The Troop 111 High Adventure for 2000 was a bicycle trek the length of the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal from Cumberland, Maryland, to Washington, DC.-184.5 miles! In preparation for the trek, the Troop offered the Cycling Merit Badge. American Bicycle Association instructor Dan Muir conducted a maintenance seminar at REI in April and a riding skills and safety session at St. Agnes in June. The Troop also did a weekend trip with a Bike Hike to False Cape State Park in Virginia Beach in April, and a 50 mile tune-up Bike Hike on local bike trails around Washington in July.
Troop 111 last did this trek in 1995, when 12 Scouts rode the C&O towpath. Of those 12 Scouts, ten eventually became Eagle Scouts. How many of this year's participants will become Eagle Scouts?
Eleven Scouts (Steven S., Neil S., Luke B., Todd G., Dan Hu., Stefan N., Mark T., Will K., Thomas S., Eric W., and JJ T.), two friends (Sara W. and Nora P.), and eight adults (Dr. Bob, Rob B., Hugh S., Ted G., Bill N., Rich S., Mark S., and Rick W.) gathered at St. Agnes at 8am on Saturday, August 5.
Camping gear was loaded in the trailer and as many bikes as would fit in the white van. The rest of the bikes were loaded on the B., N., T., and Philips vehicles. Tim, Carey, and Kelly T., Hovey K., Pat P., Walt Hu., and Pat N. accompanied the trekkers to drive the bikes and gear to the trailhead and help over the weekend.
Under sunny skies, the caravan headed west to Cumberland, stopping for a short break at Sidling Hill, site of an interesting geologic exhibit. Sidling Hill is where Interstate 70 was cut through a tall ridgeline; the cut itself is very conspicuous, and can been seen nearly 20 miles away. Another Scout Troop from Pennsylvania was already in residence at the exhibit; turned out they were also on their way to bike the C&O.
Some of the Scouts tested water balloons and others took advantage of the opportunity to wrestle in the grass.
Rich S., however, hotfooted it up to the Sideling Hill overlook, which has some spectacular views north into Pennsylvania, not to mention the unique uplifted layers of rock exposed by the cut.
The caravan rolled on to lunch in Cumberland, splitting between Wendy's and Roy Rogers. After lunch, and an erroneous foray down a now-abandoned route to the trailhead, the caravan arrived intact at the Cumberland train station.
The "official" plan had us spending some time in the visitors' center and associated museum; however, it was closed for remodeling. We did look around the railroad station, but the temporary displays were not worth delaying the ride!
Back outside, we did the ABC Quick Check, and circled up for stretching and getting organized. Bill N. handed out the first day's itinerary to each rider, and the meet-up points were agreed on.
Once we were unloaded, the B. and N. vehicles headed back to Washington. Hovey K. stayed to drive the maroon van (needed to shuttle bikes and riders to the campground later that afternoon) and the T.s-Tim, Carey, and Kelly-stayed to drive the white van and their vehicle.
So-at last-we set off at about 1:30pm in three groups, with Dr. Bob and regular trail drag Rick W. bringing up the rear. Just as we left, we were treated to a "live" demo of an old steam engine, which was fired up and moved about 250 yards to the applause of several dozen onlookers.
The weather was perfect for a summer ride-bright and sunny, low 80s, low humidity, with the same forecast for Sunday.
The first day's ride was 28 miles to the entrance to the Paw Paw tunnel, the beginning stretch of the canal was in excellent condition. The canal is "watered" for the first several miles, and the towpath is clear and well-maintained. It wasn't long before we were far enough from Cumberland to have outdistanced the many casual day riders. At this point, the canal deteriorated into a muddy ditch, with the few areas containing water covered with thick green, algae-choked slime, yucch!
While we rode, Hovey and the T.s drove the two vans and the T.'s car to the Little Orleans Campground in Orleans, Maryland, checked in, and dropped off the Troop and personal gear.
Meanwhile, the riders had an uneventful day, taking a break at Oldtown (near Camp Potomac, the site of the annual Guns 'n Arrows campout) and stopping from time to time for drinks. Unfortunately, in the excitement of getting underway, we forgot to pass out the snacks, so the riders got more hungry with every water break!
We used the first day to check out everyone's bikes. Some (Dan Hu., JJ T., Steven S.) were riding bikes that were on the small side for them, and some seat height adjustments were needed. The bikes ran smoothly with the exception of Rob B.'s (first) flat tire, quickly changed.
The canal parallels the Potomac River, of course, but is not always next to it. Often the canal runs inland, sometimes by several hundred yards. A surprising amount of the ride is through the woods and well-shaded. At times, though, the towpath emerges next to the river, affording scenic views.
