We knew what we were going to do today: visit a canal, check out the historic buildings and get back to the RV early. Easy peasy, right? We had heard about the canal several days ago when we were eating lunch in a small park. A woman stopped to talk as she walked by and told us that she was a Bike Patrol in this park and that it had some fabulous falls, neat canal ruins and that on the weekends they gave canal boat rides with the mules. Well, it started out the way she said.
First we found some coffee and some delicious French pastries at the Vie de France Bakery. Not a bad way to start a day. I had the blueberry/cheese croissant and Gary had the cheese Danish.
When we got to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal NHP, we saw people putting on their hiking shoes and packs and wondered where they were going. We’ll ask inside, we decided. Then we hied over to the VC and found that a canal boat was going to make the trip down the canal, pulled by 2 mules. Cool. Here’s the canal boat loaded with a bunch of elementary school kids. Obviously someone needs to close the wooden gates - and Gary volunteered.
The gates and locks are all made out of wood and pretty sturdy. When the gate was closed, the lock filled, the boat was even with the rest of the river, the mules were hitched up,
the gates opened up, the helms woman took her position and the canal boat moved on down the canal.
Inside we learned about the building of he canal. Even George Washington had seen the benefits of using the Potomac River as a way to move agricultural goods from the interior of the colonies to port and manufactured goods from the port to the interior. But, there were those pesky falls in the way. Let’s build a canal with locks people said and ground was broken for the Chesapeake and Ohio anal on 7/4/1828 by President John Quincy Adams.
There were several problems: the engineers had never built a canal before, nor did they have engineering degrees. the rocky terrain made it difficult to dig using the hand tools they had. The B & O Canal Company lied to the foreign workers about the wages, the food and the housing (pretty much everything) so many quit and went to work for the B & O Railroad. Finally, by the time they got the canal dug in 1850 (22 years later) it was obsolete and railroads were hauling most of the freight. And, it was abandoned and became a memory.
In the 1950’s developers began to want the land for homes and industry and were supported by the governor and many in government. However, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas saw this as a way to commune with nature, invited them on a ‘walk’ along the tow path and they decided to preserve the land as it was, for all to enjoy. In 1971 it was made into the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal NHP. All together it is 178 miles long and has tunnels, great views, campgrounds and many entry points so all can enjoy it.
Our goal was to hike the canal tow path - until we heard about the Billy Goat Trail, called one of ‘the most difficult and strenuous on the East Coast.’ ‘Scrambling over steep cliffs, angled rocks and boulders.’ ‘Hikers must find a way up/down a 40’ cliff. There is not an alternative trail around.’OK. that’s ours. Here’s the poster nailed to a post at the beginning of the trail.
Several people tried to dissuade us from the hike.
‘It’s pretty formidable.’
‘It has some pretty dangerous parts.’
‘It’s a lot of scrambling.’
One guy showed us the 8’ S-shaped scar on his knee from the hike. Another showed us his rearranged nose from the hike. They told us about a guy who got down on his knee, showed his fiancé the ring, she stepped back and they had to call in a rescue helicopter to get her up. I guess they look at us two old farts and think we’d be happier in a rocking chair with lap robes. Huh!! Give me a break. Well, that’s just what the hike might give us.
Show it to me - we both said and we put on our hiking boots which we always keep in the car, our packs and we were off. Oh, boy, a hike and not just a flat hike around a lake, but a real rocky, hilly hike. It’s been so long. And what a hike it is. It’s one of those hiked that where you measure not the miles but the rocks you scramble over.
The trail was marked with blue hash marks on the trees but, at times, we couldn’t see them - because there were too many boulders in the way.
Then we came to ‘The Slot’ where we had to climb up this crack in the rock. Gary’s about 1/2 way up. Fun. The girl at the top is waiting to climb down and the other two are almost done with the slot - this is a one-way trail right here.
Great views all along the Potomac.
But then there were woodsy section too.
By the way, if anyone asks you if DC is humid - you an assure them that it is. This is the kind of sweat that sticks to you, that you take home with you. Not the kind in the Desert Southwest that evaporates as you walk. Nope, this will be with us for a while.
Just when you think that you’re on a flat section and you’re done climbing, the trail turns a corner and you’ve got to go up over those darn boulders again.
Then we met this little 4-yr old who was clambering with the best. I asked her how she got over those big boulders, bigger than she was. She thought, grinned and said, ‘Because I’m a monkey.’ And, boy, we had to move fast over the trail since we was breathing down our rears. Look at the little monkey go.
Finally the trail ended at the tow path about 3 miles from where we started. Guess what? We opted to take the tow path back.
Fun unexpected trail. We’ve been missing hiking on trails that actually go up and down. I’ll have to admit that all together we got only about 400’ of elevation but it was over boulders and trees and smaller rocks. A challenge but lots of fun. We plan to try a section of the Appalachian Trail next week and this is a good warm-up.
‘Thoughts come clearly while one walks.’
Thomas Mann
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