Great Falls Park, sore feet and snakes - May 2016

Great Falls Park Visitor Centre

This month I took myself off to Great Falls Park which lies just 15 minutes drive to the West of Washington DC and only a short 30 minute drive from our home near Falls Church in Virginia. There was a long queue to get into the Park as this was the first decent weather that we had seen for a while so it appeared that half of the Capital had decided to descend on the Park. Great Falls Park, which is managed by the National Park Service, covers 800 acres and it is here that the Potomac River builds up speed and some force as it falls over the steep and jagged rocks as it flows through the narrow Mather Gorge.

Great Falls

Having parked up I decided to take the North Trail running alongside the Potomac for about 90 minutes before turning back to retrace my steps to the Visitor Centre and then after a short break for a coffee and the obligatory blueberry muffin I walked South along the Potomac but this time through a more rugged and more difficult landscape to traverse. On the first leg heading north I was struck buy the swollen river which resulted in the spectacular Falls back at the Visitor Centre. The noise and the power of the water here is quite something to witness at this time of the year, particularly after the recent wet winter we've experienced.

I have only ever seen one snake in the wild before today but in my first 30 minutes I was already on my fourth! These were all fairly small, the longest being apx 2 feet (600mm) but not knowing what they were I was tending to look more at where I was putting my feet rather than at the photographic opportunities around me! I did manage to capture one small one which I think is juvenile black rat snake (non-poisonous). The others I saw were either northern water snakes also non-poisonous, or possibly a copper head which is poisonous! https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery.htm?id=1D170DBD-1DD8-B71C-07512B1BA352A6EB

Juvenile Black Rat Snake (I think!)

On the southern leg of my walk/hike I managed to find a vantage point to capture this long 12 sec exposure which I converted to black and white in Lightroom. Nearby some local rock climbers were practicing on one of the sheer rock faces just above the river.

Potomac Long Exposure

Rock Climber

North Trail

My Fitbit recorded 17,000 steps and with 20lb of camera kit on my back I’ll admit to a few aches and pains the next day!