Wednesday, 14 October 2020
Ohiopyle to Meyersdale, 41 miles
The fall colors continued to intensify as we rode up the trail and gained 800 ft in elevation today. While we went by several small towns (notably Confluence and Rockwood), today's riding was in the heart of the remote (for Pennsylvania) and rugged Laurel Highlands. Tunnels and bridges/trestles/viaducts are the highlights of most rails-to-trails, and the GAP does not disappoint.
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| The Pinkerton Tunnel was only recently reopened (2015), eliminating 1.5 miles of the trail with an 849 ft long tunnel. The tunnel had been closed since 1879(!) when a fire destroyed its wooden timber supports. |
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| The tunnel is flanked by bridges over the Casselman River on either side. |
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| The bridges gave a superb view of the river. Fall colors were at their peak. |
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| The tunnel appears to be very short, but riding through it took longer than I expected. |
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| More fall color along the Casselman River. |
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| Typical trail scene. |
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| Once we got tunnels on our mind, we kept on seeing "fake tunnels" along the trail. It looks like there's another tunnel ahead, but it's just a dark background against an arch of sun-lit trees. |
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| Just before reaching Meyersdale, the trail goes over the Salisbury Viaduct. The bridge is 1908 ft long and offers an impressive view of the Casselman valley. |
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| A closer look at the wind turbines along the ridge-top behind the Salisbury Viaduct. This area of Pennsylvania has tried to transition from coal mining to wind energy. A number of the high ridges have wind farms. |
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