Did my first bikepacking trip this week, 334 miles from Pittsburgh to DC via the GAP/C&O Trail. Had a blast even in 100 degree heat!

For some background, I’m a very experienced backpacker, but this was my first bike trip.

I rode from Pittsburgh to Washington DC on the popular GAP -> C&O Route. I took 5 days, and my mileage was as such:

* Day 1: 59mi. Pittsburgh -> Connellsville PA
* Day 2: 57mi. Connellsville PA -> Meyersdale PA
* Day 3: 98mi. Meyersdale PA -> Hancock MD
* Day 4: 62mi. Hancock MD -> Harpers Ferry WV
* Day 5: 60mi. Harpers Ferry WV -> Washington DC.

Despite my intentions, I only ended up camping one night, at a hiker-biker campground a bit past Hancock MD. I found that the camping options weren’t as remote as I hoped and I didn’t feel super safe camping at the in-town hiker campgrounds.

Some thoughts and takeaways from this trip:

**The bad parts of the GAP trail:**

* Going Eastbound it was very slightly uphill for like 100 miles. not enough to notice, but enough to where you never had a chance to coast.
* Probably 60%+ of this trail is going through peoples backyards, there’s no semblance of nature on most of this trail in my experience. In fact I’d say that vast majority of this trail is through private property, and I found seeing a million “POSTED” and “NO TRESSPASSING” signs every 50 feet was kind of distracting. Definitely a departure from hiking in that regard
* This trail is super exposed for most of the way. This might not be an issue normally, but during a heatwave like this week there was not much shade.
* Even during the week this trail was pretty busy with people on day rides or walks, many of whom had no self awareness and would block the entire trail and almost crash and fall when you signal to pass, even with ample time and warning
* There were absolutely no views or anything worth looking at aside from some historical landmarks and bridges. If you’re looking for a scenic trail this definitely is not it. This made a lot of the hours I spent on the GAP feel pretty drawn out and boring.

**The good parts of the GAP trail:**

* Due to the less-than-remote nature of this trail, there are so many opportunities to explore small towns and grab food at local spots. I brought food and really had no need for it whatsoever, there was always somewhere to stop.
* There are tons of benches, tables, shaded shelters etc to stop for a break.
* The trail is very well maintained and I was never worried about the terrain. I put 35mm gravel tires on my bike and that was probably overkill if I was just doing the GAP.

Overall the GAP was a good way to ease into the trip, but I was glad to be off of it by the time I got to Cumberland and switched to the C&O.

**The good parts of the C&O trail:**

* The C&O feels much more like a hiking trail compared to the GAP. You’re still never really far away from a road or town, but most of the trail doesn’t go through the back yard of trailer parks and stuff like the GAP does.
* The hiker-biker campgrounds are well maintained and are available almost every 5 miles. The had water pumps which were super handy.
* the C&O is much more shaded than the GAP, and the availability of water to soak your clothes/hair helps a lot.
* the terrain is much more interesting and there’s more stuff to look at and keep your interest.

**The bad parts of the C&O trail:**

* Some parts are pretty rough. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing, I actually found it fun, but some sections had a lot of pot holes, muddy ditches, rocks and roots etc. I was grateful that I had gravel tires and would probably have had a ton of flats if I hadn’t. I still got a flat, but it wasn’t super bad and I’m honestly not sure what caused it.

* Some sections aren’t well marked, especially in DC. When I arrived in DC I found myself underneath a bridge next to a homeless encampment without any idea where to go, because my GPS directions were not accurate and there was no signage. I had to kind of tool around that part of DC until I found the end of the trail which was a random pylon next to a kayak rental place.

* There’s not very many spots to stop and sit down like the GAP. There are benches etc, but some sections can go quite a long distance without a convenient place to pull over for a second.

**Things I’d do differently:**
* Carry way less food. Especially on the GAP, if you have the budget there’s 0 reason to carry more than however much snack food you need for the day. I think if you have the clams it’s cool to experience local restaurants as you go, and they are so frequent that you could do it 3-4 times per day if you wanted.
* not put a water bottle on my downtube. This trail is *dusty*. Everything I owned was covered in a thick layer of gray dust, including my water bottle. I ended up fixing this by using a plastic bag over it, which was annoying.
* bring a better lock. I carried a cheap $10 brinks combo lock that you could probably pull apart with your hands. I underestimated how often I’d want to park my bike and get food or whatever, and there were a few places where I couldn’t do so without letting my bike out of site which I normally hate doing. Having a better lock would have made it easier.

I have more thoughts that I’ll probably update as I go. when planning this trip I found that there were not a lot of posts about it on reddit which I found surprising, so I want to make this post useful to people doing this trip in the future.

8/10 would bikepack again.

I just have passed you 😉 was going the opposite way and finished yesterday!

I was the dummy on a single speed wearing either a yellow or blue shirt 😉

I camped the whole way:
Harper’s Ferry
Hancock
Frostburg
Ohiopyle