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Gary's 1995 C & O Canal Trip

From Williamsport To Cumberland and Return

THANKS ! to Robert Kroll for a lot of the pictures on this page.

Clicking on images will give you a

Larger picture with a bit more detail

UPDATE on 4/8/2014 - You no longer need to use the detour at Slackwater! I'm leaving the original text as is for historical reading, but that's it. The Park Service has made a man made path now along the river. I haven't been there yet, but will at some point go and ride this new section.

Introduction

This trip on the canal will not be quite as descriptive as my 1997 trip since I am writing it up from memory of 2 years ago. Hopefully it will still give you the general idea as to what, why, and how I did it.

Planning and Getting Started

I started doing what I call "park and loop" rides on the C & O Canal Towpath in 1994. I would park my truck at a convenient location that had access to the Towpath, then ride 10 to 15 miles until I found a parking lot. I would make note of the location of the parking lot and then ride back to my truck. The next weekend with good weather I would drive to that new parking lot and continue up the canal for another 10 to 15 miles and repeat the process. Once I got to the Williamsport area, I was spending more time driving than I was riding. Since I wanted to ride the whole length of the towpath, the only logical answer would be to plan a camping trip. I planned it for September in 1995.

I hadn't been truly camping in about 30 years. I still had a sleeping bag and other camping odds and ends, but I needed a tent. I wasn't about to spend over $100 for a tent that I might only use one time and then decide that camping was something I never wanted to do again, so I found a cheap tent on sale for around $35. I didn't plan to use it in bad weather, so I really just needed something to keep the bugs out.

Then there was the decision as to what to eat and how to fix it. I bought a cheap camping stove that used canned propane. I decided to go all out and make plans to NOT stop at any stores along the way. I bought dehydrated camping food that only had to be mixed with boiling water. If anything went wrong with the stove, I could always boil the water over a campfire. If the food was really bad, I could detour off the trail and stop at a store or restaurant.

I made up a camping list by trying to think my way through each day. Each time I thought I needed something, I would write it down. I even would take a normal day at home and write down things that I used. It had been a long time since I camped, so I sure didn't want to forget something that was going to be needed! I had most of what I needed, so it was just a matter of picking up a few odds and ends at the local camping store.

Next was the thought of how I was going to get to Cumberland or be picked up from there at the end of my trip. I got quite a few suggestions from people on the net and from a BBS that I use to use. Most of the suggestions meant I had to schedule a time and date to make the trip. I didn't want to pick a time too far in advance because if it was going to be bad weather, I didn't want to go. Since I had already been on the towpath from Georgetown to Williamsport, I figured I could do a camping "park and loop" from Williamsport to Cumberland and return. Besides, my mother's house is very close to that location and I could leave my truck parked there. That way I wouldn't have to worry about any arrangements for getting there or being picked up afterwards.

Now that I had all my stuff together, I happened to think, "How far am I going to be able to ride each day?" I was only use to riding an average of about 25 miles at a time and THAT was with an unloaded bike! After some more questions to people on the net and on the BBS, it was told to me that if I could ride 25 miles on rolling hills, I could ride 50 miles on the towpath WITH my packed bike. Guess I'd see. I was on leave, so if I couldn't keep up with my tentative schedule, the only thing would be that I would have to stop somewhere for more food. My plan was to do my trip in 4 days. That would be about 45 miles a day and I didn't think that would be to unrealistic.

I took 2 weeks vacation in September, so that would give me a 2 week window for a few days of good weather. I watched the weather and it looked like the second week of my vacation would be the one. I headed for my mother's house in Fairplay MD on Saturday. That way I could visit her before leaving on my trip. If the weather forecast turned sour, I could just spend more time with her.

I wanted to start on my trip on Monday so that I hopefully wouldn't be searching for a campsite that was not already in use. I was counting on most of the traffic and camping on the towpath would be on the weekends. Sunday night's weather forecast looked like there was going to be 4 or 5 days of non-rain. The forecast didn't predict sunny weather the whole time, but at least there was NO major system coming in. Tomorrow morning would be it!

