Dan and Hannah Hike Great Falls Maryland

Dan and Hannah Hike Great Falls, Maryland

Traveling south to Virginia to weekend with our daughter Molly and her hubby Tip, Hannah and I are told of a very popular hike just outside the city limits of Washington, DC.  With low expectations for much of a hike “in the suburbs” but with high expectations of a good time with the Virginians, we drive the Washington Beltway (I-495 West) across the Potomac River and exit immediately onto the Clara Barton Parkway west.  Taking a winding, forested road to the park entrance, we arrive to acres of parking with many free spots this late April morning.  Great Falls attracts 500,000 people each year.  Clearly this is a “hike” for sightseers.

The tow path is alive with people, but not too many people.  Let’s say there is a community buzz to the morning.  Near the visitor center, the towpath is wide and level and follows the canals that allowed paddle boats to circumvent the raging Potomac in years gone by.  


Our travel companions for the day:

Molly and Tip

Amelia and her son Brandon

Given a behind the scenes look at the park’s mules, we learn that a mule is a combination of a male donkey and a female horse.  A henny is what you get in reverse (supposedly very dumb).  Today, these mules will pull the paddle boats along the canal for tourists.   

Taking to the wide dirt and gravel towpath, easily 12 feet wide, we are ready for some light walking in a gorgeous setting along the Potomac River in Maryland.  My initial suspicion that we are in for a walk in the park, not a hike, is confirmed.  The towpath is for those looking for a relaxing stroll, not a challenging Dan and Hannah macho workout.  There’ll be little use for my new Diamond Back adjustable trekking sticks.

As we walk this busy part of the trail, I am struck with diversity of people we see.  This is a smorgasbord of American-Africans, American-Orientals, American-Hispanics, and American-Asians that we do not see in coastal Maine, USA.  Our daughter Molly has added to her upbringing in small town Maine by moving to multi-cultural Virginia and seeing a grander variation of our country.  (And by the way, I am on the Denny McLoughlin bandwagon of describing ethnic groups by what we have in common first, (i.e., being American), and following that which makes us individually special.)  I am an American-European.

Very quickly we come to the Main Event, a side trail off the towpath to the Great Falls of the Potomac.  We take paved paths and boardwalks to a roaring, rushing water scene.

Great Falls on the Potomac River

Duly impressed, we return to the towpath and seek the right turn to the 1.7 mile Billy Goat trail on Bear Island.  The park brochure gets my attention and has this disclaimer about the Billy Goat Trail – Be prepared for the Billy Goat Trail, Section A.  It is a very physically demanding trail.  If you have doubts about your physical ability to climb over angled rocks and boulders, please consider one of the Park’s less strenuous trails.

The terrain is rocky and challenging.

We are always within a stone’s throw of the Potomac as we hike through a forested trail of rocks and boulders where there are always other hikers in view behind or in front of us.  The boulders are tricky enough that I appreciate a helping hand up and over from time to time.  It’s nice to see the young men, Tip and Brandon, looking out for the rest of us in such a supportive, even gallant way.

It does not go unnoticed how lovingly Tip takes care of Molly.  For those who know Molly know that she is a very capable, athletic, and motivated young woman.  Today, within three months of having her first child, Molly has someone dear in her life who takes care of her and their soon-to-be-child so very attentively.  Brandon, too, helps his Mom negotiate each up and down across the stony trail.  Tip waits to see if Hannah and I feel comfortable climbing over the rocks and boulders.  Tip is becoming the new George Washington of our family.  You know the one making sure his troops are comfortable and safe before he moves on.  When once it was I who made sure everyone was okay and getting by, now it’s Tip.   I can feel it - the baton is passing to Tip.  And it’s all right and good in the natural evolution of things.  As Max Ehrmann in the Desiderata writes, gracefully surrender the things of youth and the universe is unfolding as it should.

Rain is in the forecast and these rocks would be nasty if wet, but the rain holds off today.  We rock scramble much of the time and have an hour of rock hiking, not really climbing.  Though I like the rhythm I can have on a level ridgeline hike that we find on the Appalachian Trail in Maryland to the west, today the company makes for a good time at a conversational pace. 

Blue blazes mark the trail very well and the many people, yet not an oppressive number, help us keep on the trail through the angled rocks and boulders of Mather Gorge along the Potomac.  

The trail guide says allow four hours.  With a pregnant Molly, we hiked the Billy Goat Trail in two hours.

We’ve heard of the rock escarpment we still have to climb.  One hundred feet in length, it’s all very doable for us, as long as it’s not raining.

After scaling the rock face, we leisurely hike back to the tow path with our mission accomplished; we have taken the Gruff out of the Billy Goat trail.