Monrovia Canyon Falls

Place: Monrovia Canyon Falls  Monrovia, Ca  11/7/10
Hiking Distance: 1.5 miles nature center to waterfall

Trail map.

It was a overcast cool day for this hike which I love! The trail I wanted to do the Bill Cull trail, but it was still closed due to a fire that went through in late August. The area needs to to regrow and heal before people can go hiking on it again. I payed the $5 fee and we parked the car near the nature center so we could start the hike there.

This was a short trail but there was a good amount of elevation change to the waterfall and lots of uphill parts. So this was still a good hike! The trail would narrow at some points and be high above the ground so we would have to stop to let people pass first. The people on the trail were all very courteous and let us pass on the narrow trail before them as well. We passed things that looked like dams, but I'm unsure what they are really called or what their true purpose is.

Damns? I do not know for sure.

Overall was a very nice hike in a peaceful area. Hopefully when the Bill Cull trail opens up we can do the whole thing! More pictures of the hike can be found HERE

Billy Goat Trail Hike

Place: Great Falls Billy Goat Trail Potomac, MD    Section B     10/31/10
Hiking Distance: 1.6 Miles (I think)

Panoramic view

I went to Washington DC over the Halloween weekend to go to the Rally to Restore Sanity and or Fear. I also was able to get a great hike in! This was the first hike I have ever done outside of California so I was very excited! I brought my hiking clothes and boots but left the Camelbak at home and just used my smaller LL Bean Stowaway bag. Jamie Stone, Erland's mom, took us to this great trail and hiked with us!

Erland & Jamie at the Trailhead

Being used to my desert state of California where the weather is hot 99% of the time, it was a nice treat to have a cool, breezy day to hike. This trail I found was true to its name, due to rocks jutting out of it. We did a small bit of scrambling as well. Hiking along a real river instead of small creeks and streams like back home was amazing! Being fall the trees in the area were all sorts of colors and made for a beautiful view as we hiked along the path. We passed some people and a few dogs as well. Even saw a little black poodle enjoying the trail.

The Billy Goat Trail lined with rocks.

Vertical view of Falls

After hiking the Billy Goat Trail we came upon a nice flat open trail where runners, bicyclists and families were enjoying the day. This trail was next to a calm river that had Canadian geese enjoying it as well. We got back to the car and decided to drive to the C & O Canal nearby. The Chesapeake & Ohio canal was one of a network of American canals dug during the late 18th century and early 19th centuries to form water highways for commercial trade. these canals were part of the great Industrial Revolution. Lots of people were out and about. They had a very nice walkway setup so people could walk above the river. The river itself was awesome! It was very fast and very very loud! We even got to see the people on the other side of the river over on the Virginia side. I have never been so impressed by a river in all my life.


Throughout this whole hike the history nerd in me couldn't help think/imagine what it  must have been like for early settlers who made places like this home and explored so much of the forest, as well as the Native Americans who lived in this nature. I had a great time on this hike. Thank you Jamie for taking us here!


More pictures of the hike can be found here 




I have lots of Videos! Hopefully this will convey how great the hike is in person.