Friends Sarah W. and Nora P. rode together and set a steady pace for their group. Nora was our experienced hand, having ridden the entire towpath in April with her family. Father Pat P. started out with us to take a day ride. After riding with the lead group for several miles, Pat decided to step up the pace and ride ahead. We all met him after he turned back to return to the parking area that afternoon.
Riding the towpath is a popular High Adventure activity for Scout troops. We met and passed two other troops, one riding west to east and the other riding east to west. One of the troops was even carrying all of their camping gear in panniers on their bikes!
These were the first of five biking and one backpacking Troops we were to meet on the towpath. Interestingly, all of the biking Troops were looking to complete the trek in seven or eight days, instead of the five days we had allocated.
We met up with the vehicles at the entrance to the Paw Paw tunnel at 4:30pm, loaded up the bikes, and headed over to the campground. The only viable route involved 10 miles over a dirt road through Maryland's Green Ridge State Forest, a very dusty and slow drive.
The Little Orleans campground is oriented to RVs, and had many setups that looked like they were permanent. The tent area was small and isolated from the rest of the campground. Dusty and dirty, we pulled into our campsite, set up tents, and started cooking.
After a satisfying dinner of chicken and sausage casserole, salad, and rolls, everyone got their bathing suits and headed to the campground pool. Luckily for us, the pool was empty-but not for long! We found some pool toys that were immediately put to use in a long series of water fights.
After the swim, Todd, Steve, JJ, Neil, Kelly, Sarah, and Nora took advantage of a long rope hanging from a nearby tree for some great swings.
Many of the Scouts and adults hit the showers before heading back to the tents. Stefan and Steve got a fine fire going, and Rich S. started a game of Diplomacy-a game that went well into the night and carried over to the next night. What is Diplomacy? A game of strategy. A game of negotiations. Unlike most board games, Diplomacy requires one to work with partners. The lone wolf will never win at this game. Seven brave souls ventured into the arena of battle. The nations were divided with Rich S. as France; Luke B. as Italy, Eric W. as Germany, Rob B. as Austria-Hungary, Mark T. as England, Dan Hu. as Turkey, and JJ T. as Russia.
The alliances quickly formed as West vs. East. The Austro-Hungarian Empire never had a chance. Invaded from all sides by friends and foes alike, Rob's troops held on valiantly but succumbed to the forces of Italy, Russia and Turkey. Meanwhile, Russia and England were engaged in a fierce war in Scandinavia. Kaiser Eric of Germany played the King-maker, supporting both sides against each other, while managing to expanding his Reich. President Rich of France was able to penetrate the Mediterranean and conquer North Africa. The first night of warfare ended with the conquest of Austria-Hungary, and visions of global conquest in the minds of the six remaining players. But alliances formed the first night proved to be shaky, and the unwary soon found themselves invaded or betrayed!
Dr. Bob pulled out his trusty guitar for an evening of campfire songs. An evening snack rounded out a very pleasant first day on the trail.
The downside to an otherwise excellent first day is that we had been given sites adjacent to a group of young men that looked like they had been camping there for some time. They turned out to be very unpleasant campground neighbors. All night long, they drove in and out of the site, idled their vehicles, spun the tires on their truck, played their radios, and yelled at each other. So much for quiet hours!
In the morning we found that our neighbors had managed to destroy the tires on their pickup truck. They were nowhere in sight, and we were relieved that there had been no mishaps during the night. Needless to say, we were glad to pack up and leave that morning!
Sunday required reversing the Saturday afternoon bike relay. We left the packed gear at the campground and drove the bikes and riders back through Green Ridge State Forest to the Paw Paw tunnel, under increasingly ominous skies. It began to sprinkle and, by the time the bikes were unloaded, to rain. So much for the weather forecast, which had predicted another warm and sunny day!
We unloaded the bikes and checked them over, while Bill N. handed out the second day's itinerary. Bill had gone to some trouble to work out distances and rendezvous points for rest stops and lunches, and to provide copies each day that we could carry with us. It was very helpful in keeping the riding groups on the same plan!
The Paw Paw Tunnel is an amazing engineering accomplishment. It is two-third's of a mile long, and cuts off a serpentine and difficult section of the Potomac River. We walked through the dark tunnel with the aid of flashlights and bike headlights. The towpath and canal, as well as the elaborate brickwork, is still intact. It was dry inside, but we emerged to a steady, cold rain on the other side with occasional thunder and lightning.
