Roy had our hosts at the Trail Inn laughing at his method for finding a desirable weather forecast. It was raining when we got up. The forecast you and I would find, probably even on the same site that Roy uses, said it was supposed to rain all day. Roy found one that said the rain would quit by 9 a.m., and darn if it didn't.
So we set out around 9:20, and Marie was delighted to find that the first 12 miles were on the paved rail trail.
We didn't get much rain all day, but Roy forgot to ask for good trail conditions. After we left the rail trail, it was muddy.
It's hard to appreciate the magnificent scenery when you have to keep your eye on the puddles in the trail.
We didn't get to Cumberland until after 5 p.m. We are glad to be done with the C&O.
The Rail Trail. We appreciated how much rock had been carved away to give us a level trail.
Roy exiting the Paw Paw Tunnel.
Somewhere in the meadow to the left is the Potomac River.
Roy cleaning our bikes at the Ramada in Cumberland.
We saw a dozen deer, many bunnies, including babies no bigger than our fists, bluebirds, cardinals, and a mama duck with her babies.
We smelled honeysuckle and fertilized fields. The canal changed from watered to algae covered to forested and back again. Each section had its own beauty, but mainly we wanted to be out of the mud.