It rained hard last night, with the approaching thunderstorms waking me up at about 3am. The campsite I pulled into already had people there, so I had decided to use my rain fly for privacy and so I was lucky it was already set up when the storm started.
I slept a fair amount and got up at about 8 and set to packing up my very muddy gear. By the time I was done it was hot and humid outside and I was caked in mud. It was time for a shower.
I set my sights on Cumberland, the end point of the c&o canal and got to pedaling. With each passing mile marker I would count down the remaining miles. Only 57 miles until a shower. It’s like counting to 57 except really slowly.
The first half of the day went by quickly. There were no towns to stop in for food so I would snack on what I had and move on. About halfway through there was a 3000 foot long unlighted tunnel. My front light had stopped working last night so I set off into the darkness. Once a few hundred feet in, the tunnel became like a sensory depravation tank, with no sounds but the echoing of my cleats and the inability to see the wall two inches from my face.
Eventually I started stepping in puddles so I felt my way around for my rear light and used that as a flashlight for the last third of the tunnel.
Oh, and there were snakes.
As I approached Cumberland, the forest would change sometimes from the typical greenery to more pine trees and rocks. The smell of these forests were reminiscent of California, though I still have far to go.
Eventually reaching my destination, I found all the motels/hotels on the city to be expensive. However, 60 miles of promising myself a shower was not something I could go back on so I chose the cheapest one, took a shower, did my laundry in the bath tub, ate dinner, and slept.
Today’s mileage: 60
Total: 194
Doing the Paw Paw Tunnel without a light is the only proper way to do the tunnel! It is always a fun experience.
Glad to see you could get more relaxing sleep in at a motel. You should pick up some mud guards for the tires to prevent the mud from giving you a skunk stripe on rainy days. Or at the very least, cardboard and zip ties work. haha.
keep on pedaling!
heya galen — if you need a place to stay somewhere around the arizona leg of your trip, my uncle may be able to accomodate you for a shower and such! he lives between phoenix and tuscon, near a little place called globe.
— Nicholas
Wish we could send some of the cool Montana weather your way. Hope it gets better!
watch out for snakes
Why does everyone live in Arizona? I know 2 people in Phoenix and 3 in Tuscon but no one in between. So maybe, we’ll see when I get closer.