Sunday's ride was 44 miles from the Paw Paw tunnel to Fort Frederick State Park. Hovey K. left from the Paw Paw tunnel to drive the maroon van back to Washington, while the T.s stayed to drive both the white van and their vehicle to support the day's ride. They returned to the campground to pick up the gear-which also was rained on-and to meet us for lunch at a hiker-biker campground along the canal.
There's no way to sugar-coat the day-the steady rain made for a miserable ride. We appeared to be traveling at about the same speed as the storm front, and so got it good, all day. Making it even tougher, a few riders had left their raingear in their packed gear which, of course, was back at the Little Orleans Campground, and several other riders' rainproof gear turned out to be anything but!
At first, some riders-JJ T. and Mark T. in particular-enjoyed splashing their way through the newly formed puddles. If they had only known what was coming the next few days, they might have chosen to miss some of those early puddles!
The trail itself turned into quite a mess, and "road spray" thrown up by the mountain bike tires left enormous brown stripes up everyone's front and especially their backsides. Those without raingear got thoroughly soaked!
Rich S. proved that necessity is the mother of invention - he took grocery-type plastic trash bags (supplied at hiker-biker campsites) to cover up enough to get warmer.
The T.'s met us at the agreed lunch spot-and we really needed a break after 17 miles of wet and cold riding! The first group of riders in quickly put up one of the Troop tarps, and we ate a cold lunch huddling under its limited shelter. Stefan found that some campers had not completely put out their campfire from the prior night. Despite the steady rain, he managed to get the fire going again, giving the Scouts an opportunity to warm up a bit. Two thoroughly chilled Scouts decided that the T.'s van looked more inviting than risking hypothermia by riding another 27 miles in the rain. Carey reports that they promptly fell asleep for the rest of the afternoon!
The rest of the riders saddled up and headed back on the towpath to resume the combination of mud and rain showers. Lightning, thunder, and rain dominated the rest of the day. Water filled ruts and potholes along the towpath, and riding through the puddles became more risky. When filled to the top, all puddles and potholes look pretty much the same-Not! The most impressive pothole of the day, "discovered" by Nora P., was 9 inches deep!
All of the riders found multiple potholes lurking in the puddles, and were jolted when they dropped into ruts or holes several inches deep. Rob B. suffered two more flat tires, and Ted G. one-no fun to change in the rain! Ted's pump failed, but fortunately Mark S. stopped to help and, with his pump, had Ted back on the trail.
Going past Hancock we passed another Scout Troop that looked to be in really bad shape (as in, even worse than us!). They were carrying their gear strapped to their bikes, much of it unprotected, and over half their Scouts had no rain gear at all, while several others were wearing big floppy ponchos (very dangerous when riding bikes). Fortunately, they were heading to a large pavilion in town, so at least they would finally get out of the downpour.
The heavy rain persisted until the lead riders were about two miles from Fort Frederick. When it stopped, the temperature immediately rose at least five degrees, to everyone's relief. Due to the possibility of more rain, we scratched the plan to grill hamburgers Sunday night.
Instead, the T.s stopped at a local McDonald's and startled the small staff with an order for 60 hamburgers and cheeseburgers. These were immediately scarfed down when the Scouts arrived at the Fort Frederick group campground, and the T.s returned to get another 60 hamburgers for dinner!
The tents and the tarp went up, and wet clothes were draped over lines and branches to dry. Unbelievably, the skies began to clear, nicely. All the riders were covered with mud. Many went up to the canal, called "Big Pool" at this point due to a naturally wide area, to rinse off both clothes and bodies. While the mud rinsed out of the clothes, the brown color didn't!
Neil S. discovered that if you sit still too long in the canal water, you can pick up a leech-but it was quickly removed. Neil's only comment was "I hate leeches!" Others went to the well water pump to clean off-no small feat, given that the faucet was less than two feet off the ground!
Once clean and dry, several of the Scouts explored the restored colonial fort. The restoration includes recon-struction of the fort walls and interior buildings, exterior revetments, and cleared fields around the fort. The interior buildings showed how the soldiers and officers were quartered in long two-story buildings flanking the traditional parade ground. The late afternoon and evening weather turned beautiful, and it was easy to imagine the colonial forces occupying Fort Frederick as a bulwark on the then-frontier. This is an historical site well worth a longer visit.
Back in camp, for the first time in living memory, Stefan and Steven were unable to coax wet wood into a fire. After several failed efforts, Bob resorted to an old military trick (motor oil), which soon had a merry blaze burning. With dry clothes, food, and a pleasant fire, Rich got the second round of Diplomacy underway. The six remaining players continued their original alliances, but soon broke their treaties to form new coalitions.
