Biking The C&O Canal Towpath - Part 3

June 29, 2003

My quest to bike the length of the C & O Canal began on August 18, 2002. At that time I thought the full journey would be completed in three segments over the course of a month or two, but inappropriate weather and scheduling complications delayed the second segment until October 6, 2002. No other opportunities were available before winter, so I was frustrated about my unfinished task for 8 months. Finally, all the pieces fell in place for the final third segment attempt on June 29, 2003. This third segment required the most driving since it was furthest from home.

On Saturday afternoon June 28th we drove about 4.5 hours to our motel in Williamsport, MD. After a restless, noisy night with little sleep I arose at 5:00 Sunday morning anxious to begin the trip. Once the car was packed we drove about 40 minutes west along I-70 to Hancock, MD.

At the start in Hancock, MD.

In Hancock I started pedaling at 6:49 AM from the exact place I ended last October’s journey near the 124-mile point along the canal. It was cool, but not cold. Thin patches of fog floated near damp depressions for the first few miles. Much to my relief, the towpath was in good condition. Since we endured historically high amounts of rain that spring, I feared the towpath would be muddy, puddle-filled, or, worst of all, impassable due to flooding from the nearby Potomac River. Some e-mails posted to a canal bikers’ discussion group talked about terrible muddy conditions, detours, and even a place where river flooding had left a thick deposit of slimy silt over the towpath. Happily, these warnings were about 10 to 14 days old. A week had passed with no rain at all, and none of the towpath disaster locations were along my route for the day. Nature was kind. The trail was in good shape for the entire journey. There was very little mud and no puddles. The mud was easily avoided. The old canal ditch was full of water for most of the journey, however.

The first miles felt great! I was very happy to be under way after so much waiting and anticipation! Pedaling was effortless. I was completely alone. No other bikers appeared along the trail for about 2.5 hours during the first 24 miles!

An aqueduct during the early miles.

This northernmost segment of the canal is also the most remote, so all day I saw many fewer bikers than on previous trips.

I had the shaded trail all to myself.

I'd rather see wildlife than bikers, so I was happy to see many deer bounding through the woods. One deer jumped out across the trail less than ten yards in front of me! Turtles were out in force. Several were crossing the trail, and more could be seen in the swampy canal, including some huge snapping turtles floating with only their nostrils above water. The wildlife highlight of day was a mother and baby deer walking out in the middle of shallow rapids in the Potomac River! It seemed odd to see deer so exposed in the open during daylight. The mother walked slowly along, but the small baby struggled to keep upright in the rushing water. The baby was the smallest young deer I've ever seen.

The Potomac River through a rare break in trailside vegetation.

The website I consulted about biking the C & O Canal characterized this particular 60-mile segment as the buggiest of all and suggested bug repellant. Recent heavy rain produced abundant mosquitoes who buzzed and whined around me whenever I stopped. Unidentified bugs flew into my helmet and walked around on my scalp. Twice I had to remove the helmet to get rid of them. During one port-a-potty stop a loud threatening buzz announced the presence of a bumblebee sharing the port-a-potty! Yikes! I made a quick exit and watched the bee buzz my bike for a while. Insects were annoying only when I stopped. While riding there was little problem.

Speaking of port-a-potties … Fortunately, there are plenty of them along the way at campsites, one about every 4 miles or so. Generally, they are in remarkably good condition. As I exited one of the port-a-potties two older woman bikers happened to come along. One of them wanted to use the port-a-potty and asked me, “How was it?” This seemed hilarious to me! First I told her, “It’s pretty good.” Then I said, “It seems pretty strange to be reviewing a port-a-potty! I rate this one an 8.5 out of 10. When you stop holding your breath, you can actually breathe without having your eyes water. Three and a half stars!”

I reached the halfway point in about 3 hours averaging close to 10 MPH. My shoulders were hardly cramped. My legs felt fine. I passed milepost 154. Only about one more mile remained to the famous Paw Paw tunnel named after the nearby town of Paw Paw, WV. For more than 8 months I had been anticipating this moment with some apprehension. The tunnel is about 0.6 miles long. The C & O biking website warned that the tunnel was “VERY DARK” and recommended bringing a flashlight. I feared the tunnel was so long that neither entrance would be visible near the midpoint, and any flashlight malfunction would plunge me into utter darkness. In spite of the guardrail supposedly present to prevent a “steep drop” to the canal, I worried about falling over the edge into the canal in the darkness. So I brought a flashlight with new batteries and carried this extra weight for the whole trip.

