G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management Area

Man that IS a mouthful!!  GRTMA is in the middle of nowhere...I really should have read more about where we were going and taken a GOOD map and print out of a description of the loop.  I...did not.  I am such a hiking noob it's not even funny.

The GPS took us completely to the wrong parking area.  No wonder we got off on the wrong trail.  We were hiking  the AT and thought we were on the loop.  Now that I look at the maps a little better, we were no where NEAR the loop we were trying to hike.  *sigh*

We're driving along this road that keeps getting narrower and narrower and losing it's surface.  Eventually, it's down to a dirt/gravel concoction that has GYNORMOUS pot holes in it.  Good thing we didn't try to drive the mustang that day!  We never would have made it!

Now, I did read that this is a hunting area so be sure to wear some orange, which we didn't.  *snort*  I must say though, it was the weirdest thing for us to hike around and hear gun shots going off.  Or rifle shots, I guess you'd call them?  Being SO not a hunter, I honestly have no clue.

When we got out of the truck, we were immediately greeted by a dog with a radio collar and bells on.  It was adorable!  Not quite sure what kind of dog it was.  It looked like a cross between a golden and an Irish setter.  I've not quite seen that breed before and well, when I was single (or pretending to be as the ex worked nights) I used to watch the dog shows just to learn the different breeds.

We checked the map, geared up and hit the trail.  The hunting party went left and we went right.  I figured we were on the right path as it was a loop.  *shaking head*  Jackson apparently wanted to join us on our hike instead of his hunting family.  I finally told Jackson to come with me and headed towards his family.  He caught up with them and I turned around and headed back up our trail.

It was a warm day.  We immediately started to strip layers.  I'm not sure what the temperature was that day, but I think it got up to at least 40 if not low 50s.  I really was warm.

The trail we were on started with a brief walk through the woods to some plains type grass lined trails.  This was short lived and we were in the woods again.  This was definitely going to be a muddy trip when we had to walk partly down a small stream on the trail.  It's all good!  Boots were meant to get wet and dirty!

We were following white blazes.  *snort*  Such noobs we are!  LOL  We just keep walking through the woods.  Up some inclines, down more hills; we just keep swimming walking and following those white blazes.  Sorry, a little habit from that Nemo movie.  At one point, I stop and say, "Do you hear water?"  S, "Yup."  We trek down this descent into a gorge with giant rocks and a nice stream.

There were some large logs that you could cross, but it was more fun to scramble over the rocks.  I started to cross on one of the logs, but S just flew past me walking over the rocks.  This is where I really enjoy having trekking poles.  Crossing water is SO much easier to accomplish with trekking poles.  I never feel like I'm going to completely lose my balance and fall into the water.  They help me take larger steps than I would have.  With my knees and feet, I never know what's going to give first, so I'm always hesitant to just step not knowing what's going to give if I over-exert myself.  I know it's not the best way to hike, but with my health issues, I don't want to over do it until I get them all resolved.  Of course, that requires actually GOING to the doctor...

At this point, we start to climb....up and up and up.  The trail we were supposed to be one was going to take us around a lake and around almost the perimeter of the park.  Where's the lake?  Where's the trail?  What's the white blazes and why are we seeing signs for shelters?

Once we crest, I have signal and realize that we're no where near the trail we were supposed to actually hike.  *snort*  Go figure!  I figure out, using Trimble Outdoors, that if we walk on this trail, then cut right, we can get to the loop we were looking for.  So we continue.  And up we go...some more.  At some point, I will NOT be heaving when we get to the top of an incline.  I seriously need to work on my lung capacity.  *sigh*


And now my feet are starting to kill me.  I finally had to stop and we decide, well, it's been 3 miles and we wanted to do a 6 mile hike today.  We have no clue where the trail is or that we're even on the right trail, so we begin the decent back the way we came.  At this point, I'm almost convinced that I need to ditch the initial insoles I have for my "issue" and just continue with lifting of the big toe so that it supports the weight it's supposed to.  At this point, I'm baffled and getting tired of it...  SOMETHING'S gotta give...

