Potomac Heritage Trail

Today Casey, Maxwell, and I decided to embark on the Potomac Heritage Trail.  We started from the entrance point at the end of Live Oak Drive in McLean and hiked ten miles down to the parking area at Roosevelt Island.  It's an interesting little hike to say the least.  Nestled between the highway and the Potomac River, it provided a relatively constant hum of traffic, but also afforded some beautiful views of the river.  At times, I was tempted to jump in despite the plethora of "No Swimming" signs posted at the sweetest looking spots.  I restrained myself and continued my sweaty slog alongside the river instead.  This was probably just as well, because apparently just today a teenage boy was lost in the river.  We heard some helicopters overhead as we were hiking, but it wasn't until I sat down in front of the TV tonight, that I heard the news story.  It appears that the "search and rescue" is now being deemed a "search and recovery," which is quite unfortunate.  My thoughts are with that boy.  It's amazing what water can hide from you.  On the surface, that river looks as inviting in parts as any I've seen.

Despite roughly 11 miles of hiking (we meandered out of the way a few times, adding to the ten mile itinerary), we all made it to Roosevelt Island, where we had placed a second car.  I suppose walking alongside a river has its merits, because the elevation changes were relatively few and the uphill areas did seem to be roughly matched by the downs, despite this being a one-way hike.  Don't get me wrong - there were times that I was huffing and puffing and the 90 degree weather and the encompassing humidity didn't help - but all in all, not a bad trek.  There were toads aplenty and we even saw a deer, several skinks, a couple of great blue herons, and a few chipmunks.


I finished the trail in good spirits, which quickly soured as we began our return trip via car.  We drove together back to our starting point, where I was able to pick up my car.  All was good and well, except that I have roughly zero directional sense and apparently a lackluster memory to boot, so getting back was a struggle.  I plugged Casey's address into my GPS, but we were hoping to get back onto the GW parkway and return in a reasonable 45 minutes.  Instead, the 45 minute journey turned into an hour and twenty minutes of traffic lights and irritable NoVA drivers.  I wasn't in the best of moods by the time I made it home, but when Casey arrived a few minutes later in his car with a milkshake, I couldn't help but smile (isn't he great!?).  Conclusion?  Milkshakes are good, hikes are uplifting, my boyfriend is the best, and I am never, ever, ever, driving in Northern Alexandria ever again.

Strickler Knob

What a hidden gem this was.  I must say I'm glad I found it.  That said, Strickler Knob wasn't the original plan.  Rather, Casey and I were set to take ourselves on a 17 mile overnighter to test out our backpacks (and willpower), but the weather forecasters scared me away.  I am sure Casey would appreciate that I reiterate that the weather forecasters scared me away - not him.  He was merely intent on being a good boyfriend and not having the deal with the avalanche of "I told you so's" should I feel a drop of rain as we were hiking.  The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and weather.com and every other weather service that I could find seemed intent to inform me that I was planning my imminent demise should I choose to spend the night in a flimsy little tent.  "Scattered thunderstorms." "Wait, no, BIG thunderstorms!" "Tornado watch!!!" "Stay inside. Lock the doors. Hide out in a basement! Everybody panic!"  I'm a good rule follower.  I panicked.

And with that, I put together a menagerie of possible little day hikes that might fulfill Casey's need for "strenuous" and my need to be locked away under a real roof when the rain struck.  I laid my proposal out to Casey with care and we decided that Strickler Knob might just be an okay alternative.  Even more, a little hike called Bearfence Mountain was only an hours drive from Strickler, so if we were feeling it, we'd be able to do both in one day.  And so we departed, still with our backpacks, as if to salvage just a little bit of the original plan.  The new plan?  Hike Strickler Knob with the packs on, drive to Bearfence, return home, and call it a day.

The drive from Northern Virginia (I'm home for June!) wasn't bad, although I should admit that I sang along to music in the passenger seat while Casey did the driving.  The sky was still a bright bird's egg blue when we arrived at the trailhead and set off to our destination.  From what we had read, the trail to Strickler Knob was not an official trail and so might not be particularly well kept up or marked.  This had a bit of merit to it, but really - there was little to no fear of ever getting "lost."  The first (nearly) two miles of the trip were on a path that was more of a fire road - rocky at parts, but quite wide - and definitely official trails.  It isn't until you need to make the turn for the last leg of the hike (at which point you are less than a mile from the knob) that the going gets a bit more tricky.  Namely, the tricky part for us was actually finding the turn.  Once we found it, there were more than enough faded pinkish beige markers to keep us headed in the appropriate direction.  We missed the turn off for the unofficial trail the first time around and proceeded to hike another 3 tenths of a mile down the other side of the mountain before we decided that we had gone too far.  But hey, we saw some tadpoles in a little puddle, which was nice.  The sky?  Still cloudless and blue.  We turned around and did manage to find the trail branching off of the main Massanutten Trail right at the top of the ridge.  If you start going down the other side, you have gone too far.

For as uneventful as the first section of the hike was, this last leg was a lot of fun. 

