Exploring the Pikes Peak area

Today's plan was to explore and acclimate elevation so, armed with a tiny bit of information about what I might like to explore today I set out from Manitou Springs and headed west on US24 to find something interesting!

My first stop was Walmart in Woodland Park. I was thrilled when I discovered there was a Walmart and a Safeway in Woodland Park because if was on my route for today and it didn't involve going back into Colorado Springs! After I picked up a few necessities (and things I'd forgotten!) at Walmart I went to Safeway to get the rest of the food I needed. With the errands out of the way it was time to play!

The next stop was Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. I'd never heard of Florissant until I saw it in a road trip book my mom recommended. It looked interesting and I could get my passport stamped. Can't resist a passport stamp! The area around the fossil beds really reminded me of Custer State Park in South Dakota. There were big green fields with mountains all around. At the visitor center I watched the movie where I learned that millions of years ago there was a volcano nearby and when it erupted it sent a lahar through the valley that covered everything with mud! This mud was what preserved the plants and animals into fossils and created a huge fossil bed. The other cool thing is that back then there were redwood trees in Colorado and the lahar's mud came up their trunks about 10-15 feet and the stumps are now petrified! The tops of the trees fell off and decayed, but the bottoms, entombed in volcanic lahar mud, are now petrified!

 

After the movie I went out to check out the stumps and other hiking trails. They have 15 miles of trails! More than I was expecting! After the quick 1 mile interpretive trail to check out the stumps I hiked the 2.5 mile Sawmill Loop which took me through lovely ponderosa pines and Douglas firs as well as past meadows filled with wild flowers!

Next I drove down to Cripple Creek, the same road trip book had suggested that this was a must visit town. The town looked a lot like Telluride with its western facades, but it didn't have nearly as much character! They did have a herd of donkeys that apparently roam freely, and ice cream, but the rest of the businesses were casinos.

I made a loop to get back from Cripple Creek, so I didn't have to go back the way I'd come and on the route back there was a state park to check out!

Mueller State Park was my find of the day! Wow! Huge park with a ton of trails to hike. They also have a huge campground 132 sites! If only I'd known, it's close enough to Pike's Peak I could have stayed up there! If I'm ever in the area again, this is where I'm staying!

The visitor center parking lot had expansive views all around! Mountains as far as the eye can see! And these mountains are different from other Colorado Mountains, they are greener, less rocky. Lots of evergreen trees and fields. The rocks that are here are smooth and rounded, not as jagged as the rocks elsewhere.

I didn't have as much time here so I picked a shorter hike. I hiked out Outlook Ridge (trail #7) to a spur trail (trail #9) to a view of the pond and some rocks. It was a very nice trail! About 2 miles, out and back. I could have made a loop out of it it but that would have added a mile.

 

After my hike I started the trip back. I stopped again in Woodland Park at the Safeway gas station to top off for my trip up Pikes Peak tomorrow. After that I just put the van in lower gear and literally costed back to Manitou Springs! There's a canyon you have to come through with big smooth red rocks on either side and it's got a whole bunches of curves but it must be well built because we all were going 45 and taking the curves and moving along! I wish I could have captured it because it was a fun drive!

Back at the campground I did some chores and cooked dinner! Saving the laundry for tomorrow night so I can leave here with all clean clothes!

 

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Colorado!