DAY 1

Fairplay MD. to Mile Marker 99.7 to 144.5 (51.8 miles)

Even while on vacation I seem to have this internal time clock that wakes me up around 4:30 - 5:00am. I needed to get an early start anyway, so I didn't mind. My mother fixed me breakfast and I did a final check on my camping list to make sure I had everything that was on the list. I hopped on my loaded bike around 8:30am and hit the road. The temperature was around 70 and was suppose to get up to about 80 during the day. I had previously traveled the roads around my mother's house to see what the easiest way to the canal would be. The shortest, straightest, and easiest path was right down route 68 to the town of Williamsport. It was only 7 miles of rolling hills. The bad thing was that there were very, very narrow shoulders on the road for about 6 of the 7 miles. I had to keep a very careful watch for traffic especially on hills. It took me over an hour to go the 7 miles because of hills and pulling completely off to the side when there was traffic.

Once I got past route 63, it was easy going. There were shoulders on the road and it was level or slightly downhill all the way into Williamsport. I stopped briefly at the railroad liftbridge across the canal that is located in Williamsport. It just amazed me how they engineered a railroad lift to move the tracks to allow canal boats to travel down the canal. The towpath was in excellent shape for biking. I was riding up the towpath with almost no effort at all, and that was with a loaded bike. Guess the advice I had gotten was true.

When I arrived at Fort Frederick (mile 112.4), I decided to take a little side trip. I rode up the road to see what was there. There is a Fort that has been restored very nicely. I took the time to walk through the barracks and see what they looked like. It was quite a nice little side trip. I decided to sit at one of the picnic tables and have some munchies for lunch. I started thinking that if I was going to do this thing in 4 days, I would have to make mile 140 on this first day. Looking at my map, I saw that there were campsites at mile 133, 139, and 144, so I should have no problem finding an empty site once I decided to stop.

The towpath was in such great shape, that I just seemed to be cruising along. I would stop every once in awhile to view some sites along the path, but for the most part I just kept on riding. I figured that I should stop a little early to camp since this would be my first night of camping. I would like to make sure there would be plenty of time in case I ran into a problem with my tent, stove, or whatever. I had only set up the tent once at home in my driveway, so better safe than sorry.

I had just passed mile 139.2 where Indigo Neck Hiker-Biker campsite was and it was only after 3:00pm. This seemed a little too early to stop, so I slowed down a little and took in more sites along the path. It was right around 4:00pm when I pulled up to mile 144.5, Devil's Alley Hiker-Biker campsite. I felt this was a good place and time to stop.

The campsite was right next to the river. Time to see if I was going to have any problems setting up camp. First I changed out of my biking shorts and put on normal clothes. I just wanted to get comfortable. Everything went together well on the tent, so I set up the picnic table like a kitchen. I set up my stove, got my food out, set up my candle lantern, and unpacked everything that I thought I would need for the evening. So far, so good.

I did notice that while I was walking around the campsite the ground seemed to be very soft. Later I discovered that a groundhog or mole had made a few tunnels under the campsite. Oh well, we will just have to share this site because I'm not moving. I fixed dinner around 6pm. This was going to be interesting since I hadn't fixed one of these dehydrated food packs before. Actually, it went real smooth. I had been told that the secret to making this food edible was to measure the water exactly, and use seasonings. I had bought a clear coffee cup with measurements on the side specifically for this task. I measured the water and poured it into my pot for boiling. Boiled the water, poured it into the bag of food, let it set for 10 minutes, and then put some salt and pepper on it. Here goes, WOW, it actually wasn't that bad. I added a little more salt and pepper and thought to myself that I had had worse stuff at home before.

I was pretty proud of myself so far. I had set up camp, eaten a nice dinner, fixed a cup of coffee, and was just enjoying life. It was almost dark so I fixed a campfire. As the sun went down, the temperature had dropped just enough to put a chill in the air. I fixed a couple more cups of coffee over the next 2 hours and just sat there feeding the fire. I had just done 50 some miles on my bike and felt great. What a feeling! Why did I not go camping before this?

I finally decided to go to bed around 10:00pm. I think the groundhog or mole decided to wake up around then. It did keep me awake for a while. I wasn't use to hearing something rustle through the bushes in the middle of the night. I just concentrated on the sounds of the river and tried to put the little critter out of my mind.

DAY 2

Mile Marker 144.5 to 184.5 back to 175.4 (50.1 miles)

I woke up at my normal time of 5:00am. The temperature was in the upper 40s according to my weather radio. I put on my coat and built a fire. The warmth from the fire felt good and was just enough to knock of the dampness of the morning. I fixed a cup of coffee and thought about my next adventure of powdered eggs.

