It was a cool night with sounds of frogs and birds. I fell quickly to sleep, I was tired. It was 7:30 when I crawled out of my warm sleeping bag and hit the cold dew. Breakfast was fast, I want to get on the road as soon as possible.
As the day goes by I go by some wonderful sights. The C&O is mostly in the deep woods and the scenery gets better with every mile.
I ride through the Paw Paw Tunnel, which was dug through the mountain for the Canal. It is long and dark and the walkway is narrow carved on the ledge, this is where the mules walked to tow the barges.
I thought about staying in Paw Paw at the hostel. I called the number when I got out of the tunnel, it’s closed until May. So, I continue down the trail. There are campsites roughly five miles apart. I come to a nice quiet camp at 4:00 and decide this is where I’ll sleep. I set up camp and cooked dinner, time to relax now. I hear someone walking the trail. He’s carrying a backpack. He looks at me and waves and walks into the camp. I have company tonight, someone to share our stories. Brandon, is hiking to Washington, D.C. This is his test hike for attempting an Appalachian through hike.
