68: a fowl bird, bee on a flower, the body bag offer, markleton, pinkerton, sort of thanks, trestle house, no going around, ticks, no shooting, wear orange, alien fungus, on guard, confluence, snake break, more fungi, the bonk, immersion

June 19, 2025

Meyersdale to Ohiopyle

"Just keep rollin', mister. The likes of you ain't welcome around here."

"I'll leave you now to get back to the important task of pecking at seeds and insects."

Diane volunteers at the Visitors Center helping collect signatures from people who are using the trail. It's an important job because the amount of grant money to help maintain the trail is dependent upon how many people are documented using it, and the number of people who get documented is dependent upon how many people sign her register.

We talked for a few minutes, and when she found out that I started in Key West instead of DC or Pittsburgh like most of the passersthrough, the conversation slid to a recent tragedy in which someone was struck and killed by a car. "Do you want a body bag?" she asked as we were leaving.

In all fairness, that's a bit out of context. The question prior to the body bag was, "Do you have a rain jacket?" because if not, she gives people one of the large trash bags used for the trash bins. Cutting holes for your head and arms turns them into an excellent rain poncho.

note the Uber sign placed by a clever entrepreneur

inside was a book to write comments, observations, wishes....

When we passed a sign for Markleton, Heather said, "You should get a picture of the sign. They named it after you."

"Not really. It's not the same."

"Sure it is, Markle."

"Yeah? So, tickle is the same as tick?"

"...... hmph."

"How about rattle? The same as rat?"

Silence now, but I'm on a roll. With a grin:
"And how about that edible burrowing mollusk, the cockle?"

Then.... waiting for it.... waiting.... YES! There it is: the longsuffering sigh of heroic proportion, a tragically sad shake of the head, the eyes looking skyward, and "Please, God, help me."

It's the little things in life that offer suchall deep satisfaction.

The Pinkerton Tunnel, our final tunnel on the C&O/GAP, is bookended by The Pinkerton Low Bridge and The Pinkerton High Bridge. This is the Low Bridge over the Casselman river.

The Pinkerton Tunnel, at 849 feet, is the shortest of the four GAP tunnels. It was closed in 2000 due to structural deterioration and people had to take the horseshoe bypass.

The damage was significant enough that engineers were concerned that rocks could fall on hikers and bikers, or worse, that the roof could collapse.

When it reopened in 2015, fifteen years later, it had a distinctive corrugated steel liner. This reinforcement prevents falling rocks from injuring people without requiring full masonry restoration, and for a fraction of the cost. I learned a new phrase while reading: "daylighting a tunnel." It means blowing the top off to create a canyon. It's done when the trains needed to pass are too tall so, rather than make the tunnel larger, they just take the entire roof off.

overlooking the Casselman river from the Pinkerton High Bridge

Read the words on the bench above: "SORTA THANKS BRETT HOLLERN FOR 21 YEARS OF GAP TRAIL COORDINATION." Jeez, 21 years, and he get's a "Well, we sort of thank you, but you know, you took that vacation for those 3 days back in '88 when all of your family died so, you know, we can't really get behind a full thanks." Upon closer inspection, I saw that it actually says SCRTA, which stands for "Somerset County Rails to Trails Association."

I like how they used an old bridge trestle for the base of their house.

no way around, unless you're immune to poison ivy

* Tick bites can make you sick (I contracted Lyme disease in 2018, a story for another time)
* Walk in the center of trails (I did this for a while, then realized I'll never get anywhere if I push my bike the whole trip)
* Minimize contact with low lying vegetation (I'll continue trying to avoid hanging out with low life vegetative crowds)
* Use insect repellent (where am I going to find any of that?)
* Perform tick checks & shower after leaving (learned my lesson in 2018)

"No shooting on, along, or from the road or parking area." That means I can blast away from the trail, right? Still means I have to get out of my truck in the parking lot, though. Damn it.

You should especially wear orange in the Fall when the leaves are turning so you'll be invisible and I don't mistake you for a rabbit or a bear when I'm shooting at things from the trail.

This fungus looks alien, like something from another planet.

The trail looked like this for much of the day.

This guy must get really hot in his suit of armor, guarding the house. And note the makeshift teepee.

This was taken in Confluence, where the Casselman river meets the Youghiogheny river. What was very clear in person you can barely see in the picture: there are two distinct colors of water.

Here you can see some Heather in the forest.

This guy was hanging out on the side of the trail, and didn't seem too happy to see me.

You might not be able to see the detail on the bottom of these fungi if you're looking at it on your phone.

When we were less than two miles from Ohiopyle I had to stop. When I say "I had to stop," I mean that I didn't have a choice. I don't recall ever bonking before, and if we had been five miles away instead of two, I might have called that Uber. It was a strange feeling, and one that I don't recall experiencing before.

For those of you who don't know what "bonking" is, the autoclaved definition of "bonk" is "the sudden and severe depletion of glycogen stores in the body, leading to extreme fatigue and a dramatic drop in energy levels during prolonged physical activity."

But why now? Riding 30-35 miles a day, and on generally level terrain, I barely exert myself these days. At the tick and shooting signs I mentioned earlier, I put away a protein bar and some granola. Furthermore, I've certainly had physically harder days (e.g. riding through the mud to Paw Paw). So again, why now? Because this is day 9 of 12?? I dunno.

Regardless of the reason, I straddled my bike for about ten minutes as I ate another protein bar. Eventually, my legs and arms leaden, I rode very slowly the rest of the way to Ohiopyle. After arriving at our B&B, I just sat on the couch for a while in a vegetative state (unlike my usual persistent vegetative state when I'm sitting on our couch) until I was able to go next door to get something to eat.

I asked our server what Immersion Research is and she said it's a kayaking company. If you're trying to sell someone a kayak ride on the rapids, that seems like a terrible name.

Take a ride with me for a short section of the trail:

Heart

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Mark M.We can all get behind ride profiles like this.
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2 weeks ago

Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 1,827 miles (2,940 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	12
Comment on this entry	Comment	6

Steve Miller/GrampiesA true Bonk, like what you experienced sure feels weird. Dodie once bonked on the way to El Paso and literally lay down on the shoulder of the road before she just fell off the bike. Two wonderful brothers in pickup trucks stopped, rearranged the loads in their trucks to one truck, placed our bikes and gear in the other, us in the cab and drove us to a motel. They utterly refused any compensation for their time, trouble or gas money, and rode off. Lovely pair they were!
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3 weeks ago

Larry FrahmType your comment here
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3 weeks ago

Larry FrahmTo Larry FrahmI wonder how Peanut Butter Island got it's name
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3 weeks ago

Jeff Lee"I don't recall ever bonking before"

You are very fortunate if this was the only time. I've bonked at least once on most bike tours, and lots of times during very long day rides. In my case, I usually have to lie down immediately, sometimes on the shoulder of the road, but at least once, memorably, in the middle of a gravel forest road. I absolutely have to become horizontal immediately in the worst cases.
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3 weeks ago

Mark BinghamTo Steve Miller/GrampiesHeather and I always laugh about those guys in trucks. It seems that regardless of whether or not you've seen a single car on the road within the past 36 hours they show up within two minutes of when you need assistance, get you out of a jam, and will absolutely not accept any form of repayment in return. I also know that they LIVE for things like that.
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3 weeks ago

Mark BinghamTo Jeff LeeI definitely think you're at a higher risk for bonking because you ride literally three times as far as I do, and you do it a lot faster. Once every trip? That seems excessive. Maybe you should consider packing more junk food to take.
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3 weeks ago