Hiking the C&O Towpath 2021: (Day 9) June 25th

Big Pool

typical campsite water pump

aqueduct

green heron

little pool

old carvings

truck stop resupply demolished

heading into Hancock for resupply

Slept good the night before, nice and deep. Woke up to what sounded like a pack of coyotes on the West Virginia side of the Potomac. Started hiking after I packed up and skipped breakfast, hoping to find a nice spot to stop, although none came for several miles. Hiked past Fort Frederick and saw lots of wildlife coming out of Big Pool, a large lake to my right. After finding a nice shady spot next to a cornfield for breakfast, I continued north along the towpath. The Potomac River seemed distant during this section after several days of the river being directly to my left within eye shot. I ate lunch at Little Pool hiker biker campsite and went for a quick refreshing dip into the river. My plan was to do a quick resupply in Hancock for the last few days of the trip. 2 years ago, I was able to walk to a truck stop just off the canal on the southside of town and resupply in 15 minutes and return to the towpath. When I left the canal to walk to the truck stop this year, I discovered the store was demolished. This meant I would have to hike another couple miles north along the towpath and enter town on the north side. This ended up taking almost an hour to accomplish, once I entered town, I found a dollar store to buy resupply and then walked to a local park to pack up the food. There was a musician in a gazebo rocking out on an electric guitar on old classics. Born to the wrong generation. I hiked to White Rock Campsite at mile 127 and called it a night. Two pairs of bicyclists touring arrived at the site later in the evening...