GAP 2017

At this phase of Zachary's life, we share a common interest in bicycles, as evidenced by the fact that my garage holds three bikes each.  While his interest is different than mine-- he enjoys the two rat rod bikes he has built for cheap and feels cool tooling around town on his flat black painted creations-- there is some overlap.  His third bike is a mountain bike (MTB) and we enjoy an occasional thrash through a forested trail together. When he saw the pictures from my October tour of the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP), he was intrigued and said he'd like to do that.  Seeing an opportunity to spend quality time with my son, I pushed to see if he was serious about committing to a multi-day ride if I could arrange my summer schedule and outfit his MTB with a rack and panniers.  He was excited about the possibility, so over the winter and spring we shopped equipment, adapted his bike, and planned an itinerary.  We planned to ride Monday through Friday, but Lily's appointment with the USCIS caused us to push it to a Wednesday to Sunday trip.  Fortunately, we could still make it work, though I prefer to have a day or two to rest before returning to work.

Day 1: (miles: 59 daily, 59 trip)  The itinerary I rode for my October ride worked well, so we copied the first three days exact.  We parked the car in Greenock, Pennsylvania, loaded minimal day gear, and rode 25 miles west to the Pittsburgh end of the GAP... mile 150 at Point State Park.

0 miles ridden, leaving Greenock, headed for Pittsburgh

Several new and old bridges criss-cross the river and the rails on this stretch of trail

This isn't my favorite part of the trail, but Zachary really enjoyed this portion.  This 25 miles takes the rider through industrial areas, riverside shopping/dining/residential areas, and downtown skylines.  About half way to Pittsburgh, the skies got very grey and let loose with some rain.  We took temporary shelter under a Costco fuel island roof, but when it seemed it was going to last a while, we pulled out the rain jackets and pressed onward.  It was a warm day, a moderate rain, and not too unpleasant to ride in.  Fortunately, it was only rain, devoid of lightning danger.  It rained less than an hour, then cleared.

We made good time to Pittsburgh and took some time to relax and munch some snacks at Point State Park, then headed back from whence we came... our car in Greenock.

Point State Park, the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela Rivers

Trains...

trains, all day... and all night!  But, they are why this trail exists.

Arriving back in Greenock, we loaded bikes on the car and drove east along the river to West Newton, Pennsylvania.  We went to Subway for dinner and parked the car in the overnight lot at the West Newton Station.  We loaded full gear on the bikes and, again, rode west, approximately nine miles almost back to Greenock.  This put us at about 59 miles for the day at the Dravo Cemetery Campground... a free primitive camp adjacent to the historic Dravo Cemetery. Both lean-to shelters were occupied when we arrived.  One guy offered to let us share the shelter with him, but I decided to just pitch our tent and keep to ourselves.  I did not sleep well this night.  I awoke in the middle of the night to a gnawing sound.  I went to investigate and discovered a pair of raccoons helping themselves to our food cache.  I shooed them away, rehung our bag near the tent, then slept very lightly, guarding our food. Fortunately, our losses were minimal, to the point that we still brought food back home with us.

Campsite at the Dravo Cemetery Campground

Dravo Cemetery

Day 2: (miles: 40 daily, 99 trip) To complete the small section that we missed the day before between Dravo and Greenock, we left Dravo riding west for about 2.5 miles. Arriving in Greenock, we turned back east and retraced those 2.5 miles, past Dravo, and back through West Newton (passing our parked car).  We stopped briefly at the station in West Newton and talked to a couple from Germany, who had taken 4 months away from their jobs to come to the US and ride their bikes from New York to San Francisco.  We continued east toward our next stop in Connellsville, Pennsylvania.

Leaving Dravo for Connellsville, by way of Greenock

This colorful arch welcomes eastbound riders to Connellsville

Volunteers maintain this free trailside camping area in Connellsville

We managed to get my favorite of the four shelters

We arrived in Connellsville to find the shelter I wanted still available.  We used the water supply to freshen up a bit and rinse out our ride clothes.  We set up camp and we were HUNGRY!  We ordered an eyes-bigger-than-our-belly pizza at the shop in the nearby plaza.  It was delicious, but we couldn't come close to eating it all. We shared leftovers with two teenage boys who were cycling the GAP with their Grandpa.  I'm not sure Grandpa realized how much fuel was needed for 2 teenagers, because they were very happy that we offered them extra carbs!

Watching the forecast on my phone, we questioned the next day's ride.  It looked likely that there would be precipitation most of the day, with thunderstorms (and that means lightning) mixed throughout.  We strongly considered cutting our five days to three and turning for the car in the morning.

