The rivers on our trip

Our route, very scenic, is defined by rivers most of the way. We left Homestead, just south of Pittsburgh, following the Monogohela River. It flows north, from WV into Pittsburgh, where it joins the Allegheny River to form the Ohio River, whose waters then flow west into the Mississippi River and then south to the Gulf of Mexico.

After just a few miles we came to where the Youghiogheny River joins the Monongohela, and we continued south and east along the west bank of the Youghiogheny. This is arguably the most scenic part of the trip. Chestnut Ridge, the westernmost hills of the Allegheny Mountains, rises from the east side of the river. When early settlers managed to get over Chestnut Ridge they had traversed the Alleghenies and were now "out west."

In Confluence, PA, where we camped on night 2, the Casselman River joins the Youghiogheny We followed the Casselman River on day 3, but eventually reached the Eastern Continental Divide, which marks the division between waters that flow north and west to the Gulf of Mexico and waters that flow south and east to the Chesapeake Bay.

After descending to Cumberland, MD on day 4 we picked up the Potomac River, which we will follow into DC, pedaling along the towpath of the old C&O Canal.

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Walt Wright
917 783 6540
waltercwright@yahoo.com

www.walt-fatmanonabike.blogspot.com