8/22-I’m on Vacation Now!

Since this morning was my last good breakfast until DC, I took a photo of it.

That’s right…2 chocolate milks!

Since I only had 45 miles, I wasn’t in a rush to get going, but I was still rolling out at about 7:45. Fortunately, there were some people heading out on the GAP, and I talked to them for a bit. Still…too early for a short day!

The C&O boardwalk

Goodbye Cumberland!

Heading to DC now!

The C&O seems to mostly go between the canal and the Potomac. Sometimes you can’t see the river. Sometimes there nothing in the canal. Sometimes you can see the river and the canal. 

The canal

I did come to this one tree branch across the trail. There was a bit of a path around it. 

Another thing that is never far away are the trains. It’s kind of appropriate that I’m back to hearing trains again. They have been a major feature of this whole route (even as I’m writing this, a train is going by across the river). 

I leisurely made my way along the trail, stopping at signs and historical sites.

Just some nice scenery 

The Pollock Historical Cemetery 

One of the many lock houses. Some are available to rent.

Steam pump to make sure there wasn’t too much water in the canal

Civil War time

The sign said “Falling Rock”. It was these shard like pieces that looked like chewed up wood. 

Remember when I mistakenly said I was going back to West Virginia? Well, guess what! I DID go back to West Virginia! Okay, so it was only to go into Paw Paw, WV to get a snack, then I went right back into Maryland!

Funny thing, the town of Paw Paw is in WV, but the Paw Paw Tunnel is in Maryland! There was a “Canal Steward” named Dan at the Paw Paw Tunnel. I stopped to talk to him. He lives in Paw Paw. He moved there in 2009 because of the  trail. He said he was looking for Paw Paw fruit, but hadn’t found any yet. He recommended walking my bike through the tunnel. The walkway is only 4 feet wide, and bumpy in places. I did walk, even though I think it would have been easier to ride, because there were other people walking through the tunnel (not on bikes). Dan took a photo of me in front of the tunnel entrance.

Paw Paw Tunnel

At least there is a railing to keep you from falling into the canal.

Curiously, there was a beaver building a dam in the tunnel. He must have to go quite a distance to get his building materials!

Beaver!

I came out of the tunnel onto this boardwalk. 

Then it was a bit of singletrack.

Eventually it became double track, but for awhile it was not as smooth as before the tunnel. They have been working on the trail. There was a section that was a bit muddy, but then I came to where they had put down new compacted gravel.

Smooth!

The locks are all numbered. I thought this was funny.

Yes, there was a 63 2/3 too!

As I was getting close to where I was going to camp, a guy rode up beside me. He had ridden from Cincinnati. We chatted until I got to Indigo Neck Hiker Biker campsite.

Home for the night (and the afternoon because I got here so early)!

All the campsites have a potty shack, water pump, and a picnic table. The only thing they don’t have is trash cans. 

The ol’ tent hasn’t been set up for awhile!

This one is at Lock 57. There’s just the remnants of the old lock house.

I was getting water when a gentleman asked if I was okay. He was out for a ride on his bike (lives close by). We chatted for awhile. His name was Don. He just started riding about a month ago, and is getting in shape. He’s 75 years young. He asked if I needed anything as he was just a couple miles away. Having just started these last 5 days, I’m pretty much full up on food, so didn’t really need anything. Mostly, I just enjoyed chatting with him!

Tomorrow is another short day, but I will go through Hancock. Apparently, Hancock has restaurants and a Sheets (gas station/convenience store). Of course, tomorrow is Sunday, so probably only the gas station will be open. I’m going to take my time in the morning because I’m on vacation now!!!

8/21-So Many Things Today!

I think the easiest thing to do for today’s post is start at the beginning (okay, that’s kind of what I always do anyway). 

I rode over to the Outflow campground and met up with Sarah. She gave me this sweet flower to look at today. 

Sarah packing up

We headed back to the GAP. It was actually, dare I say, a bit chilly this morning. I put my rain jacket on just for warmth. 

One of many bridges/viaducts

Photo by Sarah

We weren’t sure if this was bees or wasps.

We also saw numerous waterfalls.

Our first town/trailhead was Rockwood. Dorene was the GAP volunteer who was at the trailhead. We chatted with her for awhile. A couple of colorful guys came by. 

The orange jacket guy was riding the same kind of e-bike as Ken and Vivian.

We continued on to the next town of Meyersdale.

No Wanda! You can’t go in the water!

Tiny little cemetery 

The Salisbury Viaduct

Nice view!

Notice 217 miles to DC!

Meyersdale was supposedly known as Maple City

It seemed to be more about the trains

We had just 8.3 miles to the Eastern Continental Divide. We also passed this.

GAP mile 27!!!

We stopped at a little Amish farm stand. They had all kinds of things. The young girl (maybe 14 or 15?) had a cute accent. When I commented, she smiled and said I wasn’t the first person to say that. She had 8 siblings. A bunch of them came in on a tractor.

The kids in the back looked like they were having a blast.

After we ate our snacks, we continued on to the Eastern Divide.

Bill and Sue took our photo. I took theirs for them.

Glad we were going down the steeper side!

All downhill from here!

Next up was the Big Savage Tunnel. It was long, but lighted.

Big Savage

I still had my headlight on

The view on the other side was pretty great!

We flew down the trail (sometimes exceeding the 15 mph speed limit). It was very fun!

Our next thing was the Mason Dixon Line (aka the border of Pennsylvania and Maryland).

State #13!!!

Literally standing on the line!

Yep! We have entered our final state! As we rolled on into Maryland, Sarah said she liked it. It was the only state she hadn’t gotten a flat tire in! That probably won’t last long because her rear tire was slowly losing air all day!

We counted down the mile posts. For awhile, we were riding alongside the train tracks. We couldn’t tell if it was an active line. Turns out, it was!

Cool farm

Riding along the tracks

Oh look! A train!

The train was one of those sightseeing trains. Sarah tried to get the engineer to blow the whistle. He didn’t.

We rode the rest of the way into Cumberland.

Look at those rocks!

A canal (is it the C&O?)

One more mile!

Sarah needed to go to a grocery store, and I was heading to my hotel. Once again, we said our goodbyes. Will we see each other again? Hard to say! But, it was awesome riding with her today!

As I came to the very end of the GAP, there was the C&O!

See where it says GAP Mile 0?

As I rode on to my hotel (just a few hundred yards up the C&O), a guy said, “Welcome to Cumberland!”

I got checked in to the Fairfield Inn and Suites. As one might expect, there are many cyclists here. I talked to a few guys that are starting the GAP tomorrow. 

Laundry going, I went to the Crabby Pig for dinner. Had a delicious pulled pork sandwich. Also stopped at the bike shop and got a GAP & C&O sticker for Wanda. Now I need to inventory my food as food is a little tricky to find on the C&O.

Today was my last bigger mile day. The remaining 5 days of riding are only in the 40s with the last two being even shorter. I’m sleeping in tomorrow!

Day 70 and 5 days with less than 200 miles to go!