We left the hotel around 8:30. But not before taking full advantage of the free breakfast. I’m never hungry first thing in the morning, so I packed mine to go. Rose likes breakfast first thing so we have worked out a good system. She will eat a small breakfast before we pack up then when I get hungry around 9 or 10 we have a second breakfast. The hotel offered a pretty good breakfast and I left with an omlete and and a egg sandwich. One thing they didn’t have was good coffee. I knew just the place though! Cafe Mark has the best latte. So we made a bee line there.
We got our delicious coffee to go. It had started raining lightly while we were getting them. I was glad it was raining. A lot of the bike path up Big Savage is exposed with no shade. The rain would help keep us cooler. The GAP pathway is done with crushed limestone. It doesn’t get muddy like the C&O. After coffee we headed out and started our 22 mile climb. Even in the rain the views were great
About six miles up I heard a train coming. I stuck out my thumb to try for a hitch. I have always had considerable luck hitchhiking, I have thumbed a lift on two different boats hay wagons and all kinds of automobiles. Once, and it is my finest thumbing achievement, I thumbed a ride in an airplane. I was laying cement blocks at a private airport and as a little two seat Cessna taxied by I put up my thumb. The pilot stopped and motioned me over. It was an awesome 1hour flight. Anyway I didn’t have luck with the train. I guess it really is hard to stop a train. Haha
The Mountain wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. We went slow ad took quite a few breaks. We also ate a lot and kept a good attitude. About 3 miles from the top was the PA MD line. We had been in 3 states in 3 days. Wv, Pa and Md. Shortly after crossing the state lines is a little creek. It’s the only water source close to the top. We stopped there and filtered 8 liters. Our bottles were empty and we needed water for dinner and coffee in the morning. Our plan was to stealth camp on top.
There is a picnic area with pavilions and a pit toilet at the top. After arriving there and resting a bit, we started dinner. The rain had stopped and the sky was clearing off. The weather had been perfect for us.
After 22 miles of uphill we were hungry. We had chicken couscous and green beans. The green beans were the last of our fresh vegetables from Mom and Dad’s garden.☹️
Rose was up by 5:30 and had coffee made by the time I awoke at 6. We walked over to a row of benches to watch the sun rise. It was still cloudy so it wasn’t anything spectacular. We crossed the Eastern Continental divide about a half hour after we set off. But first we had to go through the 3,291 foot long Big Savage tunnel. It always feels like air conditioning inside.
After lots of photos we got back on our bikes and rode to Myersdale for our second breakfast. It was a combination of last nights leftovers and snack bars.
The trail is down hill now. Just a little bit though. It’s not steep enough to coast. But it does feel easier. I was tired from the climb and we decided to stop early at the campground in Rockwood PA.
On this side of the mountain there is plenty of springs. That makes filling our water bottles a lot easier.
We made it to Connellsville today. 47 miles. It was 11:30 by the time we got rolling this morning. Even after our late start we arrived around 4:30 pm. Connellsville is great to cyclists. They have a free campground that has little Adirondack style shelters. We put our gear in one but still preferred to sleep in our hammocks.
Both of us were craving vegetables. That’s really odd for me. Anyway the campground is 100 yards from a grocery store. We walked over and bought a bag of cauliflower carrots and broccoli. Also some hummus for dipping among a few other things. We were starving and we ate that while our dinner cooked.
Dinner was the last of the steaks from home, bread and vegtable medley. A year or two ago Sunnyway Grocery store had a great deal on Ny strip steaks. I had to buy a whole loin to get the sale price. Sunnyway has the best meat out of any store in the tri-state area. Buying the whole loin was great. The highly skilled butchers in the meat department cut it exactly to my specifications. At home I seasoned and vacuumed sealed them before putting in the freezer. If we want to stay on budget, I fear our diet is going to become a little less grand without all the help from Mom and Dad’s garden and the purchases made at deeply discounted sale prices.
It’s been a wonderful fun and exciting few days. We are almost done the GAP. Then on to Buffalo!
The view from the hammocks is wonderful. What a great thing to wake up to!
Yes it was!
Matthew 3 states in 3 days thats amazing