I'm dying by the time we get back to the car.  I didn't have my brace as it was supposed to be a "moderate" hike and I forgot to put it on when I got dressed.  So, now my knee is killing me and my hip is starting to hurt.  So, I'm going downhill quickly and just can't wait to get back to the car.  How much longer?  1 mile.  How much longer?  Half a mile.  How much longer?  We should be there.  Where's the car??  I'm tired and want to go home!!  YES!  *happy dancing*  FINALLY!  There's the car!

Now we get to drive BACK on that road that is wide enough for only one car.  And wouldn't you know...TWO other cars were headed our way on the way out of the park.  Doesn't that figure?

It's interesting to note that the directions back home were different than the ones we followed to get there.  On the way home, we pass almost all of the other parking areas that made much more sense than the ones we followed.  I should have really made note of the other parking areas and where they were located so we could actually hit the right trail next time.  There was a group of Koreans that passed us and we passed them on the way home.  Next time, I think we're going to find the lake and park there to hit the right trail!

Sky Meadows

We awoke to the threat of snow....and were giddy!  Hiking in the snow??  Hell yeah baby!  We were excited to say the least.  We had already decided to hit a Sky Meadow Trail the night before. We opted for the North Ridge, South Ridge, Gap Trail loop.  It's about 3.5 miles, but COULD be be about 4.5 with an offshoot out and back off the North Ridge Trail that takes you to the AT.

We have our morning coffee, shower, pack up, feed the dog, feed ourselves and hit the road.  There wasn't a drop of rain or snow when we headed west on 66.  However, the farther west we drove, the more precipitation we saw.  I was excited...like a fat kid with their own cake.  Now I'll see if we really can do this 4 season...

We arrive at the entrance only to find a note on the door.  Um...no one's home.  Please put your entrance fee in this envelope.  We will trust you.  Ooooookay.  At this point, there is some small amount of accumulation that we can see on the roads and trees.  I love snow!!

Stupidly, we forgot a map....and didn't have good cell service to pick up a map on one of the MANY aps on our phones.  At some point, I will bite the bullet and subscribe to one so we can download maps to our phones, but right now, it's not been an absolute necessity.  We drive to the visitor's center.  Yup, nobody home there either!  Great!  Now what?  The kiosk isn't printing maps.  WTF does the trail start?  We really should be more prepared on these day hikes.  Seriously.  We could do something completely stupid and get totally lost or something.  It has been known to happen... hasn't it?

Luckily, a ranger drives up in the truck and we ask where the trial head is.  He was nice enough to point out the large sign across the way.  There's only 2 parking lots and everything pretty much starts and ends here.  Good to know!  Also, he shared a word to the wise about fog.  We need to be careful, because if the fog rolls in we won't be able to see that far ahead of us.  Good to know!  Thanks!  :)

We cross the street and head down the gravel road that pretty much leads to all trails.  The Gap trail is farther down the road, but we opted to start with the North Ridge Trail, and turn right up the stairs.  At this point, there's about 1/2 an inch to an inch of snow on the ground now?  It's pretty frozen, too.  I think there was some snow earlier in the week and it has simply refrozen.  These suspicions will be confirmed later on in the hike.

The North Ridge starts out with a decent incline.  It was a nice warm up.  I honestly swear at some point I will not heave like a chain smoker walking up a flight of stairs.  Seriously...it's getting annoying.  It's like my lung capacity is MUCH shallower than most.  It didn't used to be that way!  I need to start singing again to get it back maybe?  In any event, on we trek!

We start out hiking through a bit of field on the edge of woods.  It's a nice little scenic trail that winds into the trees about halfway or less?  I'm not measuring miles or anything...  But it does start some decent inclines not that far along the trail.  At this point, I can really see that there was snow at some point earlier in the week that has refrozen.  Some parts of the trail were slick because of this refreezing of snow.  I'm thinking, "This might be easier with some Yak Trax or something like that.  I'd have better grip and not wear myself out having to push harder to make it up the hill due to crap traction."

