(This is cross-posted at BlogHer.)
When we experienced an unseasonably warm weekend in northern Virginia not long ago, I was determined to spend as much time as possible outside. Although I spend a fair amount of time walking and running around my neighborhood, I rarely take the opportunity to go out on uneven terrain — so I figured this would be a great time to go hiking. There are a variety of places nearby where it’s possible to hike (in addition to enjoying some great scenery), so I decided to drive out to Great Falls to spend a few hours.
I had been to Great Falls once before in early May 2007, but I went with a group of friends — we were there to see the falls and not to hike, so I was looking forward to doing both.
Before I made the drive (about 30 miles from where I live), I checked with a few people to see if they would be interested in going along, but everyone had something else to do. (Did that stop me? Of course not!) I wasn’t worried about going by myself. Great Falls is a popular destination, especially when the weather is nice, so I knew there would be a lot of people walking around.
I took the advice of a blog-friend and parked a few miles away at Riverbend Park (I avoided the $5 parking fee they charge if you want to be right at the main entrance to Great Falls). Since I was planning to hike anyway, and there was a trail that went from the parking lot at Riverbend Park to Great Falls, I actually liked this parking location better — it seemed like a better idea than starting at the Falls, walking away a certain distance, and then coming back (at least this way I knew I had a specific destination in mind).
I followed the Heritage Trail. There were a few spots where the ground was muddy, or it narrowed and I had to clamber up a hill or maneuver around some rocks, but the difficulty level wasn’t bad at all. The trail meanders along the Potomac River, so there was a nice view of the water for most of the walk. Something else I liked? I could tell I was getting closer to the falls because the roar of the water would grow increasingly louder.
When I was a kid, my parents used to take me and my siblings to climb the Peaks of Otter (Blue Ridge Parkway; Bedford, Virginia). It was a good, steady uphill climb, with an awesome view as a reward once you reached the top. I went there again with a friend about five years ago — it seemed a little easier to climb than I remembered from my younger years, but it still made my heart pound.
That’s what I was thinking about when I hiked the (not nearly as strenuous) trail at Great Falls, but it’s not really a fair comparison. However, it did make me realize that I’d like to venture out on a longer, more difficult hike sometime soon.
Something else I realized was that it’s good to have company. When I’m walking or running for exercise, I usually prefer to be by myself because I can go at my own speed. But hiking? Even though I was kind of speed-hiking when I went to Great Falls (there was no reason to linger for too long!), it wasn’t ideal. I was there on a beautiful day and the scenery was gorgeous. I could have slowed down.
I made an addition to my personal agenda: Go hiking. Take friends. It should be strenuous enough to be challenging, but not so much that we can’t afford to stop and take in the scenery.
Do you have a favorite hiking destination?
Related Reading:
Kristina went hiking over the weekend with some friends who were visiting from out of town. They went to Chenango Valley State Park, and her pictures include the view of a frozen lake. Brrrrr!
Janie went hiking with some friends and a few dogs, and her destination looks much warmer (t-shirts and sleeveless shirts…just the way I like it!).
Simi went hiking recently, too. She’s pretty sore and worn out, but feels great.
Yesterday was spent hiking/walking a couple of miles up and down and up and down rocks and hills and everything. [...] I’m kind of bummed that I thought it was going to be easier since I’d been working out regularly for the past month and a half and I really thought hiking would be easier… but it wasn’t! Time to add some more hills and such to the precor routine.
Susannah Cotrone at Huffington Post: Live in a city? Try urban hiking.
An urban hike, defined by me, is the act of charging up any local neighborhood hill, around, and back again. I also love a good, long walk on a flat surface, but it’s the full speed ahead straight up a hill that really gets me going. Walking and maintaining a steady pace for at least 30 minutes increases circulation, while strengthening the heart and lungs. Additionally, exercising and breathing…has reduced my stress and given me a tool to cope with the gnawing realities of life.
Merry at Cranky Fitness: Advice for the Out-of-Shape Hiker
Fit Bottomed Girls: Five Reasons Why Hiking Is Awesome
That’s Fit: Hiking is for everyone
American Hiking Society: Home page
13 Comments
There’s something completely awesome about hiking on an unseasonably warm winter day.
LOVE hiking. Anywhere. I’ll come with you next time
Hiking is terrific– clears my head, and makes me feel good about doing something for my body too.
I’d be your hiking buddy if we weren’t on opposite coasts!
One of my favorite hikes is in SF– The Land’s end Trail from Ocean Beach to China Beach, then around the Presidio and back to the Marina for brunch.
“… I checked with a few people to see if they would be interested in going along, but everyone had something else to do.”
Never checked with me…. :-/
You might want to try Billy Goat Trail on the MD side of the falls. It’s a little tougher, with rock scrambling.
Yay hiking! Hiking is one of the few forms of exercise I (mostly) enjoy. I like knowing there’s something (waterfall, view, etc) to look forward to at the end. My biggest problem is finding someone to go with me. My husband is not a big fan of hiking and I won’t go alone (for safety).
I’ve actually been wanting to visit Great Falls for a long time, so I’ll keep your tips in mind. If you’re looking for more hiking, the Shenandoah Valley is a great place to go! It’s only about 2 hours from NoVA, so you could easily make it a day trip, and you’ll have lots of trails to choose from with Shenandoah National Park and the George Washington National Forest here.
I am so jealous! I miss hiking sooooo much. We used to live in the Seattle area and we hiked in so many amazing places. I think my favorite is Mount St. Helens – it is gorgeous, and it’s where my husband proposed!
I’m very pleased to live in a hiking heaven, the Hudson Valley in New York. For some of my favourite hiking spots, see these posts:
http://staringatemptypages.blogspot.com/search/label/Hiking
Best to scroll down and read them oldest first.
Oh, and a comment to Geeky: most areas that have good hiking have hiking groups, formal and informal, so it’s not hard to find company. Check meetup.com, for example, and see if there are hiking meetup groups in your area.
When I lived in Old Town, the problem was that I couldn’t find many hills to run/walk. Now I’m in a more hilly area and it was hard at first to tackle those hills!
I like to hike from the Rosslyn metro station through Glover Park, eventually to upper Wisconsin Ave and have lunch at 2 Amys Pizza!
(PS, I don’t live that close to Richmond, I’m just outside Old Town now.)
I hike around the James River Parks and the Buttermilk trail in Richmond all the time. It’s a workout similar if not equal to running. I very much prefer hiking to running by the way!
I LOVE hiking and miss it so much now that we are in a no hiking zone lol. We used to do a lot in California, around Laguna, Malibu and Pasadena. Also I have hiked in Colorado, beautiful, beautiful beautiful! And West Virginia, when I lived there. Oh man, now I’m getting sad lol! It’s the perfect time of year to do it too. I love it when the flowers start coming out!
I need to go trail running at Great Falls again fairly soon. And when I’m sure all the ice is gone, it will be time to do some hiking up in Harpers Ferry.
One note of caution about the MD side / Billy Goat Trail, there’s always 800,000 people there if it remotely resembles a nice day outside. I would head out down the towpath first and scramble up the steep, rocky part rather than slide down it. More exercise and actually more fun, if I’m with a group sliding down I’m afraid I’m going to get hurt.