Approaching the Paw Paw Tunnel.

The approach to the tunnel was very interesting. A canyon was blasted out of shale to carve out the canal waterway leading up to the tunnel entrance. I biked along the canyon side on a narrow path. The path became a wooden walkway which I followed around a curve until the tunnel entrance itself appeared.

The southern entrance to the Paw Paw Tunnel.

I stopped, took out my flashlight, took a deep breath, and went slowly forward into the tunnel. Immediately my fears disappeared! The tunnel was absolutely straight and light from the distant exit was visible! Although the walkway was less than 3 yards wide, the guardrail was very sturdy and high. There was nothing to worry about. I actually rode slowly for a while along the bumpy path with the flashlight lighting the way. Water dripped from time to time from the beautifully constructed arched brick ceiling. Occasional puddles were easy to step over. It was wonderfully cool inside. Eventually, near the tunnel midpoint, I had to dismount because two people were walking through the tunnel from the other direction. They had no flashlight. I felt a bit silly for worrying so much. Without a flashlight it was possible to walk through by following the silhouette of the sturdy guardrail which is visible even in the dim light from the distant tunnel entrances. Perhaps tunnel passage would have been more difficult on a darker cloudy day when light from the entrances was not so intense.

View from inside the tunnel looking back toward the distant entrance.

From my midpoint dismount I walked the remaining distance through the tunnel. Whistling produced a beautiful echo. In a short time I reached the exit and emerged once again into sunlight.

Looking back toward the tunnel exit after passing through.

The Paw Paw tunnel was built between 1830 and 1850 in order to avoid many miles of winding river and sheer rocky cliffs which the canal would otherwise have had to traverse. It was dug by hand(!) with the aid of explosives by German and Irish laborers. A trailside information sign showed how the tunnel was dug and included pictures of the workers and the construction. I stopped to read almost every sign along the way without concern for lowering my average speed.

After the tunnel I continued on happily. Fatigue slowly built, but only a general tiredness and stiffness between my shoulder blades. I felt less tired on this trip than on the previous two.

A nice view during the final miles.

I passed many locks along the way. Each one had an accompanying house where the lock keeper and his family lived. All of these houses were painted white and had well-maintained exteriors. The windows and doors, however, were all boarded over so no one could enter or even look inside. Finally, about 13 miles from the end of the trip, I came across a lock keeper’s house that was open! An elderly volunteer eager to talk showed me around inside the small house. The walls were made of thick timbers instead of stone or brick like most of the other lock keeper’s houses I had passed. My guide explained how the canal company began running out of money by the time this particular house was built, so they made it out of wood instead of stone or brick. I also learned that barges took from 5 to 7 days to make the entire trip from Cumberland to Washington. The barge crew worked 18-hour days. If a barge took 6 days to make the trip, it would average about 30 miles a day. That doesn’t seem much compared to the 60 miles I was covering in one day, but, of course, I wasn’t hauling tons of coal!

The lock keeper's house I visited. The lock itself is the stone structure to the right.

The final miles passed quickly. Soon I approached the outskirts of Cumberland, MD where the path was very smooth and covered with tiny dark stones. I pedaled into Cumberland, tired, but not exhausted, at 12:47 PM completing a 5-hour 58-minute 60-mile journey. I passed milepost 184 and continued on for approximately another half mile before stopping at an overlook. Before me was the Potomac River. Looking up I saw a waterfall and several criss-crossing bridges over the river as it passed through the heart of Cumberland. Raising my eyes further revealed several interesting old church steeples among the town’s buildings. Cumberland was the starting point of the old canal. A construction project was underway to restore some of the structures that existed when the canal was a major economic force. There will be nice little shops and restaurants to accompany the museum in the bottom of an old train station. Some of the work had been completed, and it looked very nice. Eventually, I found my way through the construction to where C was waiting for me. I had my picture taken next to a statue depicting one of the barge-hauling mules and his driver.

Stubborn mules traveled the full length of the canal.

At trail's end in Cumberland, MD.

In triumph I had biked the entire length of the 184.5-mile long C & O Canal! This coming year I plan to extend my adventure by biking the Great Allegheny Passage trail all the way from Pittsburgh, PA to Cumberland. It's amazing to think you can travel on a dedicated bike trail all the way from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC!