Hiking the C&O: Day 6 (June 25, 2019)

Giant Cave

This cave had ice cold water flowing out of it

Dam 4

Road walking detour

Exposed but scenic road walk. Thought I was out west again.

Very little shoulder made walking dangerous

Back on the towpath late in afternoon

Midpoint

A severe thunderstorm passed by in the middle of the night. I felt secure camped on my little ledge and all the plant leaves, vines, and trees overhead kept the downpours at bay. I woke up to the sound of joggers running down the towpath a few feet away in the morning. My camp was hidden behind a small mound and the thick vegetation. After tediously breaking down my camp, I took another dip in the Potomac with all my clothes on. It was going to be a hot day. I bulldozed my way through the vegetation and was back on the towpath. Man, it felt good to get out of there. I needed to start walking to smooth away all of the previous evenings frustrations and claustrophobia. It felt like I was released from a spider's web.

I soon understood the reason for all of the people I was seeing and hearing. The college town of Sharpsburg was right around the corner. Initially, I wanted to walk into the town and see what it was like. This morning though, I just wanted to walk in peace and quiet. I was a little mad with myself when as soon as I passed the town, the towpath became very quiet and good camping was abundant. If I had just pushed a little further the night before. Oh well.

Mosquitoes came and went once again. I really enjoyed looking at the plant life growing on the cliffs to my right, just above the canal. Some highlights were some interesting looking caves. One was gigantic, reminded me of something I'd see in New Mexico. Perhaps it was once a cave dwelling for some indigenous people long ago. Another cave had ice cold water flowing out of it, and I did not see how far one could explore. I turned around because it was totally dark.

I did not do a lot of research before this hike and I was about to pay the consequences again. By afternoon, I was getting tired and wanted to find a place to camp sooner rather than later. I had a hiker/biker campsite I was aiming for, at a mileage that felt doable given the state of my body. What I failed to calculate was an upcoming roadwalk/detour near Dam 4. The detour was longer than I expected. The sun was out in full force and roasted my skin. There was very little shoulder and the walk was downright dangerous with cars speeding by. Worst of all, I started to develop blisters on my feet for the first time in ages. I already had them taped up, but going on my third consecutive 20 mile day, my feet were not prepared yet. By the end of the roadwalk, I was limping along pretty good, everything hurt. To make matters worse, when I reached the hiker biker site, it was filled with what appeared to be a scout group or something, the young kids goofing around and loud. It was more than I could handle. Once again, I made a hasty decision and said "Fuck it," and kept walking.  Once again, there was nowhere to camp and I had to walk another 2.5 miles before settling on the first place I saw, putting me well over 20 miles for the day. There was nowhere to swim, so I had just enough energy to eat dinner and call it a day. I fell asleep to fireflies and an owl hooting nearby...