Ridge Rider, MD
This is our last campground before returning home. Yes, we have one night at Elk Neck, MD, but that’s primarily a visit with Tom’s sister Marcia.
Ridge Rider is a private campground, in that funny portion of West Maryland close to West Virginia and Pennsylvania. It is large, with pool, pond, store and with fair amount of seasonal campers. We’re in a very private section, facing the woods and I see why this campground’s name includes Ridge. We are high up, with significant drop down on behind the site (maybe 100 feet away). The weather has cooled down finally after the rain.
Western Maryland is mountainous region, something I did not expect. Rolling hills and long ridges with steep drops to the rivers. The Potomac is close to the campground but we are up on the ridge fair distance above the river. We are again in area that’s rather isolated, Little Orleans is just few houses, Bill’s Place, very divey- George would like it, but the go-to for cyclists and that’s it.
The nearest town, Hancock, has a quaint downtown with one restaurant, Buddy Lou’s, right by the WMRT parking lot. Food is good, service is ok but they are hurting for staff.
Biking the rail trail was good. It’s paved, pretty darn straight and has few interesting stops. There are old locks and dam that used to go across the Potomac River, until floods breached it. Since we were biking during the week, we saw very few people. There’s two-mile section where you need to use the towpath. Apparently, there are engendered bats in the tunnel so they redirected the rail trail. The towpath is packed dirt, not as easy as the rail trail.
We had to go over two bridges that connected these two trails. That’s were I run over a lizard. Just like that - poor little guy. I thought about “rock paper scissors lizard Spock” bit from Big Bang Theory and the lizard lost. We saw plenty of deer on the trail as well, just doing their thing.
We visited Fort Frederick, which was built during the French and Indian Wars. The walls are stone, which is not usual during those times. Looking at the barracks where the troops lived, and how tight the quarters were, just makes you realize how much different our lives are now. The fort also played a role during the civil war, but after that it was abandoned. I am glad there are folks that restore and manage these places, if you don’t learn from the past, you’re bound to repeat it.
We are off tomorrow for a short stop on Maryland shore, mostly to visit with Tom’s sister. Then we are bound for home.