Despite the earth shaking thunder I went right to sleep! Too many nights in places with lots of random noises! It was almost 6 before I woke up too! YAY!
It was cloudy and cool as I headed out from the KOA. It was nice at first because the sun can be brutal out there with nothing to absorb it. Soon however the highway was ensconced in the thickest fog I think I've ever had to drive in! It was like Washington State. You couldn't even see the road signs until you were right up on them! It was crazy. And it went on for 40 miles. After that fog burned off, or I drove out of it, it was smooth sailing!
Crossing the Colorado State Line was very exciting! It was great to finally be here. However, I still had over 200 miles of the most desolate scenery of the whole trip to cover! That's what they don't tell you...eastern Colorado is worse than Kansas. Kansas is a great state to drive through. Eastern Colorado is dreadful. But, it makes those first views of the high peaks that much better!
Colorado Springs is a much bigger town than I expected and there was so much traffic. I never knew which lane I wanted to be in and it wasn't much fun driving. I'd just turned off onto business 24 to go into Manitou Springs where my campground is and I saw a sign to Garden of the Gods. I knew I wanted to go there and it was early so I decided to head up there. I wound through a neigborhood following the signs, hoping there'd be signs to get me back.
I need to pause here and explain the differences between my expectations for what Garden of the Gods was vs what it actually is. I thought Garden of the Gods was like a museum - you drove in, parked, and walked around, like a botanical garden. What it actually is is a car hike! There are lots of roads that take you around to the different spots, you can park and get out or stay in your car, but it's mostly a driving event. There is a visitor center and you can park there and walk. Also, I'd thought it was a religious thing, a Christian place, but it's totally not. (And I'm glad, I didn't really want to evaglized to just so I could see cool rocks.)
So now that you understand where my brain was, totally confused, back to what happened...
I was driving up the hill in this neighborhood when I saw a big sign that said "no oversize vehicles. No buses, RVs or vans. I might have just ignored the sign if it hadn't said "vans". But now I was concerned. The sign said to use Becker Lane. I didn't know where I was, let alone where Becker Lane was. And I couldn't turn around (seriously? Does anyone consider the placement of these signs? And that they should tell drivers of large vehicles to turn around at a location where they still can?). I'd already almost caused a 4 car pile up trying to read the sign. So, I had no choice but to go forward and hope for the best.
Soon I came to a spot that was a narrow passage between two rocks. You had to turn a hard right then a hard left and it was barely big enough. But, I made it. Threaded the needle and slipped right through! For anyone who has been to Garden of the Gods I was at Balanced Rock.
There was a parking lot here and people getting out to take pictures. This is where I figured out that my expectations were off.
I continued down the road and soon came to the trading post. I found a bus parking spot and headed in. In my head I think I'd confused "trading post" with "visitor center". I was hoping to get a free map of the place so I could figure it out. But no. This was a huge gift shop with all types of junk to buy! And it was packed full of tourists. I quickly moved on.
As I was driving I realized there's a nice bike lane along the road, I was thinking I should have left the van and ridden my bike! But I still didn't really know where I was going.
I did eventually find the visitor center and there was a bus/RV parking spot open! (I almost had to get out my teacher voice for the folks in a sedan who'd parked in one of the bus/RV spots, but I held my tongue. First of many times I wanted to correct someone's behavior.) in the VC I obtained a map and got a great tip on where I could go to walk.

I walked around the main paved area. It was nice, the rocks are very cool, especially with the views of Pike's Peak. It reminded me of the Lumpy Ridge area of Rocky Mountain National Park. There were way too many people and I needed to get to my campground so I headed out on 30th street back to Colorado Street. I managed to avoid getting back on US24 which made getting to the campground easier.
Right by my campground there is a store called "Maggie's Farm". I thought it sounded like a store I'd enjoy and had thought I'd check it out. Until I read the fine print: Retail Marijuana". Ha! Welcome to Colorado.
The campground, Pikes Peak RV Park isn't anything special. It's basically a gravel parking lot and the RVs are crammed in. I have the "cheap" site - no sewer and anything bigger than my van wouldn't fit. They have a guy escort you in and he and I shoehorned my RV in - it was about a 10 point back in! Hopefully he'll be here when I come back from my adventures tomorrow!
After dinner I went for a walk on the walking trail behind the park. The town seems run down and tired. It's a nice enough place, but it's not going to be my favorite destination. Everything I've seen has been very touristy and there's soooo many people!

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Katy Trail Part 2 "recalculating"

