I have a dumb, easy question for those who did.
I’m planning and gearing up for a 4 day, 60 mile hike on the C&O Canal trail, basically starting across the river from Harper’s Ferry to milestone 0 in Georgetown in mid to late May. The question: will I need a bear keg for that part of the trail?
I would say yes for the trail parts out in the Maryland panhandle, but this close to civilization, I wonder. I do plan on hanging my pack at least the first night anyway, FWIW.
My wife and I biked from HF to Berlin (or whatever the town is called now…that may be the old Civil War era name).
Can’t help you much though. I’d love to do it myself…come back and tell us about it.
I did it as a kid…in the 70’s…bring plenty of snacks, water and a good pair of walking shoes.
I think it was a 50 mile hike for some event, so we didn’t do the whole thing.
I’ve hiked or biked that many times over a 20 year period living in the area. Definitely not. Perhaps up near Harper’s Ferry you might want to hang it in a stuffsack with some rope/paracord and a couple carabiners. But that’s more than sufficient for the small black bears in the area.
For anyone still reading this, I asked the National Park Service about this, and they said while bears are an issue around Cumberland, they are not often seen where I want to hike, so I don’t need anything special for this trip.