Okay, who knew that there is an 18-mile trail that runs from Fairfax County to Prince William County?  I’ve lived in Northern VA most of my life and I had no idea this trail existed. It basically follows Bull Run (river/stream) and Occoquan River from Bull Run Regional Park (near Centreville) to Fountainhead Park (west of Burke). We hiked the 6-mile section from Hemlock Overlook past Bull Run Marina, and back. It was yet another great day for hiking, weather-wise. It stayed about 60-65 degrees all day long, mostly sunny, and more importantly NO BUGS (which was odd since we were hiking in a forest next to a river, but fortunate). As we started out, we could hear gun fire booming in the distance. Some people in the group thought it was a shooting range, but I have a feeling it may have been Civil War re-enactors, or maybe an artillery demonstration or something. Along the trail we noticed that more and more spring flowers and trees were blooming. Carey found an interesting flower that she later confirmed comes from the tulip poplar tree. I also spotted some funny-looking sprouty things -- turns out they are called Squawroot. Check out pictures here.

We made it through the woods and came upon this big open meadow. The blue trail blazes (normally found on trees or rocks) now started appearing on wooden posts along the edge of the woods. They led us to… what?  Soccer fields?  Lots of children running around in their little uniforms kicking balls. Um, okay…  It took us a while to sort through the confusion and find the next blue blaze, but eventually we spotted it -- on one of the fence posts demarcating the edge of the soccer field, next to a goal post. (Sure, why not?) So we continued around the field and ended up back in the woods along the river again.

The group reached our destination, Bull Run Marina, in about 2 hours (we thought it would take 3). Some people decided to head back to the trailhead to start setting up for our group picnic. Others of us decided to keep going for a little while longer. Carey, Ellen and I teamed up with Pat and Nancy to continue on. About half an hour later, the trail started getting steeper, so we decided to turn back around. At about mile 9, my feet started to hurt. Not too long after that, my left knee started to bother me. At mile 10 we started wondering aloud why the heck we opted to hike an extra hour. As we neared the trailhead, the thought of digging into some chips, guacamole, salsa, brownies and other treats kept me going. In total, we hiked 12 miles in 5 hours and walked nearly 30,000 steps. Our longest distance training hike yet -- wow!

When we got back, our picnic was laid out for us, complete with sandwiches, chips, desserts, and drinks. I had forgotten to pack something for lunch more substantial than trail mix, and did not realize just how hungry I was till I spotted all that food. As we munched, Jan, one of our two hike leaders, congratulated us on how much money we have raised as a group so far. She also called roll (for the first time ever) and we were able to meet more teammates, some of whom I’d never even seen before. The countdown is on -- just a month and half left before going to Yosemite!

 

Congratulations on making your goal and you have to tell me the route of this hike, so I can do it, too. Thanks a bunch and I'll talk to you later!!!