A very wise Assistant Principal I had the privilege of working for had a plaque in her office that said "life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain". That was today. Quite literally.
Last night I checked the weather to see what the low was going to be and I learned that 1-2 inches of rain was expected today. And thunderstorms. Well, my plan to ride another section of the Katy Trail wasn't going to work.
Not only that but I had a reservation at the KOA in Salina, KS, which was only about 300 miles away. I couldn't cancel my reservation without paying anyway because it was under 24 hours before my arrival. If I hadn't made the reservation I would have just added more miles to my day and gotten to Colorado earlier. So, what to do in Kansas?
Thanks to the trains, which were better than random Walmart noises, but still came through a few times overnight, and the time change, I was awake for good by 4:30. So, might as well seize the day! It started getting light by 5:30 and the radar looked good that I might be able to get in a quick section before the heavy rain came.
I was out the door before 6 and heading down the trail. I'm glad I'd parked right next to it! It was a nice morning. Cool and cloudy and breezy! I decided I'd ride 5 miles and turn around. This part of the trail was all farm land! Wide open with little tree shelter. I'm glad I didn't ride it yesterday when the sun was blazing! It was nice with the clouds. But I was considering that thunderstorm prediction. It would not be a good place in a storm. In fact the cornfields and wide open space and riding a bike had me singing the Wizard of Oz music! It had started to sprinkle a bit when my Map My Ride app announced that I'd ridden 5 miles so I was ok turning around realizing that I'd pushed the window of good biking weather as far as I could. By the time I got back to the van it was a steady rain. I ducked in and showered and finished getting ready to leave. By the time I pulled out it was pouring! Good timing!
The 100 miles across Missouri were not fun. It was raining buckets the whole time. I could hardly see. I'm glad I wasn't trying to ride my bike, but driving wasn't fun either. I knew I'd eventually drive out of the rain and sure enough just past Kansas City the rain let up and the clouds lifted. It was still cloudy, but much better driving weather.
I've decided I like Kansas! It's not flat like everyone thinks. It's rolling with farms and trees! It's much more scenic than Illinois of Missouri!
I was stil left with the problem of finding something to do for a few hours, though. I'd discovered that Dwight D. Eisenhower was raised in Abilene and his boyhood home and Presidential Library were both there. I didn't know a lot about Eisenhower and I'd never been to a presidential library, so why not?
I pulled in behind an Allegro Bus RV with Virginia plates! I walked past it and saw that they had a sticker from Reines RV in Manassas! Small world!
I went into the information building and got there just in time for the next showing of the movie! The movie was a great introduction to Eisenhower! He was a cool guy and I think we should re-elect him! He did so much, but what I liked best was that he did it quietly and used respect, kindness and peace to achieve greatness! That's what we need more of!
After the movie I bought my tickets for the boyhood home tour, the museum and the library. I quickly went through the museum, it was a lot to read and take in and mostly about Eisenhower's military success. Also, I only had about 20 minutes until my tour of Eisenhowers boyhood home.
When I got to the house, I was the only one for the tour! Just as we were getting started another lady came up, and the tour guide let her join. At one point I mentioned that I'm a teacher in VA. The other lady says "we are from VA and our daughter is a teacher." Yep. She was one of the owners of the Allegro Bus! We got to chatting, almost upstaged the tour guide, who I don't think was happy that we were making friends. After the tour she told me that her daughter used to teach at Sleepy Hollow ES in Fairfax! I know people who might know her! They live in Mineral now, but they regularly come to Northern Virginia to see the kids and grandkids. She even gave me a tip on a great seafood place in Gainesville!
After we parted ways I went to check out the Presidential Library. I was expecting rooms full of books. Not the case. There was a conference/press conference looking room and some exhibits about women in the war. No books. I wanted to know what Eisenhower was reading, or see books that supported things he believed in. Oh well.
I'd made all the stops here so it was time to move on. Next stop was across the street, The Greyhound Hall of Fame. All about Greyhound Racing. And they had 2 retired Greyhounds that greeted you at the door and you could pet them! Gary & Ginger were both glad to see me come in and covered me with kisses and sniffs and let me scratch their ears! Best museum ever.
Greyhound racing is also a subject I know little about. I watched part of the movie - the lady ended it before it was over, I think she forgot I was watching it - and checked out the exhibits. I gather Greyhound Racing is like Mushing - the dogs love it and the humans make sure that it doesn't hurt them. Only thing is the gambling and the need to win. I know the Iditarod is all about winning, but you see how winning starts with loving dogs. With the greyhound racing it seemed more like it was about money first and dogs second. I could be wrong, I only spent about 30 minutes thinking about this!
By now it was after 2 and I decided to head to Salina. I'd found a potential bike path and there was a Braum's Ice Cream. Braum's is an Oklahoma chain that I frequented when I lived there and it was a treat to get some here. I ended up driving around Salina a bit more than I'd planned, but I found a nice park, with access to the Salina Trails System. There's a main rec trail that runs on top of the Salina levee. It's nice, but it's not completed so there are only short sections. And, it would be really hot if the sun was out! I found a route that would allow me to ride just a few miles to the Braum's, get ice cream, and ride back! The whole ride was under 5 miles, but it was nice to check out part of Salina and get a little more biking in. And of course riding on top of the levee made me sing "American Pie." And now you are too. You're welcome.
It was getting close to 4 and I decided it was time to get to the campground so I could dump, get water, fill up my propane - that was reading empty, and get settled. By the time my chores were done the sun had come out and the wind had kicked up! It was very pleasant outside so I enjoyed reading my book over dinner and I even pulled out my chair!
I saw on the weather forecast that storms were predicted! There are huge storms to the west and it's very dark and breezy here, it's nice outside, but it seems like it's going to storm big any second. Just as long as we don't get any tornadoes! Still singing the Wizard of Oz music...
The next morning...the storms did arrive just as it was getting dark. It was really nice! It rained hard and there was some thunder and lightening, but it wasn't bad! It was bad south of I70 and to the west - there were tornado warnings, but in Salina it was a nice storm! The timing was just perfect to send the folks launching fireworks inside too!

