John Aylward Photography

Today’s Highlights:
Rob and Mary Lou, inn keepers at the Bright Morning B&B, prepared and served us a wonderful breakfast this morning. It topped off a very pleasant stay with them, and we can highly recommend this stop along the GAP trail. We departed just before 9:00 to continue our ride toward DC. Today’s ride was 43 miles, ending in Ohiopyle, PA.

There are very few towns along the trail, and those we traveled past were rather small. The trail felt remote, like a walk deep into a quiet forest. It follows the Youghiogheny River upstream, and although it hugged the river’s shoreline most of the way, the river was often hidden from view by the dense woods. The canopy of trees was pretty to ride through, and the shade helped keep us cooler on this humid summer day.

Around mile 25 we stopped in Connellsville to get some food and water. There was a nice campsite to stop in and a large market conveniently located right at the trail side.

We crossed a few interesting bridges today, the last one led into the town of Ohiopyle. From there we had a great vantage point down into the Youghiogheny River and watched some people rafting and swimming. There is a fun river swimming hole in town and a waterfall just below it. Ohiopyle sits in the middle of Ohiopyle State Park which is popular for river rafting and hiking. Services in town revolve around those activities, but other amenities are minimal. There are not many choices for eating out, and internet service for the general public has not reached this town yet!

We reached Ohiopyle around 2:00, as expected, and had a late lunch at the Café. Then we walked along the river and visited the waterfall. It didn’t take long to walk around the entire town, so we have a little time to relax this evening.

GAP and C&O Day 02

Here is a link to Joe’s pictures.
http://www.aimlesswanderings.com/Travel/2014-GAP-CO-Tail-Ride-1/Day-2-West-Netwton-to-Ohiopyle/

Statistics: Zoom and pan the map to explore the route.

Time: 6/30/2014, 5:40:3

Duration: 05:31:35

Ascent/Descent: 581 ft 91 ft

Distance: 43.01 M

Today’s Highlights:
Today was the first official day of our ride, and we covered 34 miles from Pittsburgh to West Newton. We left the hotel comfortably at 8:00 AM under a thick overcast sky and the temp about 70. Although it was a short day, we intended to finish early before the predicted afternoon rain started. It was a good plan even though it never rained. The first 15 miles were on paved paths through industrial areas following the Monongahela River. We crossed many bridges along the way, including the formidable looking Hot Metal Bridge which was recently renovated for the GAP path. At mile-15, the trail turned to follow the Youghiogheny River. From here the path was crushed stone and meandered along this peaceful river under a tunnel of trees. It was very pleasant and quiet. Although it was wooded, we didn’t see much wildlife along the way, only a rabbit, a groundhog and one energetic squirrel.

We reached Boston, PA at mile twenty and stopped at a trail volunteer maintenance station where a very friendly crew welcomed us. After a brief stop for snacks and water we continued on. We reached the Bright Morning B&B exactly at noon and felt a few raindrops on us. But then the sun came out even stronger and it was quite warm this afternoon. We had a nice lunch at The Trailside Restaurant. Having some spare time, we took a stroll across the river to the main part of town. It was like a ghost town, actually. The trail-side of town was much more vibrant with just a pizza shop, ice cream shop and The Trailside. We stopped for ice cream too, then headed back to the B&B to relax.

The highlight of the day was when Stacia received a surprise gift from one of her awesome friends to celebrate the completion of the first day of our journey. It was a bunch of delicious chocolate-covered strawberries and a bottle of strawberry chocolate wine.

The Bright Morning is a beautifully kept old house, and our hosts, Mary Lou and Rob, are wonderful.

GAP and C&O Day 01

Here is a link to Joe’s pictures for today.
http://www.aimlesswanderings.com/Travel/2014-GAP-CO-Tail-Ride-1/2014-GAP-CO-Tail-Ride-Day-1/

Statistics: Zoom and pan the map to explore the route.

Time: 6/29/2014, 4:54:4

Duration: 04:04:29

Ascent/Descent: 411 ft 640 ft

Distance: 34.45 M