I Fought the Billy Goat and....

The Billy Goat won! The Billy Goat Trail that is, at Great Falls NP in MD.
I'm running out the door now, no time for comments, will add later...

It's later....We have had a rare stretch of cooler/lower humidity days here in Northern VA and since the pollen is finally gone so yesterday I went out to Great Falls NP. I have veen out there a few times but mostly on the VA side and I'd never done much hiking there. There's a very popular trail called The Billy Goat Trail. It boast fabulous views of Mather Gorge on the Potomac River, however those views come at a price - lots and lots of rock scrambling. I'm not big on rock scrambling but I thought, it's only 1.7 miles, how bad can it be?

After I left the visitor center I headed down the C&O Canal towpath to the trail head and I saw another side trail/boardwalk so I headed out there to see what was there....plenty of photo ops...

This is the view from the 1st bridge. There was a barrier and when I leaned on it gently it swayed!!!! yikes! Luckily it only moved a fraction of an inch!


Another view from the bridge.




At the end of the boardwalk you could see the falls - an into VA! This heron was posing right by the water - I took many pictures but these were the best.



Another shot of the heron.

This is the "offical" Great Falls. Imagine the early settlers coming up the river thinking they could take a boat all the way in and then "wham!" they hit this!

On the way back to the toepath there was a bush of these cool white ball things...they must be flowers. I was trying to photograph the flowers when the cool butterfly showed up. I had to "stalk" the butterfly for about 10 mins in order to get these shots. It kept moving and then the wind would blow, but I think you'll agree, it was worth it! :)


This is one of my fav pictures, I think it's got a future on my wall! I't going to look pretty cool against the purple!


Once on the Billy Goat trail I stopped for lunch at the 1st overlook I saw, which I dubbed "picnic rock". From my lunch spot I could see a kayaker on the river and....


Rock climbers on the VA side of the river!

As I went along the "easy" part of the trail I saw a lizard! Again, a little "stalking" yielded a cool shot, I actually have a few cool shots of him, he prob won't make it to the wall, but the pics are still cool!

This is where the rock scrambling started! You can see the blue blaze on the rock in the middle of the picture. This part wasn't so hard.

The rocks opened up and this was the view! Pretty cool.


Then we got to this part. Yes, that is the trail heading up that steep rock face. Yes, those are people on the rocks "hiking". It was here that I realized why I'd never hiked this trail before. You can't see it in the picture but the 1st person at the top has a baby in a backpack!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. I could barely hike the trail myself and there was a woman with a baby.



It wasn't long after I made it up the steep rock face when I saw this sign! I was thrilled! No more rock climbing! I could get back to the nice, flat toepath!

I was so giddy, I had to try a self-portriat!

As I was walking by the sign I heard a huge rustle in the leaves and looked over and there was this black snake slithering his way through the leaves! Again a little "stalking" and I got some cool pics!


Back on the nice tame toepath there was still lots to see - big flowers....


little flowers (those white dots weren't visible with the naked eye! Go digital zoom!).......




dragonflies (or is it a damselfly?)........


And finally turtles....lots of turtles but I only posted the one picture!

Next time I think I'll hike on the VA side, I think there is a trail that also has great views of the gorge, but no rock climbing! Or maybe I'll try one of the "tamer" sections of the Billy Goat Trail.

All in all though, a nice day! :)