There are bits and pieces of old stone walls such as this one along the trail.  As you can see, the snow  was coming down at a pretty decent rate and there was a nice dusting over everything.  It was really peaceful and quite for the most part.  We didn't encounter many if any on the trail.  I love hiking both with groups for fun, and then in pretty much solitude for just the two of us.  This was the later of the two, that's for sure!

We climb, up and up and up.  I'm not sure how much of an elevation gain we did on this trek.  I think it was around 800 ft?  I'm too lazy to check right now.  It was a rather nice climb up a small-ish summit.  I noticed some tracks in the snow that were not human....or human friend.  I think they were bunny tracks.  They looked neat in the snow.  The bunnies were pretty active on this part of the trail, too.  There were several bunny prints on the trails.  I didn't take a picture though.  I should have.  Would have made for a neat picture.

We climbed the North Ridge trail up the mountain, crossed a stream a few times, and came to the intersection of the South Ridge Trail.  The North Ridge continues for .5 mile to the AT.  If you chose to take this .5 mile out and back, it makes for what most call the 4.5 mile loop.  However, it's actually 3.5 miles if you follow it as an actual loop without any jutting off of the loop.  There are several strategic benches along the trail.  I leaned against the one at this intersection to take some pressure off my feet.  They were okay, but starting to irritate me a bit.  :(

We opted to turn left and continue on the loop and not do the out and back part.  The South Ridge part of the loop was a bit rough.  There were some downed trees to maneuver under or over.  They hadn't cleaned much of that trail up from I'm guessing all the summer storms we had.  I didn't mind it so much.  It wasn't unbearable, but did make us feel like this was a pretty secluded trail that's not used much.  I really like those trails...the ones that aren't well used and are rather rustic.  I'd really like to be part of the starting a trail or helping a baby trail to grow.  lol

At this point, I couldn't tell if the snow had stopped, or if we were just in the woods and the trees were catching the snow.  There was about a decent inch at this point, I think.  It made for some pretty fun hiking.  As you can see, there's not many tracks in the snow at this point.  A little further along the South Ridge trail, we noticed some running tracks, I think?  of two people?  At least that's what it looked like to me.  Or make the same person twice?  *shrugs*  Then closer to the visitor's center, there were more human tracks and some human friend tracks now.  

It wasn't too cold.  I wasn't cold at all.  I had layered enough to keep myself dry and warm.  S had to strip a layer, I think at some point.  I probably should have, too, but I wasn't sure I'd be warm enough in just a base layer with my shell on top.  After our car camping debacle, I'm always afraid of getting too cold.  I probably wear a few more layers than needed, but until I get some more good gear and possible some mid layers, I will probably keep the base layer and the fleece jacket, which I LOVE!  It's so nice and warm!  And does the perfect job of wicking away my sweat perspiration.

The South Ridge trail leads you back down the mountain.  The decent isn't too steep, with but with the slick layer of ice under the snow, I had to be careful not to slip and fall on my arse.  It almost happened a few times.  Eventually, the snow stopped and more tracks appears in the snow.  We knew we were nearing the end of our little hike.  I didn't want to push it on our first snow outing.  I think the Yak Trax or some other ice traction over the show thingy would be best if we were to continue to hike in these conditions.  He has some that I got him for his birthday, but he didn't' put them on that day.

And, as the ranger stated, when the fog rolled in, we couldn't see very far in front of us.  Somewhere in that fog is a small valley with the Visitor's center, park office and a house or two.  They are invisible in this shot.  I wish I had taken one when we first started out so you could compare the two.  *shrugs*  20/20 hindsight.

At the bottom of the trail, there are the remnants of a homestead.  I can't seem to find the name of the ruins, but they're there.  Some stone chimneys and walls are all that remain from these homes of days gone by.  It was a nice settlement they had at the base of the mountain.  There was a nice stream for fresh water and good protection from wind.  Anyway, it's always neat to see things like that.

And with that, we caught up to the Gap trail and headed back to the visitor's center, the car, and then to REI!  LOL  Now, when we got back to the truck, I wasn't cold, but knew my jacket was wet.  When I got in the truck, I was fine, but at some point, the jacket started making me cold and I had to take it off to allow it to dry.  You really do have to watch and make sure your clothes do not stay wet or you don't keep wet clothes on when you're in the cold.  It really could do a number on you quickly.  I quickly took it off, and laid it over my legs, near the car heater to dry off on the way to REI.  Worked like charm!

Oh!  I'll leave you with this impromptu still life...my poles in the snow.

Potomac Heritage Trail

Northern Virginia Hike 4

Theodore Roosevelt Island to Scott's Run Nature Preserve This natural surface foot trail is the first trail to carry the name "Potomac Heritage Trail." It begins at the parking area for Theodore Roosevelt Island. The route is fairly rugged, especially the first four miles to Chain Bridge. After turning inland for awhile, the trail returns to the Potomac shoreline for a dramatic run up to Live Oak Drive at the Cabin John Bridge. Expect flooding at both ends in high water. Trip Planner Start: Roosevelt Island End: Scott's Run Nature Preserve, Swinks Mill Road trail head Miles: 10.8 Points of Interest: Roosevelt Island, Rosslyn, Fort Marcy, Turkey Run Park Parking: Roosevelt Island (0.0 mi.), Windy Run (1.8 mi. via side trail), Gulf Branch Nature Center (3.8 mi via 0.8 mile side trail), North Glebe Rd. (4.3 mi.), Fort Marcy (4.8 mi.), Turkey Run Park (7.5 mi. via 0.3 mile side trail) Water: Roosevelt Island, Gulf Branch Nature Center, Turkey Run Park Restrooms or Privy: Roosevelt Island, Turkey Run Park Provisions: Rosslyn Camping: None

I think it was DC Hikers or Mid Atlantic Hiking something that posted this hike.  It was "hike 2 hours, then turn around and hike back."  Which sounded good to me!  No stress to be stuck or make miles.  It felt really laid back and it was!

At first, it doesn't really feel like hiking.  You're walking along Spout Run for a good part of it at first, but then you start to head away and down towards the river.

The trash and debris is sort of expected.  What wasn't expected is the rocks, trees, and nature just below a well traveled road.  This trail didn't seem all that well traveled.  There's woods, sandy trails, and rocks to scramble over.

My feet were okay.  About an hour in I had to stop.  I was sort of disappointed and thought it was going to be a repeat of the last disaster.  But it wasn't!  :)

After that little rest, our hike lead us over large roots, boulders, and streams.  It truly was amazing to be so close to the city and be in such a unique wilderness.

We crossed a rather large, rocky creek and lost sight of the trail for a bit.  We saw a teal blaze on a rock leading us up the right side of the falls, but we weren't sure.  Then S saw one of the group arrows pointing that way.  There was a steep slope with a pope hand rail that lead up the rocks to the woods above.  You guess it!  Up we went!  He had to pull me on a few spots as my knees were starting to get sore.  All the while I'm thinking, "We have to climb down this at some point soon."

As soon as we crested the ridge it was time to turn around.  Now I'm thinking, "It's going to take me longer than 2 hours to get back."  On the descent, my knee popped BIG TIME!!  Good thing I could slide down the rocks on my nice, big butt!  We should have had a power bar here, but didn't.  I would regret this later.

The walk back was rough.  I got very tired of climbing rocks.  My knees were really sore and towards the end, I could barely take a step without grunting.  S tried to distract me by talking about the midget woman at work.  That lasted a few minutes.

We finally got back to the parking area around 12:45.  The leader waited.  I explained about my feet and she told us about her knees.  She wears braces.  S gave me a stern look.  OKAY!  I get it!  Next time I'll wear it!  She was understanding, though.  Next time, we will just have to explain to the hike leader that we'll be fine and probably might hike a little slower and take a little longer than most.

It was neat to be so close to the city and have such rough terrain.  Now I've seen where Rock Creek comes from.

