Today is National Trails Day!  What better way to celebrate than by going on a 5 hour hike in a local park?  The 15,000 acre Prince William Forest Park, near Quantico, VA, is the largest protected natural area in the Washington, DC metro region. It consists of 37 miles of hiking trails, 21 miles of bicycle accessible roads and trails, as well as multiple family camping sites.

Since some of our teammates, as well as our hike leaders, were completing their one-day Grand Canyon hike today, we Yosemite folks were left on our own to navigate and complete the 8.5 mile hike. I had gotten the trail maps in advance, so I was able to give them out to my other teammates who showed up. It was a little drizzly at first, overcast, and chillier than I had expected it to be at 9am. But once we got on the trail, the rain stopped and the weather warmed up. This time my hike group consisted of the four regulars (Katie, Ellen, Carey, & me) plus Margie, who we had gotten to know through previous hikes.

We started out on the Old Black Top Road, then after almost 2 miles, turned onto the Oak Ridge Trail, then to the South Valley Trail. We passed by Quantico Creek, and then stopped for lunch at a bridge on the Mawavi Fire Road. There were tons of butterflies everywhere, but they wouldn’t cooperate and pose for a picture for me. We passed a couple of lakes where campers can rent cabins in the summertime. We saw two huge blue herons too, but again, they would not cooperate with the camera. Along the trail we passed many trees that had been felled by beavers, or were halfway gnawed through. There was supposed to be a beaver lodge on the creek at some point, but we didn’t see it. Check out my hike pictures here.

All in all, this hike was not terribly challenging, so it made for a good “tapering” hike in preparation for heading to Yosemite. My group definitely missed the scenic vistas and mountains that we’d experienced in Shenandoah and other nearby parks. Next week we head back to Shenandoah to hike Hazel Mountain. After that, I have one more (plan-my-own) training hike, and then we’re off to California!!