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Katy Trail Part 1

Today was when my decision to drive to Lexington on Wednesday and get in a couple hundred miles was going to pay off! I only had 375 miles to go to get to Rocheport, MO - a main trail head on the Katy Trail Rail Trail.
I was up early so I was taking my time drinking my coffee and reading my book. It was around 7:30 when I departed the Cracker Barrel and headed west! Indiana and Ilinois were boring, however, I noticed the corn didn't start until Illinois! Turns out Indiana is mostly wooded. Illionis is rolling farmland and it wasn't so bad to drive through.
I will say that it's much more exciting to drive 64 west into St. Louis! You cross the Mississippi with the Arch in front of you! It's a pretty cool moment. The rest of driving through St. Louis is equal parts terrifying and thrilling! It's 3 or 4 lanes of traffic and everyone is going at least 10 mph over the posted speed limit! A little NASCAR to change things up. The rest of Missouri was dreadfully boring!
It was about 1:30 when I got to the Rocheport exit and made my way to the town. It's a tiny little trail town with a huge parking lot for the trail head. The town is very cute, lots of little houses, all well kept! The trail head parking lot is very large and had plenty of space for me. It's so quiet and secluded I'm going at attempt to stay here overnight. It appears legal and safe. Hopefully I don't get run out in the middle of the night.
Since I had plenty of time this afternoon I decided to embark on a 30 mile ride to check out the trail. I headed east from Rocheport because I'd heard that was the best part of the trail. The trail was really nice! It went along the Missouri River for most of the ride. There were lots of historic markers telling about Lewis and Clark - their expedition left from St. Louis and went up the Missouri River all the way into North Dakota! They camped along its banks too! So I'm following in their footsteps by staying here! At one point the trail had moved away from the river and was beside a corn field! Ha! Now I was riding my bike next to corn! There were also lots of neat rock formations.
A 30 mile ride always sounds good on paper, but after about 20 miles I start to wonder what I was thinking. That was true today too, but I did notice that my legs didn't hurt as bad during the last 10 miles as they have in the past! The one issue I had was that about a mile in I noticed that the bite valve on the hydration system was full of mold. Ewwww. I'd been pulling off the bite valve to drink, but it wasn't as efficient as the bite valve so I wasn't drinking as much. Also, I didn't bring quite enough snacks! All I had was a granola bar and a bag of trail mix. I should have brought something more substainal or eaten more than just some pretzels before I left!

Once back at the van I got a cold drink and snack, then got in the shower. There's still so much bleach in the water that I smell like I've been in a pool! There's a picnic table under the tree by where I parked. I attempted to eat dinner at it and got attacked by mosquitos. There's another picnic table but it was in the sun. I sat there for awhile, I guess mosquitos don't like the sun! It was nice to be bug free, but it was hot, so I retreated into the van.
I've been hanging out at the van, mostly outside, for 2 hours now and no one has said anything to me. There haven't even been a lot of people through here, the only folks have been people who have parked & biked or walked the trail. I'm guessing I'll be ok for the night. If not, I can go to Walmart up the road.
Edited: so, I decided to check online about the legality of staying overnight at the trail head. I was thinking about the citizens of Rocheport and how one RV spending the night, leaving no trace of their visit the next morning was one thing, but the idea that any 'ol vagrant can come in with their van and sleep there didn't seem right. I checked online and the Katy trail is designed for day use, you can park a car overnight, but you have to let the Rangers know. I'm sure they'd frown on camping. So, around 7:45 I headed into Booneville, planning to go to the Walmart, but I took a detour through downtown Booneville to find the trail for tomorrow morning. That's when I discovered the casino. Typically casinos offer free overnight parking, so I checked my Overnight RV Parking app and sure enough, they allowed it! I talked to the security guard and he pointed me where to go. I'm in a gravel pit, literally down by the river, but, there are no drag racers, growler trucks, fireworks or semi's however, there is a train. But, the trail is only a few feet away for tomorrow morning.