Second Battle of Manassas

Had I known how this day was going to go, I would have stayed in bed.  *sigh*  Yes, it was pretty bad.  I will have to say, if it wasn't for a hiking trail ap on my phone, we might still be wandering aimlessly in the woods.  This trail IS.NOT.MARKED.WELL.AT.ALL!!!  You would think I would have heeded all the warnings I read online, but NO!

We arrived shortly after the park opened.  After speaking with the ranger, we feel confident!  I mean, he said the trail is marked with clue blazes.  Um...yeah right!

The trail starts across the street.  So, we crossed a busy road to get there and then walk about 1 mile or at least it seemed that way, to get to the trail head.  It had such a promising start, too!  We were following the "Tour" signs which ended at a parking lot.  And there's no blazes...GREAT!

We look right.  There's a sign, but not a trail one.  We look left and there's what appears to be a trail and a sign.  Go left?  Of course the sign is pointed the wrong way and if you follow the arrows, you're heading down a grassy hill to some monuments and not on the path.  I open my trusty ap to make sure we're going the right way.  So, we trek on...to the left.

Now, on the way to the parking lot, we passed a couple.  Remember this for later...So we're trekking and come to a fork.  Now, the sign says it's a horse trail.  There are NO blazes to be seen.  This trail is marked orange.  So, we continue on.  Well, we should have tuned there.  The couple that were ahead of us on the trail are passing us going the opposite direction.  This prompts me to check our progress on my ap.  Yeah...we're not making any.  *sigh*  Back where the horse trail was marked?  Yeah, we should have turned.

And, not only are we off the trail, but my feet decided to start acting up. GREAT! *sigh* Adjusting of the insoles round one. And I seriously don't get it, as we haven't been walking all that long. So, I fix my insoles and we adjust our path to actually be ON the trail. Now I'm beginning to to understand why so many people were complaining about the blazes or lack there of.

We walk and we stop.  We walk and we stop.  We walk and well you get the picture.  By this time, I'm getting really pissed off as this was SUPPOSED to be a walk in the park compared to what we have been doing.  *sigh*  My feet suck.

At one point, there's a new loop off shoot of the main trail.  it takes you through some very strange landscapes.  There's these large piles of wood.  It's as if a tree died and just slowly deteriorated where it stood.  These huge circles of wood were everywhere.  It was truly alien.  I couldn't figure out what would have caused it.

It almost was an out and back loop.  You jut off and then almost do a u-turn and come back but just in a a different trail.  Meh.  It added a mile.  You come out to a monument of some description.  (Pictured here).  As you can tell, I'm not really a history buff...  I didn't read what it was for.  I was trying to figure out where the trail goes.  There's a parking lot in one direction and what LOOKS like train in another direction.  After some surveying of the land, we headed away from the parking lot towards the woods.  Apparently, this was the correct way.

This was called the rock skirmish or something like that.  Apparently, they ran out of ammo and threw rocks.  LOL  This part is a nice stroll in the woods...if my feet weren't killing me.  *sigh*  We  came out of the woods near another parking lot.  NOW which way do we go?  There's what appears to be three trails from here.  We chose the center one.  I opened by ap to make sure.  YUP!

This part of the trail is part of the bridle trail. It follows along farm land or what looked like it was farm land. This trail dumps you out at the highway. We crossed and started walking, but wait! This doesn't make sense. This is a private residence... Back track again.  We were supposed to turn right and cross the OTHER highway.  Still no blazes to tell us UNTIL we crossed the busy road.

We pass some horses, cross a creek, stop several times for my feet and come to the Stone House. It's the trademark of the park. Cross the highway again. By this time, not only my feet hurt, but now my knees and hip are sore as shit. I can see the visitor's center, but holy crap it's so far away! I SO want this hike to be DONE! It was supposed to be easy! WTF??

We climb a hill and I keep over and lay in the grass for a while.  Everything hurts...EVERYTHING!  I feel like the visitor's center is miles away and I'll never make it.  But, I trudge on...as always.

I hurt.  I'm tired.  I'm hungry, thirsty, sweaty, but FINALLY made it to the car.  What should have been an easy trek killed me!  Is it every going to get better?