It was still dark but I wanted to try my hand at these eggs. I mixed the water with the powder and then poured the mess into my skillet. I kept stirring them as the stove was turned on about medium. A few minutes later the mess started to look like real scrambled eggs. Once I thought they were done I turned off the stove and put some salt and pepper on the eggs. Took my fork and and tried a bite. Hmmmmmm. Not bad at all! I really don't think that they were as bad as most people say they are. It's a good thing too, since I have the same thing for breakfast for the next 2 days.

By the time the sun had come up I was finished eating breakfast and had cleaned up the skillet and fork. Next challenge would be to get all this stuff packed up and back on the bike. It did take me a little longer than I expected, but I got it all packed. It may not be in the same place it started out at, but it was ON the bike.

I had my padded biking undershorts on under my jeans. The temperature hadn't risen quite enough to start off with my riding shorts. I got started around 9:30am. Somewhere in the next few miles I came to a tree across the path. It was too big for me to move, so I had to lift my bicycle over it. Up to this point I had run into NO obstacles what so ever.

At mile 115.2 I came to the downstream entrance to the Paw Paw Tunnel. What a site! Pictures in my book just didn't do it justice! There was a female Park Ranger cleaning loose rock off of the boardwalk that was there. I said good morning and told her about the tree across the path. She said, "Them beavers have been busy again". As I thought about it, the tree was very close to what looked like beaver dams.

I had packed my flashlight so that I could get to it easily. I grabbed it and started to ride slowly into the tunnel. Well, that didn't last very long. I probably wasn't more than about 100 feet in and I was bouncing between the wall and the handrail. I then tried to stay on the seat and just push my bike with my feet. That didn't work either. It was just uneven enough that I was losing my balance in the darkness. The only thing left was to dismount and walk the bike. That worked!

The path through the tunnel is quite narrow and I wondered how I would pass someone if they were coming from the other direction. I stopped several times while in the tunnel and pointed the flashlight at the walls and ceiling. What a marvel of construction for the times and most of it is still original. I made it the whole 3,118 feet through the tunnel and never had the chance to find out about passing anyone in the middle.

Once on the other side of the tunnel, I changed into my biking shorts. The temperature had risen enough that they were comfortable. I walked around the entrance to the tunnel and was still amazed by the construction. I figured I had better be on my way, so again, up the path I went. Just about 30 miles and I would be in Cumberland.

I had only passed a few people on the canal in the past day and half. I can only guess that since it was during the work week, there weren't many people out there. From here to Cumberland was nothing but more perfect biking. The last 5 miles before Cumberland, the path does seem to narrow down in spots. It was still good riding, but it just wasn't what I was use to seeing. Then the last mile or so is in the open. Up to this point I had been in shade. Now there was NO shade. Temperature was right around 80 and the sun was very bright. I still felt everything was going my way.

It was somewhere around 1:00pm when I arrived at the end of the towpath which is right by the train station. I watched as an old style steam engine pulled several cars with Redskins markings. I rode around a couple of the streets to find a pay phone that was outside. I didn't want to have to dig out my lock to go inside and make a phone call. I needed to call my wife and let her know that everything was fine. Once that task was over, I watched the train a little while longer and then headed back down the path.

I was well ahead of any schedule about doing this in 4 days. I figured I would stop fairly early in the day since I didn't want to go too far back. I rode back to mile 175.36 where the Iron Mountain Hiker-Biker campsite was located. It was actually next to a public picnic area. It was also right across from Lock #73 as well as a railroad track. It was only about 3:00pm, but I figured I could just rest.

I set up camp and the picnic table the same as the night before. It did seem to go a little smoother this time. I wandered around the Lock for a while, then headed over to the railroad tracks. The tracks actually separated the campsite from the public picnic area. There were a couple of cars in the parking lot, but nobody was there. I think the people were probably biking or walking on the towpath.

I only saw maybe 6 or 7 people come by the campsite the rest of the afternoon. A few of them stopped and asked where I came from, was I going all the way, etc, etc. They all seemed very friendly and interested in my story. It felt as though I was the only camper they had ever seen, but I knew that couldn't be the story.

Fixing dinner went smoothly as did the clean up. Had my coffee and was just waiting for darkness so I could build a fire. I thought I could kill a little time by filling up my water bottles. Now I know why they call this "Iron Mountain"! The water was very rusty from this pump and had a very metallic taste. It wasn't too bad when mixed with coffee or food, but by itself, it was terrible!