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Driving

Today was a lot driving!
A few weeks ago I decided to sterilize the fresh water tank. This is an easy procedure, basically you pour bleach into the tank and let it sit, then flush it out with fresh water. After I put the bleach in I ran that tank of water through the system and then refilled with fresh water. What I should have done as run that new tank of water through the system and dump it, then refill again. But I didn't. As a result all my water tastes like Clorox. That doesn't make good coffee. Although, I'm sure everything is super clean! So, my first stop of the day was to buy coffee. Luckily I needed fuel too so it was one stop shopping.
It was about 70 miles to Lewisburg, which is where I was dropping off the flood relief supplies. From the highway there's little evidence of the flooding. There were a few spots where there must have been a mudslide, and I could see that the streams were up. The town of Lewisburg wasn't harmed, but it was busy. It's the only town around and has the only grocery store, Walmart, and almost all the relief supplies are being delivered there. I quickly found the church I was supposed to drop the stuff off at and parked nearby. There wasn't anyone around, but the door to the fellowship hall was unlocked so I started unloading. I was surprised that there wasn't more that had been donated. There were about 10 empty tables waiting donations and small piles of food, cleaning supplies, diapers and clothing. Maybe they'd distributed stuff as it came in? I know there's a lot of poverty in West Virginia, maybe folks don't have the resources to help each other? Whatever the reason, it looked like they were in real need of some help so I was glad to leave all that I had.
After my delivery it was just driving. The other two times I've gone west I've returned this way, with West Virginia coming at the end of several boring driving days. I think I like it better that way! Going 64 & 81 is very scenic and it's welcome relief after so much flat. Today it was more "enjoy it while you can!" When I take the northern route it get more progressively boring faster, it's more like ripping off a bandaid. I think I like that better, just jump into the boring stuff early on the way out, then enjoy the scenery on the way back. I stopped at Tamarak, near Beckley, WV for lunch. Then later I stopped at what I'm sure is the biggest Kroger in existence near Frankfort, KY and picked up some Greater's Ice Cream. There was horrible traffic in Louisville. I decided to call it a day in Coryden, IN.
It was only 5:30 when I arrived here. Much too early to sit in either the Walmart or the Cracker Barrel parking lot. Luckily I'd located a nature preserve about 5 miles from the Walmart and headed over there to check it out. Turned out to be a very nice place! There were picnic tables, a pond, ducks, and some walking trails! I got dinner together and took it out to a picnic table to eat. After dinner I walked both the 1 mile paved multi-use trail and the gravel walking path. Then, since it was a nice evening and I still wasn't ready to head back to Walmart I sat at the picnic table to write my blog. Too bad the park closes at dark and I can't just sleep here!

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Plans? Who needs 'em?

Today did not go as planned, even though I had about 50 different plans...none of them happened! Each step of the day, I kept revising my plan to still include everything, but then even that didn't pan out! I'm taking it as a lesson in don't overthink things because it's all going to work out the way it does whether you've planned it that way or not!
The big thing on the agenda today was getting the tires replaced on the RV. The tires were approaching 6 years old and it's recommended that you replace them at 5 years, regardless of wear. The service writer at Mercedes of Chantilly wouldn't give me an estimate because he said they were fine. I wasn't sure I trusted him since they messed up my tires a few years ago rotating and not adjusting the pressure. I'd found Alban Tire in Springfield and they seemed quite knowledgeable about Sprinters - said they work on them all the time since a lot of delivery trucks are Sprinters. He knew exactly which tires were best and ordered them for me. They arrived this morning and I went up there to have them put on.
Once I got back was when things got a bit crazy! I was planning a stop in Lewisburg, WV to drop off some supplies to help out the folks who lost everything in the flooding, but I had to go buy it all, then I needed to finish packing the RV. All this took a lot longer than I expected and it was 4:00 before I was ready to leave. I still had one more stop...Wegmans!
Since it was 5:00 when I got to Wegmans I decided to eat dinner so I could just drive until dark. I really miss Wegmans when I'm gone! I was also able to pick up the 1st thing I realized I forgot...balsamic vinegar!
I left Wegmans right about 6 and had a lovely drive down 81 to Lexington, VA where I'm staying at the Walmart. I have 70 miles to go tomorrow to Lewisburg to drop the cleaning supplies off, then who knows! I'm planning to ride a section of the Katy Trail in MO so I'm hoping I can get at least 500 or so miles in so I have more time for riding on Friday, but Indiana & Illinois don't have many overnight options!

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Great Allegheny Passage Rails to Trails Sojourn

This weekend I went on a Rails-to-Trails Sojourn on the Great Allegheny Passage Trail in Pennsylvania.  It was an amazing weekend and an awesome experience!  85 of us rode 109 miles between Meyersdale and Pittsburgh!  I met some great people and even slept in a tent!  Anyone who enjoys biking on rail trails should plan to attend a sojourn! This was the first time I’d ever done a multi-day, big mileage bike trip and I have to say I loved almost every minute and can’t wait to do another! 

One of the great things about this trip was meeting people who enjoyed the same things as I do! As I watched everyone arrive and noticed how many Subarus there were I figured these were “my people” and I was right! Most everyone was fun to talk to and had stories of adventures similar to mine!  There were folks section hiking the AT, people who had lived in Colorado, even someone who’d biked the rail trail in Bermuda! And, oddly, I was the only teacher in the crowd!  Usually these types of events draw teachers! Some I got to know better than others and spent more time with, these people were key to my enjoyment of the weekend!  I didn’t get anyone’s permission to write about them in my blog so I have assigned them all “trail names”, these names are based in things that happened over the weekend, but we never called each other these things!  I hope this is enough of a disguise that no one will mind me writing about them!

