melaniesuzanne: (Deux souris by Maury)
[personal profile] melaniesuzanne
I felt antsy this morning and wanted to take advantage of today's gorgeous weather so I suggested to Hubbyfink that we take our bikes over to Great Falls and explore. He suggested we hike instead and I agreed to that, especially since I've never been to the park.

Great Falls
Great Falls

Mind blown. I wasn't expecting to scramble over so many rocks, but the views were completely worth it. I told Hubbyfink I'd like to go white water rafting, which surprised him. Hubbyfink was totally in his element and scrambled over the rocks and through the trees like the monkey boy I didn't realize he was.

King of the hill
King of the Hill

As we hiked along the trail, we spotted a guy climbing down a steep and rocky path while carrying a kayak on his shoulder. We followed him halfway down the slope and watched him launch into the river. He fought the current while paddling across to the Maryland side and let the current carry him downriver a bit before paddling back up again. He and the many other kayakers appeared to be having a ball in the water. I told Hubbyfink that I had no desire to kayak.

Kayak

We continued down the River Trail and snapped photos at clearings and outcroppings.

You and I

Mather Gorge
Mather Gorge

I survived
That beach is a heckuva way down there

We came across a web of ropes tied to trees with other ropes attached via carabiners. The second ropes went over the edge of the rocks. We found a ledge to the side of the ropes and spotted a bunch of adventurers rappelling and climbing up the steep cliff. I told Hubbyfink that I had no desire to rock climb. Or rappel.

Rock climber

We hiked down the River Trail to the Canal Cut and then headed back north via the Canal Trail. A lot of folks felt the same way about the beautiful weather as we did and the park was full of single hikers and couples and families and dogs and cyclists. Nearly every picnic table and grill was in use and the smells of hamburgers, hotdogs, and charcoal filled the autumn air. We continued past the Visitors Center and I wanted to explore the North River Trail, but my feet gave out shortly after we passed the northernmost parking lot so we turned back around and found the car.

Hubbyfink is quite sure that I'm trying to kill him with all this outdoor activity. I told him that if his middle aged, overweight wife can do all this, he can, too.

Date: 2011-10-24 01:25 am (UTC)
melebeth: (Default)
From: [personal profile] melebeth
Wow. Those views are AMAZING>

Date: 2011-10-24 01:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] melaniesuzanne.livejournal.com
Aren't they gorgeous? It's hard to believe that these geologic wonders are a mere fifteen minute drive from my house and I had no idea they were there!

Date: 2011-10-24 02:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ornerie.livejournal.com
its so much fun to discover stuff like that :)
amazing!!!! gorgeous! and looks lik eyou lucked out on weather too! :)
thanks for sharing the photos :)

Date: 2011-10-24 02:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aelf.livejournal.com
What gorgeous pictures! Looks like y'all had a great time :)

Date: 2011-10-24 01:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] melaniesuzanne.livejournal.com
We had a lot of fun. :) I'm so happy with how well my little point & click camera did.

Date: 2011-10-24 02:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] psalite.livejournal.com
Pretty
I was thisclose to taking my bike down there after church today .But was too tired this morning after the event to get the rack on the car. If you are interested in going back I might be lookeing to go for a bike ride this weekend .We could to the Maryland side this time. Nice trail different views :)

Date: 2011-10-24 01:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] melaniesuzanne.livejournal.com
I'm not sure how good the bicycle trails are over there. It looks like they go up into the woods and aren't along the river. Since we hiked the trail along the river (oh my gosh, so much climbing over rocks!), we didn't get a good look at the bike/horse trails.

Also, we're doing an in-costume ride in DC on Sunday. Maybe if the weather is good on the 6th?

Date: 2011-10-24 04:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] psalite.livejournal.com
I walked the trails on the MD side several years ago and I remember them as being bike friendly Also had some good views of the river.
Also I think the 6th might be better for me as well .I want to spend some housework time on Sat and forgot will be at church all moring for Reformantation on Sunday.

Date: 2011-10-24 02:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hudebnik.livejournal.com
There's a Great Falls Park on the Maryland side, too, with its own set of views and good hiking trails. More of a drive for you, of course....

We used to go to Great Falls fairly frequently when I was growing up in Reston.

BTW, you might want to edit the spelling from "repel" to "rappel". "repel" is what DEET does.

Date: 2011-10-24 01:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] melaniesuzanne.livejournal.com
Ah, thanks! I was obviously going by phonetics and when I used two Ps, spell check corrected me. ;)

And yes, I want to check out the Maryland side and bike down the C&O trail.

Date: 2011-10-24 03:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moshah.livejournal.com
Funny, we used to go to the maryland one all the time, but I've only been to the VA side once. Need to go more often!

Date: 2011-10-24 01:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] melaniesuzanne.livejournal.com
Yes, yes. There were lots of little kids playing on rocks that weren't anywhere near the cliffs. :) I bet your girls, or at least Annika, would love that.

Date: 2011-10-24 06:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] frualeydis.livejournal.com
Oooh! That's amazing!

/Eva

Date: 2011-10-24 01:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] melaniesuzanne.livejournal.com
It really was. So beautiful.

Date: 2011-10-24 09:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] belfebe.livejournal.com
What a great way to spend the weekend!

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