Maryland Heights and C&O Canal

Casey and I have been meaning to go backpacking for quite some time now, but schedules and weather keep getting in our way.  So, when we found a unplanned stretch of time from Thursday to Friday (with both of us off on Friday), I insisted that we try to make something happen.  Unfortunately, with the two of us now almost real adults, we realized that we wouldn't be able to depart until after work.  This might have been fine, except that after an extensive google search, I reached the conclusion that there is no good backpacking any closer than a 1.5 hour drive from College Park.

This would mean that in the best case scenario, we would have been able to arrive at the trailhead in the late afternoon to early evening.  For as much hiking as I have done, I have done very little true backpacking and was concerned about beginning a hike so close to dusk when we were both so new to securing food from bears, using our (new and improved and hopefully less prone to spontaneously burst into flames) camp stove, and just generally doing the overnight thing.  As such, we began to think about alternative options and wound up with the idea of taking ourselves on a bike camping trip along the C&O canal with a day hike to Maryland Heights the following day.  It turned out to be a perfect idea.

I had recently secured a free bike trailer off of Craigslist with the hope of being able to cart around my aging dog when she can no longer walk around Burke lake on her own four paws, but the trailer seemed like the perfect way to get our tent and supplies from point A to point B via bike.  It worked out just wonderfully.

bikes at the campground

We arrived to our starting point, the Antietam campground, around 7:00 p.m., ready to bike just about seven miles to the Huckleberry Hill campground.  The C&O canal is essentially flat and is well groomed so it was smooth and quick sailing.  There are campgrounds at frequent intervals along the trail, which makes this a perfect trail to do a long-distance bike ride along (I want to go back for a longer trip now!).  We arrived with nearly an hour of daylight to spare and met our friendly neighbors.  All of the others at the campground were on the trail for the long-haul - we were the only overnighters - and they were good company.

What a view to wake up to

 The next day we had been thinking about taking the bikes to the Maryland Heights trail head, but we were concerned about theft, so we opted to bike back to the car and then drive into the town of Harpers Ferry to start our hike there.  I don't have too much to report from the hike - it's a pretty steady uphill for most of the way with a roughly .5 mile downhill section right before the overlook.  The overlook is well worth the little hike.  You are able to see the confluence of the rivers, the town below, and know that you may be sitting in Maryland, but you are overlooking Virginia and West Virginia.  Such a neat place!

Casey at the overlook

Me at the overlook

One more of the beautiful view

Billy Goat Trail Section A (Great Falls, MD)

pond along the trail

 It's about time that I'm getting around to adding the Billy Goat Trail!  I've done this trail a good four or five times and in my opinion it is the best hike inside of the Beltway.  It's popular, no doubt, but if you can put aside the crowds and just look at the scenery, you'll be wondering how it is that you are only a quick drive from DC.  Yesterday I went with Casey, Stephanie, and Josh after Casey and I had a bike camping trip stormed out on Friday afternoon.  It was busy as expected and we saw quite a few kayakers on the river and in the canal along with swarms of hikers.  It is understandable that this hike is popular, I suppose, because along with the great views and rock scrambling, it is short.  The hike itself totals only 1.7 miles (keeping in mind that it's a U-shaped hike, so you must either retrace your steps or follow the canal path back to the beginning of the hike).  Even still, at about 3.7 miles total if you take the trail to the canal path as a loop, it's a moderate hike at most.  But boy is it beautiful.

Stephanie and Josh

There's rocks like this for most of the way

Casey by the water

A neat little bridge over a rushing creek

Casey and Stephanie aren't thrilled at the photo opportunity