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Wednesday, January 1, 2014

#1 Great Falls National Park - New Years Day

Happy New Year! I kicked off my goal of fifty hikes at 50 on New Year's Day 2014! My wife surprised me with an annual National Park Pass, so no better way to get started than a trip to Great Falls Park along the Potomac river (part of the National Park system).

I have been to this area before, with hikes along Billy Goat trail in Maryland (a great hike and rock scramble!), and the river today was as high as I have ever seen (see above photo). What a great way to get out, enjoy one of our National Parks, and experience the natural beauty of this area!

One of the more interesting things I came across was a marker of the highest recorded flood levels at this location (see photo below). The 1972 mark immediately reminded me of Hurricane Agnes, which caused much damage to the area. The top marker identified flooding in both 1936 & 1942.


My take-away from today: "Yes! I have started!" - and the reminder there is plenty of good hiking left to do in this area!

See you on the trails!

Mike
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