A New Adventure For Venture Crew 70

By Nancy K. Crevier

The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal was once a main artery serving as a means to transport goods between Washington, D.C., its starting point, and Cumberland, Md., where the canal ended. Built in the mid-1800s, the canal operated for nearly a century, servicing coal companies, businesses, and individuals, and providing work for thousands of laborers along the 184½-mile canal.

Today, the canal is mostly overgrown, with only the remnants of the 74 locks, quarries, mills, and warehouses left behind. But visitors to what is now known as the C&O Canal National Park can traverse the canal, taking in bits of history along the way, by bike.

“Our Venture Crew leaders, Tracy and Peter Van Buskirk, knew about the bike trail from friends of theirs, so when the Crew decided we wanted to do a bike ride for our big summer trip, they suggested the C&O,” said Jacque Rosa, a Newtown High School senior and one of ten members of Venture Crew 70 who biked the C&O canal this summer. “We researched the C&O and everyone thought it would be a good choice. It is near little towns, so we could shop for daily supplies and not have to carry everything for the week at once, and it is a pretty flat and well-maintained trail,” she said.

Volunteers drove the Crew members and leaders to Cumberland, Md., leaving early from Newtown the morning of Saturday, July 25. Because they arrived early afternoon, the first leg of the bike trip was only about ten or 15 miles, said Jacque, before they pitched camp for the first night. “It was a short day for biking,” she said. “Most days after that we rode 35 or 45 miles a day.”

The Crew had mapped out a route before leaving to select camping areas along the way, but because reservations were not needed, they were able to be flexible about where to stop for the day based on how they felt. “I love it,” said Jacque. “When we get to our campsite, everyone works as a team. I’ve been a member since the winter of 2007, and I think we have it down now,” she said. Even so, adjusting to camping and cooking and being in the wilderness can take a day or two. This is where one of the benefits gained from experiences such as the summer Venture Crew adventures comes in, said Jacque. “You have to be a team player when you’re camping, and willing to work hard,” she said. The Crew members, ranging in age from 14 to nearly 18, are not all from Newtown, nor are they necessarily the same group they hang out with in school. “But when we are together, we have an awesome time, and everyone gets along,” Jacque said. “It’s pretty cool.”

Other Adventures

The Venture Crew has undertaken other adventures throughout the year, including caving, rock climbing, and mountain climbing. They have also undertaken other weeklong summer adventures. Last summer, they hiked Mount Katahdin in Maine, followed by a canoe trip down the East branch of the Penobscot River. The year previous to that, Venture Crew 70 biked 200 miles through the Northern Kingdom of Vermont.

Leader Peter Van Buskirk agreed that teamwork was definitely one of the benefits learned on a weeklong journey together. “They also learn how to deal with unforeseen events, and how to modify the plan as you go,” he said. The Crew also realizes a sense of achievement with each adventure they take on, and are provided with an opportunity to see interesting places and meet interesting people along the way, and develop their “innate talent at being zany,” he added. “This is an exceptional group because they are very kind and considerate of each other, quite unselfish, and they hardly ever complain,” said Mr Van Buskirk.

Along the 184½ miles of crushed gravel trail, the members made time to take in historical sites such as the Antietam Battlefield near Harper’s Ferry, Md., and to learn about the canal’s history. The lock houses were once home to families that operated them, raising and lowering the water levels as boats required. They operated in much the same way as lighthouse keepers once tended the lighthouses up and down the coast. “It was pretty interesting. There is still water in the canal in some places, but in a lot of places it is overgrown or you can just see the stonework,” Jacque said.

Each biker carried his or her own sleeping bag, clothing, and toiletries, as well as a portion of the crew gear, tents, and daily food supplies. By the end of the day of biking, the group was generally happy to set up camp and relax, Jacque said. After pitching the tents and starting a fire for dinner, most of the members gladly jumped into the nearby Potomac River for a swim, she said. “Tracy had brought along short stories by Roald Dahl, so every evening she would read us one by the camp fire. That was really fun. And we would do ‘Thorns and Roses,’ about things that didn’t go so well during the day and our favorite part of the day,” Jacque recalled.

Popular “thorns” were the fact that everyone was sore after a day in the bike saddle, or one particularly muddy day when bike tires were tossing up mud on everything and everyone around them. “One evening, a lot of people said that the ‘rose’ was waking up and riding ten miles to a little diner for breakfast that morning. And the night we cooked a pork tenderloin over the campfire for dinner. We were hungry for every meal, but that was really good,” said Jacque.

The journey ended in Washington, D.C., on July 30, where the “rose” for that day was finding the “0” marker behind a boat house, and knowing they had made it the whole way. After a day of sightseeing in the Capitol, volunteers picked up the Crew members and bicycles and ferried them back to Newtown.

“It was a good experience. I would say that everyone had a great time, and it was a new experience for a lot of people. We learn not to set limits for ourselves. You never know what you can accomplish. I think a lot of the kids, including me,” said Jacque, “were surprised they could bike over 200 miles in four and a half days. It was awesome.”