Today’s goal was the southern end of Glover Archbold Park, which would conclude the bulk of my Circle Forts exploration. I took the Metro back to Fort Bunker Hill, then continued on from my stopping point yesterday.
It was another hot, humid day. I’m counting down the days until this horrific weather will be over! The first few miles were hiking through various D.C. neighborhoods, which was interesting. I passed several Circle Forts, but most were nothing but signage and a few not-too-thrilling earthworks. But things improved. Namely, when I reached Rock Creek Park.
Making My Way to Glover Archbold
Rock Creek Park features lovely hiking trails and its namesake, Rock Creek. The scenery was amazing, and it was nice to get out of the hot sun. I ran into a woman walking her dog; she is also a journalist, so we traded information.
Ate my lunch near Fort DeRussy’s remaining earthworks, then got a deliciously cold ice cream cone at McDonald’s. Shortly after that, I hiked through the site of old Fort Reno, which is the highest spot of all of the Circle Forts, at 410 feet (125 m). It didn’t look that high!
Winding Down the Day
Soon the trail led me into Glover Archbold Park. This park was nearly as pretty as Rock Creek, and I was so happy to be finishing in good spirits. And then. Yes, there’s an “and then.”
When I was almost at the end, which was supposed to be the C&O Canal Towpath, I saw a detour sign. It looked old, though, and my new app didn’t show any detour, so I hiked on.
Eventually, I ended up at a locked chain link fence. So yes, the trail was closed. Well, just off to the side there was a footpath that went uphill next to the fence. Clearly, it was a way around the fence. I decided to take that route rather than backtrack to the last road crossing.
A Grand Snafu
I made it up the hill, but the path became less obvious. Long story short, after battling waist-high vegetation a while, I gave up and backtracked. During the process, I leaned against what looked like a thick tree, only to have it collapse under me, scattering stuff in my backpack and resulting in some scrapes.
Back at the road, I texted Maura’s boyfriend and asked him to pick me up. The closest Metro stop was a few miles away, and I wasn’t in the mood to walk anymore.
Can I say again how much I dislike hiking in extremely hot, humid weather? I changed clothes several times again today.
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Snowshoe
P.S. I’ll add photos later. I don’t have enough wifi strength here to do it.
Today’s Miles: 17.6 (28.3 km)
PHT Miles to Date: 237.3 (381.9 km)
PHT Miles to Go: =512.7 (825.1 km)
