Bike Trails and Tales

Page 5 of 6

Day 2 Re-cap: Finding Water

July 2, 2014 /

On day 2, we woke up at Roundbottom Campground at around 7:20 am, which was later than we were all expecting.  We had a reservation to tour Fallingwater at 1 pm, 30 miles away, so we broke camp and were on the trail by around 8:30.

We had about 1 bottle of water between us, and had to ride about 8 miles until we could get more drinking water. Thankfully, we encountered a KOA campground earlier than expected that was a nice oasis!

wpid-wp-1404308579919.jpeg

During the ride, we definitely noticed the incline and, with our packs, kept pace at about 10 mph.  It turns out that we climbed 480 ft. over the 42 miles for the day.  Overall, though, the trail was far more rural than Day 1 and we went over several scenic wooden bridges.

wpid-wp-1404307474549.jpeg

We arrived at the beautiful Ohiopyle State Park area around 1, which has swimming, camping, rafting, and other adventures. Fallingwater is about 4 miles from here, up a winding country road.  After talking to locals, who largely seemed appalled that we would bike on the curvy, hilly highway 381, we opted to take a shuttle to Fallingwater, rather than bike there.  Locals also had very different “estimates” of the distance to Fallingwater, some reporting it was 3-4 miles uphill and some approximating up to 7 miles uphill.

Whatever the real distance is, we were happy and relieved with our decision to opt for the shuttle decision, especially since we noticed the shoulder of the road was about 10 inches. Best $21.20 per person we’ve ever spent.

wpid-wp-1404308080251.jpeg

Fallingwater was wonderful:

wpid-wp-1404308140452.jpeg

We went inside, but were not allowed to take pics.  Our guide was also very adamant that no one touch anything when we were inside the house.  I, of course, being tired and hot from all the riding, accidentally let my hand graze a sofa, and got scolded.  Oops.  It was an amazing property, though – the waterfall is actually built into the house, and the different floors of it resemble the natural flow of the water cascading down the rocks.  It all has fancy architectural terminology that our guide kept talking about, but I can appreciate the beauty of it even if I can’t remember it all now.

Another highlight of this sight-seeing detour is that the 3 of us wanted to get our picture taken in front of the vista above.  A group of other tourists were nearby, and out of all of them, Lauren asked a teenage boy if he would take our picture.  Which would normally be fine, but this particular boy happened to have two casts on his arms because he had what looked like two broken wrists.  He was a sport and took our picture anyway.

When we got back to the shuttle place we were glad to see our bikes were still there.  I’m not sure what our plan would have been if they had gotten stolen or something, but I’m sure we would have figured something out:

wpid-wp-1404308303011.jpeg

After riding 11 more miles we made it to Confluence, and the River’s Edge Loft:

wpid-wp-1404308503821.jpeg

Anna Marie, the owner, walked us around to the back of the property where there is a 2 story brick building with an antique shop in the first floor and a 1 bedroom loft apartment on the second floor with 1 full-size bed, a futon, a full kitchen and bath, and, most importantly, AC! The first floor also has a storage room that is the perfect place to store our bikes.

Ahhhhh!!! Showers!

We had been given an enthusiastic dinner recommendation for a place called The Lucky Dog in Confluence. We hadn’t eaten a proper meal all day and we were starving. At first glance the place seemed questionable, but the burgers and beers just might be the best we’ve ever had.

I’ve been on many rail trails, all with varying levels of support from towns along the trail, and Confluence was a great, well-supported stop.  In my opinion, what makes a great support stop is if there’s a bike shop in town, as well as lodging where the proprietors accommodate the needs of touring cyclists by, say, not requiring 3-night minimums at campsites/B&Bs and by allowing bikes to be secured in rooms or storage facilities overnight.

Today’s Mileage: 42

Tomorrow’s Itinerary: Confluence, PA to Rockwood, MD

 

Day 1 Re-cap

July 1, 2014 /

Well, we figured out where the GAP trailhead was in Pittsburgh, at this cool fountain at Point State Park:

wpid-wp-1404266556057.jpeg

The ride through the city was nice- mostly on trails and over various bridges.  My favorite was the Hot Metal Bridge, mostly because I like the generic name of it.  I was hoping that later on we could eat at Restaurant or, maybe, stay at Campground or Motel.