England, France, Germany, and Italy concentrated on destroying the Eastern world. Russia suffered the most from this policy. Czar JJ tried in vain to save his Northern territories, which were taken by King Mark of England with help from his German allies led by Kaiser Eric. Sultan Dan of Turkey barely held against Luke's and Rich's combined Italian-French forces. A pivotal moment in the game was when the over-extended British Empire was betrayed by its German-French allies and was invaded along its entire Southern border. Within three turns King Mark's British Isles were occupied by President Rich's French forces while Scandinavia and Northern Russia became Kaiser Eric's German territories. King Mark's loss was Czar JJ's gain. Previously reduced to one military unit, the Russian forces quickly became a player in the war to exterminate the Turkish forces, signing peace treaties with the Franco-German alliance and attacking Turkish held Sevastopol. Amazingly, Sultan Dan's Turkish forces held out long enough to survive to the end of the game. Peace was imposed upon the Continent by the victorious Franco-German-Italian alliance. France (Rich) lead the coalition with the most supply centers, with Germany (Eric) and Italy (Luke) finishing second and third.
Meanwhile, Ted patched his punctured tube and several Scouts lubricated their bikes to avoid grit and rust problems. The campground host paid us a visit, which resulted in Rob B. buying his old Peugeot road bike (Ted G. rides one too) and some puncture-proof tubes, which Rob promptly installed along with a new rear tire on his bike. No more flats for B.! The old Peugeot went back to Washington with the T.s, as did Will K. and Thomas S., suffering from asthma and knee problems, respectively. Once the T.s left, only the white van was left as our support vehicle.
After the T.s' departure, the evening's snack disappeared quickly and, to no one's surprise, lights out came early.
After breakfast, packing damp tents, clothes, and gear into the white van, and handing out snacks and Bill N.'s daily itinerary, we headed out Monday for our longest day-52 miles from Fort Frederick to Harper's Ferry. Mark S. volunteered to drive the white van for the day, buying the food and meeting us for lunch at Dam No. 4, halfway to Harper's Ferry. Although the skies were much more promising than yesterday, the weather forecast called for possible afternoon thundershowers, so we tried to make good time.
First, however, we stopped at-WHERE ELSE!-Mile Marker 111 for a group shot. This was less than a mile down the trail from Fort Frederick, so everyone still looked reasonably clean! Dr. Bob's not in the picture because he's behind the camera (as usual).
After that, the lead group decided to put the pedal to the metal. Stefan, Steven, Neil, and Luke, accompanied by Rob and Ted, raced along at a fast clip. There is a speed limit of 15 mph on the towpath, and this group frequently exceeded it as they roared along!
There were lots of branches and debris on the towpath, along with plenty of holes and puddles. At one point, the Scouts rode over a sizeable branch that then popped up and landed in front of Rob, who had no chance to avoid it.
The result was a spectacular explosion of mud and leaves as Rob crashed on the side of the path! Needless to say, the accident resulted in a spirited discussion of the need to clear and avoid obstacles, and the tail-end adults had a safer ride thereafter!
Rich S., Bill N., and Hugh S. rode at a slower pace with a group of intermediate riders. Eric W. provided a little excitement when he saw Rich S. riding no-hands and decided to follow suit. Naturally, Eric managed to hit a rock while riding no-hands, and scraped up his knee nicely in the ensuing crash. Remember the rock-dodge drill? It only works when your hands are on the handlebars! Rich did some trail-side triage to get Eric back in the saddle.
Meanwhile Dr. Bob and Rick W. did a steady, mile-eating pace with the youngest group. The scenery included fabulous views of the Potomac as it widened with the addition of the South Branch and several feeder streams.
There are several places on both the Maryland and Virginia shores where there are cabins, docks, and boat ramps.
Dropping from 3-digit to 2-digit mile-markers also gave everyone a psychological lift-as did later passing mile Marker 92, the approximate half-way point.
As the day went on, the temperature and humidity climbed, and the riders took frequent water breaks. What a difference 24 hours made! Sunday afternoon we were chilled to the bone with rain streaming off our faces-now we were hot with sweat streaming off our faces!
Shortly before a detour around a washed out stretched of the towpath, we came upon several trees leaning out over the river, with rope swings. The swings proved to be a great tonic for the sultry weather, and no one needed another excuse to get wet! Steven entertained us with some acrobatic flips, but Rob B. took the prize for the biggest splash!
There is no canal at this point-cliffs run down to the river, which is wide and gentle. The canal boats floated down the river tied to the mules walking along a narrow path between the cliffs and river.
