Pittsburgh to DC, part 2.

This is a continuation from my other blog where I wrote about the first two days of my bike trip to Washington D.C. You can find that blog here.

Wednesday, June 13th. 5:30am.

I decided to get an even earlier start for today. So I started packing up my tent again, clearing off all the slugs. Ate some food that I picked up from the night before and hit the trail. I am still going downhill which is really nice and my butt has also gotten a few calluses so it is not in any pain. I pedal and see nice scenery's again as I approach the almost halfway mark, Cumberland.
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Town along the trail

My bike and the background

A cave along the way

More mountainsides

The outskirts of Cumberland

I get to Cumberland and it is about 7:30am. It was a very nice town but I only stopped for a few moments to look around. I follow the trail a little more until I finally notice that I have pretty much completed the GAP trial. Which was about the first 150 miles. So I ended up coming across this.
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The beginning of the C & O Trial

The mileage that was left

This was pretty exciting for me and everything started to look good again which made me quite happy, also considering the fact that I was halfway there!

I left Cumberland and headed my ways to my next stop, Williamsport, about 90 miles down the road. I bike at a good pace, my butt doesn't really hurt anymore since the calluses and no rain. Which was awesome. I would have hated being wet for one more day. But the trail was a bit muddy but it wasn't unmanageable.

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This is how the trail looked after leaving Cumberland.

Lock 77. They were spread all through the trail

My bike and a pond in the background. This is how I eventually rode with my bike and backpack since I couldn't wear it anymore

Another picture of the lock

Who doesn't like these scenic pictures

There were a lot of ducks, everywhere

Sitting on a wooden bridge in the middle of a lock taking a break

Along the trial it really seemed like it became marshlands. There was just mud, swamps, and weird looking shrubs. Every now and then there would be a branch sticking out of the swamp and the whole branch would be filled with turtles, or ducks, and sometimes both. I tried getting a picture but the second I stopped they all dove in the water. I still got some though.

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The whole log was full with turtles of varied sizes

Once again, turtles were everywhere on those logs

So I continued on and was nearing another town called Paw Paw. It was about the 155 mile mark so I had another 55 miles when I got near it. I didn't go to the town I was just passing by since I still had plenty of food and water. I figured I would stop somewhere close to the 130 mile mark or so. After passing the town of Paw Paw, about two or three miles down the trial I came upon the Paw Paw tunnel. This tunnel was about the length of the Big Savage tunnel, but not as scary. Still kind of frightening since it was pretty much pitch black but it wasn't too bad.
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The Entrance to the Paw Paw Tunnel

Inside the tunnel

The other side

How the trail looked now

I persevered onto the "new" trail. It wasn't new but it is just the fact that the trail changed viewing wise which makes it new. After you bike on a trail for twenty, thirty,forty miles at a given time which takes hours and you see pretty much the same exact things, it becomes boring. So the new things lifted me up a bit. I rode along this for a few more miles. My next stop was going to be Hancock so i had about thirty miles to go. Which translates to three to three and a half hours. On the trail I had numerous animals cross right as I approached. Small ones like chipmunks, bunnies, and squirrels. I even came across a snake in the middle of the trail. It was about three - four feet and an inch and a half in diameter. I am pretty sure it was a black rat snake but I wasn't sure so I kept to the far side and rode right past. Then there were deer. And a lot of them. Numerous times they would dart out about forty feet in front of you. But I had two occasions where things got weird.

The first one was a deer walked out in the middle of the path, and just stopped. So I stopped figuring another deer would pop up somewhere to go across. That was not the case. I watched as the deer spread its hind legs, faced my direction in the middle of the trail and kinda bowed its head down and up again taunting me to come closer. I assumed it had its fawn somewhere close by and was protecting it but these actions just completely surprised me. So I eventually backed up and made a little noise to distract it and make it run, which eventually worked. I'll tell the second deer occasion later.
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The deer holding its ground

After that slightly weird experience I decided to fill up my water, and luckily enough there were wells all throughout the trails. So I pumped out the water and filled it in my bottle. But I wasn't expecting the color change. On the pump it said they added Iodine to help keep the water clean and because it was healthier, but I didn't think it would change the water bright yellow! I mean it tasted the same as water but with the hint of iodine. It was just completely unexpected.
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The well water

The pump to get the well water

I am slowly getting to my destination once again. The trail slowly changed a little more and I see some interesting things. The scenery also becomes a lot nicer throughout these miles. And eventually when I am just a few miles out, I reach a dam. I have never actually seen a dam so this was a pretty cool thing to see.
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Another picture of the trail

Limestone Kilns or something like that

Cool looking whole in the mountainside

More of the trail

A nice clearing

A close up of the river

Dam number 5

Another picture of the Dam

One last picture

After leaving behind the Dam, I was finally approaching my stop at Hancock. I get there and go right to the bike store for some grease. My chain was just covered in mud for about a day and a half and sounded awful when I rode in lower gears. So I decided it was time for maintenance. Stopping here also turned out to be perfect since I once again saw Adam. He had just got there and we caught up with each other, talked about the trail, our plans afterwards and so on. We then wished each other good luck again and we parted. He went right back on the trail while I went on another mission, for food. I found another Sheetz close by and stocked up. Took a small break for about thirty minutes and went right back to biking. this was close to about three or four pm. And there was only twenty miles left until Williamsport. My hopes had been uplifted so much I just started and kept going.

