BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Just did that this weekend and water was very easy to come by. Ate at the Trailside Inn while in West Newton and a lady came in with water bottles and asked about filling them and they very kindly obliged. There are fountains at Dravo Cemetery, Connellsville, Ohiopyle, and Meyersdale. I think but can't recall, Confluence and Rockwood as we had BBQ at Confluence and stayed at Rockwood so I wasn't paying attention. The wife was happy as she was able to do the whole trip with flushies, which ranked right up there with water to her. On a side note, I also did the trip last year and on the way back from Cumberland the fountains at Meyersdale were turned off due to bacteria levels in the well water but they were selling cold bottles of water pretty cheap. I assume that may be an issue on other parts of the trail as well. I'm thinking but won't guarantee that many of the local businesses will be kind with water.

I've never had a problem finding potable water on the trail — but a Katadyn water filter has come in handy for me. There was one time I can recall biking to DC on a 90 degree day where I pulled over next to the Casselman River near Deal and filled my bottles from the river. Same thing at points along the C&O Canal path even though there's a water spigot every 5 miles. Sometimes the iodine treated water on the C&O messes with me and tastes awful — and a water filter can give you an option to get rid of that taste. An even more compact Life Straw might come in handy on trips like that as well. I can't count the number of times I have brought a water filter even though it seemed to be dead weight while packing — and had it save my ass.

Thanks all.