The evening view from the shelter

Day 3: (miles: 46 daily, 145 trip) The night was dry in the shelter and I slept soundly, waking to find my food cache unharmed.  The weather forecast had improved very slightly while we slumbered, but there had been rain off and on during the night and the morning was grey with drizzle.  I mostly left the decision to Zachary whether to ride further east or retreat west.  He was leaning toward retreat, but I hated for him to miss out on the beautiful scenery that we would cover on this day's ride.  I suggested, since it was only about 25 miles back to the car, that we at least head east for five miles or so before we made up our mind.  He agreed.  Once we got to the five mile point (as I had hoped), he said we may as well just keep going.

The Pinkerton Tunnel is flanked by trestle on both ends to accommodate a large bend in the Casselman River

The trail in the background, crossing a mountain stream

Photo op at the milepost of my age

The weather turned out better than it was predicted.  It rained off and on, but not constant or hard. This day of riding was noticeably uphill all day.  Nothing that resembled steep or difficult, just noticeably up grade. The trail was a little messy, but I had the benefit of fenders... Zachary did not.  The heaviest rain of the day's riding happened when we were about three miles from our camp.  The skies opened up and drenched us with a cold rain.  We were staying in a pay campground this night, so I knew we would have a hot shower when we got there.  We skipped rain gear, lowered our heads, and cranked pedal!

We arrived, dripping and cold, at the Husky Haven Campground in Rockwood, Pennsylvania.  Only one other site was occupied, so we had our pick of the place.  We chose one of the few sites that had a pavilion and took shelter from the rain.  We set our tent up under the roof, then rode the quarter mile, or so, back to the road and crossed the bridge into town.  The campground office is in the basement of their guesthouse, directly across the river from the campground.  We warmed up and cleaned up in the nice warm showers.  We used the complimentary bike wash to rinse the trail grime off the bikes (crushed limestone and rain makes a mess of bikes).  We had the office to ourselves, so we spent the evening there, out of the rain.  We ordered a pizza from a shop just up the street, charged our phones, did a load of laundry, and shot some pool at "Barry's Pool Hall" (Barry and his wife own and operate the Husky Haven).

When we felt it was time to turn in, we hopped back on the bikes and made a run, between rain showers, for the campground back across the river.  We were thankful for our dry tent under roof.  It rained pretty hard through the night, but the raindrops on the tin roof above us was a great soundtrack for sleep... and it nearly drowned out the train horns that are pretty prevalent through the night at the Husky Haven.  I slept well.  

Barry's Pool Hall in the office of the Husky Haven Campground

Husky Haven Campground on a clear morning

Day 4:  (miles: 46 daily, 191 trip)  We awoke refreshed to sunshine and clear skies.  The Casselman River had risen significantly from the overnight rain, and was flowing fast and muddy past the campground.  Rockwood is as far east as this trip would take us, so today would just be a reverse ride of the previous day.  We packed up fairly leisurely, anticipating a relatively easy pedal back down grade to Connellsville. 

Leaving Husky Haven in Rockwood, headed back to Connellsville

There were a few messy spots on the trail from the previous nights rain, but the crushed limestone riding surface dried surprisingly fast.  There were a number of areas where the trail was partially eroded from water runoff and some limbs and trees had littered the trail overnight.  I was extremely impressed with the speed at which trail volunteers cleared the storm debris.  Several places we saw and smelled fresh sawdust where early morning cleanup had already occurred. The trail was clear all the way to Connellsville.

We stopped off and spent some time in Confluence.  We investigated the Outflow Campground and I will add this to my list of potential places to stay.  We did not stay in Confluence on this ride, but I did on my last ride and was not very fond of the campground I chose.  The Outflow is better.  While there, we bumped into the Grandpa and teenage grandsons that we shared the pizza with.  They had met some family there and were taking a few rest days at the campground.

Yesterday's rain had soaked my nearly 25 year old leather palm riding gloves and they were disintegrating.  When in Confluence on my last trip, I stopped in at a bike shop for some local information.  The owner was extremely helpful, though I purchased nothing from him.  With my gloves in sad shape, I knew just where to get another pair.  We rolled into town and visited Confluence Cyclery and I picked out a fancy pair with gel palm. I asked the owner to give my trusty old Trek leather palms a proper burial.  I reminded him that he helped me the last time through and he thanked me for remembering him on this trip.

