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C&O trail trip report
For anyone who is considering the C&O trail as a bicycle adventure.
Here's a fresh trip report from June 14-19, 2009. I traveled solo happy to have done it, but you gotta know it wont always be easy: Launch: Sunday Night from Cumberland 8:30 PM, tent camped at MM 180 - a short 5 mile jog. This is Evitt's Creek campground - right next to the C&O railroad. I packed - and used - lawnmower ear covers to aid in the sleep. I was not ready for the bright lights from the Locomotive engine illuminating my tent - a pretty dramatice way to wake up in the middle of the night. Day 1- Monday night - camped at MM 75 (105 miles - felt good.) Too many mosquiotes at MM 80. Day 2- Tuesday - Made it as far as MM 4 (just outside DC) and then had to turn around (running out of daylight) and camped at MM 16. Trail conditions were *extremely* muddy and soft about 1/2 way between Harper's Ferry and DC, and otherwise just muddy with many standing pools of water. Day 3- Wednesday - rained all day, tent camped under a roofed shelter (lucky me) at McCloskey's Mill private campground - about MM 88. I was their only customer. Day 4 - Returned to Cumberland about 1:30 PM. That calcs to Cumberland to DC and then back in a little more than 4 1/2 days. Beautiful scenery in spots, some wildlife up close (herons, owls, beaver) a bit of monotony which is par, and lotsa, lotsalotsa mud! It was amazing to see people entering this mushy trail with their clean pastel bicycling outerwear while riding on their narrow gauge road bikes. They may have been amazed at the sight of dirty-ol-me, particularly the mud-encrusted version toward the end of the trip. My RIG Trek 3900 Mtn bike - nothing fancy, knobbies with a "bob-like" Yakima trailer. The tread definitely helped. Tent camping all four nights. You MUST have a good light to walk your bike through the 3100 foot long Paw Paw tunnel. Other Advice and warnings: #1 - Freshly cut long-grass that were left in clumps on the trail = Wipe-Out. My only tumble - lucky to not have been hurt. Like throwing a banana peel in your path. #2 - The drivers in "lawnmower army" of the NPS do not necessarily understand that they should disengage their mowing blades to allow you to pass, nor do they necessarily understand that they need to pull over and stop. I got behind one and was shouting for him to "Let me pass please" for about 1/4 mile. He didn't see me or hear me until I got up close and was fairly screaming. #3 T-Mobile cell-phone signal was non-existent for most of the trip. #4 - Mud and constant rains means your heavy-loaded bike might never be stable to park - it can collapse sometimes when you least expect it. The bike computer was destroyed on morning #3 when it was smacked against a post. #5 -Take a skeptical look at the weather report. The 30 pct chance of rain predicted for Thursday morning morphed into 100% rain for Wednesday, Wednesday night, and into Thursday. If it rains on the C&O, then you and the bike will be very muddy on the outside and your things will get wet inside. Constant rain and deep puddles means that water shoots UP into your bike from below. The convenient stretchy rain covers for your panniers will do no good from water coming from that direction, and will hold water where the material covers the bottom. Now, about the heavy-duty waterproof duffle bag in the trailer - with the extra-heavy waterproof zipper covers. . . it's the same story. The water splashes UP and in between the heavy flaps, through the zipper, and thus inside the duffle bag, AND since the bag is otherwise waterproof - it holds the water at the bottom, and soaks everything that is not separately waterproofed. I spent 2 nights without the wet sleeping bag. TIP: Zip-lock bags are your friend. My socks stayed dry because of zip-locks, I shoulda done that for my camera. Still - glad to have done it. I'll come back to MM 4 someday and finish the trip to Georgetown. Maybe dress up a bit for the Capitol sights... |
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