This year has been flying by and it’s hard to believe we’re sitting just about 2 months away from Christmas and the beginning of a new year! Brady and I have been trying to soak in all the great weather and fall colors while it lasts. A month ago we hiked the Billy Goat Trail, we were at the beach in Delaware a few weekends ago, then we went backpacking, then hiking with my family, and this past weekend we went out to Western Maryland to ride the rail trail and enjoy some fall colors!
The specific trail we rode on has 2 parts: the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) that runs from Pittsburgh, PA to Cumberland, MD and then it continues on to Washington D.C. via the C&O Towpath for a total of 335 miles. We started at the Eastern Continental Divide and rode the last 25 miles of the GAP trail down into Cumberland on Saturday afternoon. The best thing about this section of the trail is that it’s all downhill (1800 ft elevation drop <- I wouldn’t want to be going the other way!) So it’s not like you can just sit there and coast but even with breaks and minimal effort, you can make the trip in 3-4 hours. The only thing that’ll be sore after this trip is your tailbone if you don’t ride often.
It was a 2 hour drive to get out to Western Maryland and the weather Saturday morning was abysmal. Dreary, misty, foggy, damp and overcast yucky weather. As soon as we started driving up the mountain to our start point, we left the clouds hanging on the mountains behind us and we were in instant sunshine! By the time we rode our bikes into Cumberland a few hours later, it was if it had never been overcast at all. The weather for our ride couldn’t have been more perfect. It was 70 degrees with just enough cool in the breeze to keep you from overheating while riding in the sun.