A mural just outside Confluence, Pennsylvania

Last night's rain made for many beautiful waterfalls on today's ride

We made good time on the down grade back to Connellsville.  We were hoping to get my favorite shelter.  Alas, it was Saturday, and when we arrived, all four shelters were occupied.  At least one of them (and I suspected two of them) were occupied by locals who were just free camping on a Saturday night.  This is against the rules, but who is to stop them?  The shelters are intended for through travelers only (bikers, hikers, and paddlers) who pour money into the local economy during the recreation season.

We planned to pitch our tent in the grass, but struck up a conversation with a solo fella in one of the shelters.  He recognized us and it turns out he was the guy who offered to share a shelter with us the first night in Dravo.  He extended the same invitation and we accepted this time.

His name was Ron and I really enjoyed talking with him. He traveled very light.  He was riding a no-frills bike with water bottle cages duct taped to the frame. Water bottles were recycled soda bottles. He carried a department store tent that he acquired from someone who was throwing it away and a basic plastic tarp.  In a small duffel, he said he carried one change of clothes, one light jacket, and one blanket.  He had no sleeping pad, but used an emergency blanket (picture a heat reflecting aluminum foil blanket) if the ground got too cold.  The tent, tarp, and duffel were bungee corded to a rack (that had been repaired with duct tape) with a tool kit attached to the back of his saddle.  That was pretty much Ron.  He said most towns have a dollar store and he buys cheap food rather than carrying it and if he wears out a piece of clothing or needs something additional, he just finds a thrift store rather than carrying excess baggage.  Talking with him further, he shared that he was divorced and lives in Florida, but has family in Pittsburgh.  Each spring, he rides his bike from Florida to Pittsburgh for the summer.  When he gets bored, he hops on the trail for a while.  In the fall, he rides his bike back to Florida.  Honestly, I felt a little indulgent that night, as I rolled out my sleeping pad and my fluffy sleeping bag in my Eureka lightweight backpacking tent.  I also felt a little guilty because the first time I met Ron in Dravo, his scruffy appearance caused me to decline his offer to share a shelter.  Turns out, he was a good guy and I admire the simplicity of his life.  I sincerely hope I bump into him again on future GAP rides I may take.

We share a shelter with Ron from Florida

The abandoned trestle we view across the river from the campsite

Day 5:  (miles: 25 daily, 216 trip) Skies were clear on Sunday and we packed and headed out for the final 25 miles.  Although the shortest mileage day of the trip, it seemed a hard ride.  Partly, we were tired, but the return trip of a turn around is often difficult because it is a repeat of what you have already done.  Riding the first direction has anticipation of what is ahead.  The return trip is mostly just a rewind of where you've already been.  Still, it was a nice day for a ride.  We finished without incident, logging a total of 216 miles in 5 days of riding, and with no mechanical breakdowns.  We packed up bikes and gear and headed for home, stopping to load up on Taco Bell (as is often our adventure tradition).

As my kids rapidly grow up, I don't take opportunity to spend concentrated time with them lightly.  It helps that bikes are a bit of a hobby for him and it is a common interest for us, but I feel very blessed that Zachary chose to spend 5 days adventuring with me ... and asked for copies of photos so he could brag to his friends on Instagram about his 216 mile bike tour with his dad.  Even better... he asked if we could maybe do it again next summer!  He'll soon be an adult pursuing some life apart from me; so, yep... it's on my list to try to make happen for the summer of 2018!

He came.  He rode.  He proudly wears the t-shirt and wants to go ride it again

'yak attack

When my older boys were just little tykes, I bought an older fiberglass canoe.  It was a great moment in negotiating (which has never been a strength of mine).  After examining it at my brother's neighbor's yard sale, the purchase went something like this:

Me (with my two toddler sons in tow and thinking that the $150 price was probably reasonable):  "Will ya take one twenty five?"

Jim (rubbing his chin and probably remembering when his kids were little):  "Naw, I won't..." (pause for dramatic effect) "but, I'll take a hundred."

Although I had visions of fun family outings and possible peaceful solo paddling jaunts, the reality is that it is quite a lot of effort to use the thing... dragging it out of the shed...getting it on the car top (which is permanently scarred from a few canoe "oops" episodes)... strapping it down... getting it off the car top and into the water...

Jen proved to only be good for short outings (making it hard to justify the effort), so the boys were only out in it a few times (riding in the center).  Over the past few years, they've gotten big enough to paddle, so we've had it out for a few guys-only outings, but, there's still that effort thing...

It has mostly rested comfortably in my shed. (Sorry, Jim!)

