Showing posts with label Fairfax County. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fairfax County. Show all posts

Friday, March 2, 2018

Take a hike in winter on Gerry Connolly's Cross County Trail


Ain't it a beaut?  Even in winter. That's the Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail in Fairfax County/Photo by Patricia Leslie


Through the woods we go!/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Yeeks!  It was deer hunting season where deer slayers can kill deer in the park!  Poor little deer.  The season has ended already/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Roots, roots everywhere as they reach for room and water/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Pavement in a park? Baa humbug/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Evidence existed that big beavers with big, precision teeth liked the surroundings, too/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Yonder above stood civilization/Photo by Patricia Leslie
What's this growing on the tree?/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Oh, no!  Trees get tumors, too, but they are not like mammalian tumors, but, according to a New York Times' article, they are held in place by cell walls and caused by a virus, bacteria, or fungus stemming from injury.  In other words, they look worse than they are /Photo by Patricia Leslie
My hair in the morning (if I had this much)/Photo by Patricia Leslie
At night, she's a tap dancer/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Yonder there! What looks to be...hunters!/Photo by Patricia Leslie
A hiking we will go, a hiking we will go, hi ho the derry o, we are not... cold/Photo by Patricia Leslie
A girl and her dog is ever the pleasantest thing/Photo by Patricia Leslie
He wore University of Tennessee orange to ward off the hunters/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Look!  Even on the trail!  Free eatins' and lots of iron! You try them first/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Ain't it gawgus? And see those tire marks?  This was before the big rains but you get the picture: Trump is right: We live in a swamp/Photo by Patricia Leslie


On a warm (relatively speaking) winter's Saturday afternoon, friends and I hiked a wee portion of the 40+ miles long Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail in Fairfax County which extends from one end of the county to the other. 


Who needs a car?

We hiked about two miles roundtrip on the Difficult Run Stream Valley Trail portion, beginning at the intersection of Leesburg Pike and Colvin Run Road. (Parking at the "septic site" (?) at the intersection at Colvin Run is easier than parking at the mill up the hill since there's nowhere to walk safely on the street to reach the trail from the mill, but their cars are nicer than mine, and just to be on the "safe side," they parked upstream. )



We had not gone far on our little venture until we found a sign announcing we were in the middle of deer hunting season which was a mite disconcerting until an important Fairfax County official told me later that hunters have been taking out precious deer for a long time on the trail, and this practice was nothing new. (I declare if you live long enough you can learn something new every day.)


Besides, deer hunters don't come out until dusk when the deer come out (!), so we had no reason to worry. That the trail weaves in and around neighborhoods still makes for some consternation, but being that Fairfax County residents are not known for silence when it comes to matters of controversy (or any matters, for that matter), I suppose this is not a controversial matter since you never hear about it, the little deer being slayed. (If it doesn't bother them, it surely doesn't bother me, especially since I don't even live there!)

With the curves, rocks, roots, dogs, soggy conditions, streams, talks and scenery, we non-runners completed our short hike in about 90 minutes. 


Why is the trail named after Congressman Gerry Connolly?  Glad you wondered.  He is considered the father of the trail since he essentially started it 19 years ago (pre-Congress), working on it years and years and years until the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors decided to call it after him.  And then he quit.  Just kidding!

The trail is part of the East Coast Greenway which stretches from Maine all the way to Key West, and on it, they recycle, using plastic and fiberglass for all the signs. Glorify!


So, take a hike in winter! A delightful way to spend a Saturday afternoon getting some exercise and enjoying the outdoors with friends at no cost! (A cheap date.)

What:  The Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail


When:  Not at dusk during deer hunting season

Where: Fairfax County

How much:  It's free!  (The Fairfax County Park Foundation welcomes donations.)

patricialesli@gmail.com

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Photos from the 2015 World Police and Fire Games, Fairfax County


In memoriam:  Carlos Silva, 48, Brazil, killed in a cycling accident July 2 at the World Police and Fire Games


At the World Police and Fire Games at Lerner Town Square at Tysons Sunday afternoon, children played in the sand while Norway's beach volleyball team practiced/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The fittest, best-looking men in the world are in Fairfax County this week, athletes in the World's Police and Fire Games.

And for once, the customary area ratio of women to men is turned upside down. (How do you like 1 to 9?)

Here's a link to a newspaper story and the website which lists the games schedule. Check it before you go for what's listed is not always right, but, for sure, at Lerner Town Square at Tysons II, the beer is pretty cheap ($4) and so are the tacos with meat ($2) and you can get "loaded" snow cones ($8), too. At Lerner's, the dodge ball competition is on tap from 4 - 8 p.m. tomorrow.

(You don't need a car to get to the Tysons games.  They are right beside the Tysons Metro station.)

Lots of fun, food, and good lookins'! Enjoy!
Washington's Area Law Enforcement hockey team (in dark blue) played the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the Reston Skatequest/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Seattle sent its finest area firefighters to play ice hockey. From left are Michael Lingrey, Everett; Joel Willits, Kent; Ryan Berg, Tukwila; Lee Allen, Seattle; and Andrew Polmateer, Hoquiam/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Pull-ups were part of the "Toughest Competitor Alive" contest at Westfield High School in Chantilly/Photo by Patricia Leslie
At the "Toughest Competitor Alive" contest at Westfield High School in Chantilly/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Pull-ups at the "Toughest Competitor Alive" contest at Westfield High School in Chantilly/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Boise, Idaho's Kathlyn Peterson (on left) is a world volunteer/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Try lifting 225 pounds, why doncha? At the crossfit contest at the World Police and Fire Games at Lerner Town Square at Tysons /Photo by Patricia Leslie
Kim Holway was the world champion female weight lifter at past World Police and Fire Games. Here she attempts 165 pounds as part of the crossfit competition at Lerner Town Square at Tysons Sunday afternoon, /Photo by Patricia Leslie
Success for Kim Holway at the World Police and Fire Games at Lerner Town Square at Tysons Sunday afternoon/Photo by Patricia Leslie
At the World Police and Fire Games at Lerner Town Square at Tysons Sunday afternoon, Fairfax's best wanted headgear action from Norway/Photo by Patricia Leslie

P.S.  Sorry to read about the Russian policeman, a hockey player, who got arrested Tuesday for stealing at the Macy's at Tysons Galleria.

patricialesli@gmail.com