The GAP
- jeremyskoler
- Oct 3, 2017
- 10 min read
9/22/17 - 9/26/17
I was feeling slightly healthier as I headed off from Chatham after saying goodbye to Walker. I passed this Jewish smoke shop (left) called "The Chosen" which I thought was hilarious. I stopped to get more remedies for the ever present sickness and restock on pesto. There I discovered it was national chicken pot pie day so I bought a super cheap pot pie and carefully put it in one of my panniers. It would be a good replacement for the pesto I couldn’t seem to find. I figured it would last as I had picked a short 35 mile day so as to hopefully go easy on my healing body.
At this point I should mention that I changed my plans. No longer am I headed east across Pennsylvania. I decided that there was a show I couldn’t afford to miss in D.C. on October 5th so I plan to be there then. That, however, gives me a lot of time to kill between here and there so I chose a much easier, although longer, route to take me to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for my next college stop. The route is a well traveled old railroad track converted to a bicycle trail. It goes from Pittsburgh all the way to D.C. I plan to get off it after it dips down into Maryland so I can head back north into Pennsylvania. The first section from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, MD is called the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP). After Cumberland the route follows the C&O Canal towpath. The beauty of the trail is that its past life as a train track means that it never goes above a 3 degree slope and I can ride the gradual climb all the way across the mountains. Lastly I’m slowing down a bit to fill up the time, which is nice because I'll hopefully feel better now that I'm not always pushing so hard.
I had a nice leisurely day. I stopped to eat my chicken pot pie which was delicious and the definition of comfort food. Then I continued on the perfect path and started seeing a lot of bikers and some other bicycle tourists for the first time on my trip. I slowed down further to match pace with a man traveling in the same direction. We chatted for about ten miles before we reached a bed and breakfast, his stopping point for the day. He was finishing up a coast to coast dream of his. I was impressed at how far he was biking for being in his 70s. It was nice to chat with another biker instead of the voices in my head. I reached camp, a small free campsite built off the trail for bikers. It was great, I setup my tent in a wooden shelter, got naked for a spigot bath and ate my pesto. Around 7 o’clock a large rowdy group of bikers rolled in, boy scouts I think, and I was glad I took my bath early before people showed up. They stayed on the other side of the campground. I relaxed in my hammock, made a fire, had a late night throat tea and cayenne pepper gargle and hit the sack. It was a beautiful place and a beautiful relaxing night.
I got a very late start leaving camp around 12:30 after sleeping in. I told myself sleep would help me heal and that was enough of an excuse to forgive the wasted morning. Another short day of riding brought me past all the boy scouts, who had left hours ago, and to a state park, Ohiopyle. Here I was forced to sweat my bike a quarter mile up a steep gravel hill, but it was a fine price to pay for riding on a path all day. I set up camp and then rode into the small mountain town of Ohiopyle. There I bought some groceries but was still unable to find anything to put on my pasta. So I treated myself to a mediocre burger and made friends with a fellow diner. We chatted about the area and then he ordered what I strongly recommended he not get. Then I headed back to camp and settled in for a relaxing night before a day off.
“I was in my hammock in a neighboring campsite so my phone could be plugged into the RV electricity hookup. It was the perfect set up, no worry about battery, just writing for the blog. Then at 9:30 pm I see a big camper driving through the campground. I just knew where it was going so I bolted upright, ripped down my hammock, grabbed all my stuff and crashed through the woods back to my site. Right as I got there the RV pulls up to the campsite and people start streaming out. I have no clue how I managed to get away. Now I’m hammocking 6 feet up in a saggy hammock with both ends touching the too close trees. Haha, life is good.”
-An excerpt from my journal
I woke up at Ohiopyle later than ever before around 12:30. Well I woke up at 8 in my hammock, moved inside my tent and went back to bed. My day was built around charging my devices for the stretch of camping nights I had coming without guarantee of electricity. I made breakfast/lunch at an RV campsite so I could charge my phone. Then I rode into town, picked up some fresh produce and hotdogs for dinner. I still didn’t want to eat pesto-less pasta.
Ohiopyle is known for its rapids however the shallow river also attracts tourists to the natural waterslides. These are smooth grooves and channels carved into the stone that someone can hop in and be swept downstream. I was excited to see them and quickly headed out of town. There were tons of people around and I watched them rush down the rocks. I knew the cold water wouldn’t be great for my health but I figured this was a rare opportunity so I got into my swimsuit and headed up the river. The slides were anticlimactic, although I think it is a much better experience if you go headfirst on your stomach instead of sitting up. That wasn’t something I was ready to commit to, though. It was still fun scooting down the wet rocks. One thing I find very unfortunate about traveling alone is that it's hard to get photos of myself doing stuff like that. I got someone to take my picture anyway, then I dried off and headed back to camp.
After my third push up the awful gravel hill to camp I was ready to rest. I made a fire, roasted my hot dogs and ate my tomatoes. Then after everything was cleaned up I snuck into another RV site to hammock, charge my battery pack and write. I finally caught up on the blog, which is great. The only issue is it will be a while before I can post anything.
I woke up at 9:30 after a sleepless night. I had planned to get out early but thought sleep was more important, yet again. I raced to pack up camp and get into town for breakfast. I bought a pizza. I was figuring it could double as breakfast and then lunch as well. I finally left town and started the uphill ride to get over the mountains. I planned to push up and over the pass trying to finish the trail and make it past Cumberland. It wasn’t bad because it's so gradual but riding uphill all day can get old.