Today the towpath is washed out for a few miles here, necessitating about a four-mile detour over local roads. The heat of the day was even more evident when riding on pavement, but the rolling hills provided a welcome change from the largely level but rough towpath.
The detour ends at Dam No. Four Road. The road runs sharply downhill, with a sudden right turn to meet the towpath. The "Walk Your Bike" sign at the top of the hill was no joke. Several riders had trouble making a safe descent.
Todd G. took the curve too fast and skidded on the gravel as he tried to negotiate the sharp turn. He slid spectacularly under the guardrail and off into the brush beyond. Amazingly, Todd suffered only minor scrapes, and his bike was still rideable!
After that, we positioned Scouts at the top and bottom of the hill to warn the rest of the riders. Even so, Sarah W. nearly became a second casualty, barely avoiding a collision with the guardrail.
Dam No. 4 was the lunch rendezvous with the white van. Mark set up on the side of the road near the towpath, opposite the Western Maryland Sportsmens Association. A couple of "good ole boy" members (and a very friendly dog) visited in their golf cart, and gave Hugh and Rob rides up to the club facility to refill our water jugs and show off the shooting ranges.
They also offered the use of a hose, and most riders took advantage of the opportunity to rinse the morning's mud off their bikes. While it wasn't raining, the trail was very wet and muddy, and everyone's bikes and clothes showed that it was impossible to avoid the road spray.
During the hiatus, Rich S. used his medical skills to patch up Eric and Todd, while other Scouts checked out the dramatic falls at the dam.
After finishing lunch and replenishing the snack supply, the riders headed off to Harper's Ferry. Hugh belatedly decided to ride with Speed Dogs Luke, Todd, Dan, Stefan, and Neil, and set out to catch up. It took Hugh several miles of Tour de France speedriding to catch the lead group!
During the afternoon ride, it was evident that thunderstorms were in the area. A storm passed behind the riders, and another storm moved through Harper's Ferry early in the afternoon, ahead of our arrival. This was the same line of storms that later struck Washington hard Monday evening, felling many trees and knocking out power to large areas in the District and Arlington.
Fortunately, however, the storms were still pretty dispersed when passing through our area. We pressed on past Sheperdstown and Antietam, taking frequent stops for water and snacks as the heat and humidity became oppressive.
Long stretches of the towpath here had deep ruts with a higher "median" of grass-Dr. Bob ran afoul of the median when switching "lanes" and took a spill, scraping his arm. Sarah W. and Nora P. were very impressed with the blood spilling from Bob's arm, and were noticeably more prudent in their riding for the next couple of miles.
Meanwhile, the "fast attack" crew of Stefan, Luke, Todd, Neil, and Dan Hu.-under the watchful eyes of adults-concocted a form of "caterpillar" for branch and log clearing as they blazed ahead again. The leader would spot large debris and call it out. The second rider would peel off and move the hazard off the towpath, and then catch up to the rear of the line.
Needless to say, this spared lots of riders and the adults having to keep catching up to the thoroughbreds. Troop 111 trail service! This was a very long day's ride, though, and Dan Hu. was heard to remark that hiking was easier than riding!
By this time, the three groups of riders had become two. Given the heat and the length of the day's ride, we decided that Mark S. would drive ahead to check in at the Harper's Ferry KOA, which is located on the top of the bluff, about three miles from the NPS historical area. Mark planned to unload the gear in the van, then come down to the historical park to meet the riders and take them up to the campground.
There are many locks as the river drops through a series of impressive rapids approaching Harper's Ferry. To reach the town, you carry the bikes up what Nora P. aptly called the "Bridge of Many Stairs." About 60 steps above the towpath, the stairway links up with a rail bridge across the Potomac, leading into a grassy area at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. This is a truly beautiful spot, as Thomas Jefferson noted so many years ago.
The rail bridge across the Potomac also carries the Appalachian Trail, which joins the C&O towpath briefly before heading north. As the second group of riders arrived at the rail bridge, we ran into a Scout troop from Virginia Beach hiking the Appalachian Trail. Amazingly, this was the same troop that we had met in Virginia Beach when the Troop did the April bike hike to False Cape State Park! We had been doing a tune-up for the C&O, and they had been doing a tune-up for the AT; never happen again in a million years, right?
Unfortunately, construction on Route 360 delayed Mark's arrival at the KOA, so there was a delay in ferrying the riders to the KOA. Several hard-core riders insisted on biking up the hill to the campground. It is a long, steady, and steep park road leading to the bluff. Part way up the hill the van came along, and Rob and Hugh managed to persuade the saner Scouts to take the lift. The ironmen who made the entire climb were Stefan, Luke, and Steven. For the rest of the Scouts and adults, however, the use of the white van to ferry riders up to the campground was welcome after the long, hot day on the trail!
