I decided to take Friday off.
Well, I kinda-sorta needed to use up some “personal hours” from work lest I lose them… and Friday was the last day I could use them. So, I took Friday off to go and have some “me” time.
After spending the early morning with my Friday morning men’s group, I took off for the Maryland side of Great Falls so I could scramble the Billy Goat Trail (Section A). I got there about 11am and hoped that it wouldn’t rain as the weather forecast suggested it might throughout the day.
It was quite a beautiful day for a hike — it was hot and a smidge on the humid side, but there was a nice, constant breeze and the clouds shaded the sun frequently. But when the sun did appear, it was perfect. And it didn’t even rain at all!
I usually make it out to Great Falls maybe 2 or 3 or 4 times a year. I wish I lived closer so I could visit more often — it takes me about 50 minutes to drive out there.
So, here’s how I usually hike the Billy Goat at Great Falls:
- park at public/free parking across the street from the Old Angler’s Inn
- walk down to the towpath
- head westerly to the south entrance to the trailhead (~.5mi)
- walk or run the trail (~1.7mi)
- exit the trail at the northern towpath trail entrance
- walk or run the trail back to the parking lot (~1.5mi)
This time, I wanted to simply enjoy the day and enjoy the environment. I walked the trail briskly, and I broke from following the blazed trail on occasion to scramble closer to the rocks at the Potomac River’s edge. I took several breaks to sit and enjoy the views. Then, instead of heading back once the trail is completed, I walked up the towpath to the overlook and enjoyed the rapids and falls, and then walked further up to the visitor center to replenish water and then trek ~2mi. back to head home.
All in all, I spent a good 4-5 hours and I guesstimate that the loop was a little over 5mi.
…………
So, here’s a bunch of camera phone pics I took along the way. I took video too, but the video from my rinky-dink camera phone is quite shoddy, so I’ll spare you the headache.
^ glad these were here by the parking spots… I needed to relieve myself before hitting the trail!
^ “you are here”
^ “widewater” along the towpath
^ enjoying a quick cashew, pistachio, and dried mango snack off the beaten path… had to hop some rocks & water to get here!
^ I fell in hopping back to the blazed trail
^ scrambling… out of breath… breathing heavy… bug in the mouth… BLECH!
^ I *love* the sound of rushing water!
^ the footbridge was washed-out…
^ gotta use this to cross…
^ crossing with balance and ease ;-)
^ saw deer… tried to get closer but she just kept her distance.
^ back at the water’s edge…
^ spent a good while just watching mini swirling eddies. I had a cool little God-moment here — God reminded me that he’s in all the little stuff too, not just the big things.
^ stuff to clamber up in the background… FUN!
^ pulling myself up
^ I have no idea how I got this… maybe when I slipped and fell in the water? I’m about 40′ up.
^ took a break to snack… read the Word… and I took a quick nap…
^ hm. spotted this along the way…
^ more to climb… gotta go up and around the bend to the right…
^ yeah, riiiiiiigghhhht. (I was careful, though!) ;-)
^ up the towpath to check out the overlook
^ purty. i could sit and watch this forever.
^ look, there’s Virginia on the other side!
^ the more you know…
^ I ran out of water a little sooner than expected… boy, was I glad to see these!
^ I got to watch the the crew work the boat lock — I’d never seen one in action before! This one has been refurbished and is used for tourists… all of the other locks are pretty much defunct.
^ the water is now level on both sides… the lock is opened…
^ and the boat is pulled along the towpath by horse.
^ the towpath
^ and to close the loop… the bridge across the towpath to the parking lot
^ ahhhh… my feet were so glad to get out of those!
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