C&O Canal National Park, Maryland.  July 12, 2018 — When my friend Mary was volunteering as my swamper while I chainsawed blowdowns Monday, she mentioned a hike she and friends were planning for today just 20 minutes from my house.  Did I want to come?  Did I?  Don’t count me late for dinner!!!

We met at the Great Falls Tavern visitor center for a scramble along the craggy Billy Goat Trail.

There are three Billy Goat Trails – A, B and C.  We hiked A.

These routes lie in the higher part of the Potomac flood plain where they have been scoured from the bedrock by eons of roaring water.

 

The views and falls are spectacular.

People were out taking advantage of the low humidity including the climbers on the far bank and a kayaker in the river.

The Great Falls and the Billy Goat trails lie in the heart of the Washington, D.C. metro area. Its population of 6.1-million spits out an endless supply of park-loving visitors.

Sadly we’re loving this park to death along with many others.  Think about it.  Many people.  Small Space.  Overcrowding.  Environmental damage.  Lots of rules.

Trash is no stranger.  Too many of the day hikers are bugs, not features.  Their ignorance and lack of concern beget litter.  Why anyone would bag their dog’s poo and then leave it is confounding, but found it here and see it everywhere on hiking trails.  In total we policed up more than a gallon (by volume) of trash during our hike.

Fortunately, the trail tread is water-worn bedrock.  For water, it’s always the long game.  She’s patiently gonna wear you down until you shine like a cheap suit.  She’s going to be here long after we’re extinct.

Humans aren’t the only environmental impact.  This ambitious beaver bit off more than he could chew.

Enough of the bugs.  Now for the features.  On Billy Goat A, the price of admission buys a quality climb up a sharp knife edge.

As we soared upward, I was suffering flashbacks of the Appalachian Trail in “Rocksylvania.”  My shouts of “You got nothing on Pennsylvania!” bounced off the bedrock with absolutely zero effect.

Near the top.

Summit view.

Well-earned salt stains thanks to the low humidity.  Consensus:  We’d do it again in a heart beat.

Sisu