I had brought a couple of packages of powdered Gatorade with me and decided to try that with the water. Anything had to be better than the water by itself. Actually it covered the taste of the water fairly well. I made a mental note that next time I would bring more packages of powdered drink mix.

The rest of the evening was spent watching the fire and listening to the sounds of the trains go by. I learned at this campsite that there is not a lack of train traffic, including the middle of the night! When you are use to sleeping in a quiet house, the sound of trains is a little disturbing in the middle of your sleep. From what I remember, they were running almost every 45 minutes all night long.

DAY 3

Mile Marker 175.4 to 133.6 (41.8 miles)

The morning air in the predawn hours was damp and actually a little chilly. I got the morning fire going and fixed a cup of coffee to knock off the chill. This campsite was quite grassy and was filled with dew. It's a good thing I brought an extra pair of shoes along, because the ones I had on were getting soaked.

I sat there drinking my coffee thinking that I had already done over half my trip. I actually could have done this trip in 3 days, but I was determined to stretch it out to four. I would just have to slow down and start taking in some of the sites that I was passing by.

I waited until sunrise to fix breakfast which was the same old powdered eggs. They still weren't that bad. I then started to break camp. Since everything was wet from the mornings dew, I carried everything I could over to the Lock's edge and laid it out in the sun. I wanted to slow down, so I just took extra time in drying out the bottom of the tent, my shoes, socks, and tarp.

I didn't get started that morning until almost 10:00am. By 12:00 I was back at the Paw Paw Tunnel. I walked around and admired the tunnel and the view of the river. Then I started walking my bike through the tunnel again. About one third the way through I noticed what appeared to be headlights in the canal. Sure enough, the Park Service actually drives through the tunnel in the canal bed. The canal is much lower than the towpath, so the headlights didn't really help me see where I was going. As the truck passed below me, I thought to myself, "Boy, I bet that would be a bad place to get a flat tire!" There appeared to be about 8 inches of water in the canal and the bottom had some rather large rocks in it. The truck was going very slow to get over the obstacles.

The Park Service had completely cut up and removed the tree that had been on the path the previous day. I did notice that the cut trees along the path were not cut by chain saws, but had the familiar "wide V" cut of a beaver. I looked around to see if I could see the beavers in the canal, but didn't see a thing.

I looked at my watch and noticed that I was really way ahead of my so called schedule. I really needed to slow down if I was going to stretch this out to 4 days. I started to stop at each Lock, and anything else that looked interesting. There were a couple of spots with views of the river that were spectacular.

As I passed by my first campsite of Devil's Alley, I noticed that someone had already set up a canopy. The canopy was the kind that was 6 to 7 feet tall so I was pretty sure it wasn't someone hiking. No one was around so I just guessed they were off fishing. They could have carried it in from a parking lot by a Lock or possibly they brought it in by boat. I didn't want to camp at this same spot anyway, so on down the path I rode.

Once I came up to the Cacapon Junction Hiker-Biker Campsite at mile 133.6, I said this was it. It was only a little after 3:00pm but I didn't want to get too close to home. This campsite had a nice view of the river, a fire ring right next to the picnic table, and a view of the beautiful four-arched bridge on the other side of the river. I only had to do about 40 miles the next day to be home, so I was just going to relax.

I had only passed a very few people on the towpath during the day. Even at the campsite there were only a handful of people that went by. Something strange did happen about a half hour before sunset though. I had already eaten dinner and was just setting at the picnic table. There was a young-middle aged man that was on a racing style type bike come flying up the towpath. He rode through the campsite, said "Hi", and went down the hill towards the river. I thought maybe he wanted to see something down there. After about 15 minutes I decided to see what he was doing. I walked down the hill to the river and found nothing! He was nowhere in sight! I looked up and down the river's banks, but didn't see a thing. There really isn't a path to speak of by the river, but somehow he just disappeared. I'm sure he knew where he was going, but it was a little confusing to me.

I stayed up to about 10:30 just watching the fire and looking across the river when a train went by. I was feeling a little sad that the next day's ride would be the last of this trip. I was feeling quite good about the fact that I had camped out after 30 years and did not have a problem at all! It was a great feeling of accomplishment.

DAY 4

Mile Marker 133.6 to 99.7 to Fairplay MD. (40.9 miles)

I was up early, but I moved very slow. I just didn't want the day to end, so I was determined to stretch it out as much as possible. A hot shower WAS going to feel good, but I could wait for that.

