It's amazing how you can see it on the internet or the TV, but seeing devastation in person really makes a much greater impression. Hurricane Irene had caused flooding in the area in late August of 2011. Our first introduction was Bill from the Pineapple B and B telling us about the bridges that were closed and that we would have to "reroute."
People's possessions were just piled high next to the road.
This bridge is OUT! That's a long drop.
It was kind of fun winding around figuring out how to get to where we were going, but the trail and roads were clear (with Bob navigating very well!) until late in the day the trail was blocked by a huge pile of brush and trees and shredded wood from the debris. We were able to take the bikes down a short steep hill to the concrete seawall next to the river. Bob was in the lead. When he stooped down to clear some debris from his way, the bike and trailer with Haagu in it jackknifed and almost went in the water.
Luckily, the bike and trailer stayed on shore but the front handlebar bag flipped open and dumped the contents in the water - including camera, wallet and a few other less important items. I was next in line and I through my bike off to the side and start running to help. Quick as a flash, I see Bob scramble down the ladder, somehow grab the wallet, and I still have no idea how he did it, heaves himself back up the ladder one handed. The water was 5 feet below the last rung of the ladder! How he did it, I'll never know. Whew!
The scene of the averted tragedy! If you look really closely, you can see how far the water is below the last rung of the ladder. You can see part of the mound of the debris on the left.
No good story is without a fairy godmother or similar. We had met Dwight and Ron, two other and the only full trail bicyclists we met, who helped us move the rest of the bicycles and trailers around and back to the trail. We also managed to float the camera "bag" and other items downriver to a barge where Ron was able to retrieve them. No camera, but the camera card had just been changed the pictures survived!
Long day of riding which we didn't expect, but we found a Days Inn that took dogs and bicycle equipment and had a great meal and more beer than we should have.
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