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

Just the beginning

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.

We may be volunteers on the C&O Canal NHP, but we’re also avid bike riders who love the Western Maryland Rail Trail.  Like most people, we are looking forward to seeing the work on the proposed extension from Pearre Station to Little Orleans get started.  The bat gate at the Indigo Tunnel is the opening act of this process, and it has been finished.  However, the completion of the trail itself will be a long, arduous process.

Rock Slide!

A great view of the rock 'face' above the proposed WMRT

Recently, we took a walk on the old railroad right-of-way from Sideling Hill Creek to the Indigo Tunnel, and the trail offers a beautiful view of the Potomac River–even moreso than the C&O Canal towpath.

Fortunately (and unfortunately), this future stretch of the WMRT is also a geologist’s dream.  The high cliffs above the trail are striking!  I can’t say that I know much about rocks, but the story here is obvious, to say the least.

I'm not so sure I would want to ride under this! Would you?

The green leaves of summer hide a lot from the hikers and bikers on the C&O; however, the barren trees of winter no longer block the numerous rock slides on and above the old railroad path.  I’m no engineer, but the rugged cliffs above the future WMRT have an ominous look to them.  With that said, it will be interesting to see how the rail trail progresses.  The WMRT has the potential to be one of the premier rails-to-trails paths on the east coast, but this won’t happen without a lot of work.

View of the towpath and river from the future WMRT

What a beautiful day!

My Christmas plans were about the same as any other year–you know, open a few presents and then lay around watching reruns of Man vs. Food the rest of the day.  Candee and her family, however, had other plans, so I was rousted out of bed early and headed for the C&O Canal.  I was kind of reminded of my pre-school days of watching The Electric Company on PBS.  This day was sponsored by the letter C:

Christmas, Candee, C&O, Canal…

Amazing Blue Sky on Christmas Day

Anyway, after packing up some drinks and sandwiches we headed off toward our usual parking spot at Pearre Station.  Yes, we’ve been spending a lot of time up there, and I promise to write about another part of the park soon.

Where was I…okay….got it.  We were greeted by a beautiful blue sky and temperatures in the mid-fifties, so the hike was both pleasant and comfortable.

Food For Our Fine Feathered Friends!

Candee strung up a decoration consisting or Cheerios, craisins, and popcorn so we could share the Christmas spirit with our furry and feathered friends.  She placed it on the fallen remains of her favorite Sycamore tree as we ate our lunch along the trail.  There are a few things in this life that I’m sure of.  For starters, everybody loves Christmas, and we love the C&O.  I wouldn’t be surprised if this turns out to be an annual tradition.  Either way, it will be a Christmas to remember.

Broken Tree Ornament?

I wouldn't even want to walk across this old trestle for fear of falling through the rotten boards, and yet here sits a huge piece of machinery!

Seriously?

I admit to being a middle-aged Scooby Doo fan, but this mystery machine was and still is a mystery.  On December 18th, we went to Pearre Station for the start of our level walk, when we noticed a piece of heavy equipment sitting on the rickety railroad bridge over Sideling Hill Creek.  Let me put this in perspective:  I have never felt comfortable walking across the bridge, and I can’t imagine what the guy driving this machine must have been feeling.

I sent out an email to Steve Dean of the C&O Canal Association, and he came up empty.  Nobody seems to know what this thing was doing on the worn out bridge.  Apparently, the Western Maryland Rail Trail is still in the planning stage and no work is being done on the proposed extension.  Anyway, we went back on Christmas Day, and the machine was nowhere to be found.  I guess we’ll never know.

We couldn't believe our eyes!