Tag: Outdoors | Hiking

A good friend of mine has always said great things about George Washington National Forest (and nearby Jefferson National Forest). Due to a slight trail mixup (and poor signage) I didn’t have enought time to do the ever-popular Signal Knob hike, but did an abbreviated version that went over Meneka Peak instead.

Great hike, but about two weeks too early for any real foliage. I will have to come back a little later next year.

It was fall festival, which filled up the parking lot a bit, but once we got out on the trails there was no real sign that there was anyone else in the park at all.

As the name implies, the best bits of the park are the meadow sections. Grass, sky, clouds … probably the closest I will get to a real “prairie” this close to the Atlantic.

I made my third shooting trip in three days today. It was miserably hot, and while I was pleasantly surprised at how big Prince William Forest Park was, I was startled at its lack of photogenic-ness (at least the Pyrite Mine Loop). A butterfly flirted with me for a couple of minutes (highlight of the afternoon), but then grew bored with me and flew off.

Hiked another Nature Convervancy preserve, this on called the Fraser Preserve near Great Falls, Virginia.

It’s a nice hike, relatively flat and easily navigatable … except for one tiny little problem. Apparently, the trail crosses onto the property of a neighboors who doesn’t like the Conservancy much. There is a 5-string barbed wire fence blocking off fifteen (yes, 15) feet of the circuit trail. How much do you have to hate conservationists (not to mention the baptists that co-own the preserve) to do that?!?

To make matters worse, everything around that part of the path is swamp-land, so you have to go all the way back past the river and use the government access road to get across the property … just to get to where the blue blazed trail picks back up.

When you do make the trip, you’ll have the opportunity to stand at the barbed wire fence and stare at the neighboor has he fishes away on his fancy-pants barbed-off stream. I did, and it was a heck of a lot of fun … tho he didn’t seem to enjoy it that much.

Roosevelt Island is certainly a nice hike, but not one of the most photogenic places in Washington. A dog was doing some dead-waterfowl retrieval drills, but not much exciting beyond that.

Something like my fourth trip back to this hike, located about 20 minutes north of Baltimore. Still far and away my favorite. First trip in cold weather, though … and I think it was my first trip where it didn’t rain.

For some reason, I love hiking around abandoned farmland. It must be my hippie upbringing, but my favorite hike (Susquahannah State Park) is also around the same type environment. I must have spend half an hour walking around an old abandoned barn on the Merkle property.

Speaking of which, I should really do Susquahannah again. I don’t think I have been there since I got the new camera.

Not much of a hike to and from, but the payoff (the falls themselves) was amazing. I’ve never had much chance to play around with shutter speed near water before, and that in itself was a lot of fun. Hokie, but fun.

Hiked the Old Stone Fort Trail in Harpers Ferry National Park. Outstanding hike. While the views weren’t particularly great, the breastworks, trenches and other relics of the Civil War add a terrific historic element to the trek. Overcast day, which was great for the cloud shots, but lousy for pretty much everything else.

Maryland Heights, Harpers Ferry NHP
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unclevanya/sets/…6746/

I didn’t think this one through very well. I drove all the way from suburban DC to the north end of the Skyline Drive … and *then* thought about checking to see if the road was open. Turns out that it wasn’t.

The good news is that one trail, Dickey Ridge, actually goes from the entrance road, around the road blocks, and up into the park. There were about a dozen cars parked at the trailhead, so I assume it was legal … if not it was still very popular none-the-less.

Another Conservancy project, the Battle Creek Cypress Swamp in Prince Frederick, Maryland is a great and accessible preserve. The swamp harbors the northernmost stand of bald cypress trees in the United States, making it well worth the trip to Maryland’s Western Shore..

I actually hiked this a couple of weeks ago, but forgot to bring the rechargable battery for my new camera … (stupid new camera). It was good enough (especially down by the water) that I wanted to come back and take some shots.

I hesitate to call this a hike, because there wasn’t a discernable trail. I also hesitate to imply that it is open to the public (it is) because it is so hard to get to and because the land just isn’t setup for visitors.

That being said, the Hellen Creek Hemlock Preserve is pretty remarkable in that it is the southernmost stand of Canadian hemlock in the eastern United States.

Today is one of those fall federal holidays that we get off just because the federal goverment is shut down. I know I just offended someone, but not sure if that was the Italians (Columbus Day) or those who have served in our miliary (Veterans Day) or someone else.

Anyway, Jonathon (friend from work) and I took a rare, mutual day off and hiked Little Devil’s Stairs in the Shenandoah. Not much in the way of scenery, but one heck of a hike.

I absolutely love poplar trees, so the Tall Poplar Trail in Patapsco State Park is one of my favorites. It was a great day for it too, with an exceptionally blue sky peppered (salted?) with fluffy white, cotton clouds. Perfection.

Hiked the river trail. The best thing was the possability of soft serve ice cream at the end, which went unfulfilled because the stand was closed when we got back. *Sigh*

Got a late start, was hiking until after duck, and spent a miserable night on the side of a mountain because I actually listened to the park ranger when they said that camping was prohibited next to trails and near water.

The very next morning I passed no less than half a dozen campsites within 4 feet of the trail and 2 feet of the water.

I topped off my four hours of fitful sleeping with a hike back, a collapse at the elkwallow wayside, the best grilled cheese i’ve ever had in my life, and a three hour nap in my car.

i’m getting too old for this sort of thing.