Sadly there are no pics this day, as my phone was still without charge.
I had mistakenly identified the campsite I stayed at in the previous post. It wasn't Turtle Run, it was Chisel Branch.
A note about Chisel Branch H/B campsite. Owls. I fell asleep listening to the calls of at least two different owls. It was really lovely. Also it's close to a parking area, so a number of locals will park and walk in. Not a big deal, unless you want to be alone.
I awoke after a fine nights sleep, only interrupted (twice) by other campers joining me at the site. and went about getting ready, and started trying to figure out where the nearest town with a bike shop was to get another spare to replace the spare that had replaced the failed tyre on Thursday. Without a phone this was a frustrating exercise of panning and zooming on my gps. After a short bit, some coffee and an energy bar and I was soon on my way.
A cool morning ride to Point of Rocks had me dining on some lovely gas station food, since the two restaurants in town weren't yet open. Restocked and on my way, Brunswick turned up nothing of the bike shop sort, so no stopping there this time. The memories of Kings pizza didn't want me revisiting anyway.
Between not needing to take photos, since I had already taken them on during the Eastbound trip, and not being able to since the phone was dead, I was making really good time. Being a Saturday, there were lot of other cyclists and some hikers out. Somewhere just West of Brunswick, another rider caught up with me, unloaded he was just out for a day ride, doing out and backs each weekend starting where he had left off the previous weekend, slowly working his way West to complete the trail, 10-12 miles at a time. We chatted for a while, and reaching his planned turnaround spot, he decided he'd keep riding and chatting, eventually taking him 9 miles past his planned end point, and turning back toward his car for what would he noted would be his longest ride ever.
I reached the climb to Shepherdstown and briefly considered stopping back in at Shepherdstown Pedal & Paddle where I'd had such great service on Thursday, but opted to carry on, as I wanted to make it to the Williamsport Visitor Center before they closed.
I arrived in Williamsport just before the visitor center's closing time, and inquired about a bike shop. Sadly, they young lad told me the local shop had been closed for some time, but if I was in need of a tube, they sold them there. We took a look at his map and list of bike shops, and determined the next nearest was in Hancock. Okay cool, I had stopped there on my East-bound leg, so I knew where that was. I'll be there as soon as they open in the morning. Could he recommend me any place to eat? He recommended this glorious place called Sheetz. I asked about other options. Pizza? Pizza sounds great. Tony's is the best he said. I will be the judge of that. Do they have beer? That, the not-of-age park employee didn't know. I would take my chances.
Arriving at Tony's, I made the wise decision of ordering the pizza with the sauce on the side. Upon tasting the sauce, I never needed to taste it again. But the crust, cheese and topping were great. As were the couple of Yuenglings I had. What they didn't have was an outlet to charge my phone. Oh, well.
Off to the last hiker/biker outside Hancock, Little Pool. When I arrived, it wasn't even really nearing sunset, yet there were already two campers there, on some rather rickety looking bikes, with one hauling a kids trailer filled with their stuff. I asked if they minded sharing the site, to which they agreed. I chatted a bit then got to setting up my camp, then changed and washed myself off under the handpump. I then chatted a bit more and went to lie down while they were both engaged in phone calls to family. I really did mean to get back up and converse more with them once they were done with their calls, but man, was I comfortable. The two young men were from Pittsburgh, and had taken the train to D.C. to ride back home. They had been planning this trip for two years, but only had one week to get it done and weren't averaging the kind of mileage they were hoping for. Raccoons had gotten into their trailer and taken much of their food on day one, and it had been a bit downhill from there. But they seemed to be handling it well and were really enjoying the adventure. I hope they had a great ride.
Up next: things that howl in the night.
also if you've made it this far in a post with so many words and no pictures. Thanks.
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