanca, NY and a call to my sister for directions*, I got on I-86/NY 17 west and got off at exit 19, Red House.

After almost 14 hours on the road, I arrived in the park at 8:00 p.m. It was dark, very dark. I found myself dodging possum and racoons on the road. Fortunately, the deer were content to sit off to the side and simply watch me attempt to read the signs and find my way to my sister.

I arrived late not by design but as a result of US 219 being closed in Pennsylvania due to a very bad auto accident and my having to take two different detours, which added an hour to my ride. The stop at the Flight 93 National Memorial earlier in the day also took more time than I had anticipated.

Keep the shiny side up!

-The Long Rider

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*There is little--and for some none--cell phone service in the park. My sister had to use her girlfriend's phone, and even that got a weak, intermittent signal. Depending on how you look at it, this lack of cell service was a blessing. That's how I saw it. :-)