C&O end-to-end, miles 110-114

Sunday's section of the C&O was a shortish one, four mile markers, since coming up is a longer stretch without parking access. It was also one where I wasn't sure what the expect.

The first two miles were very standard trail. At Fort Frederick State Park, I opted to go in and visit the decent restrooms and explore the gift shop. I didn't explore the fort, but did note that there were living history folks walking around in costume.

Right after that is Big Pool, which I had not been to before. It's a lake over a mile long, and it was pretty, even on a very gray day.

I turned around at Ernstville Road. There is no parking right there, so next time I will have to start from the eastern end of the Western Maryland Rail Trail, which starts on the other side of Big Pool.

Thayerville Fire Tower

Bluntly, Maryland has done a rubbish job of preserving its fire towers. There is one modified one at Jug Bay used as a viewing platform; another at a school district site not open to the public; and one at Deep Creek Lake State Park that, until recently, was actually open to visitors. I have seen at least one more located on private land - as in, not even in a private forest, but a random backyard. Clearly, it was not a HOA neighborhood!

The Thayerville tower at Deep Creek used to be open about one day a week in summer, staffed by a ranger, but a couple of years ago it was decided it need repairs, and now no one can go up there. It was refurbished in 2009 and looks fine, so I'm not exactly what the problem is, and no one seems to be rushing to do anything about it.

Nevertheless, it's been on my Maryland bucket list, and T and I finally got to visit it, even though we couldn't go up the tower itself.

We had the advantage of staying in the campground, which allowed us to shave a bit of distance and elevation gain off the hike. Still, it's not a truly difficult hike. It gains about 600 feet of elevation over a sometimes rocky trail, but the stones are well-placed rather than trippers or rockers. 

Not too far from the tower is an observation platform, which probably has nice views in winter. From the base of a tower, there is a sliver of view following the power lines, but presumably the best view would be from the top. 

We returned via a different, slightly longer route, partially using an old road. Our total mileage was 4.25.

C&O end-to-end, miles 108-110

Since we were passing by on our way home anyway, I took the opportunity for a leg stretcher on a short segment of the C&O. This was the first segment of my quest T had joined me on, although we have hiked parts of the C&O together in the past. 

From Four Locks to McCoy's Ferry is 1.5 miles, with no significant points of interest along the way. It's pretty, of course.

Wandering the Rock Maze

We finally got our first vacation of the year (I know) in September, when he headed out to Western Maryland for several days of camping at Deep Creek Lake. Our first day there was plagued with small problems (like the car battery dying, oops), but we got past those and were finally able to do a small hike later in the day.

Rock Maze was perfect for this, as it's a third of a mile in, then wandering around giant boulders for a while. It's suitable for anyone capable of doing any hiking at all, not difficult. My understanding is that at more popular times, it can get busy, but we only saw two other people.

The giant boulders, and the patient trees with very long roots on top of them, are impressive. 

C&O end-to-end, miles 99-108

I finally got into double digits on this hike! Picking back up from scenic Williamsport, I headed out for a hike of uncertain length. I wasn't sure how many miles I had in me, or if I'd be able to do it one-way with an Uber.

Hiking out of town, the first point of interest was the aqueduct over the creek, which I think is the only one that is still watered.

Up next was a campsite. Then the next parking area, which is very, very small.

Approaching Dam #5, the trail detoured to a low-traffic road due to construction around the dam. The detour was longer than the actual construction, as that's where the convenient road access is. This was only the second detour I've encountered - and the first one where I hadn't previously done that section of trail. Because of the detour, the parking lot was closed, although some cars were parked along the road instead.

Partially because neither parking situation is great, I opted to continue on rather than turn around. This brought me to Four Locks, a nice, big lot 10 miles from my start. With three bars of service, and proximity to Williamsport, I was confident I would be able to get an Uber. Alas, the app didn't work, nor did Lyft's, so my only option was turning around and doing 20 miles. Could I? Yes. Did I enjoy it? No.

However, it was at least a beautiful day, not hot, and I had the time, food, and water needed.