What to do on a 67°F, sunny Monday? Go hiking! With no school to reign us in, we have the complete and total freedom to learn outside the classroom (or, in our case—house), enjoy the beauty of nature and get some exercise all at the same time.
A cool front brought perfect weather to our region early this week and it seemed a shame to waste it sitting indoors, so we donned our walking shoes, jumped in the car and drove about 30 minutes to Great Falls National Park. Since it was a weekday there was no line to get in, plenty of parking, and nearly empty trails.
The first stop at Overlook 3 was breathtaking. We all took a few moments to breath in the beauty of the rapids rushing over huge boulders under the crisp blue sky. Riley tried to describe a feeling she was experiencing that she had never felt before. It was the perfect day.
Before we left the house, we reviewed the trail maps and decided on River Trail. Colin was in charge of leading the way. He pulled out the map and instructed us toward the direction we needed to follow to get on the right path.
Before long the kids were climbing on giant boulders that have been around for hundreds of millions of years. The River Trail is actually part of the ancient Potomac river bed, which is about 40-75 feet above the river’s current location. The boulders they climbed on were likely underwater some 500 million or so years ago. (NPS Website) Geology studies up close and very fun!
We learned how water can create big potholes in rocks over hundreds of years of water eddying around the rock and eroding it. Two of them could fit in one large pothole we discovered along the way.
The trail did not disappoint with plentiful rocks for climbing on, scrambling and gorgeous views of the Potomac River. Riley scoped out where our picnic spot would be during our next visit to the park, which looks to be this very same week.
At the end of the River Trail Colin directed us to the next trail we would take that would lead us back to the beginning—The Carriage Trail. On the way we passed a portion of the old Patowmack canal and tried to imagine what it must have been like around 200 years ago when the canal and locks were operational, and instead of people hiking, ships were passing through.
The wide open Carriage Trail was easy going after the scrambling over rocks and welcome to our tired legs. We again tried to imagine what it might have been like on this trail as it carried wagons and settlers through the area. The quiet solitude, only broken twice by a small family and a pair walking dogs (and maybe our happy discussion of how much we were enjoying our day and plans of a picnic).
We’ll be happy to revisit the River Trail on our next visit, complete with picnic accoutrements, and perhaps we’ll explore another trail. Great Falls has much to see and history to tell. While the days of Fall remain sunny and beautiful we’ll be looking to spend as much of them outside as we can. Learning everywhere, all the time.
