2008 Panorama: Potomac River and C&O Canal

The Potomac River provides a narrow ribbon of wilderness through the Washington, DC metro area. From bouldering the Billy Goat Trail to bicycling the C&O Canal, we spent a lot of time around the Potomac River. The first panoramic was taken just north of Harpers Ferry while we were bicycling the canal. Two summers ago, we began our effort to bicycle the entire canal—albeit in segments. Between paddling, bicycling, and hiking the highlands, we aren't finishing fast, but we have completed from Georgetown to just past Shepherdstown. It has amazed me how many different natural environments exist along the canal. Some of the wildest landscape, believe it or not, is between Carderock and Great Falls Maryland. This segment is where the Billy Goat Trail runs between the canal and the river.

The Billy Goat Trail is undoubtedly the most hiking fun you can have within five miles of the DC line. Hiking along rocky bluffs that drop straight down in the river never fails to amuse me. And then there are the other hikers: several years ago we were standing along the trail watching a deer eating algae out of a narrow marsh nestled between two hills. We were standing still enjoying the sloppy, green algae hanging out the sides of the deer's mouth when a clutch of spandex-clad power-walkers comes yammering their way down the trail. One of the women was heard to say, "The thing I love about my yoga practice is that it helps me to live in the moment and it makes me so self-aware." This, she said, as she spandex-bounced her way right past the beautiful deer—spooking the doe to splash noisily down the marshy draw.

The panorama above was shot hand-held with a digicam. I am still amazed at the kinds of shots you can get with a modest little pocket camera. It was the Friday after Thanksgiving and it was cold. Nevertheless, the Billy Goat Trail was still, in places, a traffic jam. Avoid this trail after 10:00 am, year-round.

This final panoramic was taken from Maryland Heights, looking upstream. You can see the C&O canal in the lower right corner and the old Hilltop Hotel on the bluff on the left. The full-sized print is 60" wide and about 15" tall. I can only imagine that this image reads like a map of currents for many paddlers and anglers. On the upper-right side of the river, you can see the islands that are lit-up in the first panoramic in this posting.