The lead group set up the tarp and many tents and, by the time the last riders arrived, camp was already pitched. With everyone being hot, tired, sweaty and dirty, we opted for a trip to the pool (very large and pleasant) and showers before starting dinner. Dinner was a hearty combination of spaghetti and meatballs with rolls, very welcome after a long hot day of riding. After dinner we had a big cleanup-not only cleaning up from cooking and eating, but also hosing the mud off of the bicycles.
Just as the cleanup finished, another storm rolled through-not too much in the way of thunder and lightning, but two bouts of heavy rain. Fortunately, the timing was such that no damage was done.
Most of the Scouts headed over to the game room, just before the heavy rain started, to play air hockey, video games, and pool. Stefan showed that he knows his way around a pool table, and Todd easily beat Ted at air hockey. JJ tried to fool one of the arcade machines into giving him a prize, but (predictably) wound up empty-handed.
We had planned to have another campfire at Harper's Ferry, but after the late storm decided to carry the wood in the van to the next night's campsite. The evening snack appeared and disappeared just as quickly.
Mark S. worked on truing up Todd's wheels (out of whack after his crash at Dam No. 4) and getting Neil's mud-clogged brakes working better. Rick W. headed over to the laundry room to wash clothes for the W.s and Nora. With 124 miles down, everyone slept well Monday night!
Tuesday brought clear weather. Ted left at 7:30am to ride back to Washington, as he had to go to work on Wednesday. He took his time as the day heated up, and reached milepost 0 late in the afternoon. After a short rest, Ted rode up the Arlington hill, stopping to visit with Thomas and Will before heading for a long soak in the Donaldson Run pool!
About 9:30am, the rest of the crew started off anew, enjoying a long, exhilarating downhill swoop through the park to the river level. The road from the campground down to Harper's Ferry is closed to vehicles until 11 a.m. each day, so we had it all to ourselves. The road passes the remains of various 19th century foundries and factories before entering Harper's Ferry proper-today, the only part of this industrial area still in use is the railroad line.
With only a short riding day ahead, the Scouts spent the first hour looking through the museums, visitor center, and historical exhibits in Harper's Ferry. This included the dramatic mural depicting John Brown (looking a little like a wild-eyed Charlton Heston in the Ten Commandments), the story of Brown's hasty trial and hanging in Virginia, the arsenal remains, and the fire house.
Nora P. took the prize for knowing an obscure fact about John Brown's 1857 raid: What U.S. Army officer, later a prominent Civil War general, was given the assignment of capturing John Brown and retaking the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry? Most Scouts guessed Union generals, but Nora correctly named Robert E. Lee, whose strategy at Harper's Ferry resulted in recapture of the arsenal with minimum casualties to the Army's forces.
After finishing the tour of the historical area, and evading Stefan's and Steven's water balloon attacks, the trekkers re-crossed the rail bridge to the Maryland side of the Potomac and, after climbing back down the many stairs, rejoined the towpath.
Rick W. volunteered to drive the van for the day, buying the food and meeting the group for lunch at Point of Rocks. The canal towpath was in very poor shape from Harper's Ferry to Monacacy Aqueduct. It was rutted and uneven, and many large puddles and soft, muddy areas made riding treacherous.
But the view of the river was spectacular for the first mile or two out of Harper's Ferry, with continuous rapids that had us all wishing we had canoes instead of bicycles for this stretch of the trek. A little later, we enjoyed our first close view of a train, as a long freight hauler screeched its way by on a rail line less than 50 yards away from the towpath.
Lunch at Point of Rocks provided its own entertainment. Rick W. was delayed in the aisles of Wal-Mart, so lunch was late. While waiting for Rick to arrive, several of the Scouts biked over to the local market and found the world's cheapest popsicles-only 15 cents! Naturally, the whole Troop enjoyed multiple popsicles for dessert.
We also watched a rail-to-road maintenance vehicle do its thing at a nearby rail crossing: roll in on the railroad track, put the tires down, and drive away like a truck-great technology!
But that was topped by a somewhat discombobulated fellow in an exterminator's vehicle who drove into the river by mistake. He spun his wheels for a while trying to back out, got out of the car and wandered around it, yelling at himself, then got back in to try again, steam and smoke and water flying in all directions! Life on the river!
