Great Falls

Having grown up in the NOVA area, I love Great Falls.  I don't love visiting it on the weekends, because I remember lines stretching out through the entire road leading up to the entrance booth.  Not how I want to spend my time.  So instead of hitting it on a bright and beautiful weekend day, we went on an overcast and slightly chilly weekday.  Still an awesome place to visit.  Wouldn't do it in the rain, but I think that's the only weather that would keep me away from this park.  I like to rock hop, and rain just makes it too slippery to do that.  

It's funny--there's a sign telling you about the three overlooks, letting you know that the third overlook is the best view, but it was the least crowded when we were there.  But the real gem is beyond the overlooks, when the path winds its way through the rocks.  There you can scramble on the rocks, test your climbing abilities, and potentially wreck your knees.  So much fun!            

It's no equipment for us, this really is just rock hopping and scrambling.  There are opportunities to test your climbing skills and judgments, and that can be quite thrilling.  In a very tame way.  The kids are close to the water, but not super close.  The literature when I was much younger and going to this park said that, on average, 13 lives a year were lost to drowning in the Potomac.  Now it just says many lives.  At any rate, the currents are very strong, and I have had experience falling in much further away from the falls, so we talked A LOT about not getting into the water at all.  So NB put his fingers in.  Oish.        

We had a reluctant hiker.  Even though, in my mind, this was not a hike.  It was a chance to jump from rock to rock.  And yes, it had a short walk from the visitor's center to the rocks.  SHORT WALK.  I did not require anything super difficult.  But it was imposed on him, it was not his choice.  By the end he was saying it was a good time.  I had overworked my achilles by that point, so our next hike in the park was super short.  Oh well.            

We see tons of geese all the time, I have no idea why the kids thought this little guy was so special.  But they borrowed my camera and took a picture, and now you get to share in their joy.