Day 5

Day 5, Wednesday, 11/7/11
Cumberland, MD to Hancock, MD
MM 184 to mm 124, about 60 miles
10:30am to 9pm, 10.5 hours

Breakfast at the Bruce House Inn was excellent: bacon, french toast, and scrambled eggs and a muffin (cranberry?). Lovely home with fireplaces. Even though it was a shower, the shower was full sized and had a great shower head.

A long day but started out fairly well. Felt like we were going a little downhill and the terrain was much better than the night before, i.e. no snow. We already were seeing more people out running or walking. Cumberland seemed like another cute little town with some history. It supposedly is revitalized and has a good arts scene. They also do have delivery until 10 pm. Crucial!

We couldn't find a place to eat lunch and ended up eating leftover pizza from Sunday night (3 days ago) in Paw Paw, along with beef jerky. The Paw Paw tunnel was kind of cool and creepy at the same time. Definitely needed those lights. It has some interesting history, see link below.

Had a little bit of mechanical problems after a big stick was trapped in PIC's rear derailleur/chain. We tried tinkering with it but I think it made it worse, wasted time, and made us both kind of annoyed.

Ended up on Western Maryland Rail trail per innkeepers recommendations and that helped a lot although there was not great markings, at least in the pitch dark but we eventually found it after getting lost up a hill near Little Orleans MM 142 (still far away). The WMRT is a left at the head of lock 56, MM 136.2 - you will see a paved path. The path was paved, yet still some uphill. We FINALLY made it. A theme.

The innkeepers at the 1828 Trail Inn were the sweetest we met and even drove us to Pizza Hut when we arrived late. There were cookies, cheese and crackers, tea and cocoa that awaited us and best of all the Jacuzzi hot tub! The Bruce House Inn and the 1828 Trail Inn were two places I really would like to return to, although most of the B&B's were great.

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

Cumberland:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g41098-Cumberland_Maryland-Vacations.html
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/cumberland/intro.htm

Paw Paw Tunnel:
http://www.berkeleysprings.com/tunnel.htm

Western Maryland Rail Trail:
http://www.westernmarylandrailtrail.org/WMRT/

1828 Trail Inn:
http://www.1828-trail-inn.com/