Since my first trip in July, I have attempted two more
hiking experiences. The first one was Gettysburg at the end of August. This
was not a particularly successful hiking trip as I had trouble finding the
trail I was attempting to hike, became overheated, and ended up returning to
the Visitor Center after a couple of hours of wandering around on the
roads. I hope to attempt this trip
again, planning a few days in the area, so I can visit some of the museums in
addition to hiking. The second hiking
trip I took a couple weeks ago to Great Falls National Park, where I spent a
very pleasant day in the park with my husband.
This trip started out on a much better note than the trip to
Shenandoah or Gettysburg. My husband
drove and he has a much better sense of direction than I do. We arrived on schedule at the right (only one
I think) entrance to the park. I
directed us to the Southern parking lot, where we easily found the trailhead
for the trip I had mapped out. We walked Matildaville Trail first. This is a
1.1 mile trail through the ruins of Matildaville, an old community for workers
of the Patowmack Canal Company. The
trail is easy at first, but eventually leads into a rather steep climb up a
hill. Matildaville Trail intersects
twice with Old Carriage Road, another 1.5 mile trail in the park. At the second intersection, my husband and I switched
to Old Carriage Road to head back to our starting point. Old Carriage Road is a very easy walk on a
wide level path. Once back to the
parking lot, we headed down to the river so we could take in the spectacular views
of the falls for which the park is known.
There are three overlooks to visit, and we went to each one in
turn. At the end, we made a stop in the
visitor center to see some of the exhibits and to buy a souvenir. Then, we headed home about noon, or three-ish
hours after we arrived. Everything went
smoothly and on schedule.
This trip was a little different than the first two because
I went with my husband. Hiking with my
husband is a different experience than hiking on my own. In some ways it is nice. He can be a good conversationalist when he
wants to be. He helped me over a fairly
large tree that had fallen across the path.
He took some nice photos of me on the trail. He did make me feel a little safer than I do
on my own, especially in a park like Great Falls that is very popular (Yes, I
feel safer on my own when there is no one really around…I am afraid of what
people will do to me, not what nature can do).
On the other hand, he creates constant noise which can get in the way of
my quiet contemplation of the nature around me.
He walks much faster than me, even up hills, and I got left behind a
couple times. Plus while we both can get
side-tracked by things to investigate, they do not tend to be the same things,
so there were times where each of us was impatient for the other to get
moving. Over all, I am glad we can do some
hiking together, but I definitely want to plan more solo trips in the future
too.
My goal has been to plan a hike once each month which so far
I have done (three months in a row).
However, I am not sure a hike in October will happen. We are halfway through the month already, I
am working this coming weekend, possibly working the next weekend, and going to
a party the final weekend. While I can
obviously take some non-party time on that last one, I need time to recover from
all the weekend work hours, time to do some basic cleaning, and hopefully time
to work on my front room. Even if
October ends up a no hiking month, I am already scheduled for a getaway at the
Wintergreen Resort the first weekend in November. As long as weather holds reasonably clear, I told
my husband I am taking a hike that weekend regardless if anyone else comes
along (I am going with him and two friends).
I will be in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the autumn, and there is no
reason to pass up a chance to absorb the colorful fall beauty.
Trip Spending Total:
$15.25 – Park entrance fee $10.00, souvenir for me $5.25
See you next week!
Here are some of my favorite photos from this trip.
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