Today I had the day off of work. And the weather was perfect. And I have friends who have a bike (thanks, Bon House!!!) So naturally, I decided to ride the 18 mile trail from Georgetown up to Great Falls National Park. Woohoo!
It was actually a really nice trail. You'd think city canals would be kind of dirty and gross, and it was, for a while, but once you got a couple miles out, it was just pretty and nice, not dirty or gross. This is lock 5.
Lock 5 had a drinking fountain
... that I liked a lot.
Sometimes there were big bridges, like this one.
And sometimes there were little, pretty bridges, like this one.
and then there were some ugly bridges too. I took pictures of all of them.
For the record, this is the beltway. See the semi? That means it must be the beltway. Crossing under the beltway means that I've officially gotten the hell out of town.
My reflection from one of the aforementioned bridges. One of the nice ones. Obviously.
There were a lot of signs like this one, since apparently this area of the Potomac has very swift currents (and also waterfalls). So now we all know that even wading can kill... and speaking of killing, I kind of felt like the foreboding undertones (under?) of this particular sign were killing the otherwise lighthearted, happy-go-lucky feeling of the day. But that's just me.
The moral of this (very very detailed) sign is: if you fall in, call 911! Also though, they tell you the number of people who have died in this section of the Potomac in the last 20 years (zoom in and read the captions, I dare you), but what they don't tell you is the number of people who have waded in the water, or tried to do acrobatics on the rocks, etc, and experienced no injury or death at all. Both pieces of information would be useful, in my opinion, in helping the trail-rider/potential-wader make a more informed decision.
Once you get closer to the national park area, the canal widens up a bit. See how nice it is?
yep. nice.
... we're getting close to the waterfall area now...
Waterfalls!
You can't tell from just looking at it like, but this water is moving very very fast.
Me and my buddy, the waterfall.
Checkin out the map... more because I really like maps than because there was any possibility of getting lost.
(these were the little waterfalls on the way to the more substantial waterfall field... just you wait...)
(and then this is a boat)
Welcome center! Welcome! I bought postcards! Also, I love Welcome Centers. :)
(there I am again!)
I'm sure this sign has something very important to say... so glad it's posted.
waterfalls!
viewing the people viewing the waterfalls from the Virginia side
Even though we're in the middle of a massive massive drought, and water emergencies have been declared left and right, the waterfalls were still impressive.
Ok? Ok. Time for 18 more miles back to the city.
When you're traveling alone, it's easier to take pictures of your shadow than actually of you.
Wait, wait, can it be... it looks like... water... with sun on it? What a great new idea! Pictures of the sun on the water! (You knew they'd be coming)
This little area was just a bit off the main path down by the Potomac.
I climbed around on the rocks for a while...
I like climbing on rocks
look! It's a beach! (sort of...) It's kind of actually just glorified dirt, like, really fine, really dried out dirt... I mean, I wouldn't make a castle out of it or anything... but it kind of looks like a beach, and that's enough to make me really excited.
Yeah, if I could hang out here every day (or at least every other?) that would be pretty much ideal.
Another warning sign, but this one seems to require a little more explanation (in a few more languages as well). Apparently dancing awkwardly on the rocks does not require a big red x, but wading in the water - even (zoom in, you'll see) if you are carrying your little bucket! - is really not ok.
Oh, hey, and then I saw this guy. This was getting back into the city again. Let's zoom in.
Theeeere he is. Thinks he can hide from me. Whatever.
More DC wildlife. ... actually bigger than that cockroach I took a picture of a while back... imagine that.
One of several "Canal Houses" still remaining along the once very busy canal. In case you're totally curious, the canal took 22 years to build and opened in 1850. Mules pulled boats full of coal down the river at an average speed of 4mph. The canal was in use until 1924, and was declared a national park in 1971.
And this is the Clara Barton Memorial Parkway, creating a lovely backdrop as I got closer into the city.
I really, really really wanted to ferry myself across the river on this thing.
I mean really. Really really really. But it was locked. OH NOOO!
So instead I just took some pictures of it, and of this lovely chain bridge, and that was fun too, but not quite as fun as illegally ferrying myself across the river would've been. Oh well.
(not me)
me!
hm... sun... water.... sounds about right...
The river looks so calm and peaceful...
but apparently it's not.
another very important sign.
This photo taken right before I saw a shirtless man smoking a cigarette go by in a kayak. I wanted to take his picture too... but I was afraid that trying to capture the moment in some superficial, reproduce-able sort of way would only serve to cheapen the sheer beauty of the moment... a shirtless man smoking a cigarette in a kayak... mmhmmm...
... also though, I really want a kayak. I promise I'll wear a shirt and not smoke. Although maybe that's what I'm doing wrong, maybe that's why they haven't given me one yet. You know, "they." The kayak-giver-outers.
And I'm not sure what this is, but I am sure that I want one of these too. God, I'm so needy!
Stop for this guy. 8-)
Back in the city, there's the Key bridge, we're home! All tolled, from door to door to door, I think I biked about 43 miles today. And walked about 3. The hardest part? Climbing the stairs to go to bed!