Weather-wise, it was cloudy most of the day, with rain expected, but we never got any.

Once out of Pittsburgh we passed several small steel towns and then entered more remote stretches.  On the trail, the river was to our left, which helped us keep track of elevation changes. The first 3 days we will climb and climb.

We stopped at Dravo Cemetery for a short break and chatted with some locals.  At the Cemetery, we saw many tombstones from the 1800s. One guy started talking to us and said he knew of a shocking secret about someone buried here.  Intrigued, we eagerly followed him as he pointed us to a grave where a man was buried next to both his wife and his mistress.  We had been prepared to be scandalized and felt that this top-secret tidbit was a bit of a letdown.

Anyway, from our guidebook, we learned that the GAP was just finished last summer.  In general, the people we have spoken to around here have seemed eager to hear how we are using it and what we think of it.

Day 1 was a 52 mile day. Luckily we found an ice cream oasis just when things were dire:

wpid-wp-1404267548915.jpeg

There, we contemplated our interesting interpretations on how to pronounce Youghiogheny River.  A couple hours later, we made it to our first campground, Roundbottom.

wpid-wp-1404268082343.jpeg

The site had a couple of wooden shelters and a water pump that pumped rusty water.  To conserve our good water, I made dinner that night with already prepared Indian food packets and Ellen’s tortillas:

wpid-wp-1404267747929.jpeg

We also all took freezing “showers” with the rusty water, by filling a water pouch and having someone hold the water above our heads. Thankfully, Ellen screamed so loud during this part that any bears in the area were frightened away.

But seriously, we (meaning me) were scared of possible bear encounters, so we decided to, when camping, use a food wire to hang foot items at night, and I brought one of those bear mace cans, as well.  We also had a bear bell to use while going to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  Just in case.

Roundbottom was a lovely primitive site (and also free!) – the only disappointment was in not being able to find dry wood to build a campfire.  We signed the logbook and turned in pretty early, after setting up our tents in one of the shelters.

wpid-wp-1404224780546.jpeg

Note the guard dogs

We heard trains rushing by all through the night, and woke up around 7:20 to begin Day 2!

Today’s Mileage: 52

Tomorrow’s Itinerary: Roundbottom Campground to Confluence, PA

Day 0: We’ll figure it out

June 29, 2014 /

We have decided that this trip already has a theme.

Our original plan to begin the trip was to rent a cargo van to transport us, our bikes, and our gear from Chicago to Pittsburgh.

Here’s a timeline of today’s events:

9:07am

Budget Car Rental Lady: “Your cargo van was supposed to arrive yesterday but it’s not here. I don’t know what to tell you.”
Us: “We’ll figure it out.”

wpid-wp-1404100278486.jpeg

We ended up getting a much smaller SUV, which we began to pack up.  Of course, upon doing so, we quickly realized the bikes would have to be somewhat disassembled.

10:15am

Ellen: “I can’t get my front wheel off.”
Us: “We’ll figure it out.”

wpid-wp-1404100382574.jpeg

Ellen’s bike has a fancy anti-theft feature that was a little too fancy for us even, but with the help of internet, we figured it out.

10:25am

Us: “How are we going to fit all this stuff in the car?”
Us: “We’ll figure it out.”

wpid-wp-1404100212664.jpeg

 

10:31am

Us: “Did anyone print directions to Pittsburgh?”
Us: “Well figure it out.”

wpid-wp-1404100598912.jpeg

And, we did.  That’s what smartphones are for.  Here we are arriving in Pittsburgh:

wpid-wp-1404100794904.jpeg

We were quite hungry upon arriving in Pittsburgh, but after losing an hour due to the time change, many places were already closed.  We did find a Buca di Beppo near our hotel.

Us: “Its 8:53 and they close at 9.”
Hostess: “Come on in! You need some carbs!”

We even had a post-dinner, mini-Bellagio show:

wpid-wp-1404100883247.jpeg

After dinner, we also decided we didn’t know exactly where in Pittsburgh the trail begins.  I swear we are somewhat organized, generally, and we do have most of the logistics taken care of.   I guess I’m the type of person who’s okay with going on trip without having to know, or be in control of, every single detail.  I trust that we can figure out many things we encounter.

« Older posts Newer posts »
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Privacy and Commenting Policy

© 2024 Bike Trails and Tales

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