Field Journal 18 November 2023
- Chris
- Nov 20, 2023
- 3 min read
Time: 1430
Location:
Great Falls, VA
Great Falls National Park
38.993403862804705, -77.24961162155032
Weather:
14° C (58° F)
Partly Cloudy becoming Sunny
0 cm (0 in) precipitation
Winds "Fresh Breeze" ~ 17-21 knots, becoming calm by end of day; Wind Direction Not Noted
Cold front moved through during the night and through to mid morning.
Rock climbing trip with Holly and Bug to the "Sand Box" climbing crag.
Observations
The ground was still largely wet from rain the night prior but no real standing water. The water level in Mather Gorge and the falls were extreamly low. The lowest I have ever seen in all the years I have been going there. It was so low that the boulder field on the north side of the falls at the bottom, which is normally submerged, making for some of the best rapids for kayakers to shoot, were completely exposed and dry. There was easily 3-6m (10-20ft) between the current water levels and the top of the average high water mark on the gorge rocks. That said, the sand box was littered with many down trees and broken peices of trunks showing that at some point recently the gorge has flooded and the Sand Box was submerged.
Leaves on the trees were well into their autumn turn. Standing on the ledge a top the "Sand Box Corner" route of the Sand Box, most of the trees on the Maryland side of the Potomac River had already dropped their leaves for the winter, and the ones with remaing leaves were bright in full color. The Virginia side of the groge was no different.
No wild life was observed, aside from a single vulture who soared over the gorge as we first got to the Sand Box. I did not take note during the sighting to notice any key features to help determin whether it was Coragyps atratus 'Black Vulture' or Cathartes aura 'Turkey Vulture' as I was focued on showing Holly and Bug the views and setting up our climbing rope.
As with all my trips to the park and this spot, the Sand Box was full of the shells of freshwater muscles.
Prior to us leaving for the day, Holly and Bug grabbed a couple of massive leaves from the
small Platanus occidentalis 'American Sycamore' tree at the base of the climbing route.
Bug's leaf is just over 29 cm (11.5 in) wide. She calls it her tye die leaf because it had only
partially turned color prior to dropping and the remaining chlorophyll in the leave created a marble like design. Holly's was even larger, by a couple of centimeteres wide, but unfortunately we lost it to the wind while Bug was completing her Junior Ranger booklet prior to leaving the park.
Personal Thoughts
It has been several years since I have been to Great Falls National Park, let alone climbed there. I am so happy that we were able to take this day trip. Reba struggled to both climb down into the Sand Box and back out. The frustration on her face was very obvious when we climbed out at the end of the day. Almost as if to say "What the hell! Why can't I climb these little rocks any more? I use to do them no problem but my hips won't work!"
I'd honestly be lying if I didn't say I felt very similar to her. Almost 5 years of only gym climbing, of which I could not bring my trusty crag pupper, and only a handful of hikes in that time with rock scambles that would have allowed either of us to express our inner goat, it is no surprise that returning to our old stomping ground left us both feeling soar, tired, and surprised at the reduced range of motion in our legs.
That all said, I am over joyed to have taken us all there. I got to make some new memories with my family, and got to be witness to several first for Holly and Bug. Both climbed outdoors on real rocks for the first time, Holly belayed both myself and Bug while we climbed for the first time, and Bug got to rock scramble for the first time. We also got to watch flybys along the gorge of Coast Gaurd MH-65 Dolphin helicopters [Squadron Unknown] and two flybys from UH-1N Twin Hueys from the Air Force's 1st Helicopter Squadron.
A final plesant surprise for this trip was that when Bayleigh turned in her work book for the Junior Ranger program and was "sworn in" by the extremely kind Ranger, she was given not one, but two Junior Ranger badges for the two parks administered by the Great Falls National Parks Rangers. Not only that, Holly and I finially found a National Park near us that participates in the B.A.R.K. Ranger progam, and Reba also got her very first badge for the program. I could not have asked for a better day trip, even give the wind, cold, and wet.
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