From there, the trekkers' next stop was at White's Ferry. White's Ferry is the only remaining commercial cable ferry on the Potomac-it is a flat vehicle barge that runs along a cable suspended in the water, powered by a boat attached to the downstream side of the barge.
There is a store and lunch counter, and the Scouts enjoyed a welcome ice cream break. However, Mark S. discovered that he needed to get home to meet daughter Lindsay at the airport that evening; she was returning from her summer in Mexico.
Per Bob's suggestion, Mark skipped the rest of the towpath, and instead took the ferry to Virginia and rode into Leesburg to join the paved W&OD trail, allowing him to make much better time to Arlington. Ted called Mark's cell phone that evening, thinking he would be checking on the last night of camping-only to have Mark answer while riding the Metro to the airport!
Along the towpath there were a few more obstacles, doubtless resulting from the storms of the previous day. At one spot, a large tree-some three feet in diameter-lay across the towpath, forcing the bikers to lift their bikes over the trunk and then climb over.
The first group through collected several small branches and left Dr. Bob a message, written out on the towpath: "We got ya, Bob!" Rumor has it that Bob has it in mind that removing this enormous tree will be an excellent future Scout service project for the Scouts who "got him!"
The original plan was to camp at Chisel Branch, a hiker/biker campsite close to Edwards Ferry Road. Edwards Ferry is no longer in operation, but the old road provides access to the river on both sides. The road is close to the Chisel Branch campground, making access for the van convenient (vehicles are not allowed on the towpath, so you can't be too far from a road access point).
Rick W. was to reach the campsite and claim it for the night. Unfortunately, when Rick arrived, he found that the water pump at Chisel Branch was not working.
Rick waited at Edwards Ferry Road for the bikers to roll in, then had everyone reorganize their gear to minimize what would need to be carried from the van to Horsepen, the next hiker/biker campsite, about 6 miles further down the towpath from Chisel Branch. With Rick laying out mountains of gear, the parking lot at Edward's Ferry soon resembled a bizarre yard sale, with hundreds of wet and/or dirty items spread out and drying in the sun.
Once the riders continued along the towpath, Rick drove the van to the access nearest to Horsepen. It was not as close to the campground as Edwards Ferry Road is to Chisel Branch. That presented a problem with getting all the gear to the campsite.
The Scouts solved the problem by loading the tents, food, repacked gear, and cooking gear into the trailer, sliding it under the gate, and pulling and pushing it from the road to the Horsepen campground.
Although many helped, "heroes of the day" status goes to Stefan, Steven, and Eric, who busted guts dragging the heavy trailer nearly a mile to the site. They even gave Hugh a ride for a while!
The troop settled into the campground, which was spartan-just enough room for the tents, an odiferous latrine, but a welcome and working water pump, which was promptly put to use for "showers" (sitting down) and clean up.
The trekkers were soon joined by Marlee, a middle school teacher from Prince George's County who was starting out on a ride to Pittsburg to visit a friend! She was riding a very fully loaded bike and came in exhausted, having not taken care of her water intake very well.
Marlee had actually intended to camp further up the towpath, but word that the pump was broken at Chisel Branch, and that the next site beyond that was at least another 5 miles more, changed her mind. (Bob suspected that the presence of Nora and Sarah probably eased her trepidation about camping with a bunch of guys in the middle of nowhere, too!) Marlee squeezed her bivy-bag among our tents. Rick, Bill and Hugh sat down with her and spent a hour relaying our hard-learned advice for the rest of her trip.
While returning to the van to pick up a few last items, some of the Scouts (who will remain nameless in this forum) managed to lose the key on their return. Fortunately, however, a search of the towpath under Rich S.'s emphatic direction resulted in its recovery in fading light. Good thing, as it would have been a lot harder to push the van than the trailer!
While most Scouts made liberal use of the pump to clean up, Steven and Stefan went for the "who wants to stay the dirtiest the longest" award. Steven used his time to challenge a dead tree to a "fall" with a hand saw-don't worry, the tree is still standing!
In the interests of minimal prep and cleanup, dinner was large sub sandwiches and salad. Most of the Scouts collected wood to add to the dry wood left unused from Harper's Ferry, and we enjoyed one last inferno-a fitting end to the camping!
Bob pulled out his guitar for one last round, and we soon came up with a new rock group name: "Bob, Marlee, and the Riders." With dusk came our first real battle with mosquitoes for the entire trip, and we were soon all sporting the aroma of "Off." Once the fire died down a little bit, Rich and Bob regaled everyone with ghost stories, including Bob's latest, "Black Mountain"-scary stuff indeed!
