Great Allegheny Passage Trail

Monday, August 31

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Leisurely departure from Pittsburgh at 10:15 am. Left my car at the First Avenue Parking Garage, located right on the trail. Picked up the trail at a sign about Lewis & Clark and the Corps of Discovery. I rode 33.83 miles today.

First few miles in Pittsburgh were on a lane between two expressways. Loud, car and truck fumes, but easy trail to follow. Several bicyclists on the trail were riding with masks.

Got a big smile and a thumbs up from a big older guy on a bike coming toward me as I crossed the Hot Metal Bridge. Guess I looked like I was just starting the adventure, but of course the GAP Trail's mile zero is at the Point State Park in Pittsburgh. [Actually, Mile 150 is at the point - the miles start in Cumberland, MD, and count up.]

Once I crossed the Hot Metal Bridge and was on the other side of the Monongahela River, it was much quieter. Quickly rode away from the town and onto a trail going through the old industrial yards, rail yards and woods. Smells of dried leaves mixed with the smell of coal and the river.

I was on the opposite side of the river from Hazelwood, where candidate Joe Biden was to speak this afternoon. The trail is nice and has no political opinion blaring at me.

I was briefly confused in Homestead when the trail diverted and went around a shopping area. Quick consultation of the map showed that I was only about 50 yards off course, but it happened to give me the chance to the smokestacks (vents) from the steel works. The stacks were part of the Homestead Works and all that remains of the 45-inch Mill, a mill built during an expansion in World War II to prepare steel for rolling by shaping it into slabs. These stacks were venting stacks and not “smokestacks” as they are sometimes referred to. They were a part of the soaking pits. Inside the soaking pits, the temperature would reach 2250° Fahrenheit, and the venting stacks helped to equalize the internal and external temperatures of the steel ingots before they were sent to the rolling mill.

Back on the trail and rode to an area known as Rivers of Steel, historic sites telling the story of the steel industry in the valley and also the Homestead Strike, when Pinkerton men clashed with striking steel workers. Okay, so maybe there are some political lessons along the trail.

Crossed the river at Duquesne and rode into McKeesport, where I had planned to stop for lunch. Did not see any good options for lunch close to the trail so kept going, resolving to make a better plan for lunch tomorrow. In McKeesport, the route starts along the Youghiogheny, and I crossed it and headed up a short incline at Port Vue. Found a very inviting spot in the woods (across the river from Versailles), with two benches facing the river and decided to stop and eat the snacks I had with me. I was starting to get hungry, and these would hold me till I found a place for a sandwich. ... which of course came along about a mile later at a charming little spot in Boston. The volunteers who maintain the trail in this area really do a great job. Everything was neat, convenient and friendly. I found a tea room that made a yummy tomato-egg-spinach burrito (actually one of their breakfast options, but it was perfect), and a nice little trailside park in which to eat my late lunch.

As I sat there, it started to sprinkle. Then it was enough that it qualified as a rain (seven drops on a brick), but really was very light and never became a shower (completely wet brick.) I decided not to sit there and get rained on when I could be on the trail under a heavy tree canopy and probably stay drier.

The next several miles were big loops around the bends of the Yough, and I was only 14 miles from my endpoint for the day in West Newtown. I passed the Red Waterfall, a place where acid mine drainage (AMD) spews from the rock and cascades down the face, coating everything with a rusty layer, even the logs. Coal mining exposes pyrite to oxygen and ground water causing the formation of sulfuric acid and a number of red, orange, and yellow compounds. AMD occurs when this mine water seeps, or in this case, bursts out into streams.

Rolled into West Newton around 4:15, and the rain had stopped. The Bright Morning B&B, my overnight accommodation was located directly on the trail. The hosts live on site and have four houses in a row with rooms. I am lodged in the upstairs of the house with the blue roof, and two other guests are across the hall from me. We're the only ones in this house. Breakfast in the morning will be in the house next door.

Several other guests all seem to be bicyclists and were very friendly. Everyone was wearing masks when they were in a group.

I cleaned the bike chain - there seems to be a lot of sand accumulated on my panniers and the chain. Probably something I can expect for the rest of the trip, and I think I will need to find some more rags to do the cleaning. I washed my clothes in the sink, took a shower and took my clothes out to the porch in the back of the house where I hung them on a line. There's also a fan in my room, and when I bring the clothes in, I'll point the fan at them so they will hopefully be dry enough to put back in my bags in the morning.

I walked down to the corner and bought two bottles of beer and brought them back. Leinenkugel's. Drank one and rested a bit. Then went back down to the corner and got a hamburger and brought it back. Their outdoor seating was already at capacity (only about 6 tables, widely spaced), but carry-out was what I preferred since I still had a beer to drink back at the B&B.

Ate dinner and am ready for bed. Breakfast at 7:30 to 8:30 tomorrow. The planned route tomorrow is to Connellsvile, which is just over 25 miles, so there's no need for me to hurry. I'd like to go in the little museum here in West Newton, but it doesn't open until 11 am. Check out at the B&B is at 10, but I imagine they would let me sit on the porch for a bit and use their wifi. I might do that.

Chatted briefly with the older couple across the hall. They ride recumbent bikes and have a day-trip plan where they drive to a B&B, park their car and ride up the trail to another spot and then back. They said they've ridden the GAP in segments many times this way. They asked where I had started and how far I am going, and then commented, "Oh, you've already ridden the worst part!" (meaning the least scenic and the most traffic noisy - but that was just a short while till I got out of Pittsburgh) But anyway, I like that thought.

Today's lesson: Wherever you stop to eat your snack, there will be a dandy food establishment just a mile up the trail.