Last night was a bit rough for me. I had a very difficult time falling asleep, and it was in the very early hours before I finally dozed off. Then the rain started. The sound of rain is usually very soothing. As long as I am not getting wet and trying to get to sleep!
I did finally get a couple of hours of sleep but woke to the feeling of coldness seeping into my tent. I had not expected rain and had put the footprint a little outside of the tent. So all of the water running off the fly was pooling on the footprint and running under the tent, then soaked the tent bottom. No fun.
Morning was only slightly better. The rain paused for an hour or two and I used this time to break camp, fold up my soaking belongings, and get going.
Breakfast was good and I hit the trail fairly early, suited up for rain. It rained for largely the entire ride. Some heavy periods and some light. Combined with cool winds, it made for a chilly ride.
The C&O path is pretty rough in this stretch. Mostly packed mud, which gets really messy when it rains. One thing I have noticed is that my bamboo fenders are quite a conversation starter. Not sure why. But they were added for a purpose and today they were worth every penny. Mud covered my whole bike, but I stayed relatively mud-free.
Today we pedaled across a couple of different aqueducts and past a few neat scenes, but I didn’t linger very long in any one place because of the rain. I did go down to White’s Ferry to see the only working ferry boat on the Potomac. There is also a small general store & bait shop that has flood markings up on the 2nd floor from past floods.
I completed the 33-ish miles pretty easily, in spite of cold rain and mud, and I am hoping that my tent and sleep gear dry out enough for a pleasant night’s sleep. A warm shower helped my spirits a lot, but a good night’s sleep would be even more welcome!
Tomorrow, we go past Harper’s Ferry WV. I’d like to go into the town, if I can get there early enough.
Peace!
– Dc. Matt
Deacon Matt's Blog 