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Sunday, May 17: You know, I thought that my day of dealing with the segment out of Smithfield, Pa, doing that gnarly section across and through Grassy Creek for an hour, I thought that would be the show stopper. But nope, today was just the grinder of grinders - 2 segments back to back. I’ll have bad dreams of this one just as I do of my hike down Piscataway Creek back in MD. 


The day started with an ominous note - rain all night and a light drizzle in the morning, and a total sock-in really for the whole area. Local forecast was for rain, rain, and more rain. Nothing but rain. We got on the road early, and what with the weather, my being about 5 days behind schedule, and the amount of time I’d have to paddle on West Fork Creek, I’d decided last night to brave the monster and ride this section, or at least half of this section and then paddle the other half. The section I’m talking about is Shinnston to Clarksburg. I did it back in 2012 for my AM DT attempt and it was just off the charts horrible. It’s the same old RR line - no rails or ties, just ballast - that makes up the Mon River trail north of Shinnston. And it’s the same abandoned RR line that makes up the North Bend Rail Trail. BUT, that’s about it. Between the start of the North Bend Trail in Wolf Summit, Wva, and the end of the Mon River trail in Shinnston, Wva is a dizzying mess of shit that is just…well let me call it the Tough Mudder! Yea, I’d just love to see Ken and Barbie Cross-Fit with bib numbers on their chiseled bodies do this freaking abomination. I guarantee that there’d be zero smiles at the end of this 20-mile swampathon! 


In places it’s just pure agony. But I’ll get into that later. Anyway, this is my bridge to link those trails and get me all the way to the Ohio border. And it exists, but it’s a total enigma in spots. So same strategy as yesterday: Drive with Judy to the start point and ride to yesterday’s end point in Shinnston. Glad we did it this way because the start to the “Harrison County Rail Trail” is just as invisible as the start of the West Fork Creek Trailhead. Now just a word about the Harrison County Rail Trail…..WHAT????? They’ve no business even calling this anything but what it is - a freaking quagmire - because it’s one of the all time worst “trails” I’ve ever ridden. How in God’s name this is designated as trail is amazing. But to have it listed in the County’s website as a recreational trail is beyond me. 


So finding the trailhead is like a Easter Egg Hunt. It’s just that hard to find, at the end of a little street in this dumpy neighborhood on the south side of Clarksburg. There isn’t even a trailhead or a sign. There’s just the start of a trail. So I had to navigate to get us there, and then I’d ride to Shinnston where Judy waited for me yesterday. So that was a good idea. But we also scouted out a place where I could put in the canoe after I rode half the monster. But every single bridge crossing across West Fork Creek was just horrible. I’d have to bushwhack through all kinds of crap to get that canoe in, and these were WAY worse than yesterday’s put-in. So in total resignation, I decided that I’d have to either paddle the whole thing, or ride the whole thing. Ride it was the only logical answer with the terrible weather and a super long paddle - about 12-14 river miles. 


By the time we got back to the trailhead the rain had picked up to a steady state. Just knew that this was going to be bad. But it would save me about 2-3 hrs if I rode it rather than paddled it. So off I went into the abyss. Within 5 minutes, what with the rain and the puddles on the trail and the small streams running down the trail, I was thoroughly soaked. Legs were mud covered and my shoes felt like winter goulashes filled with water. This trail, well, it’s really ATC track that’s as rough and rutted as you can get. And then there’s garbage dumped on the sides of the trail, like these mutton heads just lugged their garbage down there on their machines and threw the stuff off willy-nilly. It’s a total dump. 


Now when you’re soaked and mud covered, you have a different mindset: you just plow through everything, without a care cuz you’re already a mess. And that was me in the first 5 minutes. Now I kid you not, I have some video of walking my bike through what looks like a river. It’s not, it’s a puddle 2.5 feet deep that spans the whole width of the trail and goes on down the trail for 25 yards! I rode through a couple of smaller ones, but this one, yikes, it was so muddy on the bottom that my wheels just quit moving. I had to dismount and just wade through with the bike. There was about a mile of that crap. Then I came to a fenced off area, which I’ve found out is due to a hazardous waste dump in the area, but hell the fencing is pulled back and the trail goes right on through - and so did I! I hope I don’t glow this evening. 


