It’s the end of the first day of our MABDR trip. We jumped on the route in Harper’s Ferry on section 5 this mornin and are 1/3 through section 6 as I sit here by the fire, drinking some warm tea out of my very flimsy rubber collapsible cup, thinking back on what a fantastic day it was. One full of plenty of humor and amazing scenery.

One of the riders in our group had his mind set at leaving Charlottesville, VA at 6am this morning so we showed up at our meeting location around 5:40am. We pair all of our intercoms successfully after some trial and error and headed north.

After approximately two hours of riding, we stopped for breakfast at a little cafe and then continued on to join the MABDR at section 5 in Harper’s Ferry.

Only two of us went down today; me being one of those. I ruined yet another pair of nice pants to a tear caused by gravel and the blood that later soaked in to it. My bike sustained very little damage. One of the panniers was bent and became loose but it should last the rest of the trip until I have an opportunity to repair it when I return home.

I’m going to bed now so that I’m well rested tomorrow for the long, and possibly rainy, day ahead of us.

Ever since I was three, my dad has planned an annual camping trip up in the mountains for fathers to take their sons. It changes a little bit every year and the group is always a little different. But my dad, Uncle, cousin and I have been going for 18 years and I’ve been yet to miss one.

Day 0

This year, I friend of mine suggested him and I go up one day early. Since today I’m considering a bonus day, I’m calling day 0 since the rest of the group won’t be joining us until tomorrow.

Carter and I loaded up after he got off work today. We had already had a sport in mind of where we would be camping but when we got there, there was already someone there. Luckily, I knew of another great spot that would work for the two of us but it’s not big enough for the whole group.

Tomorrow, we are going to drive back down to the large spot and ask the guy staying their when he is going to leave. Hopefully, he is just staying tonight and will be gone in the morning. If not, we will either ask him to move considering it’s just one guy taking up one of the largest camp site or we will try to make another site work.

I look forward to the rest of the group joining us tomorrow.

Day 1

Today was a pretty uneventful day. since we got to bed so late last night, Carter and I slept in until about 10am this morning. We cooked eggs for breakfast and then hopped in the car.

On the way in yesterday, we had seen a sign saying that one of the roads we drove on was going to be closed starting today and drove to see if we were going to need to find an alternative route for the rest of the group. Luckily, it was closed farther down the road and it was not going to affect us.

On the way down the mountain, we also check to see when the guy in the camp site we wanted was going to leave. Unfortunately, he said he was going to be there a few more days. He was super nice and offered to move to a smaller spot and let our large group take the big one but we did not want to bother him so we made another spot work.

The rest of the group made good time and showed up around 3pm. One of the guys showed up with less than half of the firewood he started out with left on the back of his truck. It was actually pretty funny.

For dessert, we had dump cake and homemade ice cream which was amazing!

Nothing super exciting happened today but it was still a great day. I’m getting up at 5am tomorrow morning to see the sunrise from the top of the mountain. As it is already 12am, I better get to sleep.

On May 18th, my cousin left Delaware on foot to walk across the United States following the American Discovery Trail. His brother, my brother, I decided to plan a trip to meet up with him in West Virginia and cap with him.

We headed out of town all loaded up on Saturday June 3rd. It took us longer than expected but we arrived at Indian Head Campground just outside of Maysville, WV, around 1:30pm. After dropping my teardrop, we headed down the road about 10 miles to puck up Ben since he had not quite made it to the campsite.

After we brought Ben back to the campsite and got our stuff setup, Ben and Carson wanted to go rock climbing at a near by preserve (Bear Rock Preserve). It was only about 25mins away. I brought my camera along to get some photos of them climbing but also came away with some amazing landscape photos. Here are a few of the best ones.

We got back to the campsite and started preparing dinner. I helped out some but Carson and Levi seemed to enjoy cooking and so I stepped back.

Almost every trip we forget at least something and this time we forgot the oil for the griddle. We made do with the grease from the steaks and a few pieces of bacon we stole from breakfast. In the end though, our steak fajitas turned out amazing! Great work Carson and Levi!

The rain held off the whole day but just as we were winding down and about to go to bed, it started to rain. We were fairly well protected by the trees we were under but we could hear thunder off in the distance.

On Sunday evening, we cooked another amazing meal (eggs and bacon), enjoyed each others company, packed up, and then dropped Ben off where we picked him up the day prior before heading home.

Overall, Indian Head Campground was a pleasant place to stay. At night it got a little loud because it is located quite close to a main road. If you are planning to stay at the campground you should not expect much in the way of amenities. There is WiFi that works ok if you walk a few hundred feet from where we camped and there is a place to throw trash. But as far as bathrooms and showers go, you need to bring your own.

This weekend, I went camping with some friends and my dad and brother. We went to Overland Expo and here are some photos I got from it.

I got back yesterday from our 17th annual Father-Son camping trip. We all had a lot of fun!