Three Speeding Thru History -- Part 3

Day 3 -- Williamsport to Little Orleans

The day started hot and humid again but thunderstorms were forecast for the evening. Our primary goal today was pie -- a stop at Weaver's Restaurant in Hancock, Maryland for some of their legendary home made pies. But before we could enjoy that, there was history to see.
Upon leaving Williamsport, we stopped at an old canal side warehouse that now houses National Park Service Offices. On the outside walls were plaques commemorating the high water marks of the floods that have devastated this area for centuries. Note the one up near the roof.
Our first stop was a dam and hydro plant on the Potomac. This particular dam had been attacked by both sides on numerous occasions during the Civil War. It was also the site of a lock and a restored lock keeper's house.

Farther up the trail, we crossed one of the restored viaducts on the trail. Water and the boats would travel across these water bridges on their way to and from Cumberland, Md.

We arrived at Fort Frederick which was built as a defense during the French and Indian War. It has been very well preserved and the stone walls surrounding it are quite imposing.
Soon after leaving the fort, we hopped on the Western Maryland Rail Trail, a 22 mile paved section that parallels the C&O Canal and was designed to draw tourists into Hancock. We made good time traveling on the asphalt and made Hancock in no time. The pie at Weaver's lived up to its reputation.

A few miles later, we exited the trail at Little Orleans for the short ride to our campground. Once you leave the trail, you reach the oasis that is Bill's Beer, Boats, Bait and Bikes Emporium. Bill has been here for 40 years and had to rebuild a few years ago after the original location was burned down. We were saddened to learn that Bill was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer and probably has less than a year to live. Despite that, he was the perfect host, the beer was cold and cheap and the AC was cold.

After sitting inside and enjoying one too many beers, we walked out into a blast furnace and rode the few miles to the campground for the evening. Now, the C&O Canal itself is relatively flat and only rises a few hundred feet over it's entire 185 mile length. But we were in Appalachia and any roads off the canal are, well, hilly to say the least. We had been warned that there was a decent hill right before the campground but it looked more like a wall. Just before the top, I glanced down and the grade registered 19% on my GPS.

After we got our tent set up and showered, the long predicted thunderstorm hit and it rained heavily for about 30 minutes. Fortunately, the tent and its contents stayed dry and this was the beginning of cooler weather for the rest of the trip.

Cheers