It's been over a month since I finished hiking the 184.5 mile C&O towpath and wanted to wrap things up with a few final thoughts, especially for someone who might be interested in doing the same some day. Here are some that come to mind...
1.) Logistics: Logistically the hike was very easy which was one of the reasons I chose to do it. I wanted as little stress as possible. I hiked northbound from D.C. to Cumberland. I took the metro to Union Station in D.C., and then walked past the monuments, and met up with a bike path that took me past the Kennedy Center and eventually to the towpath's beginning in Georgetown. If one were to fly in, I'm sure they could walk right out of Reagan Airport, meet up with one of the bike paths and also walk over to Georgetown.
When I finished the hike, I spent the night at the Ramada in Cumberland, and then took the Amtrak located practically behind the hotel and rode back to Union Station in D.C. I met family there and we took the metro back home.
2.) Resupply: Resupply was also very easy. Several towns are located right off the towpath. One resupply lasted no more than 15 minutes before I was back on the towpath hiking. I chose to resupply in Bruswick (family dollar), Williamsport (a few extra items at the Sheetz), and Hancock (truck stop/gas station.) I had no "hiker hunger," the trail was too short for that, and I don't mind eating whatever is available. As a result gas station/ truck stop food was no problem, although better options are probably available. One could also resupply in Harpers Ferry, Paw Paw, or Sharpsburg, also located right off the towpath. There may be other resupply points as well. Overall, like I said, it was very easy, and I didn't have to carry lots of food weight.
3.) Water: Water was also easy to come by. This was my first original worry. The thought of drinking out of bottomland streams sounded like a terrible idea due to the amount of pollution in the water. The Potomac River is also very polluted. Have no fear! There are water pumps all along the towpath. It's heavily treated with iodine so it tastes bad, but at least its not Potomac River water! Water pumps were often located 5 miles apart from each other. Most hiker/biker campsites had water pumps located in them. That being said, I had to develop a "pump before you dump" strategy. There was one time I dumped the remaining water I had just before pumping new water only to find out the park service had just turned off the pump a day before, which left me with no water for several miles. Another time, I dumped my water again, only to find the water at the pump I was at was extremely yellow and looked awful. I learned my lesson never to dump my water, and try the pump first. Other than those two occasions, the water was great. On the C&O web page, they keep a list of the locations of each water pump, and whether or not they are turned on. I printed the page before I left and had complete "water peace of mind."
Here is a link to the page and scroll down to "Drinking Water Conditions:" https://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/conditions.htm
I also carried three water bottles with me which worked out great. I thought I'd probably only need two, but several cases I was glad to carry three as I dry camped several times and needed the water for drinking and cooking for the night and next morning.
4.) Camping: Camping is also easy to come by. There are hiker/biker campsites all along the way every few miles. I am a feen for solitude sometimes, and there were a couple of hiker biker sites that had too many people so I continued further. There were also times when I pushed too hard, and was not able to make it to the next hiker biker site and chose to stealth camp along the river once my body and mind gave out. Keep in mind though, that this is not always an option. There are too many places where there is no river real estate too set up a stealth camp, or there are too many people and houses around to comfortably do so. Here is a complete list of the hiker/biker campsites, with their mileage, from another hiker's blog and an overview. I also printed a copy of this list before I began: http://www.cocanal.com/along-the-way/2013/05/10/hikerbiker-campsites-an-overview/
5.) Backpackers: I saw only one other backpacker the entire trip, someone who was training for a hike on the PCT later in the summer. Otherwise the towpath is mostly utilized by day hikers and bikers. That being said, for whatever reason, once you put on that backpack, you become a different species of human. Connection with other people can be difficult because they are not sharing the same trails and tribulations. Bikers and hikers, although they have commonalities, can feel very different from one another. As a result, do not expect any kind of hiking community out there. Bikers seemed to share one, but there are so few hikers, it's not something one should expect if you hike the towpath. I enjoy the solitude, so 12 days alone did not feel like that big of a deal for me.
6.) Weather: I was fortunate to have practically 12 days of sun. Rain came in the evenings in the form of thunderstorms a couple of times, otherwise I did not need to hike in the rain at all. Temperatures ranged from 80 to 95 degrees during the day. However, the towpath is almost completely shaded. As a result, I was spared the misery of hiking in the sun during 95 degree weather. The shade kept things much cooler. Only during the rare times the tree canopy gave way, I noticed how hot it was in the sun.
7.) Hygiene. I was the cleanest I've ever been on a hike during this trip. The reason: The Potomac River. I took a "bath" in the river every single day except the first two. Once I "discovered" the joy of daily bathing in the river, my hike took on an added positive dimension. The irritability that one experiences when hiking or sleeping dirty was nonexistent. I often bathed twice to three times a day when it was really hot. I often bathed with my clothes on which kept odors to a minimum. Every morning I took a dip with my clothes on which kept me relaxed and cool all morning.
The Potomac is very unpredictable however. I've seen it look like a raging torrent of water, EXTREMELY dangerous. During my hike, it seemed as though the river was in a calming stage as their had been no major rain events for a couple weeks before or during my hike. I also made sure I took extreme caution when I got in the river. One bath I took I wedged myself between the river bank and a fallen tree to make sure I had something to hold on to so I wouldn't get swept away by any current.
8.) Bugs: I was a fool and did not bring bug spray. I don't know why really. I was fine the first fifty miles until around the town of Brunswick when the mosquitoes seemed to get suddenly worse. They got really bad north of Hancock. They came in waves and I did not notice a pattern when they would come and go. I did have a bug net for my head which I wore on several occasions, and had to wear my rain jacket a couple times to keep my arms from being bit up.
I was very grateful to have an enclosed tent to sleep in at night. I also developed several strange bites on my arms and legs. Maybe a spider bite or two, who knows? East coast hiking in the summer brings upon me all sorts of weird bites and rashes, that's usually just how it goes. Next time, I would bring some sort of bug repellent for the mosquitoes in particular.
9.) Maps: It's almost impossible to get lost on the C&O towpath. Since I was hiking north, the Potomac River was always to my left and the canal was to my right. The towpath has little mileage posts for every mile along the way. All I brought for maps was one of those National Park brochures that you get when vising a park. The C&O brochure shows the entire length of the towpath along with the towns and roads along the way which was completely adequate except for one instance: detours
10.) Detours: The C&O Canal website has a list of all of the detours. There was one detour in particular that I was glad I had the gps on my smart phone. I probably would have gotten lost or at least extremely frustrated during the detour around Dam 4 near mile 84 or so. It was several miles of road walking along country roads that I would not have been able to see using the brochure map. Like I said, I was very relieved to have my smart phone and pull up a more detailed map of where I was so I could successfully navigate the detour.
All other detours were simple and fairly straightforward.
11.) Gradient. The towpath is pretty much completely flat, all 184.5 miles! The path is often composed of tiny rocks which took a toll on my feet. I think If I chose smaller mileage days, blisters would not have been a problem.
12.) Useful websites. I did very little planning for this hike. There are three sites which I found useful and adequate for my needs, one which I listed already.
a.) National Park Service website: https://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/conditions.htm
b.) C&O Canal Adventures Blog: http://www.cocanal.com/along-the-way/2013/05/10/hikerbiker-campsites-an-overview/
c.) bikecando (all sorts of valuable info): https://bikecando.com/
