Last night we arrived in Marlinton and had a quiet evening. After dinner, we settled in and I was asleep before 10.
We took a relaxed time getting ready again today. We had a light breakfast at the Inn and then set off. It was a chilly start with heavy fog setting in the valley. It felt really great and we had nice weather all day long.
Our route today took us north to the end of the trail in Cass, about 25+ miles, then we returned to Marlinton for the evening. We totaled just shy of 50 miles.
The surface along the whole length of the trail was consistently good. Crushed limestone and very few soft spots.
The fog stayed with us for quite a while and made for a beautiful morning.
The Greenbrier River is very low. It is currently low enough that you could walk across it just about anywhere you wanted to. We talked to someone along the trail who said that it usually runs low in October. It is still pretty, but I think Joe and I agreed that it probably would be a bit nice with some more water running.
The colors of the leaves were a bit brighter on this section of the trail.
We arrived in Cass just after 11:30. It was good timing as they were beginning to board the 12:00 train to Bald Knob. Joe and I had talked about riding the train, but it is a 4.5 hour round trip and $75. We decided that 4.5 hours would put our return too late to ride back to Marlinton, plus the $75 seemed a bit steep. So instead, we just watched the train until it pulled away.
The Cass train is a chug train that was used to haul lumber out of this area. The train route is steep so the engine is designed to be able to drive a high torque system in the wheels.
After eating lunch in Cass, we turned around and pointed back to Marlinton. I also noticed that my Garmin radar unit was missing from my bike. The aluminum bracket that was attached to my rack must have fatigued enough to break off on the ride this morning. So somewhere between Marlinton and Cass is a Garmin radar unit. Sadly, although we kept our eyes open, we didn’t see it along the trail. That’s an expensive loss.
We’ve only seen a couple of longer bridges on the length of the trail. Here’s one of them.
As we approached Marlinton, the sun was showing on the mountain ahead and made a pretty view. The picture didn’t really do it justice.
After arriving back at the Inn, we got cleaned up and went in search of dinner. Joe still had leftovers from last night to eat tonight. Since I needed something, we walked to a Subway near by. I got 2 sandwiches: one for tonight and one for tomorrow. Joe got one for tomorrow as well. There really isn’t anything between Marlinton and Lewisburg to get food, so we decided to carry food for lunch tomorrow.
After dinner and some conversation, we went in search of a beer next door. We added some chicken wings for good measure. I have a feeling I’ll come back heavier than I left.
We will set off early in the morning to get back to Lewisburg. We’ll have about 55-60 miles tomorrow to get back to our car and then drive 4.5 hours back home. So we’ll get some good rest and be on our way.
Peace, Dcn. Matt
Deacon Matt's Blog 