Monday May 17th

I think I forgot to mention walking 10 and one half miles yesterday. Walked 17 today, still on the towpath. Had breakfast at Bill's. Met a biker from Tucson, who works for the USDA. Knew all the trails I walk when in Tucson. He was biking (peddle bike) from Pittsburgh to DC. Which you can do without ever getting on a road, utilizing the Great Allegheny Passage and the C & O towpath, These two meet in Cumberland, MD. Went through the Paw Paw Tunnel, which is a tunnel chipped through a mountain to run the canal through. It is about 3100 feet long and is lined with brick. I did not have a flashlight so I use my walking stick as a blind person would, feeling my way through, hoping to not fall into the canal which at that point has water in it. Considering the canal ground breaking was performed by John Quincy Adams in 1828 and the canal finished in 1850 it is quite a big deal. 184.5 miles long ending in Georgetown, MD or DC I am not sure. It has 74 locks to lift or lower boats and quite a few aqueducts over rivers and streams for the boats to pass over. It runs along the east bank of the Potomac River at 25 to 30 + feet higher than the river. Walked on to Old Town and had lunch at the High School, which appears to have been closed after graduating 10 or 12 in 2000. Someone has converted it to a restaurant and the gym to a antique auto repair shop.