Change of plans
It is late summer, and I have been promising my two wonderful young nephews that I would take each of them on separate small bike camping trips at the C&O. We live close to it, so I figured that if anything unexpected were to come up, we could always have someone come bail us out. On the 29th of a hot July, I unwisely, as usual, decided to take Mateo on his long-awaited three-day trip. We were supposed to start on Friday afternoon, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the three-day trip turned into a two-day trip.
So on the 29th of July, after we had a good lunch and arrived at the Brunswick train station parking lot, we started the task of loading my bike with all our camping gear, food, and water supply. Our goal was to head out on a hot 90-degree day, hoping that with the shaded trees on the trail, the temperature would not feel as bad.
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Well, mainly me Mateo was a trooper on this trip. Having only done about 5 miles out of our 24 unforeseen miles to come, we arrived at Harpers Ferry very sweaty. I have to admit, hotter than I thought we would be. Watching so many people in the river on their inflatables did not make things better. So, on the suggestion of Mateo to jump in the river for a swim, I agreed. Since we were both hot and still had ways to go to our campsite, why not enjoy a little fun?
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And so, we left the comfort of cool water, pedaling our way toward the campsite. Along the journey, we stopped intermittently to drink water and rest. As the ride continued and the temperature did not relent, I started noticing that we were running out of water. With probably another 10 miles to go to our destination, we stopped at Antietam Campground to consider whether we should stay there. Unfortunately, we discovered that reservations were required in advance for camping there.
So, we decided that our best bet for good, cold water was to get off the trail and head into Shepherdstown to buy water. Since I had no water filter for the pump water, this seemed like the most practical choice.
After wandering around the Shepherdstown University campus in search of water, we asked a security guard if there was anywhere we could get or buy water since we were now out. Kindly, he pointed us to the nearest gas station with a small grocery store. There, we purchased two gallons of water. We went right through one of them, filling our bottles, and the second gallon we took to camp for cooking and the morning.
All in all, it was a fun and adventurous trip. We ended up covering more miles than we thought we would, but the views of the river and the campsite made it all worthwhile
Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 44 miles (71 km)
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