great falls, maryland

although i like D.C. and wandering through museums and neighborhoods, sometimes i need to get out of the city and into nature. my friend m and i decided to go climb old rag on this president's day, but were deterred by reports of skyline drive being closed due to snow and the prospect of a long drive without the rewarding climb. so we decided to stick closer to home and go to a D.C. landmark that i haven't been to yet - great falls national park. i'd heard that the maryland side has better hiking and views, so off we went.

once you get out of the city and past the beltway, i'm always surprised by how beautiful it is. this area really does have a lot going for it.


[the great falls]


[the potomac. love that color.]

the maryland side is actual along the chesapeake and ohio canal (so called c&o canal) - built to transport goods up the potomac and get it past those big rocky areas, falls, and rapids. pretty spectacular engineering feat with a series of locks all the way up. originally it was supposed to go all the way to ohio, but construction stopped somewhere in pennsylvania. you can see parts of it go through georgetown still as well.


[c&o canal locks]

we hiked along the "billy goat trail" - so called since it involves lots of rock scrambling along the side of the river. love it. i would go hiking on that trail just because it's called the "billy goat trail"


[thanks to m for being my model]

it's been a fairly mild winter here with no snow worth mentioning minus a few dustings that melted immediately. but it has dipped below freezing pretty regularly. all along the trail were icicles and frozen pools with beautiful patterns inside the ice. loved it.





and we saw some wildlife!



excellent way to pass a beautiful president's day!