The Drive

The trip was departing from the Homestead Waterfront near Pittsburgh, PA on Friday morning at 7am.  According to Google Maps it was a 4 hour drive from my school in Chantilly, so I decided I could drive the RV, leave immediately after school on Thursday and sleep in the parking lot where we were meeting and be ready to go Friday morning.  This would save me money on getting a hotel room for the night!

I stopped for dinner at the West Virginia Welcome Center Rest Stop on 81N and while I was eating my soup, reading Facebook and listening to the generator run, I saw someone outside checking out my van.  He was an older man, with a friendly looking dog and didn’t appear to be a threat, so when he knocked on the door I answered (hard to hide the fact that I’m in there when the generator is running!).  Turns out he’s a Pleasure-Way Ambassador and I “knew” him from one of the Facebook groups I’m in!  We had a nice chat and before I left I drove up to meet his wife who was in their Pleasure-Way making them dinner! 

This was my first experience driving the PA Turnpike in the RV.  I’d driven the turnpike a few times in college and it wasn’t my favorite road to drive, however, this time I really enjoyed it.  There was no traffic, plenty of places to stop if you needed to, and it was scenic! It had been raining for days so I thought it was a good sign that the sun started to peek out just before sunset! 

The drive ended up taking 6 hours and I arrived at the Homestead Waterfront at 9:30! The shopping center was very high end and looked perfectly safe to stay overnight.  We’d be leaving our cars here for the two nights of the Sojourn so I figured overnight parking was legal.  I found a good spot where I could back in and only take up one spot, closed the curtains and crawled into bed!   The only problem was the active train tracks just across the street from where I was parked.  Train tracks in an urban area means lots of horn blowing.

Day 1 – Meyersdale to Turkeyfoot Valley School

It was 6:30 am when the 1^st sojourners began to arrive at the parking area!  I was so excited to get started I quickly finished up getting ready and headed out!  I quickly got my bike tagged and on the truck and my luggage stowed on the bus we were going to take from Homestead to Meyersdale.   While everyone else was arriving I started chatting with Mr. Pickle.  We chatted for a long time waiting for everyone to arrive and begin boarding the buses.   Once on the bus I met many more people and had a hard time not talking through the speech the trip director gave to tell us all the details we needed to know.  

We arrived in Meyersdale at about 10 am.  It was cloudy and cold with a 90% chance of rain!  Ugh.  After a brief speech by the mayor of Meyersdale welcoming us to the town and the trail, we were off!  I ended up being one of the first riders to leave and kept a pretty fast pace and ended up at the head of the pack!  We were the first ones to arrive in Rockwood, which was the best place to stop for lunch. 

Trailhead in Meyerdale

Ready to go!

Blue Sky!

I’m glad I was on the early side, there was only one place to eat in town, Rockwood Mill Shoppes and Opera House! I had a great pizza and finally got to talk to the guy who’d been riding in front of me all morning!  Didn’t recognize him from the front!  LOL!  We chatted all through lunch and headed back to the trail together.

We were riding along and chatting and it was great to have a buddy to ride with, but he was riding a faster pace than I was comfortable with so I was having a hard time keeping up.  Eventually we reached the Pinkerton Tunnel, which slowed me down, but not him and as much as I enjoyed our chatting I was a kinda glad to be on my own again. 

The tunnel was pretty cool!  I’d put my headlamp in my day pack for the tunnel, but didn’t stop before I went in to put it on.   The tunnel looked short, but it wasn’t and it was very dark in the middle!  I was really glad I’d had lots of experience with tunnels on the Route of the Hiawatha! 

Just when I got to the other side of the tunnel it started raining!  It was a light sprinkle, so not bad at all and I was pretty close to the campground.  I did stop to put on my pack cover though, just in case it started falling harder. Luckily the rain didn't last long! 

It wasn’t long before I caught up with a guy from Ohio who was riding more my pace and we stuck together the rest of the way to the campground.   Thanks to a short mileage day (26 miles) and riding so fast, it was a little after 2:00.

Our campground for the night was a K-12 school and we weren’t really supposed to be there until school dismissed at 3:40.  The people who had brought tents couldn’t set up until then, and while the Comfy Campers people had started setting up, my tent wouldn’t be ready for several hours.  So now what?

I decided to ride 2 miles into the town of Confluence to check it out.  Once I got back on the trail however I decided that I didn’t really want to ride anymore, especially since I was going to ride this section of the trail again tomorrow.  I’d gone a bit over a mile before I stopped, got off my bike, and sat down by the side of the trail and had a snack.   I walked my bike part of the way back to the school just for a break from riding. 

Back at the school I still couldn’t get into my tent, but I found the “charging station” and luckily I’d put my charger in my day pack so I sat down next to one of the 20 or so plugs set up on the porch of a field house to charge my phone and check email and stuff.  There were a few others phones plugged in and 3 other people hanging out.  While I was hanging out charging my phone, the rain started.  It was a nice gentle rain and it was pleasant sitting under the roof watching the rain, making new friends and waiting for my phone to charge.  

