Looking downstream from Paw Paw Tunnel's south end. Light at the far end is always visible.
Eighteen months ago I hiked the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal towpath from Bonds Landing to Paw Paw Campground. But Paw Paw Tunnel was closed due to repair work in Tunnel Hollow. Rather than hike through Paw Paw Tunnel, I completed the segment via Tunnel Hill Trail. Though I consider my C&O Canal “thru-hike” complete, I still wanted to check out Paw Paw Tunnel. Today, I returned.
I knew it would be dark in Paw Paw Tunnel. To account for the angle of the sun, and to make sure I had some usable material, my plan was to 1) Hike over Tunnel Hill Trail to Lock 66. 2) Hike upstream (south) through the tunnel taking photos. 3) Hike back downstream (north) through the tunnel with my GoPro on. 4) Hike upstream through the tunnel, again, also with my GoPro on.
There are many history & nature signs between Paw Paw Campground and Paw Paw Tunnel, and also along Tunnel Hill Trail.Looking back, across the Potomac River to Paw Paw, West Virginia, from halfway up Tunnel Hill Trail.North end of Tunnel Hill Trail in Tunnel Hollow. C&O Canal towpath on the right. Hiking a loop of Tunnel Hill Trail and Paw Paw Tunnel is 3.3 miles, 370 ft. AEG.Lock 66 is 0.2 miles north of Tunnel Hill Trail. Inset is the odd smokestack / vent / whatever I did not see elsewhere on the C&O Canal. 🤔From Tunnel Hill Trail, the C&O Canal towpath is singletrack for the next 0.2 miles up Tunnel Hollow. Not much fall color remained. I saw no flowers at all.The next 0.2 miles of C&O Canal towpath are a bluff-hugging boardwalk. Bicyclists must walk their bikes from this point forward. Note the stone blocks bolted to the shale bluff, to prevent landslides. There is also chicken wire netting to catch small rock fall. 🚲North entrance of Paw Paw Tunnel, then & now. The railing continues, but the boardwalk ends. Note the people above the tunnel: You’re not supposed to go up there anymore. 😇Light extended ~150 ft. into Paw Paw Tunnel’s north end. (Maybe 300 ft. at its sun-facing south end.) After that, it gets pitch black. Note the uneven, wet, C&O Canal towpath surface. Don’t forget to bring a flashlight! 🔦Dark as it was, Paw Paw Tunnel got darker. Pitch black. Especially northbound. No flashlight, so I dragged my fingers along the wall & railing for guidance.👨🏻🦯I used flash photography most of Paw Paw Tunnel, because GoPro does not have night vision video. (My Sony Handycam had it in 1998.) 🙄Back to natural lighting at Paw Paw Tunnel’s south end. Basically blind most of the way, I made the 3,118 ft. / 0.6 miles in only 13 minutes. Then I did it again.Afterwards, my wife & I ate lunch at Cheryl’s Snack Shack, open Friday-Sunday, at the intersection of WV-9 and WV-29, just south of Paw Paw. My Shrimp Po Boy and jalapeno poppers were 👍.
Paw Paw Directions: From I-68, take US-522 south to Berkeley Springs, WV. Turn right on WV-9 / Cacapon Rd. The town of Paw Paw is in 24 twisty miles. Continue through town, across the Potomac River. A ½ mile past the river, turn right into Paw Paw Tunnel Campground.
Stupid Vimeo won’t allow me to upload a proper thumbnail. If it isn’t one Vimeo bug, it is another. Or glacial, CPU-hogging, slowness. Repeatedly. On multiple videos. And I pay for this crap!?
