Cherry Blossom at the Tidal Basin

It was a little pre-peak, but we took a hike from my front door out to the National Mall and the Tidal Basin to see the famed cherry blossoms.

Circumnavigating Clopper Lake

One of my goals for the year is to hike 10 hikes from AMC's Best Day Hikes Near Washington, D.C. On Saturday, I finally knocked off one.

The hike at Seneca Creek State Park starts at the parking lot and does a lollipop around the lake. The book bills it as a moderate 4.5 miles; my mapping app says it's 5.5. However, my tracker came in at 7, (with a slight shortcut out), and it's usually fairly accurate. Safe to say, 4.5 is incorrect.

From the visitor's center parking lot, we followed the creek for a while, which was pleasant, before reaching the lake. There were only modest ups and downs. The hike around the lake, of course, benefitted from views at nearly all times.

Black Hill Park

This month has not been a big one for hiking, but I did do a sunny winter hike in Black Hill this past weekend.

Hiking the Billy Goat Trail

The Billy Goat Trail, on the Maryland side of Great Falls, is extremely popular and, therefore, extremely crowded. That's one reason we decided to visit it on a very cold day with a snowstorm predicted to move in that night.

We got a later start than was ideal, so we didn't reach the park until the afternoon. From the parking area, the C&O Canal towpath heads east and west; we went east towards the falls. We then headed out to Olmstead Island, which is an easy boardwalk path with nice views of the falls. We then used the towpath to reach the start of the Billy Goat Trail. It is now one-way, so we hopped on at the entrance and began scrambling over boulders.

Because of our late start, we opted to use the exit trail before Purplehourse Beach, returning via the towpath. I think that was the right call - I'd rather be able to enjoy this hike than rush through it.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/turducken/51828137410/in/datetaken-public/

Our loop was a total of 4.5 miles.

First day hike - McDowell Creek Falls

On January 1, I headed out with a couple of family members to McDowell Creek Falls. We hiked a little over two miles, gained 350 feet of elevation, and saw two waterfalls.

Thanks to recent snow, the wooden stairs and overlooks were icy, and caution was required. We had brought two dogs with us, and we ended up carrying them at points. It wasn't so much that they would fall as that they pull.

Lots of folks were out, as it was sunny (but cold) weather.