Also while I was charging my phone the first train came through.  I’d observed the train tracks mere feet from where we were setting up camp, but I’d hoped maybe it wasn’t an active track.  Wrong.   The train came roaring in, luckily the nearest road crossing was after the school so we heard the train first then the whistle. (lucky because the train would wake you up 1st, then the whistle, rather than the harsh whistle jolting you awake) The trains were long – 200+ cars – and usually had a 2^nd or even 3^rd diesel engine at the end pushing it, and they were louder than the engines at the front!  It could be a long night! 

Tent City at the school (train tracks are behind the trees, and the grass was soaked from the rain...wet shoes galore!)

Around 4 I went to find my tent!  It was all ready for me with an air mattress  and towel inside and a chair set up outside!  I laid my bike next to it and got my bag from the truck and settled in.  It was raining pretty hard by now and my tent was dry so I just stayed inside and read my book until dinner time. 

At dinner I saw Mr. Pickles again, first time I’d seen him since getting on the bus with him this morning! I sat with him and soon we were joined by Pearl Jam, Blue M&M, and Papa Bear.  They were a family traveling together and I hadn’t met them yet so it was fun to get to know some new people!  After dinner a group of us (Pearl Jam, Blue M&M, T1 and T2) played Uno until we were kicked out of the school cafeteria so the custodians could clean! I’m so glad T1 & T2 had thought to bring cards! 

It was barely 8:00 and everyone had retreated to their tents!  I knew this was my kind of crowd!  I crawled into my tent and went right to sleep, until 10:30 when the 1^st train came through.  I only heard one other train, at 2:30 am.  Other people told me there were more trains, but somehow I managed to sleep through them.  

Day 2 – Ohiopyle

Day 2 was very different from Day 1, starting with the sun was out! J

By 6 am our tent city was coming alive!  I got a shower and packed up my things.  Since I’d used Comfy Campers I didn’t have to take down my tent so I headed over to enjoy my coffee with a few other comfy camper people while we waited for breakfast.  At breakfast I met Flat Rock and enjoyed chatting with her!

After breakfast I finished up packing and was ready to head out.   We had 32 miles to ride and all day to do it, so I was planning to take my sweet time and enjoy!  I didn’t want a repeat of yesterday when I got into camp super early! 

I started out riding a nice easy pace and enjoying the sunshine!  I was both passing people and being passed!  About 5 miles into the ride we entered Ohiopyle State Park!  This was the prettiest section of the whole trail!  We were right on the Youghiogheny River and there were wildflowers, waterfalls, rocks and rhododendron.  I stopped several times for pictures.  It was at one of those picture stops that I fell in with Mr. Pickles and Flat Rock.  We quickly settled into a pace that worked for all three of us!  

We arrived in the town of Ohiopyle at 10:30 and set off to explore!  All three of us wanted to take a walk as a break from the bike so we found some short trails that we thought would give us views of the rapids and the rafters.  We had a great 2-ish mile walk, but other than some awesome views of Ohiopyle Falls we didn’t see any of the rapids.  When we got back to Ohiopyle we rode our bikes over to Wilderness Voyagers – the company that put together our trip – and had lunch right next door.  

After lunch it was time to keep moving down the trail.  The weather had turned perfect and it wasn’t hard to get excited about an afternoon of bike riding!  The trail stayed right next to the river and the scenery was great most of the afternoon!  There were a few moments where my butt and thighs hurt so bad I didn’t think I’d make it, but a quick break to stretch a little solved it and I was good to go again.  The GAP trail is very flat, it’s generally heading down hill, but it’s pretty flat.  You’d think this was a good thing for riding a bike, the problem is that you had to pedal the whole time.  On hills you get to coast down and you get a break! The great thing about riding with Mr. Pickles and Flat Rock was that we would take frequent short breaks and we were riding a pace that was comfortable! 

The funny thing was that we didn’t see many other folks from our group.  We passed a few and few people passed us.  I think we’d all gotten spread out and were on different schedules!  We did stop at the support stop in Connellsville (where I had my 1st experience with a prison toilet!  It was cold!) and caught up with several other Sojourners, after that it was only a few miles to the KOA campground in Adelaide, our home for the night. 

The KOA was nice, lots of amenities, as expected from KOA!  Our sites were along the riverfront, it was a great setting, even though we were all crammed in with little distance between tents.  It was very nice sitting in our chairs watching the river go by while we waited for dinner time! 

Here comes the train!

