As I sit on the porch enjoying a cup of tea (and the Advil working it's way to my joints), I'm very proud of the Scouts (and a sister) who completed 20+ miles today on the Billy Goat Trail. I'm also tremendously thankful for the adults who made the journey and supported the younger ones.
We started an hour earlier than usual for hiking--meeting at Total Wine at 6AM. The trip to Great Falls, MD (near Old Anglers) took only a few minutes. And we had boots on trail by 6:30AM.
From that Old Anglers trailhead, if you do each section of Billy Goat A, B, and C, plus the corresponding stretches on the C&O Canal, you have a 10-mile hike. So we mostly doubled that with a bit of variation to hit 21.84 miles (by my GPS--Mr. Touse showed 20.8 on his).
Our route went north from Anglers along Billy Goat A, then a full loop around the River Trail (+ corresponding tow path), then a repeat of A (but in the reverse direction). This allowed us to complete both stretches of the more challenging section A on fresh legs, before crowds arrived, and before the forecasted afternoon showers. Then we curved through 2 figure-8's of loops B & C. And we completed the full circuit in just under 10 hours.
For a May hike, we could not have been more fortunate on weather: barely a sprinkle all day, mostly overcast, and bits of clear skies here and there for encouragement.
The youthful 20-milers today were George C., Owen C., James R., Jonathan O., Danny O., Jack T., Nick B., Ian F., and Helen F. And we had 2 Scouts complete 10-milers today, as well: Chris F. and Braden B.
The adults completing 20 miles were Mitch B., David R, Chuck C., Mike T., Peter O., Kate F., and me. And Keith F. also knocked-out 10 miles.
Today's hike completed the Hiking Merit Badge for several Scouts. Now all of the Scouts going to Northern Tier have that badge wrapped-up (as they committed to do in preparation of our trip).
Our next hiking adventure (June 1-3) will actually be a backpacking trip geared for the Northern Tier crews. But all experienced hikers/backpackers are welcome.
Photos of this hike can be viewed over here.