All,
Hike number two is in the bag!
As I drove back from Harrisonburg late on Saturday night the wind was moving my jeep around on 81 and 66 at times at a rather an alarming rate. My little windscreen wipers were working overtime and the thought of getting up early on a cold wet Sunday morning to go for a walk was far from appealing.
But I sit here and type, and as has happened so often in the past, I can reflect back on a beautiful hike. Motto of the story, just get up and get out, the upside of a great hike far outweighs the downside.
We met in the parking lot and gathered the troops. 19 scouts and 12 parents giggled nervously as we were all trying to pretend that it wasn’t as cold as it actually was and that all was going to be fine.
We drove a short way to the nature center at Riverbend Park (via a detour off Old Dominion for a downed tree), and in short order were off down the trail with 10 miles ahead of us. This is one of my favourite hiking areas and hard to believe that you are just 20 minutes from the White House! It’s really is a special spot. And to make it all the better at this time of year the bluebell carpet was in full voice and covered the lower elevations like a exquisitely crocheted blanket.
We meandered our way down from Riverbend Park to Great Falls to Difficult Run and made the turn back up stream. A couple of snack stops and one lunch stop rested the team enough to keep a brisk pace going. In about 4.5 hours we were back at the nature center.
It is great to see some our new scouts out and hiking and to a man not a peep of a complaint. What started off as a chilly-parking-lot rendez-vous turned out to be a great day for a hike with clear skies, decent temperatures and some special views down the Mather Gauge.
Our next hike will be to Little Bennett Regional Park in MD on May 8 (what better way to spend Mothers Day!!).
As always, a big thank you to Steve (aka Mr. B) for leading us down the trail.
MWS
PS: Be prepared, our June 5th hike will be our first 20 miler!!!!!