Hike 31: Fraser Preserve

I tried to do this one the same afternoon as Scotts Run, but the parking situation here is REALLY ODD, so I gave up.  Basically, the gate into the camp area is locked so you have to park on a single-lane road that doesn't really have room for you to park on, go through the locked gate (sketchy, if you ask me), and then hike a mile to the trailhead on a gravel driveway.  I bailed after I tried to park and nearly fell in a ditch.

Hike 27: Mount Vernon Trail and Fort Hunt Park

Totally did not know you could hike to Mount Vernon!  From Fort Hunt Park, it's not too bad! 

 

This is a pretty straightforward multi-use trail. 

We spent some time at Mt. Vernon as well, although it was rainy and sticky humid and Mt. Vernon was under construction so we didn't linger.

Hike 30: Scotts Run Nature Preserve

This area is tucked into a little corner of Falls Church next to the Potomac. 

 

There are signs everywhere telling people not to swim, but that's pretty much completely ignored.  Most of the people on the trail with me were wearing bathing suits and the waterfall that spills into a little pool before flowing into the Potomac is filled with teenagers splashing around. 

It's actually a little obnoxious because there are a lot of remnants of drunken parties lying around what should be a beautiful area.  The trail itself is also poorly maintained on the eastern half of the preserve so you have to scrabble through a lot of brush.  But it makes things a little adventurous, I suppose.  And a little spooky...  :)

Hike 25: Holmes Run Parklands

I did this hike while Chris was out of town and ventured into Virginia all by myself!  :)  This was in a area near Alexandria.  You start near Duke Street in a parking area behind a library.  You cross a bridge onto the walking trail to Holmes Run Greenway. 

 The directions in the book are actually really confusing so I didn't follow them.  I just followed the trail all the way to downtown Alexandria.  It's quite scenic, but there isn't a lot of shade once you get to the part of the trail that parallels the driving road.

Hike 38: Magruder Branch Trail

Chris and I did this for our anniversary celebration!

It starts really close to our home, at a rec park with a huge soccer field and baseball diamond too.  You have to walk from the parking lot to a paved loop trail that lots of people use for running before you get to the turnoff to the dirt hiking trail.  It's pretty straightforward with some areas that are a bit overgrown (I made Chris go first in those sections).  Eventually you pass this open field area behind a bunch of giant mansions and then you run into Seneca Creek.

 It looks like you should be able to continue across the creek to the Seneca Greenway Trail, which we've done from the other end.  It was a nice spot to munch on our PBJ sandwiches.

On our way back, Chris picked a nice ripe blackberry - it was actually really sweet!  He really wanted to see a black bear, but no such luck.  :)

Hike 24: Watkins Regional Park

This place is fantastic for kids!  There's a great nature center that you start at and lots of little trails. 

The longest one is called "Spicebush Trail" and it takes you the whole way around the park.  It's a little overgrown and I don't think many people walk the trail.  I was periodically freaked out by spiderwebs strung across the trail, but it wasn't awful.  The book says the trails are "mostly names, signposted, and color coded" and that's true for the most part but sometimes the trails end very abruptly in a field of nothing. 

And Spicebush Trail sort of dead ends into a parking lot and I never found the rest of the trail, so I wandered around and eventually followed a road back to the nature center.  But that's when I discovered the best part!  They have an old farm that wasn't open that day, but you can wander around outside the fence and they have PEACOCKS!  I took pictures and videotapes for a good twenty minutes.  They were so cool.  They also have turkeys and chickens and probably some mammals too, but I couldn't see them.

Hike 13: Capital Crescent Trail

I was originally planning to bike this trail, but when a friend asked if I wanted to go on a hike with her, I had a brilliant idea to hike from Bethesda to Georgetown, have lunch down there, wander around and shop, and generally make a day of it!  Of course the day we planned was one of the hottest days of the year - mid 90s and humid.  I woke up kind of icky, but I figured I was just hungry so I had some breakfast and we met up with Caitlin.  A few texts back and forth to figure out where on the trail we were meeting, but we got started with no problems.  Lots of chit chat about work and such and we made it to the Daelcarlia Tunnel, "built in 1910 to carry the railroad line under both Conduit Road (now MacArthur Blvd) and the pipes carrying river water to Dalecarlia Reservoir."

I was starting to slow down a bit, but I figured it was just hot, so I kept drinking my water, but it wasn't helping.  We made it to a refurbished ex-railroad bridge right after leaving Montgomery County, and I had to take a break and sit on an electric box or something.  Caitlin did some research on where we were and Chris went down to Fletcher's boathouse to check out the facilities there.  Caitlin went up a small trail to see if it led back to a main road where we could hop off and go home.  I thought I was doing better until I threw up behind the electrical box.  :(  After that, I figured it wouldn't be a good idea to soldier on, so when Chris came back from the boathouse, we went up the little trail back onto Arizona Ave.  Caitlin and I got drinks at a Starbucks and she started calling cab companies.  Chris, who was feeling totally fine, ran up Wisconsin Ave to meet us at Tenleytown Metro.  Of course, he beat us there!  That was pretty much the end of that hike.  It was sort of pathetic...