Longhouse Scenic Byway

Discovered--much to my disappointment--that the Longhouse Scenic Byway is only passable to snowmobiles and really tough 4WDs during the winter months. I always knew that there was "no winter maintenance" on the road, but I somehow imagined that a '99 Corolla could handle a treacherous, narrow, curvy road that passes over high drops...as long as there was a nice layer of tightly packed snow to drive on.

I shouldn't be allowed to drive.

When I ended up going to Cornplanter's Bridge on Saturday, it was "Plan B" after a failed attempt to get to Dewdrop, which is just one of many remote and huber-cool locations that can only be reached by traveling the Longhouse, or else by boat, or else by walking across the ice of Kinzua Bay. And now in midwinter, when the Longhouse is essentially closed to the masses, that whole vast section of the forest stands abandoned by humanity: Dewdrop, Kiasutha, Elijah Run, old Camp Cornplanter, and all the many backroads, and the dark little valleys of the streams that trail off into the Kinzua Bay.

The west bank of Kinzua Bay is one of the most scenic and rugged parts of the ANF. Oh, and it's tantalizing...all that woodland sitting devoid of noisy humankind. If only I had a nice, loud snowmobile to get me into that part of the forest....

In an unrelated thought, I visited a nursing home today (part of the job). The chaplain's wife was sitting at an electric piano playing old, old tunes from the residents' youth: "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," "By the Light of the Moon," "In the Good Old Summertime." It made me wonder: when I'm old and sitting in a nursing home, will a chaplain's wife come in an play songs from my youth on an electric piano? Songs by Nirvana, and Pearl Jam, and The Red Hots? Just a little old lady playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit"? "Crazy Mary." "Here They Come to Snuff the Rooster." It's a nice thought.