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C&O trail trip report



 
 
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Old June 27th 09, 08:14 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
daytoncapri
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Default 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 won’t 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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