Sep 2. C&O Huckleberry Hill campsite and "The Stairs"

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/9535683730?sharve_unique_id=21

   

Today was spent on the C & O canal except for about a 4 mile detour where repairs were being made. It was a pleasant change to have a few hills to go up and down and see a few farms. We also crossed over the river to Shepherdstown where we tried Bear Paw and Sweet Corn flavors of ice cream. (Did we mention that we tried dill pickle pizza yesterday?)

   As we traveled on the towpath, to our left was the canal bed and then next to that 20% of the time were rock cliffs/formations anywhere from 20 to 60 feet high.   On our right side was the Potomac River, some of it behind a couple of dams and some places with significant rapids. At one spot, we saw about 5 deer down at the water on the other side of the river.

Sitting on a blocked-off inlet lock from the Potomac to the canal. 

View of the same spot from the other side.

    Today we met Crazy Ted (that's what he told us when we asked his name!) who is 79 and lives across the river in West Virginia on 3/4 acre with part along a creek and part on a bluff above it. He rides a mountain bike with huge tires but it is not an e-bike. He was on his way to visit a friend in Maryland who lives near the canal. He likes to talk and one story he told us was about how his dad was an attorney in Baltimore, who then went to work for a large sand company in  Berkeley Springs WV with multiple offices around the country.   Ted had a girlfriend in 2nd through 6th grade and his parents invited the girl and her parents to the house and although he didn't know it, after this his parents did not want him hanging around with her even though they all went to to the same church.   They sent him off to boarding school in Alexandria, Virginia and in 11th grade he flunked out on purpose so he could go to his hometown high school and hopefully see this girl.  At this time the girl's dad got accepted to an Episcopal Seminary which was right next to that boarding school, so once again they were far apart.  He eventually found out what his parents did but never did get together with the girl.  

                              "Crazy Ted"

    We are camping tonight at another hiker biker campsite, Huckleberry Hill, near Harpers Ferry.  After we got our tent set up, we biked the 2 miles or so to the bridge over the Potomac there to check out THE stairs up to the bridge. We first heard about them 9 days ago, when we were chatting with someone about our plans to leave the C&O at Harpers Ferry, and the guy said, "What about the stairs?" And we said, "What stairs?"

The bridge carries an active rail line and the Appalachian Trail (AT) over the Potomac.  The AT follows the canal for a bit, then goes up stairs to get to the bridge, crosses the river and continues south on the other side through Harpers Ferry. Once we heard about them, we kept asking people ever since if it was doable to get recumbent bicycles up the stairway. We got different descriptions of how tight the turns were and different opinions whether it could be done and different recommendations on where to cross the Potomac.  Now we were going to see for ourselves. 

  At the bridge, we found that yes! this is something that we could manage! and we wouldn't have to use our backup plan of going back and crossing at Shepherdstown. Back to the campsite we went, knowing which direction we would be going in the morning. 

  Several other people have arrived to camp, too. One is a couple on their first overnight bike trip who are riding the whole C & O.   Another is someone who has done some bike riding and likes to camp.  So she decided to try combining them. She parked her car nearby and pedaled a few miles wearing one backpack and with another resting on her top tube to get her camping gear here. We are definitely the seniors of the group, both in age and experience, and may even be old enough to be their grandparents!