Hiking the C&O: Day 4 (June 23, 2019)

Potomac morning

White's Ferry

Ferry taking truck into Virginia

Massive Maple Tree

Maryland's Largest Tree: Sycamore

Getting hotter by the day

Monocacy Aqueduct

Monocacy Aqueduct: The bridge once held water here so the canal boats could continue south.

Another view: to the right was once filled with water so the canal boats could continue south, while below the bridge, the tributary could still flow into the Potomac River.

At Point of Rocks

Illustration of how the aqueducts once were used.

Catoctin Aqueduct

Washout along the C&O

Newly installed footbridge

Brunswick Family Campground

I woke up on the 23rd of June to another sunny day. There was thumping music the night before complete with what sounded like a live DJ over a microphone. I thought I was in the middle of nowhere, guess not. I ate some breakfast and watched two bald eagles fight over a fish. After hitting the trail, I found out that I had camped less than a mile from the small town of White's Ferry. There is not much there, just a few houses a small store, and the ferry. This was the first time I had ever been there, and the ferry was not what I imagined. I pictured something larger, the river wider, the ferry bigger. Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching the ferry transport cars from Maryland to Virginia, and vice versa, while I drank a Gatorade I purchased at the small store. There was some interesting civil war history along the way here too. White's Ferry was a location where General Lee and the Confederates crossed into Maryland attempting to sway possible sympathetic citizens to their cause. Supposedly they were met with indifference here, and a few soldiers wondered why they weren't welcomed as liberators. Sounds familiar.

By 11:00 I was back in familiar territory. A couple years ago, I visited Dickerson Conservation Park to see Maryland's largest tree, a giant Sycamore growing on the Potomac. I decided to stop by and see the tree again, and took a small break along a really peaceful section of the Potomac. Around this time, my luck started to change a bit. After an excellent break, I decided to try and bushwhack back the towpath, rather than hike back the extra distance I took to detour and see the tree. This was a big mistake as the land around this spot is very swampy. I couldn't male it back to the canal, wasted a lot of time and energy, and got real muddy in the process, and had to backtrack anyway. Feeling a bit defeated, I continued north on the towpath feeling like I lost some momentum and it started heating up pretty good.

By lunch I was back in unfamiliar territory and reached the Monocacy Aqueduct. There are a total of 11 aqueducts on the C&O and they were considered beautiful man made works of art by engineers back in the day, and probably by many today. Confederates unsuccessfully tried to blow up the Monocacy Aqueduct during the civil war, but the structure was so solid, they were unable to. I began to have more appreciation for these structures as the hike progressed.

By late afternoon, I began to worry a little about what was ahead. I was back to getting good miles in, but there was something I read online about a "washout" just north of the Point of Rocks. Supposedly the C&O was closed there and there was a shuttle bus taking hikers and bikers around the area, first come, first served. This all sounded strange to me. How bad could a washout be where I couldn't just walk around it? There was nothing I had seen to this point along the Potomac where such a scenario could even exist. Also, how reliable was this shuttle? This wasn't exactly Yosemite National Park.

When I reached Point of Rocks, there was a small cardboard sign announcing the washout and shuttle pick up. It wasn't very comforting. I walked across the street to a small deli and ordered an Italian cold-cut sub and asked the cashier if she knew anything about the washout. She didn't. Of course, I forgot about the infinite source of information I had in my pocket, the smart phone. After finishing my sub, I googled info on the washout. As it turned out, a small footbridge had literally just been installed at the location, and the canal was open again for hikers and bikers. Score!

Also around this time, a funny situation occurred. Two out of shape guys came into the deli only wearing bathing suits asking for a ride back to their car. They had floated down the Potomac on rafts and forgot to bring their car keys. They were now several miles downstream and had to get back to the car where they left the keys. (I once did the same thing when I lived in California on a two day hike.) Unfortunately, I pointed to my back pack and told them I was on foot. I couple minutes later, I saw them trying to hitchhike on the side of the road. They looked comical.

By now I was getting tired and looking for a place to camp. There was a hiker biker site I was trying to reach. Also during this time, I met the only other backpacker I saw out there. He was doing a training hike and was getting ready to head out to the PCT for 600 miles. When I reached the hiker biker site, there was just one other man camped there. Unfortunately I also had run out of water. The man said the water pump was no longer working, and that the park service had to re-prime it, or something to that effect. I was already exhausted and began to weigh my options. I decided I would just go ahead and push the extra four miles to the Brunswick Family Campground, a place I like and have camped before in the past. My body wasn't ready for it, but that's how it goes sometimes. Around this time, I noticed mosquitoes for the first time. I reached the campground right after sunset. I limped to my campsite, limped back to the bathhouse where I got a shower, cooked some dinner, and fell asleep in my tent exhausted. My first 20 mile day in a long while...