As the fired died down and light faded in the isolated campground, the Scouts were glad not to be camping alone that night! Bill N. led the way to the tents, but sleep came slowly this night, due to the still warm and sultry conditions.
O glorious last day!
Wednesday promised to be another hot and muggy day, so we got going early; no one wanted to end up in another thunderstorm down near Washington. Camp breakdown was a reverse of yesterday's arrival-after breakfast, everyone re-loaded the trailer and the Senior Scouts hauled it back to the van. With an early arrival expected in Washington, we parceled out the last round of snacks for the lunchless ride.
In the interest of a more "coalesced" arrival at Great Falls, the slower riding group started off just after the trailer left Horsepen, since there was no doubt that the Senior Scouts would soon catch us once they had hitched the trailer to the van at the road.
After Rick W. pulled away with the van, the lead-dog pack of six-Stefan, Steven, Dan, Todd, Luke, and Neil, along with faithful mentor and pack-dog Rob-raised their battle cry "Foget dee wimmin; tonight we RIDE!!"
Without the need to stop for every downed branch (thoughtfully cleared by Dr. Bob's lead crew), the pack flew down the trail. Since we were approaching Washington, the trail and environs became increasingly clean, smooth, and pristine.
After a quick and easy ride down to the Great Falls Tavern/Museum area, everyone took a break at the overlook above the last dam on the river. Then we headed down to Great Falls proper, and headed out on the catwalks to see both the Virginia and Maryland falls.
Even with the less than full water flow, the power of the water is impressive and intimidating. Hard to believe that people do this in kayaks! The paths wind through a veritable garden, an interesting river ecosystem of its own, lending a nice touch to a thoroughly beautiful day.
After about an hour, we got back on the trail. Stefan eased his foot off the pedal, and rode with dad Bill for a while. We used an alternate route around the towpath just south of Great Falls, where the regular towpath is a mess for a stretch of about two miles from the various floods over the past 20 years.
The detour follows an old trolley line and rejoins the canal at the Old Angler's Inn. Back on the towpath proper, we passed the "best" sections of the canal itself, deep and wide. This gave everyone a real sense of how it must have been in its heyday. At one point, we even saw a small beaver swimming across with a branch in tow.
By this point, it was sunny and hot, and getting hotter quickly. Plus the towpath started getting more traffic-runners, hikers, and bikers, plus a few dogs. Passing Mile Marker 10 and the Beltway gave everyone additional psychological lifts as we headed down the home stretch.
Rich S. and several other Scouts decided to use the parallel Capital Crescent Trail (which follows the old B&O railroad right of way) to get down to DC faster. The rest of the riders decided to finish on the towpath (this turned out to be much slower than expected as we tried to negotiate Georgetown!).
One benefit to using the towpath, however, is that we passed the remnants of the aqueduct bridge. In the heyday of the C&O canal, this bridge spanned the Potomac and permitted canal barges to cross the Potomac into Rosslyn and follow what is now the Boundary Channel to Alexandria.
After passing under Key Bridge, we crossed the footbridge where the towpath shifts to the north side of the canal. This brought us to the final locks of the canal, including one holding the "Georgetown," a restored Canal-era barge which is used for tours of the Canal down in Georgetown.
After Lock No. 1, the canal turns into Rock Creek for the final run to the Potomac. At last, we hit Thompson's Boat House and Mile Marker 0 at the "water gate," the entrance from the Potomac at the mouth of Rock Creek. Parts of the original "water gate" are still present, virtually in the shadow of the now-more famous Watergate condominium. Photos all around for the finishing Scouts, then off to find some celebratory ice cream and sodas.
Once everyone had enjoyed their sugar overdoses, we headed back up through Georgetown, then over the Potomac on Key Bridge, and finally up Rosslyn's "death hill" on the Custis Trail, pulling into St. Agnes about 2pm.
"Danger" Rick had long since arrived and started in on the massive clean-up and drying out session for all the Troop's gear, with welcome help from Will K. and Thomas S.. Getting everything clean and dry took nearly two hours of steady work, but we got it done, and Mother Nature cooperated (no thunderstorms!). With that, everyone headed off for home; unbelievably, Steven S. decided to bike it, proving that some guys really can't have too much fun!
All in all, a great Troop 111 event and a lot of fun!
17 of the 21 participants rode every one of the 184.5 miles! The honor roll: Stefan N., Steven S., Dan Hu., Todd G., Luke B., Neil S., Eric W., Mark T., JJ T., Thomas S., Will K., Sarah W., Nora P., Dr. Bob, Ted G., Bill N., Hugh S., Rich S., Rob B., Rick W., Mark S.