After dinner the KOA had a DJ for evening entertainment, but we retreated to the river to hang out.  We did get chased into the charging station tent by a quick passing shower (thunderstorms were predicted but they never materialized!).  When T1 and T2 finished their showers they broke out their other game, Cosmic Wimpout!  It's a dice game with some rather random rules, but it was a ton of fun, and was the source of many of the trail names I’ve bestowed upon people! 

Once again, we were all retreating to our tents before 9:00!  The only problem here was that the DJ dance party went until 10 and my tent was right in front of the pavilion.   Once again, we had trains coming through to disturb out sleep.  This time there were on the other side of the river and there weren’t any road crossing so no whistles, but the trains were still noisy.

Day 3 – 49 miles!!!!

Last day of riding and it was going to be a personal best mileage day!  I’d never ridden more than 45 miles in one day.  Luckily it was another sunny day!  Cooler temperatures, and a stiff headwind for about 13 miles, but not raining!

Once again by 6 am our camp was waking up!   I was ready to go pretty quickly and enjoyed chatting with some folks drinking coffee before breakfast!  Once I was ready to go I grabbed my bike and found Mr. Pickles and Flat Rock  and we headed out with a plan of stopping every 10 miles for a break.  We figured we’d break the day down into 10 mile chunks since 10 miles seemed easier to think about than 50. 

My butt and my thighs protested riding the bike again at first, but as soon as I got into a rhythm they stopped complaining!  We stopped at the 1^st bathroom opportunity (a very stinky pit toilet) and a few other sojourners passed us, then we passed them a little while later.   Then we stopped at the support stop (with a flushable porta potty! This is now the "toilet tour!") and saw a bunch of other folks.  It was fun seeing everyone while we were riding!  We’d been together for 3 days now and pretty much all knew each other – at least knew each other’s faces, even if names got mixed up.  As part of the Sojourn we all had license plates on the back of our bikes with our names (some people had "vanity plates" but most of us had our real names) making it easy to get names right when you came up on someone on the trail!  We were all yelling encouragement at each other to help keep us all going! 50 miles was a personal best for many people in the group.  The rest of the day continued this way – stopping at support stops, passing and being passed by other people in our group. 

At one point we caught up with Pearl Jam, Blue M&M, and Papa Bear.  We hadn’t ridden with them yet this weekend, but we quickly found that we rode the same pace so joined up for the last 20 or so miles.  The trail was very wide and in places we were able to ride 3 abreast so we could talk! 

At the last support stop there was an ice cream place! First time in 3 days we splurged on ice cream!  I had peanut butter chocolate and it was really good!  It was sunny and cool and the ice cream hit the spot.  

The last 13 miles we were back in urban Pittsburgh and the scenery and trail were very different!  The trail was paved, but it was also rough in places and had lots of twists and turns, we were riding on roads in places, up steep hills – often without warning making it hard to get into the right gear!  On the flat I stay in a pretty high gear, so it’s hard to get down to a hill friendly gear quickly.  This is also where the wind became and issue! No more trees to shelter us! The trail passed a few abandoned steel mills and went over many train tracks.  It was very industrial and not all that nice. We did pass Kennywood Amusement park!  We came around a corner and there was a roller coaster!  That was kinda crazy!  The different terrain was nice and kept things interesting at the end!  

Right at the very end we were riding right along the edge of the Waterfront shopping area and we could see the smokestacks we parked under!  Almost there!  We had once more bridge to cross and it had a tight ramp up it.  Flat Rock was in front and she didn’t realize how tight it was and managed to wipeout and skin her knee/leg!  Only injury of the trip and it happened with less than ½ a mile to go!

We wound through the shopping center and soon I could see my van!  We were back!  We made it!!!!!   Mr. Pickles and Blue M&M took off to ride one more mile around the parking lot so they could hit 50 miles, I was good with 49!  

After I collected my bag, secured the bike and conducted a few tours of the RV it was time to head home.  I was considering stopping and camping, but I didn’t want to get a campground, I knew Walmart would be loud, and I didn’t have any food or clean clothes! If I could get home, I could sleep without a train waking me up!

I stopped in Somerset for dinner at Eat-n-Park and fuel.   I told the waitress that I’d just finished a 3 day bike tour and the lady sitting behind me started asking me questions – turns out she’s a member of the Meyersdale Garden Club and had planned on being there to see the group off but wasn’t able to get there in time!  She was very interested in hearing about the rest of the trip, where we parked, how many people, etc!  So after a delightful chat with her, I headed back to the van to get on the road! 

It's not every day you get to park next to an elephant!

Once again it took a lot longer than google maps promised, it was after 10 before I got home, but I made it!  I took the bike off, grabbed my phone and my iPad, left everything else in the van and went to bed!  I’m very glad I took today off too!!! 

It was a great weekend and I’d LOVE to do another Rails to Trails Sojourn if the dates work for me!