Friday, June 25, 2010

Day 3: Hancock to Opequon Junction



I made the coffee this morning and Chrissy made the eggs (a little runnier than Josh's but still very good nutrition to have at the start of another day on the Trail).  Lion took us to town around 8:40 but we didn't start riding bikes until 9:30 as we had to wait on our subs from Sheetz and get ourselves together in other ways (sunscreen for Soren and goodbye hugs to Lion).

We took the rail trail again until it had run its course, about another 5 miles.  We then had to backtrack a 3/4 mile to rejoin the C&O Towpath which really irritated Chrissy.  Soren got super hungry alongside Big Pool around 11:00 and we broke out the submarine sandwiches onto our picnic blanket spread out right into the middle of the trail, as we sometimes do.

We were feeling good about our abilities and wanted to travel many miles today, perhaps gaining enough miles to get back on schedule (the 4-day plan).  In the afternoon, we locked up our bikes at the Williamsport C&O Canal NHP Visitor Center and strolled into town in search of a hot meal.  We could not find a restaurant that was open at first but we did get some neat trinkets at a fairy-themed gift shop.  We then found a Sheetz and got an icy co
ld Pepsi slushy, along with the directions to Tony's Pizza which was expected to be open this Sunday afternoon.


Tony's was indeed open, but it was no hole-in-the-wall pizza joint.  It had a real Olive Garden vibe going on in the dining room.  We ordered salads after having too much pizza and fried food already this adventure.  The garlic knots on the side were great by themselves or dipped in marenara sauce.  We had a big screen television on the wall near our booth and we got a great view of a women's college softball game on ESPN.  The ice water tasted so sweet so of course we filled our Nalgene water bottles with it.

Our daily river-wading break was at McCoy's Ferry prior to Williamsport.  Unfortunately, it was only an asphalt boat launch--not a real beach.  The campground there had a hand pump but the water in its vault was so over-chlorinated that we didn't want to drink it.  Back up on the trail we learned from a trail volunteer that a detour was coming up around Mile 88
and we should camp prior to there so we don't get stuck out on the road at dusk or after dark.  

We had our photos taken at Mile 100, a real psychological milestone.   Right at that mile marker we saw 2 huge turds of mystery scat, each about the size of a beer can.  I later told my dad this information and he reported it to the Bigfootologist community.   There have actually been Bigfoot sightings in this area, but the scat could have also been from a bear. 

We decided to camp at Opequon Junction (Mile 91), the last hiker/biker campground before we had to take the 6-mile road detour around a washed out section.  Our neighbor at this camp was a man on a solo trek after his biking partner bailed on him only 20 miles or so into the trail.   He was a good neighbor, and I felt bad that my kids were making a racket into the night and did not fall asleep until 11:00 pm.


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