6 hrs, 14.1 kms
Day totals: 17 hrs, 40 .1 kms

Actual date: May 27, 2015

Logan Valley actually has a freeway running through it, Interstate 99. So it is reasonably connected with the rest of the country (not to mention a major railway). However, with areas like the Cumberland Valley being so much more central for warehouses and such, it doesn't seem like this freeway has managed to save Logan Valley from economic decline. I do pass a good bit of functioning industry along the way (Including Del Grosso's tomato sauce factory--complete with its own amusement park!) but I wouldn't say this area feels like a real industrial hub.

I take a peaceful sideroad along the river instead of following the highway. Along the way I spot a cool carving of a toothy face and mushrooms and flowers mad out of a tree stump. An older fellow waves at me, so I figure I should ask permission before taking a picture.

He's more than happy to show me his works of art--even taking me to the backyard to see his other masterpieces, with the stream just a few feet away .

"Do you have problems with floods?" I ask.

"Every year is different." he tells me. "last winter, the stream picked up a big sheet of foot thick ice and pushed it onto the shore."

"So how's the economy here in this area?"

"It's a retirement area, really.... there are some jobs. A factory nearby is hiring 6 or 7 people... and there's some work at expanding the Del Grosso amusement park..."

One thing there doesn't seem to be much at all here is agriculture. I've seen some grassy meadows that might be used to feed animals, but nothing more.

I reach Bellwood, my next "official" town down the valley, a pretty standard middle class town with a shabby little Main Street and a grid of quiet residential streets. Beyond, the valley feels surprisingly underdeveloped--at least on the road I'm taking, with a lot of land that looks like it might have been developed for a while and then let gone wild...

Finally, as dusk sets in, I reach the edge of the main city, Altoona... and I decide to call it a day.