The way was rocky, with some rock scrambling at the end and at least three or four beautiful overlooks before we even reached the main overlook point (from which there were 360 degree views).  Better than Old Rag, I'd say.  The rock scrambling wasn't quite as intense, but it was fun.  The only downside was that from the moment that we left the car until the moment we arrived back at the car, we were plagued by a wide variety of bugs.  The gnats were the first of our nemeses.  They seemed to subside a bit as we reached the ridge, but then came the flies and one very irritating, very persistent little bee.   

At the top, we had planned to eat our lunch, admire the views, and then head back.  The bee seemed to want to join us.  He buzzed around and proceeded to land on my arm.  I'm not afraid of bees, but I really didn't want to get stung and wasn't quite sure of the correct protocol when a bee decides to spend ten minutes feasting on the sweat on your arm.  He was totally content.  I was concerned.  Casey was laughing his head off, but refusing to get any closer than a good three feet from me and the bee.  I devised a plan.  Using my left arm, I snatched the bag of fruit and seed mix that we had brought.  I removed a single piece of dried pineapple and stuck it in front of the bee's face.  It took him a minute, but eventually he placed all (six I think?) feet onto the pineapple chunk.  Step one: check.  In a quick swoop, I chucked the pineapple off the side of the cliff.  Step two: check.  And then the bleak (re)realization of "oh shit, bees can fly" as the bee zoomed back off of the falling pineapple towards my face.  I brandished my bag of fruit and nut mix at him.  He divebombed me.  I flailed.  Casey fled the overlook rock.  I yelled at Casey.  The bee zoomed in again.  I swatted him. Again.  I made a lunge for the side of the rock from which we had gotten up.  I started to climb down.  And got stuck halfway.  The bee landed on my leg.  Well crap.

And there I was, clinging to the edge of the rock, a cliff on one side of me, not quite sure where the next rock was to place my foot, a bee on my leg, all whilst begging that Casey please come back and help me get down.  Casey took one look at the bee and decided to direct me from afar.  I continued to panic.  He finally came to my rescue and plucked me off of the rock wall and placed me onto the lower rock base.  Turns out I was about three inches away the whole time.  Oops.

Long story short, we survived our close encounter with the bumble bee (I know I sound like a real tough hiker here...) and successfully carried 20 pounds apiece up and down the trail.

As we were leaving, my mother called, having heard the weather reports, telling us that we'd best return home.  We went ahead and skipped the trip to Bearfence Mountain.  That massive storm?  Yeah, it still hasn't rained a drop.

Harkening Hill - Peaks of Otter

We finally completed the last of the Peaks of Otter Trio!  Don't get me wrong - these hikes only total about 12 miles when combined, but we did each on a separate occasion and yesterday just happened to be the time to do Harkening Hill.  It wasn't as impressive as either Flat Top or Sharp Top, but the trail was nice, interesting, and did pass by some pretty views (albeit nothing near the magnitude of either of the aforementioned hikes).  Although the views weren't quite up to snuff with the other two peaks, I think I actually enjoyed the trail more.  It appears that nobody has been out to care for the trail since the dawn of Spring, because the trail is now merely a one man wide path that is extremely overgrown at parts.  I have started to run.  Jog might be a more appropriate word.  But none-the-less, in an effort to prepare myself for a million killer hikes on the planned trip out west at the end of this summer, I bought myself a spiffy pair of neon orange (the last color left...) running shoes and have started to jog.  Is it making a difference as I hike?  As of now, it's hard to tell. 

Fortunately, no bushwhacking was required, but I'm thankful there didn't seem to be many ticks out because it would have been easy to become covered with how much we were rubbing through the brush.  Either way, it was fun to make our way through the greenery and for the first time on a hike in ju

st about ever (that I recall) I didn't have to stop to huff and puff even once.  This probably had more to do with the fact that I wasn't carrying anything on my back and that the hike itself is pretty easy than it did with my improved fitness, but I should say that I've started running!  Yes - it's true. 

Regardless, this little hike brought a good time with surprisingly cool weather.  It's nearly impossible to get lost (and I can attest well to this I think, seeing as I manage to get lost at every chance that awaits me) provided that you get on the trail next to the "Harkening Hill" map behind the visitor center.  Overall, it was a good little hike and would probably be a great one to bring kids along.

Sulphur Springs Ridge and Price Mountain

I've been slow to write about this little hike that a friend and I did a few weeks ago.  That said, my lack of writing has more to do with my lack of enthusiasm to sit at my computer as the weather warms up than it has to do with the hike itself, which was very nice.  Unfortunately, even as I sit here now, I'm feeling little desire to write out a long play-by-play of the experience, so I think I'll keep this one short.  We walked.  We came upon a stream.  I looked for salamanders and came up empty handed.  We crossed a bridge and climbed to the ridge.  I stopped frequently to huff and puff and complain.  Anthony took picture of me with my bright red face as I tried to dodge the camera.  We questioned if we were lost because the trail seemed to go endlessly up.  We saw a black snake.  I learned that Anthony does not like snakes.  We wandered along the ridge taking in the (slightly obstructed, but pretty) views.  We learned that we were not, in fact lost, and began to descend the mountain via the Price Mountain trail.  We arrived back at our car and made it home, all in one piece. A good day if I may say so.  And that, my friends, was our trip to Sulphur Springs and Price Mountain.