This Is What 200+ Miles Looks Like.

On a bike!

We started the week divided into two groups. The older boys went to Ohiopyle to do a one-day whitewater trip on the Youghiogheny (I think it's pronounced "Yock-eh-hane-ee) River. I went with the younger ones to Cumberland, MD to the beginning of the the C&O Canal Towpath.

For the first three days, the younger boys biked short distances, only 15-35 miles per day, so the older boys could catch up (their beginning point was 75 miles away from us, so they had a REAL trek just to catch up). I was impressed, over and over, by the quality of the interaction between the young ones. These are 12- and 13-year old boys (except for Sam, who turns 12 in two weeks), doing something more difficult and time-consuming than almost everything else they've ever done. But they were kind to each other, willing to help, follow directions.

At the end of each day, we would camp next to the Potomac River, which of course would lead to playing in the water. The most disorienting thing was that as the river twisted and turned, so did we. It "seemed" like we were just going South, maybe Southeast, so waking up in the morning with the river being on the North, or the East of us was strange.

And we biked, and biked, and biked. We stopped at every hiker/biker campsite (so-named because they are only accessible by walking or riding) to refill our water bottles at big hand-operated pumps. This required a lot of cooperationg, one boy working the lever while another held his bottle (or head) under the stream of water. We became experts at the the levels of quality; some smelled of sulphur, some were orangey-brown, some had visible particulates floating in the water, but some were clear, cold, and deliscious.

By the time we connected with the older boys Wednesday afternoon, we were tired but having fun. We went to Fort Frederick and watched a live-fire demonstration of a .75 caliber black powder rifle. On our way there, Stewart and I got lost, staying on a trail 1/2 a mile past our turn off. When we looked at the map, we saw a county road went straight to our destination, and took it (instead of doubling back). Word to the wise biker; straight roads on a map are not the same thing as flat roads. But it worked out; our mistake saved us some biking distance and got us to the Fort ahead of the rest of our group!

I'm still sore in places, but so glad I got to go with them. People in today's world don't do many hard things; life is easy. It is easy to be lazy, or small-minded. Easy to be rude, easy to just get by. It was an honor to help these young men do something hard, and to celebrate with them at the accomplishment of it.

We did a 50 mile day so the younger scouts could earn their Biking Merit Badge. Saw beautiful countryside, amazing architecture. We only got caught in one 30-minute thunderstorm, but happened upon a huge empty barn seconds after the rain started.

We had fun, and now we are home.