Before heading out to the Billy Goat Trail, I stopped by Carderock. The
rock formations at Carderock are popular with local mountain climbers.
I only saw a few die-hard rock climbers who were willing to brave the
chilling winds.
Off to the side of the Billy Goat Trail is a set of rocks that leads to
an island in the Potomac.
Eddies caused by rocks swirl in the Potomac.
Section A of the Billy Goat Trail is only 1.7 miles long, but it covers
terrain that looks like this. You are either climbing across rocks,
scaling up rocks, and trying to get down off of the rocks. (Did I mention
that there are rocks?) The trees should give you an idea of the size of
these boulders. It was actually very fun, and good exercise as well.
Sometimes the Billy Goat Trail goes straight up rock faces. You can see the
blazes painted on the rocks. I scaled down this particular rock face, and
wondered who in their right mind would put a trail on it. But it looks
worse than it actually is.
The views of the Potomac are worth the climbing.
A Great Blue Heron perches on top of a bridge. It's hard to tell
from this photo, but these birds are huge. The bird flew away as I was
trying to get another photo, and it must have been at least four feet long
when it was fully stretched out.
The C&O Canal Towpath cuts through beautiful scenery.
The setting sun creates an effect that almost looks like Fall.