Now the County website lists an trailhead ending, but that’s total BS. There is no ending trailhead. You’re choice at the fence is to go back through the quagmire to the start or continue onward. Rode along this fence line for another mile and then went around the other side of the fence line - along a path, and I met Judy at the van. I motioned her forward and got going on another section for rot gut crap. But on this section there is a bridge out over a feeder stream and then ATC track goes WAY around to the east, and I got fouled up in the tangle of tracks. Cost me about 30 min. Go back on track and had to: climb over tons of deadfall, X more knee deep puddles, take branches, limbs, thorns and briars to the arms, legs, face, and negotiate softball sized beds of ballast that sucked the tires left and right but never straight. 


Then, this thing comes to within 2 miles of Shinnston, and it’s gated off and fenced in. So I had to climb this 50 foot high embankment, dragging the bike to get the hell out of there, and I see the van, and I feel good that’s it’s almost over. BUT as I got close to the van I notice that it’s in a ditch. I mean IN the ditch. And there’s Judy, and she looks totally bummed. And I say, “WTF” very loudly, where just across the street is a Baptist Church, with 5-6 people of the porch watching and listening to me. Judy had backed up to park and almost dumped it, and I do mean almost tipped it over in a ditch. One wheel was nearly hanging off into the ditch. And there I am, so mud covered I looked like Al Jolson. I had bits of leaves, black coal cinder, twigs, and mud in my hair, and a rooster tail of mud from my ass all the way up to my neck. And there I am standing in the rain yelling WTF!


I tried to move it very gingerly, but no way. So I walked up to this little Frack trailer park and asked a young lady if she knew anyone who could pull us out. She had to think I was the monster from the black lagoon. But she went in and her husband came out agreeing to help. Super nice guy. We chained my frame to his trailer hitch and he had no problem pulling us out with his F-250. We offered money but the guy wanted no part of it. So one we went, with Judy agreeing to a “no backing the van” clause. Now I rode berm on Rt 19 two miles back to Shinnston, this because the old abandoned line is totally obliterated by a nuclear power plant. I found this out 3 years ago with I tried to ride totally through. And at the fences of this place, you DO NOT go around. So I knew I’d be doing those last 2 miles of berm. It was actually pretty easy, with just a few tight sections. 


Got in the van and stripped down, using this old sheet that I use for putting on the roof of the van while loading my canoe, to wipe down with. Put on fresh kit, socks and had a couple sandwiches - which tasted gritty from you mud clogged hands. Then it was back to Clarksburg to where the exact little dumpy trailhead that I started at this morning to start the next section. From there I’d ride south to Wolf Summit and the start of the North Bend trail. I just wanted to get there, get on the bike and do it. Again, it was still raining, but this time probably took about 10 minutes to be soaked. Rode some berm out of this dingy little neighborhood, Xed Rt 50, got on an active RR line for 200 yrds, and then took the abandoned RR line south. The main line went west, and I continued on the “ghost” bed of the old RR line, which is still used by ATV guys. First couple miles is fairly dry - just miles of super thick RR ballast that’s like riding on marbles. Then the fun starts. 


The foliage gets so thick, so low that I literally had to dismount and just duck, chest down to knee level, and drag the bike behind me. Riding it is impossible. How the ATV guys get though this is a mystery to me. Now the rain was still steady, and plowing through this foliage was like walking under a waterfall for a mile. I mean my daypack with gear - all in a dry bag - actually filled up with water. Felt like I’d added 15 lbs to the pack. Since I did this back in 2012, things have changed: now a Frack village had been put in right on the old RR line. These are like villages for the transient Fracking guys who come from all parts of the US to work in the gas/oil industry. They live in 5th wheels and trailers in these gravel lots that are carved out overnight for them. So I had to ride this small country road’s gravel berm for a half mile - which was WAY better than the trail - before finding the track again. 


The remainder of the track was like a small stream flowing with the past 24 hrs worth of rain. God was I ever happy to see the van at Wolf Summit for the end of that thing. But before stopping I went up into this little neighborhood to see if someone would let me hose my bike down. Found an elderly gentleman who was kind enough to invite me into the yard to use their hose. He and his wife were quite amused at me and my mud and foliage caked bike. Felt awesome to hose that puppy down. Even hosed off my legs and shoes just for good measure. By the time I went back to the van the rain had stopped and the sun came out. By this time it was 1:30 PM. I was bloody done for the day. And I felt that a motel was in order for both of us. Hard effort - short day - hot shower! 


Tomorrow I hope to do most of the North Bend Trail, this so we can return home on Tuesday to get ready for our trip to Nashville. My goal for this portion of American Dirt was to make the Ohio Line before we had to come back. I think we’re almost there!