Pittsburgh to Mount Veron - Day 3
04/27/2003 15:16:20 by AdministratorFrom: Rock Gap State, MD
To: Hancock, MD
Mileage: 56
Monday we started out at the Cumberland train station the northern terminus of the C&O canal trail. It was a GORGEOUS day, blue skies and the temperature around 76 degrees. Mary and I did the first 28 miles of the trip. I really like the C&O and was really juiced to be on it. We saw osprey, red tail hawks, kingfishers, woodpeckers, turtles, snake, groundhogs, cardinals and golden finches just to name a few things. The trees were in full green and the lilacs, dogwoods, cherry trees, and mountain ash were in full bloom. What an awesome day. Katelyn and Dustin drove to the entrance of the Paw paw tunnel, where we had lunch in the motor home. Mary's leg felt great after the ride. We did a lot of stretching and it seems to help.For the second half of the trip, Katelyn took up the stoker position on Clyde and Dustin rode the Schwinn. We made it through the Paw paw tunnel (about half a mile tunnel with no lights) riding the bikes, quite a feat! Katelyn held the flashlight up and I steered. Dustin stayed close behind. The rest of the trip was more of the same as the first, perfect. We camped at Happy Hills campground in Hancock MD, at 25 dollars. It's a nice campground, a bit of a parking lot but shower house is ok. We head into town for dinner. Dustin decided that he would try to hit all the puddles on the trail, so I now have to go clean up the Schwinn -> since he is asleep. We had dinner in Hancock at the Park and Dine dinner. The chef salad was superb!
