Day 2 we left the Dravo cemetery campground around 9:20am. We rode into West Newton and stopped at a Rite Aid for Phil & Mark to get some supplies/food. Phil's knee has been bothering him, so he got some IcyHot and has been using that stuff nonstop since.
From West Newton we then rode to Connellsville for lunch stopping at the Martins. Mark likes to ride ahead, so Phil told him to stop at the Martins he couldn't miss it. Well wouldn't you know he rode on past! To Mark's defense, you can't tell it's Martins because you're riding into the backside of it so it looks like any other large building. Phil & I went in, got food, and eventually Mark found us. We only wanted to stop for a half hour, but it turned into a full hour.
We stopped at the end of town and took some photos at a mile marker and took notice of a warning to watch out for mountain lions! Here's the mile marker:
So we started heading on our way and not too long thereafter I spotted something furry looking in the trail ahead. Phil & I were riding side-by-side ahead of Mark and I said "do you see that?", hit my brakes, and came to a halt. Phil said "yeah" and stopped. Then Mark rode up and stopped. We realized it was a large black bear! We were about 600 feet away and just watched. The bear would look at us, walk around as if looking for something else, and then look back at us. After about a minute or so it went up into the woods. We gave it another minute or so and then rode by. I tried to get pictures (with my real camera-don't have them to upload), but I'm not sure you'll be able to make out the bear very well.
We then came upon a beautiful scenic spot overlooking the Yough river and stopped for a photo op:
We made it to Ohiopyle and stopped for about an hour for a rest and to look around. Finally we left Ohiopyle and headed for Confluence - our destination. We rolled in just after 7pm and setup camp. We actually setup before dark! Mark has taken the role of cook and whipped up some chicken and mashed potatoes complete with gravy.
We stayed at the Outflow Campground (commercial) and so we had shower facilities. It sure feels good to get a shower after a long day of riding!
During the night we had a huge wind storm roll in and I thought my tent was going to liftoff! Then in the early morning we had rain.
Day 3: Got up early - about 6:30 - and got packed up quickly. We ate breakfast in town at Sister's Cafe and got started riding about 8:40. When we got to Garrett we picked up a stash of water and power bars that I placed there on Friday (I was working only 5 miles away from the trip). We didn't tell Mark about this drop off and he was wondering what the heck was going on when I stopped and walked behind some trees for a "hidden water hole".
We then pushed on to Meyersdale for lunch. We stopped at the Sheetz in town. While eating there outside up pulls one of my company's vehicles! (Weird!) We were then about to leave and found Phil's tire flat! So we lost another 30 minutes patching his tube.
So we then finally left Meyersdale and headed up the climb to the highest point on the trail at Deal, PA. We enjoyed the views from the top and the Big Savage Tunnel. As we started down the mountain we found Mark's tire flat! So we lost another 30 minutes! We then flew down the mountain (it drops about 1800 feet in 20 miles) and arrived in Cumberland at 7:00. For dinner we met up with an old friend of mine, Nate, and ate at CiCi's.
In Cumberland we are staying at a hotel for a good nights sleep and showers. I was able to upload some photos to my Google Picasa site and I'm storing then in a "During the Bike Trip" folder. I'm not using my phone's camera much so you'll have to wait for more photos after I get home and upload them from my camera.
I'm not sure how cell reception will be on the C&O, but I will try to keep you updated!
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