I went through my morning ritual but took my time doing it. Somewhere around 9:00am a couple of bikers came by and used the water pump. They said they had camped at the next campsite downstream and the pump was broken. Guess I lucked out at the sites I had chosen. They were doing the canal in 3 days and this was their last leg.

I got packed up and hit the trail around 10:00am. I kept telling myself to ride slow, but the trail was in such good shape it was hard to do. The bike just seemed to roll along. As I passed Hancock, I thought that I would like to spend some time there on my next trip. It just looked like an interesting town.

UPDATE on 4/8/2014 - You no longer need to use the detour at Slackwater! I'm leaving the original text as is for historical reading, but that's it. The Park Service has made a man made path now along the river. I haven't been there yet, but will at some point go and ride this new section. Back to my original account -

I stopped to take a break at the Little Pool campsite at mile 120.4. I ate the last of my munchies that I had taken. A couple on bikes stopped and asked me about my trip. I explained that I had already been to Cumberland and was on my way back to my mother's house. The lady then told me her story of trying to do the section of the canal around dam #4. She said the her husband and her decided to ride down the canal farther than they had before. When they got to mile 88 they noticed a detour sign that stated conditions were dangerous ahead. They said they would just turn back if it got too bad.

She said the path had gotten very narrow. Her husband was a little ways in front of her. There was a very steep sloping section just ahead. The next thing she knew was that she was underwater with a bike on top of her. She kept her presence of mind to throw the bike away from her and swim to the surface. Evidently the area was very slippery and her bike just decided to slide right into the river. She warned me that if I was going that far, to NOT try to ride that section. She said they went back a few days later in a boat and a diver had retrieved her bike.

I thanked her for her advice and said that I was getting off the path in Williamsport. This true life story, the detour signs, books describing the bad section, and other factors have lead me to NEVER try to ride that section. I will go back one day and HIKE that area just to see it, but I will never try to bike it. The outcome of the true story could have been a lot worse, but thank goodness it wasn't.

The rest of the days ride on the canal towpath was just a nice easy ride. I was still riding too fast, but I did try to stop more often and look at the sites. Once I reached Williamsport, I took a break and just sat there and thought about my trip. It was wonderful!

This final 7 miles to my mother's house was the worst part of my whole trip. I didn't remember the hills being quite this steep. I guess I was a little more tired than I had thought. Where is all this traffic coming from. Not just traffic, but dump trucks, cement trucks, and 18-wheelers. Boy, I just couldn't wait to get off of the street and back to my mothers'. I think I finally arrived at her house around 3:00pm. Seems one of my relatives had seen me and called ahead to let her know I was on the way.

SUMMARY OF TRIP

The cycle computer had 188 miles on it and I averaged 12.1 mph. I guess with some of my little side trips it added a few miles in. This trip was a wonderful experience. My 4 days were filled with beautiful weather. The nights went down to around 45 degrees and the days temperatures were all around 75 to 80 degrees. I planned to do it again next year but find a way to do the whole thing. The floods of 1996 put a hold on those plans, but I did do it in 1997. There was way too many sites along the canal that I want to go back and see rather than just riding by.

AT the time of this trip, the upper half of the towpath was in excellent condition for biking. I don't even think a person with skinny tires would have had a problem. There were very few spots that had roots or rocks in the way.

I discovered that as long as you have good planning, camping doesn't have to be a "roughing it" experience. I was very comfortable the whole trip. I enjoyed the whole thing, even the noises that kept me awake some nights. It really doesn't take that long to get use to the sounds of trains, crickets, and whatever else is out there.

The peacefulness of not hearing radios, beepers, TV, and everything else that goes with everyday life, was a vacation in itself. I was tired after the trip, but it was a good feeling of tired. I had accomplished something that started out only as a dream.

I am very glad that I had ridden about twice a week before the trip because I think that it allowed me to not get tired and sore. I DO think that if all you wanted to do is ride the complete towpath, you could do it in 3 days easily. I had to tell myself to slow down many times or else I would have been back and missed that fourth day of vacation.

I honestly think you could take 2 weeks to do the whole thing and still not get bored. Even though the locks are basically the same, there is always something a little different with each one. The structures and foundations of buildings along the canal tell a story all by themselves. There are also a lot of little side trips that can be done that would add to the adventure.

Last updated by Gary Mumma on 10/15/2021