I decided I wanted to make the day more interesting so after only 7 miles I swerved to avoid a pothole, skidded on the gravel road I was crossing and ate dirt. My handlebars were twisted so that the left end was wedged underneath the top bar of my bike. It took a couple tries to pry it out tearing the already gravel-shredded griptape more. I gathered up my fallen panniers and tried to reattach them. I couldn't figure out why I was struggling so much until a passing biker pointed out the missing skin on my left leg, hip and arm. I decided I should pull off the road and pull myself together. A quick check told me I was not too badly injured, probably, and my bike and all my gear was fine. After some failed first aid I realized that I was just too sweaty to apply band-aids and I decided to keep riding.
I want to mention how beautiful the GAP is. I was biking through a wilderness. Often steep rocky wooded hills rose on both sides and a river ran about 20 feet below the trail at the bottom of the gorge. I watched the plant life change from what I was used to in the midwest to a more east coast flora. At the same time the leaves were starting to turn and I could smell autumn coming. I would pass through coniferous forests and then glimpse meadows spreading out on the hill sides. I saw lots of deer, eagles, hawks, groundhogs and herons and the best part was non of them were dead by the side of the road. It was just such a glorious peaceful ride. The beauty of the place just couldn't be captured on camera. So I of course took a ton of photos and will include some in slideshows through out the post. Please be aware, however, that they only offer a sliver of insight into the natural wonder that is the GAP trail.
After 30 miles or so I passed a really nice looking campsite with a flashy sign. I pulled off the path to read it. The site boasted amazing amenities and nice sites for only $10 a night. I finally decided that I would rather keep riding than stop early at the luxuries campground when a man in a deck out golf cart pulled up. He talked me out of my $10 and I rode off to pick a site. After doing a loop around the grounds I unpacked my bike and realized my fuel canister wasn’t in the water bottle holder.
Losing my fuel was bad news because I need to eat. I considered going back to where I fell thinking it may be there but I didn’t want to do the 40 mile round trip with the approaching dusk. After much debate and some advice from my dad I decided to buy dinner and try and pick up a new canister. I made a well rounded meal out of some ice cream, chips and cheese. Then I took advantage of the showers, laundry machines and computer provided by the campground. I was able to apply some proper improvised first aid and then bike all over town to discover that no one sells fuel canisters. Next I played myself in pool and took an embarrassingly long time to clear the table. I listened to some music, chatted with a few other cyclists and just had a very peaceful evening. I made a campfire with the newspaper and wood provided at the site. I even got to watch an Amtrak go by from the comfort of my hammock with my fire blazing. It was a beautiful night.
The next morning I got up determined to make up for the short previous day. I got out of camp fast because I didn’t have a stove to light and got a yummy breakfast sandwich and pastry. On the way out of the cafe I couldn’t help but buy a loaf of banana nut bread. I rode all morning only stopping to fill water bottles and try and find the fuel canister on sale. Someone offered to drive me from a visitor center to the camping store but we called ahead and they didn’t have what I was looking for. I rode on and at one point I crossed a long high wooden bridge into a tunnel. The view was great but for some reason wasps swarmed all over and I was terrified as I rushed across. The path continued to amaze me with its pristine wilderness as I got higher and higher into the mountains.
I finally reached the continental divide. I made sure to pee so that half of it would eventually trickle into the Gulf of Mexico and half into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. I rode on flying down the 24 mile descent into Cumberland. I went through tunnels, past viewpoints, by an extremely randomly placed helicopter pad and across the Mason-Dixon line. I tried to capture the Cumberland Narrows (I was told it was the Cumberland Gap but later found out that is in Tennessee) in a photo but it is difficult to see the nature of it. I learned it is basically a narrow passage between high rocky cliffs where a highway, two railroad lines, a river and a bike path squeeze into the city. Cumberland was great, mostly because I finally found the fuel bottle there. It had been a great day so far.
To finish up the day I continued onto the C&O canal towpath. Now, the start of the towpath is absolute garbage for bicycles. In fairness it was not built for that but it is still difficult to navigate the narrow path riddled with potholes, roots, eroded patches and sand. Luckily the towpath’s poor riding quality is made up for by the free hiker/biker campsites set up every 6 miles or so. I was able to ride as far as I could in the going light then just pull of the trail at a campsite and set up my tent.
I do want to mention the gnats though. Gnats, I’ve discovered, are a far greater nuisance than mosquitos. They like to hover in dense clouds over the path. This means that sweaty bikers are constantly colliding with them. And the gnats get trapped, stuck to the sweat and held in place by any exposed body hair. So as I rode I would gradually collect zoos of gnats on my arms, legs, clothes and face. I finally decided I needed to capture the bizarre occurrence so I stopped to take a picture. As soon as I stopped the bug started to lift off and buzz around my head alighting on other parts of my body. I took the picture and quickly rode off eager to escape the pests.
At camp I was able to make some ramen (my pesto substitute) and set up camp right before sunset. Then I went to the old fashion well hand pump to fill my water bottles and wash off. I’m glad it was dark because I was standing on the path naked trying to fit my body under the two foot high water flow while simultaneously pumping to keep the water going. It was tricky but I came away a little cleaner and slightly more flexible. I ate my banana bread with peanut butter, which was delicious, and went to bed. It had been a good day's ride and a good couple days on the Great Allegheny Passage.