I love the idea of a canoe, but I've long been attracted to kayaks.  The dilemma is that it seemed selfish to trade my canoe (which can accommodate two adults and one or two kids) for a kayak (which can accommodate... me).  I considered purchasing multiple kayaks, but the expense of multiple boats and licenses didn't seem practical for this frugal Dad!

Although that's pretty much the extent of my sons exposure to boating, both Dylan and Zachary have had a long-standing interest in boats. 

I'm not sure of his exact age, but it was probably around six... Dylan (who has always wanted to be an inventor) devised a plan to build his own boat, the "Teeth Warrior".  It was to be a one-man battleship with large metal "teeth" covering the exterior.  Everyone knows a good battleship is made of metal, so Dylan was going to fashion it out of the only source of large quantities of metal a boy of six could get his hands on...

"Mom, can you start saving me your tin cans?  I want to cut the sides off of them and hook them together to build a boat... I drew plans... do you think this'll work, Dad?"

Although he kept the plans for a long time and was convinced that he would some day build the boat, he has since lost them (but not before I scanned and saved them!)  I'll share them with you (with Dylan's permission) if you promise not to steal them and build your own battleship!

the "Teeth Warrior" master blueprint

Zachary's interest in boats manifested itself in the building of model boats.  Last summer, he found some foam blocks and crafted two model boats from it... the "Bessy I" and the "Bessy II".  Without any help, he cut, glued and taped pieces of foam together to actually fashion a curved hull, with a Captain's cab atop the boat.  They resembled a Maine lobster boat.  They were very impressive, and he actually floated them on a string in a calm section of the river, above our town falls.  One got away from him and went over the falls.  It survived the crash, and, amazingly, he was able to retrieve it below the falls and repair it.  His intent was that the Bessy's I and II were prototypes of boats he would build someday.  Unfortunately, I don't think we ever photographed the Bessy's and I could not locate them... I think the foam finally disintegrated.

Dylan's love of fishing matches his interest in boats.  About the time we started getting the canoe out for a few guy's outings, he started pestering me to "go in with him" to buy a fishing boat (even though I really don't much care for fishing).  We was going to save his Christmas and birthday money, along with money that a generous relative pays the kids for grades, so that we could buy a boat together.

And then, I got an idea... how about fishing from a kayak?  Angling kayaks are fairly popular and we could buy two entry-level kayaks for probably less than we could buy a small fishing boat.  He started looking at kayaks online and he was hooked. 

He passed the bug to Zachary... make it three kayaks... "can we buy some, Dad?"

I told them if they saved their money, it would be feasible to buy their own kayaks in their early teens, and if they were diligent, I would let them make the purchase and buy my own so we could all go out together... envisioning Zachary and I paddling around and exploring while Dylan angled for the big one nearby.  Shortly thereafter, Dylan had the opportunity to clean a couple horse stalls on Saturday mornings for a man at church.  Although his first "job" was fairly short lived, it quickly advanced the young man's savings account to put a kayak easily within reach... before his teen years.

The dilemma, though, was that it was a pact of three, and young son Zachary was still short of cash.  Hearing of the dilemma, the relative offered Zachary an advance against next year's good grades (no pressure, Zachary) to speed up his purchase.

I began shopping to see just how close Zachary's finances were and discovered a pretty good sale on a decent boat.  Ideally, I wanted him to have a little more reserve after he made the purchase, but since he technically had enough to purchase it and not be totally broke (and my kids are growing up so fast), I made the decision... we'll take three kayaks, please!

After a short bout of buyer's remorse (which I was a little pleased that they experienced... it was a big expenditure for young men... and for frugal Dad, as well!), they were nearly pee-your-pants excited to be ten and twelve years old and boat owners!  Today was the planned "maiden voyage".

At 9.5 feet long and 37 pounds each, they are alot easier to move around than my 17 foot canoe.  And, unlike my canoe, they fit great on my 8 foot utility trailer.  I need to fashion a rack of sorts for stacking them on my trailer, but in an effort to efficiently and quickly get them the few miles across town to the river, I discovered that they fit fairly nicely in the van!

I was loaded up and ready when Jen discovered my plan.  "How are you going to get them back home?", says she.  "Why, the same way I get them there, in the van.", says I.  "Wet kayaks covered in river water?  Not in my van.", says she.  "Hmmmm, good point.", says I.

Plan B:  Out of the van and onto the trailer.  Luckily, I only needed to go a few miles.  Yep, I need to figure a better trailering system, but we got them there safely.

Zachary will "grow into" his boat over the next few years, but handled it well.  Dylan is already planning where to add rod holders and how to stow his tackle box.

