Friday, Aug. 31 – Monday, Sept. 3
And away we go!
We set out from Pittsburgh at a relaxed pace with the goal of covering the 150+ mile Great Allegheny Passage trail in four days of riding (not bad eh Roger?). The rail trail is only a few years old and has a good crushed limestone surface. It’s one of the best, and from west to east, easiest rail trails I’ve been on. It climbs almost imperceptibly to the Eastern Continental Divide and then declines gently and continually down through Frostburg to Cumberland.
As Rachael did not have the opportunity to ride as many miles this summer as I did, we limited our first day’s ride to 41 miles. The trail began as a nice ride into a faded past along the “Mon”
Befitting a Labor Day weekend ride, we stopped at the site of the Homestead Strike where Frick used the Pinkertons to successfully but temporarily crush the steelworkers union in a bloody battle back in 1892.
For a more anodyne view of the past, here’s a picture of Rachael on the same site standing in an old blast furnace bell:
We followed the river upstream across bridges and through some lovely countryside
We passed under this roadway that disappeared into a tiny tunnel
In an infelicitous choice, we ended up that first night a couple miles off the trail at a motel near an interchange because I couldn’t find a place in West Newton. The motel was fine, but there was very little around it so Rachael and I hiked along a very busy road down to the closest non-fast food joint. It was her introduction to the trash-strewn and carrion-dotted shoulders of state routes that are all too noticeable when you’re not traveling at 60 mph. We should have biked down the two miles to the restaurant as it was quite dark by the time we finished dinner. While I strolled around the bar area asking likely folks whether we could get a ride back with them (by now, I’ll ask anyone just about anything), Meagan, our bartender, was hatching a scheme with her coworker Sean to drive us home. Happily for us, she got the green light from management and we were soon home safe and sound – thanks to the both of them!
The next day, we made our way along the Youghiogheny River toward Confluence, Pa.
As we got closer to Ohiopyle, we began seeing kayakers along the fast-flowing river
Though I neglected (yet again!) to get a picture, we met a great couple from Pittsburgh at the B&B we all stayed at in Confluence. John and Debbie have logged some good miles along the trails connecting their city and ours and had some good advice for us – especially about the (paved) Western Maryland Rail Trail that saves you 12 miles off the towpath into Hancock. I hope we see them out there again soon.
The next day was full of more easy riding and nice scenery and even a snake!
No, that’s not the snake; this is
And then we were in Meyersdale, Pa., an old coal-mining town that in its heyday had 13 bars and 13 churches and remains the maple syrup capital of the state.
We met a nice guy named Philip in the local pizza joint who was intrigued with the finer details of my trip (“how many pairs of underwear do you have?”) and who told us about his town.
This is “Catholic hill
Here’s an old ad for the local beer:
There’s an interesting mural downtown that celebrates local residents:
We had dinner in a grand old building that joined the morgue and hardware store and coined the name “Morguen Tool.”
We spent the night in Helen Yoder’s very David Lynch-esque motel (see Rachael’s FB post about the guy with the bear claw slippers) and then set off to conquer the Eastern Continental Divide:
Um, oh freakin’ hum; hope you can see the details on this:
Once over the “hump,” it was all downhill to Cumberland. Unfortunately we missed out on all the good views as it was cloudy and drizzly all day. The coasting was so easy, it was almost dull.
This is out of sequence (it was west of the Eastern Continental Divide) but what the hell, we remain juvenile enough to have gotten a chuckle out of this:
Next up: Cumberland – more interesting than you knew!
(After a special bonus surprise video)
Born in Baltimore and raised in Cincinnati, I have lived on both coasts and driven back and forth across the country a number of times. I now have the "midlife opportunity" to do so on two wheels.
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