C&O Canal Adventures Walking, riding, and cleaning up the C&O Canal

 

 

 

Like many people, we’re guilty of straying far away from home to get our C&O Canal kicks.  McCoys Ferry (mm 110),  Four Locks (mm108), and Dam 5 (mm 107) are all about forty minutes away from our hometown of Martinsburg, but we have only seen them as blurs when riding by on our bikes.  It seemed like a good idea to take a short excursion prior to the Super Bowl, so we took to the road to see what we could see.

 

 

 

I’ll start with the McCoys Ferry campground and its environs.  On the way there, we noticed the Green Spring Covered Bridge about a half-mile from the towpath.  The bridge is actually a modern, decorative structure that spans a small stream as part of a driveway.  Don’t get me wrong: I would love to have my own covered bridge, but I found the nearby railroad trestle and culverts far more interesting.  In the beginning, I was drawn to the C&O primarily for its recreational value, but this history stuff has kind of rubbed off on me over the years.

At one time the railroad and the canal were bitter rivals, but the trestle merely blends into the scenery at McCoys Ferry.  Other amenities include numerous picnic tables and a boat ramp.  The area draws a crowd during the summer, but on Super Bowl Sunday, we had it all to ourselves and found the hike and sightseeing to be very enjoyable.

Candee’s son Tyler tagged along on today’s hike, and he was primarily interested in finding a good place to fish this summer.  The Potomac runs slow and deep for a few miles above Dam 5, and I’m thinking that the catfishing is probably pretty good.

 

Like many areas along the canal and river, McCoys Ferry is part of Civil War history.  According to the sign, the Confederates tried to capture the ferry boat at McCoys landing but were rebuffed by the Clear Spring Guard.  Also, J.E.B. Stewart crossed the river here on his second ride around McClellan’s army.

 

 

 

We are generally drawn to the canal for its recreational value, but occasionally the C&O’s structures catch our eyes.  Some are easily spotted from the towpath, but the culverts are generally overlooked by hikers and bikers.

 

There are eleven aqueducts along the C&O Canal, and they mark the points where the canal crosses over larger streams.  Culverts, on the other hand, occur where smaller streams were routed underneath of the canal.  I’m hardly the expert, but there are over one hundred culverts, and many of them are very impressive.

Fellow C&O Canal Association member Steve Dean has photographed all of the culverts and plans on turning his efforts into a book.  People who have an interest in the canal’s structures and history have opened our eyes a bit over the years, and the locks, aqueducts, and culverts are as different from each other as the diverse groups who built them.  I would certainly advise hikers and bikers to get off of the trail and take a look around.  There’s a lot more to the park than what meets the eye!

From McCoys Ferry, it’s a short ride to Four Locks.  The site gets its name from the four locks that raised the canal thirty-three feet in order to cut across Prather’s Neck and bypass a four mile bend in the Potomac River.  Lock House 49 is open to the public for overnight lodging.  It’s a bit on the rustic side, but it would be a great spot to stop while doing a through-ride from Cumberland to Georgetown.

 

 

I guess you could say that Four Locks holds a special place in our hearts.  On our 2011 ride, we ran into heavy storm debris above Little Orleans and several more downed trees well below Hancock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were forced to lift our bikes over countless snags and even had to walk them through the canal bed in places.  By the time we reached Four Locks, we were worn out and frustrated, but I remember saying, “Enjoy the next mile.  It’s down hill and on the house.”  The easy pedaling and coasting seemed to lift our spirits, and we never lost momentum the rest of the way.

 

 

From Four Locks, we took another short ride into the Dam Five area.  The dam and river create an image that is worthy of a post card.  The dam was completed in 1857 and survived several of Stonewall Jackson’s attempts at destroying it during the Civil War.  During low water, many fishermen can be seen fishing from the rocks directly below the dam, sometimes as far out as the middle of the river.

 

In all, the scenery between McCoys Ferry and Dam Five is outstanding.  Likewise, heading upstream leads one to Fort Frederick State Park and Big Pool.  There are many places along the C&O that look relatively similar around every bend, but this section reveals something new and interesting along the way for both newcomers to the park and canal aficionados.  In spite of traveling through every mile of the park several times, Candee and I have missed a lot of interesting things.  With that in mind, today made for three wonderful short hikes, and, like most excursions, we learned a number of new facts and saw things we’ve never seen before.  Until next time…

 

 

On first glance, it appears that we were off filming Belle the Wonder Beagle vs. The Giant Blob, but the fact is that the grass that hid much of the garbage on the Potomac River floodplain for the past nine months is dormant for the winter.  As a result, lots of ugly trash has become visible between the towpath and the river.  I don’t recall seeing a kitchen sink on the bank, but we saw just about everything else, including tires, basketballs, and propane cylinders.

During the warm season, we have an antagonist nicknamed MRE Man who scatters meal packets throughout our volunteer area.  We have no idea who he is, but we can’t blame him or anybody else for the garbage located on the river side of the towpath.  The fact is that the mighty Potomac picks up large amounts of human and natural debris during floods and deposits it along the river bank.

Just below Little Orleans the river makes a long, sweeping right hand turn, and between mile markers 140 and 141 we have a natural trash depository.  The winter months are the best time to take care of the mess because snakes and other animals aren’t hidden in the long grass waiting for unsuspecting volunteers.  Okay, I’m being a bit dramatic, but cleaning up the park and safety should go hand-in-hand.  I’m guessing that we’re about halfway done with our winter cleanup, and we’re hoping that our new friend Belle stops by to keep us company again soon.