It was a beautiful evening to be on the water. We paddled about a mile upstream until a log jamb necessitates a portage, then let the lazy river ease us back to our take-out. The kayaks are more relaxing than my canoe... (if you don't mind the paddle tips dripping water in your lap!) The boys evidently didn't mind... "Dad, can we do it again tomorrow?"

pack... let's go!

My employer makes me choose my vacation time in December of the year prior.  I had picked this week with the intent of either a camping trip or a beach vacation.  As the summer approached, we had no definite plans, but we were leaning toward camping as a matter of economics.

Days before my weeks vacation, still with no definite plans, Jen found a beach house that was not yet reserved for the week.  It has been a few years since our last trip and boy, could we use some sand, surf, and salt!  We called my parents to see if they were available and interested.  After debating a bit about whether or not we could get my dad to the beach from the house with his bum knees, we all decided it was a go!

We booked the house and the frantic planning and packing began!  OBX... here we come!

Road trip!

To Jen's chagrin, the kids still love the tradition of driving late into Saturday night and "camping" in the car in the parking lot of the Williamsburg Wal-Mart for a few winks.  We are outgrowing this tradition... perhaps this will be the last year?

It was a rough "campout"... somebody napped too much during the drive and was wide awake!

This boy loves him some Grave Digger!

Hanging out at Jockey's Ridge State Park while we wait to check into our beach house.

The Jockey's Ridge kite festival

I am a creature of habit.  To me, OBX=Hatteras Island, where things are less developed.  The house we chose this time was further north on a different section of the Outer Banks... an area that was more developed.  It was also a little further walk from the beach, and unlike Hatteras Island, in a neighborhood that had trees.  I wasn't so sure about that, but I decided to give it a try.  The upside was that it shaved about 50 miles of drive each way.  Southern Shores, NC also had boardwalks over the dunes for beach access.  With my Dad's knees deteriorating, there is probably no way he can walk over the sand area to get to the beach like he did in the past on Hatteras Island.  Time for a new location... I guess.

"Otter Banks"

One of my beach house requirements... an outdoor shower.  I wonder if I could get away with one of these in Ohio?

Is my hair windblown?

The morning after we arrived, after spending hours in the van with "seat-belt on", Benny settled into this chair in the corner of the room and pulled the curtain behind up through the back of the chair. He wrapped it around him and sat there for over a half hour, saying, "see-my seat-belt", and "seat-belt on". I'm not sure if he just wore the seatbelt so long that he felt he couldn't be without one, or if he assumed if he wore his seatbelt in the house that we wouldn't load him back into the van for another day! It took me quite a while to persuade him to forgo the seatbelt and play! Love my Benny!

The house came with this great wagon... many memories involved this wagon during the week.

beach bums

Ahhh... sand and flip-flops!

Hanging out on our great shaded deck

afternoon recharge

My parents celebrated their 49th anniversary while we were here

The ocean was angry a few days.  The beach was non-existent during high tide on this day.

What do you do when the beach doesn't cooperate with swimming?  How about a blanket tent?

We drove north to Duck, NC to watch the sunset.  Jen discovered this snake in the shallows of the Currituck Sound.

Sunset over the Currituck Sound, Duck, NC

Currituck Lighthouse

Another sunset on the Currituck Sound, Duck, NC

I love this picture... 3 bookworms!

The red flag in the background indicates a no swimming day

Heading back to the house... Ben has the life!

I picked up some speed rolling down this hill.  Just after the picture was taken, the steering started to get a little squirrely... my mom was diving behind a garbage can! 

Dad's knees were hurting from walking in the sand... the wagon wins again!

Lunch on the drive home was sandwiches from the cooler, but we "splurged" for "dinner"... the choices were Taco Bell or McDonald's. With the heavy traffic we hit on the first part of the drive, I was looking for fast and cheap!  The actual vote was 4-2 in favor of Taco Bell (with the only McD voters being Ben and Lily). However, when the road-weary Benny came to life at the mention of McDonald's (the boy LOVES McDonald's), his enthusiasm in lobbying for his candidate swung the vote... "Macadonald's? Chick-a-nuggets? Fwies?"  I was first to swing my vote to the MacaDonald's side, making it a tie... Jen was quick to follow!

OK Benny, MacaDonald's it is!

So, it's now back to the grind with another OBX vacation in the books.  It was a great week... especially for pulling it together so quickly!  And, even if it wasn't Hatteras Island, it's still OBX, and the place gets in your soul!