Monday, September 21, 2020
Bowie, MD to Deal, PA to Cumberland, MD
GAP Trail miles 25-0 (25 miles)
Highlights: Bonus bike ride and the Eastern Continental Divide
This morning, Kelly drove us three hours across Maryland to the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) trailhead in Deal, Pennsylvania, so we could then bike 25 miles downhill to Cumberland, where we left our truck last week.
Kelly said she didn't mind driving us, especially since her son, Nathan, lives in Cumberland, and she could incorporate a visit with him at the same time, but of course it was an imposition. THANK YOU, KELLY! Without Kelly's help, we would have had to take Amtrak from D.C. to Cumberland and then an expensive taxi to the trailhead at Deal.
Rest area with a view
Western Maryland
The GAP Rail-Trail runs 150 miles from Cumberland, MD, to Pittsburgh, PA, and like I mentioned at the beginning of this journal, it can be combined with the 184.5-mile C&O Canal Trail for a continuous 334.5-mile off-road ride all the way from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., but we chose to ride just the section of the GAP between miles 25 and 0, as the icing on the cake of our C&O trip. Within two miles of leaving the trailhead in Deal, we reached the Eastern Continental Divide at an elevation of 2,392 feet, and it was all downhill from there!
GAP trailhead at Deal, Pennsylvania
It's all downhill from here!
Riding the GAP
There are three tunnels on this 25-mile section of the GAP. The longest is the 3,300-foot-long Big Savage Tunnel. Unlike the similar-length Paw Paw Tunnel on the C&O, this one is lighted and so not nearly as creepy. Just beyond the tunnel, there's a nice scenic overlook.
Big Savage Tunnel
Lighted, but still a little spooky
Valley overlook
At the Pennsylvania-Maryland border, we crossed the Mason-Dixon line, marked in brick across the path. The line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 to resolve a border dispute between Maryland and its neighbors Pennsylvania and Delaware, all British properties at the time. To many, the line also symbolizes a cultural dividing line between the North and the South, but I reject that notion.
Mason & Dixon Line
We biked through the 957-foot-long Bordon Tunnel and then on to the Frostburg trailhead, where we stopped to admire a couple of wacky bicycle-themed sculptures. Moving on, we paused again at an overlook of the community of Mt. Savage, which I claimed for my own, as is my custom and practice.
Bordon Tunnel
"Climb," by sculptor Scott Cawood
Mt. Savage, Maryland
Now it belongs to me!
For its final 15.5 miles, the GAP runs uncomfortably close to the tracks for the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. If the train comes by, you'd definitely want to stop and let it pass. Six miles outside of Cumberland, the trail and tracks share the 900-foot-long Brush Tunnel. I sure wouldn't want to be in there at the same time as the train!
Brush Tunnel
Yield to trains!
Tom approaches a porcupine
Tracks and trail share a bridge
We took our sweet time enjoying the last ride of our vacation, barely going faster than coasting speed. Eventually, though, the ride was over, and we rolled into our hotel in Cumberland and retrieved our truck.
The spires of Cumberland
Cumberland train platform
GAP Mile Zero
Kelly spent the afternoon working remotely from her son Nathan's house. After our ride, the two of them picked us up, and we all went for dinner at The Toasted Goat Winery, located in a historic hotel in downtown Frostburg, a cool place with tasty burgers and beer. We were happy to see Nathan tonight since we missed him last week. We hadn't seen Don, Kirsten, and Nathan since Kelly and family came to visit us in Tennessee for the full solar eclipse in 2017. It was great seeing everyone again!
Tom, Jana, and Nathan at the Toasted Goat
Later in the evening, Tom and I made an emergency trip to a 24-hour car wash to clean off the carnage from the bird we'd obviously parked under for a week, one who seemed to have digestive issues...
Lodging: Fairfield Inn, Cumberland, MD. A great hotel! They were much busier tonight than just a week ago. It seems people are sick of staying home.
Tom
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