Each January 1st, the C&O Canal Association brings in the New Year with a hike in Cumberland, Maryland.  The temperature was a surprisingly warm fifty-three degrees, and nineteen people turned out for the walk.  After meeting at the mule statue in front of the railroad station, Mary Huebner led the crew downstream on the canal for approximately 1.5 miles.

 

 

As the canal goes, Cumberland is a relatively urban setting.  However, in spite of the interstate and railroad traffic, the Queen City drew us back for the third year in a row.  In the sparsely populated areas of the C&O, one can walk for miles without seeing anything touristy, but Cumberland is…well…different.

 

 

 

After the mule statue and shops, the Cumberland (a replica canal boat) comes into view, and upon rounding the first bend, the trail offers and interesting look back at the Cumberland skyline.  The towpath plays host to numerous hikers, bikers, dogs (and of course their owners), runners, and history buffs through out the year, so being there on the first day of the year always starts us off on the right foot!

 

 

 

Cumberland has always been a transportation hub.  In the past, it was a major railroad town and marked the western terminus of the C&O Canal (Think canal boats and mules). Today, I-68 runs above the city, and The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) and C&O towpath are hotbeds for hikers and bikers of all ages.  Oh, how the times have changed!

 

 

 

Near mile marker 183, a new wooden bridge crosses over the North Branch of the Potomac River.  The West Virginia side is the home of the Carpendale Tunnel.  At 1,500 feet in length, the tunnel is just long and dark enough to make things interesting.  Unlike many of the other tunnels on the towpath, this one is equipped with light posts approximately every 200 feet. (so it really isn’t scary at all!)  We have also read that there are cameras posted in there as well.  The path continues on the other side of the tunnel, but we aren’t sure how much further it goes.  I suppose that will be an adventure for another day.

 

 

 

 

All-in-all, the bridge and tunnel is definitely a worthwhile diversion for towpath enthusiasts.

 

 

 

 

We have really enjoyed our New Year’s Day Hike tradition over the last few years, and barring all of the Mayan doomsday scenarios, we will be back again for 2013 hike.  All kidding aside, see ya at the mule statue next January 1st!

 

 

For years, the two major structural flaws in the C&O Canal NHP were the two missing spans of the Catoctin Creek Aqueduct and the eroded towpath at Big Slackwater.  Fixing both of these problems has been in the works for a while, and I’m pleased to sat that the Catoctin Aqueduct has been restored to its original beauty.  During our last two through rides, we have noticed the progress being made on the aqueduct, so we decided to take a look at the recently completed product.  It may have been a forty mile drive, but it was time well spent–the new span is nothing short of breathtaking!

 

 

 

In 1973, most of the old aqueduct fell into the creek, and those who traveled the towpath crossed the stream on a wooden-planked steel bridge (no longer standing).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have mainly biked this section of the canal, and it’s very easy to miss the scenery at 10-12 mph.  However, this immaculate stone structure is sure to stop even those with the worst cases of tunnel vision.

 

 

 

One of the more interesting aspects of the rebuilding of the aqueduct is that people were able to donate money specifically for the placement of individual stones.  As members of the C&O Canal Association, we recognized the names of more than one contributor.  Now were lamenting that fact that we didn’t buy a stone of our own.

As stated, the aqueduct is a thing of beauty, and that leaves Big Slackwater as the next big thing on the structural to-do list.  It is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2012.  I guess you could say that the future of the C&O Canal NHP is looking good.

Today Kurt Schwarz of the Maryland Ornithological Society led a bird walk that started at the Cushwa Basin on the C&O Canal.  In spite of a cold rain and a temperature of forty-five degrees, the hike was both enjoyable and productive.  Most people who hike, bike, or jog on the towpath have tunnel vision and often miss out on the subtleties that nature has to offer.   We would generally include ourselves with this crowd, but today was different.  We stopped, looked, listened, and learned plenty of interesting facts about our feathered friends.

Candee was very enthused about the birds, but I have to admit that I did more people watching and was fascinated that Kurt and several others in group easily spotted (and heard) their quarry.  Using binoculars to locate birds truly is a talent in and of itself and takes a little bit of practice.   We learned to spot a fixed landmark near the bird, such as a forked branch or a patch of colorful leaves, and then finding the bird became much easier when peering through the lenses.  If you look through the binoculars first, you will spend the rest of the day scanning the tress while everyone else has spotted their bird and moved on.

We were especially thrilled to see two Bald Eagles flying on the West Virginia side of the Potomac.  Unfortunately, birds are pretty elusive, and without expensive camera equipment, we managed only to get a picture of the Mute Swan and a Mockingbird.

 

 

The Mute Swan (Cygus olor) is a non-native species that is frowned upon by many local bird watchers.  This large aggressive bird has a wingspan of up to 2.5 meters, and has been successfully introduced in North America.    The problem is that they generally overgraze on aquatic vegetation and drive other similarly sized native birds (Canada Geese and Trumpeter Swans) off of their nesting grounds.  Watch out!  They’ll even attack people who wander into their territory!

 

 

Here’s a list of the birds that we were able to spot today (Kurt saw many more!):

• Mute Swan
• Northern Mocking Bird
• Northern Rough Winged Swallow
• Great Blue Heron
• European Starling
• Killdeer (Will pretend to be wounded to lure predators away from its nest. Its call sounds like Kill-DEEE!)
• Scarlet Tanager
• Great Egret
• Mallard
• Robin
• Cardinal: male & female
• Goldfinch
• Catbird  (Makes a cat-like mewing sound)
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak
• Black-Capped Chickadee (Its call sounds like chick-a-dee-dee-dee.)
• Downy Woodpecker
• Eastern Pheobe