The Blue Trail Blues

We were going to hook up and leave a car at the north end of the trail, but due to my being out late at fireworks the night before, we didn't actually talk, and the email and voicemail tag had us end up at different parking lots. At 9:00, I jumped in the truck and tried to get to the Gambrill parking lot as fast as possible. No luck there either.

What should I do? Painting the basement the previous weekend earned me the free time from "SHE," but I was hesitant to try the trail solo. On the other hand, it was possibly the best weather for riding so far this summer, with crystal skies, a high of 85 degrees and a breeze. I had gears, because the last time I came up here with my SS, both the trails and my riding partners spanked me soundly. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I decided to go at an energy saving moderate pace, and use discretion on most of the trail obstacles to avoid injury.

The Blue Trail, aka The Catoctin Hiking Trail, runs its 26 mile wiggly way south to north along the eastern-most Maryland ridge of the Appalachians. It starts in Gambrill State Park, and goes through the Frederick Watershed, Cunningham Falls State Park and Catoctin National Park. About 6 miles of the trail (a portion in Cunningham Falls SP and all of the trail in Catoctin NP) are closed to mountain bikes, but the other 20 miles are open to the brave or foolhardy.

At 9:30 I rode out of the parking lot and down a nice descent on fist sized rocks, water bars and steps. It demanded close attention, but was not too hard and a good warm-up. Soon I’m into the first climb, and I’m reminded of the first time I came down this section the other way, flying behind Bikebreath, and unaware of a couple of drop-offs until I found them at speed (I lived)! This time I had to negotiate the drop-offs uphill and ended up dismounting, to save energy, of course. A zig onto a short section of sandy fire road, and a zag back onto singletrack and another twisty, rooty, gentle descent to the first rock garden. Babyheads and boulders, so I’m cautious and walk for a hundred yards or so.

The trail then turns and follows a stream down the border between the watershed and Gambrill. The water level is low, and all the crossings (4?) are rideable. Soon though, the fun of downhill has to be paid for, and the trail turns up the left bank and begins to climb. And climb. And climb. This section has some short steep bits, a few switchbacks (one of which comes right around a rooty, steep rock spur and doesn’t look rideable down, let alone up) and numerous log piles. Just at the top a couple of guys on FS rigs passed me going down. I bet that’s fun. The trail gets less hilly and smoother through here, as it gets more traffic coming from the north, but it still has a lot of “wait-a-minute” rocks, those sharp football to watermelon sized rocks that grab your tire and say “wait a minute.” It is technical enough that it takes me longer than I expect to overhaul a group of hikers going my direction. I finally catch up and they let me pass with an exchange of pleasantries.

Its now 11:00 and I cross Hamburg Rd and I’m into the watershed proper. These trails seem to me to get much more use than those in Gambrill, so are wider and give more choice in lines. Still need to stay awake though.

Crossing Delauter Rd and I’m cruising along atop the ridge at a good pace. Saw a couple more riders going the other way. This is a part of the trail where I’ve been a lot.  A bit of a climb now and then a long downhill. One more rider passes me going the other way. He didn’t seem inclined to say hi, but he was climbing and I wasn’t.

Next I cross Fishing Creek Rd and I’m reminded of the body discovered near here a month ago. Turned out to have been a man from the next county over, allegedly killed by someone he’d befriended and who owed him a great deal of money. Weird. I pass several hikers, but the trail is wide and I’m going slow, so everyone is all smiles. No new bodies today.

I’ve been riding more or less parallel to Gambrill Park Rd on my left, but north of me it takes a wide hook to the right and now I cross it. Just after that is the Thurmont overlook, a nice place to stop for a short break and eat a snack I brought. It’s about 12:30. Then its back on the bike for a sweet long singletrack downhill. It goes almost down to the valley floor. At one steep section I came upon a trail work crew. I’m not sure if they were MTB or hiker related, but they were all nice and encouraging. I also passed my one and only equestrian of the day, another friendly encounter.

The downhill ended at Catoctin Hollow Rd. The trail crosses the road, and a larger stream than I’ve seen yet today (Little Hunting Creek). I had a hard time finding the blazes to show me the trail here, because there are much more heavily used trails nearby, but I finally see a blaze leading me straight up. A bit of hike-a-bike and I’m out onto a wider, fire road like climb, going up Bob’s Hill, hereafter referred to as Bob’s Knob, both because its more alliterative and funnier. Up. And up. OK, this is starting to hurt. And up. And yes, up. Did I mention up? I ran out of water in my first camelbak bladder here and had to switch over. I was quickly running out of gas and walked nearly this whole climb. The climb was about three miles. I finally and with great relief reached the top. Cruise the ridge top for a while on this great wide trail. Over the backside of the ridge and the blue trail left the superhighway like main trail and started down. All right! Mostly down hill to the finish! Except I’m immediately faced with a huge rock garden that seems to go on and on. More walking. Finally through the garden and it feels like all my skills have left me. I quickly finished my 2nd water bladder, and am feeling parched. I’ve also passed my 2 PM bailout time to get me back to my car and home for this evenings commitments. But the quickest way back is now to go to the end of the trail. I’m bonking hard enough that I have to dismount a lot, and I’m feeling really grumpy. Finally, after what seems like forever, I’m back down to Catoctin Hollow Rd again. It’s 2:30 PM. Across the road the trail continues, but there is a sign with about a million things and activities that are prohibited. Down there near the bottom is a sentence about mountain bikes. If I wasn’t pressed for time I could go on road to the falls and soak my head.

If I had managed to make my link up this morning, it would be an easy spin down to the parking lot. Instead I get to start following the road back up to the ridgeline and back to Gambrill. If I was thinking, I would have stopped in the park facilities to fill a camelbak at a water fountain, but all the synapses weren’t firing. The road ride back was OK, though I was bonking so bad I did have to walk the first hill on Mink Farm Rd. I’m familiar with the climbs, and it is much more direct than the trail. 5 hours out, 1 hour back, and I’m digging into the cooler in my truck for a cold one (root beer, that is).

I’m not so late getting home that I incur Her displeasure, and the evening’s commitment is actually going over to a friend’s house for shrimp, crab and beer. So I think I’ve had the perfect mountain biking day.

So why is my post titled –The Blue Trail Blues? I've got the blues 'cause EVERY day should be like this.

Conclusions-

  • Everyone should do this ride once, just to say they have.

  • Gambrill section is Ok but the climb into the watershed is a pain.

  • The Watershed section is all rideable and fun, but there are better trails in the shed.

  • The downhill after the overlook is really fun, maybe a good loop down to Catoctin Hollow Rd and back to the shed via road.

  • If doing Cunningham Falls section again look for a better way off Bob’s Knob - Red trail past Cat Rock?

  • A good alternate end – the Manor area of Cunningham Falls SP. You get to skip the climb over Bob’s Knob and you are near the conveniences in Thurmont.

  • Refill water at the Houck Area of Cunningham Falls SP if returning to Gambrill via road (or trail!).

Stats
Miles Off-Road – 19
Miles On-Road - 11
Elevation Gain Off-Road – 2983 ft.
Elevation Gain Total – 3650 ft
Hikers Seen - 18
Bikers Seen On Road and in Parking Areas - 25+
Bikers Seen On Trail - 5
Equestrians Seen - 1
Trail Work Parties Seen -1
Bears Seen – You read this far?