Well, we figured out where the GAP trailhead was in Pittsburgh, at this cool fountain at Point State Park:
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:
There, we contemplated our interesting interpretations on how to pronounce Youghiogheny River. A couple hours later, we made it to our first campground, Roundbottom.
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:
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.
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
Recent Comments