Day 4

Day 4, Tuesday 11/6/12
Confluence, PA to Cumberland, MD
MM 61 to MM 0 of the Great Allegheny Passage, 61 miles
9am to 9pm, 12 hours

This day was the worst day, 12 hours of Hell it shall be renamed. Almost gave up during this day.

Left Confluence after good company from fans of Frank Lloyd Wright and a veggie omelet with bacon. Had encouraging words that the weather was not too bad but that a Nor'easter was on its way. Ominous.
Started out nippy but things seemed ok. Then after a few miles and hours we started to see snow in the distance. Were we going to get there? I hoped not. Then we actually started to see snow on the side of the trail. Ok still doable. Then as we got closer to the Pinkerton Tunnel MM53 there was actual snow on bridge! We briefly tried to bike through it but nixed that idea, or the idea nixed us. Around this time too we saw more downed trees. Before there were leaves and branches which caused bumps but manageable. Now we actually had to dismount to get around some and a couple we actually had to take our panniers off and carry bikes over. There were some tree vs bike incidents where the tree won. I actually appreciated my mountain bike at this portion as I had a better time of it than my PIC, easier to hop on and off and there were little dippies. This slowed us down considerably.

We finally found a small town of Rockwood MM 43 and asked at the gas station on our left hand side across a small bridge where we could get lunch and they said they served hot food like hamburgers and sloppy joes. The restaurant next door was closed and we learned there were power outages in the area so this had to do. We had to eat outside though and while cold at least there was sun. Had a yummy meatball sub and PIC had sloppy joe and we had chips and Gatorade. Thank you Rock City Express.

Onward we went and it was again ok, ho hum for a while and actually kind of nice up to Meyersdale MM 32. We knew it would be uphill and not easy. But soon after as we were heading into Deal and the Eastern Continental Divide (elevation 2392 feet) and this was the most difficult arduous portion. I had visions of just falling down from exhaustion and curling into a ball as a helicopter found us and rescued us. We crossed a few town streets and I was hoping some kind stranger would say, "You are crazy, why don't you let us give you a ride?" Alas that never happened. So we ran into ALOT of snow. It was not snowing but frozen snow. We kept going because we are stubborn, but also there were bike tracks so we assumed someone must have gone through. Later we saw less bike tracks and these two parallel tracks...I think they were skis. :( We walked our bikes probably for a mile or so and had short runs of riding in premade tracks.

This was the time when I thought, "This is the stupidest thing I've ever done." Or stupidest thing I did to myself. Why Why Why!!?? I was worried, scared and mad. I was also worried for PIC as the trip was my idea. Finally, finally we got to the Eastern Continental Divide MM 23, thankfully only a little after complete darkness. One of the things that kept me going was the promise of downhill after the divide, and two was the will to live. I don't think our cell phones worked anyways for someone to rescue us. We stopped for pictures begrudgingly as it took us forever, but I thought we would regret it if we didn't.

Alas it was a downhill but still with some obstacles of snow patches and downed trees. We thought we were home free by the Mason Dixon line and were able to call the Inn saying we were late. It was good going up to Frostburg MM15 and I was so happy to see electricity and signs of life, albeit far away from the trail. Going through the Big Savage Tunnel MM 22,Borden Tunnel  and Brush Tunnel, was good too with smooth road. We had many warnings to make sure the Big Savage Tunnel was open as it closes for the Winter...around first week of December and there is no detour. Then something terrible happened. The trail met up with the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. I thought it was going to be nice but we soon found out what it means for things to be "washed out" as the terrain was very sandy and gravely with big potholes. PIC fell several times trying to get through with cyclocross bike. This was almost or as frustrating as the snow because we knew we were so close. My mountain bike for the most part did ok. Again doing this all in the dark with our bike lights was not ideal.

Finally, finally we made it to Cumberland. The first of several having to go up a hill to the B&B, the Bruce House Inn. Saving grace was a warm fire place waiting for us and Chinese delivery from Chopsticks available until 10pm. Lovely home and I wish we could have stayed longer.

Our fortune cookies were relevant and gave me an extra boost to keep going: "Before the beginning of great brilliance there must be chaos."

Falling Water
http://www.fallingwater.org/

Rockwood:
http://www.visitrockwood.com/

Big Savage Tunnel:
http://www.wmwestsub.com/connellsvillesub/bigsavagetunnel.htm

Cumberland:
http://www.ci.cumberland.md.us/new_site/

Bruce House Inn:
http://www.brucehouseinn.com/