Tom Kielick
Lock 75 (0485)
Lock 75 along the C&O Canal towpath.
The C&O Canal was built between 1828 and 1850 in hopes of realizing huge monetary profits by reducing the costs of transporting raw goods from the Ohio River valley to Washington DC and manufactured goods back again. It follows the Potomac River from Cumberland to Georgetown and totals 184 miles. Unfortunately, while thousands of workers were laboriously digging this ditch by hand, tracks for the B&O Railroad were being laid along the same route, finishing 8 years ahead of the canal.
By the time the canal was finally completed it was already obsolete!
Nowadays its a scenic hiking and cycling path with lots of shade, frequent hiker-biker primitive campgrounds and occasional views of the Potomac.
My wife and I rode our bikes 150 miles along the trail over three days in late August when the weather had turned just a bit cooler.
Lock 75 (0485)
Lock 75 along the C&O Canal towpath.
The C&O Canal was built between 1828 and 1850 in hopes of realizing huge monetary profits by reducing the costs of transporting raw goods from the Ohio River valley to Washington DC and manufactured goods back again. It follows the Potomac River from Cumberland to Georgetown and totals 184 miles. Unfortunately, while thousands of workers were laboriously digging this ditch by hand, tracks for the B&O Railroad were being laid along the same route, finishing 8 years ahead of the canal.
By the time the canal was finally completed it was already obsolete!
Nowadays its a scenic hiking and cycling path with lots of shade, frequent hiker-biker primitive campgrounds and occasional views of the Potomac.
My wife and I rode our bikes 150 miles along the trail over three days in late August when the weather had turned just a bit cooler.