Day 1 - 9/3 C&O Visitors Center - Cumberland, MD -> Canal Cabins - Paw Paw, WV - 29.5 miles - The weather forecast looked great for our trip, maybe the best weather of the summer. Low 80s for highs and low humidity...EXCEPT for Day 1...That nice weather was brought in by a front accompanied by fairly strong thunderstorms. I decided we would drive to Cumberland, MD to the starting point and evaluate the situation from there. Worst case, we would skip the first leg and just drive to our first night’s lodging. I took a half day off work hoping to leave our house by lunchtime for the 3+ hour drive to Cumberland or 2:00 at the latest. We planned 30 miles for the first day and with sunset coming earlier this time of year, I really didn’t want to be biking in the dark. Well, my son decided that he didn’t want to skip his Spanish class or participate via Zoom in the car - something about actually having to participate on video. So despite my protests, we didn’t end up leaving home until about 2:45. We drove through fairly heavy rain most of the way. I really didn’t want to bail on day 1. By the time we got to Cumberland it had cleared, so I did a quick radar check and it didn’t seem too bad so we decided to go for it. We probably left the C&O Visitors Center in Cumberland at 5:45. We carefully avoided mud puddles for the first few miles. However, only a few miles in it started to sprinkle and then rain fairly steady for awhile. Eventually, it stopped again, but it was getting darker. Trying to save as much light as possible, we barely stopped for rest (and took no pictures). We encountered many deer - it was somewhat surprising that we didn’t hit any. As we headed into a section of dark woods, I realized it was time to put our headlamps on. Right around this time it started to sprinkle which quickly escalated to a heavy rain. I thought this was exactly what I was trying to avoid this trip?!? With fogged up, rain covered glasses, I could only see a few feet ahead of me. And taking only 1 <5 minute rest stop, I was already quite sore. We were headed to Paw Paw, WV and I knew that if I got to the tunnel I had gone too far. As we continued on for about an hour longer, pondering the stupid things I’ve done in my life trying to rank this event, eventually we came to a road bridge that I assumed/hoped led to Paw Paw. Luckily, I was correct and we encountered my wife leaving a gas station in town and followed her to our lodging for the night - the
Canal Cabins. This place is perfect for the trip we were on and our current conditions. They have 2 cabins and a converted bus which serves as another lodging choice. My wife and son were interested in the novelty of the bus, so that’s what we had reserved. All 3 share clean bathrooms with showers and a very necessary bike cleaning station, plus FREE laundry facilities. Maybe I was desperate for any dry location, but I’d highly recommend this place. We cleaned the bikes, took showers, ate some dinner that my wife had picked up and quickly fell asleep.