Three Walks and Some Wildlife

I’ve had three good walks recently at local parks, two of them on relatively warm days between blasts of cold and the last one on a brisker, more wintry day.  My friend Jane emailed about a walk and suggested Turkey Run, which I’ve written about before.  I hadn’t been there for a couple years, so I was glad to go.

I suggested we stay on the upland paths because between the snow, rain and some flooding, the river paths I’ve walked recently have been worthy of wellies or at the very least, waterproof hiking boots.

I hesitated to put this in, as it doesn’t do Jane justice, but it shows the upland forest nicely. For better pictures of Jane, see who gets a band at their retirement or her chronicle of bicycling across Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

Ultimately, we decided to go toward the river down a feeder stream to get a better photo of the white sycamores, the green water, and the blue sky.  The path, however, got narrow, precipitous, and slippery.  Jane, being younger, and a former Marine, was willing to have a go, but I was not willing to fall into a rocky stream if I slipped in mud. (I’ve got a whole tale for another time about a recent tumble doing something injudicious.)

Look past the near branches to the ghostly sycamores on the other shore. We never did get to the clearer picture…

Still, our explorations brought us upon an old fence line with odd concrete posts and what we could only think was some sort of survey activity in the park.  Or treasure hunting.  Who knows?

See the odd fence post lower right.

The first thing we both did was touch the moss…

Next my friend Paul emailed, back from a road trip and asked if I was up for a walk.  I suggested the Maryland side of Great Falls for a walk on the upland paths in the woods, which are far less peopled than the river paths, and which I don’t hike alone.  He was game, and when we got out there, he said he’d never been on the Maryland side.  So I had to show him the falls, which look different from the Virginia side.

The river drops 80 feet in the space of a mile.

The Potomac River Gorge is one of the most geologically diverse places on earth because of its position along the Fall Line between the Piedmont Plateau and the Atlantic Coastal Plain.  The park contains at least 60 rare plant and animal species and explodes with wildflowers in the spring.  What we and others noticed right away was an extraordinary number of Black Vultures.  They are always here, soaring on thermals, but this was … a lot of vultures…

There were more vultures than shown here. This is just a sample.

The vultures were sitting in trees and on rocks as well as soaring above in groups.  Once we reached my favorite little beach area, we were able to conclude that it was breeding season, or as Paul quipped, the vultures were speed dating.

This vulture was waiting for its date…

We enjoyed the calm of the little beach and then headed into the woods, which gave us another view from the bluffs.  I can never be at Great Falls without experiencing the sense of a river “cut by the world’s great flood [that] runs over rocks from the basement of time.” [Norman Maclean, in A River Runs Through It]

Here you can see where I get the “beach” idea from…

Since all my companions are tortured with a cameo, I didn’t think I should allow myself to slide out of the picture entirely, though I did try.

The third walk was with my friend Carolyn at Roosevelt Island, which is within walking distance of my house.  One of the clergy at my church started offering a service there on Sunday at noon during the worst of the pandemic so a few people could get together in person safely outside.  Today was the first day people could actually go back to the church in person since Omicron swept in, but Carolyn drove over to my neighborhood and we walked down and met up with the wilderness church crew.  

The water was beautiful and sparkling.

It was lovely, as nature is really the best cathedral.  Afterward, we walked the boardwalk through the marsh, coming upon a group of Mallards going about their ducky business.

We circled around, back to the bridge to the Virginia shore and admired the beautiful day and the sparkling water.

Carolyn looking toward Georgetown.

And now I’m back home, hoping to catch up with you all through your latest posts.  Best of late February to everyone!

Past the sycamore ghost trees, you can see the spires of Healy Hall, and nestled beneath Key Bridge, the Potomac Boathouse.