It was about two and a half hours when I reached it. The 100 mile mark, or also known as Williamsport. Here I had a reservation at a campsite called Yogi Bears. They charged 40$ for one night. I thought that was absurd. But when I finally arrived, it all made sense. And I felt like an idiot. I arrived close to six and when I did the people who I asked about my reservation looked so confused to me. Like why would I come here....alone. They even thought it was a mistake that I was supposed to be there in the first place since it was just me.

When I arrived this place was the holy grail of campsites....for kids. I don't mean like teenage kids, I mean like 5-12 year old kids. It had everything a kid could have dreamed of. Mini Golf, pool, outside movie, massive trampoline, circular slide that went into water, recreation facilities, and more. I was afraid to keep walking around I thought I was going to get lost. Plus i was exhausted so all I did was shower, charge my phone, and do laundry. I went to their shop to purchase a blanket or something that would keep me warm because I knew I was going to have another cold night, but to no avail. So I said screw it and once again went to bed early around nine or ten. The night was just like the other two. Cold, uncomfortable, and sleepless.

Thursday, June 14th. 5:00am.

I get up and put my tent away and start heading out again. I leave Yogi Bears close to 5:20am and go to town looking for a place to eat. Knowingly I head to Sheetz once again since they are open 24/7 and there sandwiches taste so damn good. I eat breakfast and get on the trail by 6. Now, I am on the home stretch of the last 100 miles. I figured I would bike the first fifty almost non stop then take a break. That was the plan at least. Until I get about five miles in and have to take a detour. It was about an extra four miles and it was up a hill, then down a smaller one, and repeat. But I did it and got back on the right trail and kept pushing on the remaining ninety miles.
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Back on the trail after Yogi Bears

The Detour

The infamous trail

Now for the second deer occasion. I was riding along again and a doe comes out. So I stop figuring once again another deer will come out somewhere and then we will both be off our ways. Not this time. The doe came out and started grazing while its fawn did too. But the fawn was about twenty yards in front of me while the mother was probably close to thirty-five. I stopped and just watched the deer. I slowly crept closer seeing how close I could get, while the fawn stepped closer to me too. It probably turned into a five minute process, slowly walk forward, stop, and repeat. The fawn probably came about fifteen feet away from me until the deer decided to head off again. It felt pretty cool to be that close but I paid for it severely. While I was stopped, all sorts of bugs, fly's, and mosquitoes took advantage and started biting me everywhere. I still have bug bites all throughout my body.
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The doe on the left and fawn on the right

Just the fawn

Slowly getting closer

The closest I got before they disappeared

After that, it was just me again. I was slowly closing the gap between my position and Washington D.C. I came across some more nice views like of the river and trail and such.
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Looking at the river from a lock

The river again

The trail at its finest

The trail nearing Harpers Ferry WV

50 more miles

And that was the 50 mile post. I was halfway their for that day. I decided I would take a little break, drink some well water and finish a Sheetz sub. Also, I had a pre workout with me called C-4. I've taken it before to workout so I thought it would act as a emergecency energy source, in its own way. I took it and it kicked in right away. I felt tingly and needed to get moving so I did. I started and went the fastest speed I could go for five miles, then ten, then twenty, then twenty five. Before I knew it, I was about twenty miles away. The C-4 really helped me cover a lot of ground in about three and a half hours. It was close to two pm and I was only twenty miles outside of D.C. It felt great. A little while after I took it down a notch, I came across something interesting. It was just the flag in the middle of the land. Made me curious but I kept going.
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Random Flag

Then everything started getting exciting. I see a new view, I see ducks, then I see 15 milepost.
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After the 15 milepost I had to take another small detour, I didn't mind I was already so close. And I took a few more pictures of the landscape like the mountain sides which were real nice, and more of the river and trail. And before I knew it. I had hit the 5 mile mark. Wow, 5 miles outside. Thirty minutes max and I would be there. It was hard to know what to expect but I get pushing.
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I see the 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and that was it. I couldn't find the 1 mile marker. So I am in D.C at this point I am pretty sure since I have all the sudden entered a suburban area. Lots of houses, cars, people and such. But the trail went cold. I didn't know where to go to continue on it. I saw a arrow point to C & O trail but that was going across a bridge. i figured it meant go straight for some reason so I did, until I hit a dead end a minute later. I go back and see a guy coming off the trail on a bike and ask him if that was part of the trail. He said yes so I got back on it. I crossed the bridge and now I was in Georgetown, D.C. And once again no signs for the trail. I head up a little stairway and see a bike shop. I go in and ask the guy behind the counter where the trail leads to from here. He says, "Well this is it, it ends in Georgetown." I was dazed. I stood there and just said, that's it? He says yea where you coming from, I tell him Pittsburgh and he congratulates me and tells me I did it.
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For some reason at that moment, I felt like there had to be more, but there wasn't. I did the trail for myself so I wasn't expecting a huge celebration. I got exactly what I asked for, a kick in the ass and the sorest body ever. And that was fine with me. So here I am... in D.C.!
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Getting of the bridge on the left side was the end of the trip

On a bridge with the Washington Monument just behind my bike, in D.C.

I originally planned on staying a night in a hotel and take the Greyhound bus back home the next day but the places for a one night in the hotel were outrageous. So I had to book a way back home that night. And that is where I ended it, in line, waiting for a bus, with my bike in a box.
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In the end, this trip was wild. It really showed me how if I really want to achieve something I just need to stick with it. It also opened me up to the outdoors that I was never acquainted with. I am grateful for the things I have and I would definitely do this trip again. Preferably not alone, but my thought may change in a few years.

Pittsburgh to DC, part 2.

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