further observations
the potomac heritage trail detour avoids an unknown number of
obstacles at river level in the mile or so between the mouth of
pimmit run & the descent from fort marcy
some of these obstacles could lie upstream of dcmdvan & some
below
or there could be fairly unobstructed access to dcmdvan along
the bank in one direction
or
the other
but i do seem to recall now that my decision to drop directly
down the cliff was partly based on having observed significant
impediments all along the right bank
in the course of a previous approach from the left bank
& a probably most significant obstacle just downstream
exactly the kind of thing a heritage trail might want to skip
add to this belated recollection the fact that the topo shows the
descent from fort marcy to be more gradual than any other
i am exultant to think we may have just discovered a new & most
propitious available approach route here
down the bank from upstream
rather than up the bank from chain bridge
& least of all down the cliff
--- In
BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "aletheiak"
<aletheiak@y...> wrote:
> insertions ahead
>
> --- In BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "lowellgmcmanus"
> <mcmanus71496@m...> wrote:
> > If you will go to the extreme close-up April 2002 "Urban
Areas"
> > color aerial photo at http://tinyurl.com/3kko5 , you will see the
> > area of the tripoint. These urban photos allow you to zoom in
> > several steps closer than most on the web.
>
> yes great source thanx
>
> > You can see Virginia 123 curving across the lower left
quadrant
> of
> > the photo. Note the large complex of buildings that seems to
> be
> > under construction at the bottom. It might be even
commercial
> > rather than residential. I believe rather strongly that the
> > northwestern wall of this complex is up against the boundary
> between
> > Arlington and Fairfax Counties, the complex being in
Arlington.
>
> it is almost undoubtedly parallel to arfa but most probably at a
> short remove from it rather than directly up against it
> since constructing anything directly up against a property line
is
> usually forbidden by suburban building codes
>
> my guess is the offset here should be at least 3 feet
>
> but we might do equally well using the pavement change &
> welcome signs on route 123
> & then following the blue ribboned survey stakes from there
> if indeed they are still in place along the combined property &
> county line
> all the way to the top of the cliff where they end
> & then eyeballing back up toward them from the base of the
cliff
> in order to continue the alignment to waters edge
>
> or at least that was my technique back then
>
> but it must be said
> that try was only approximate because i could only see the last
> blue ribbon position from the river bank
> whereas at least 2 ribbons in view at once would of course be
> needed for anything resembling a true alignment
>
> & i never found the wm1 marker on that alignment
>
> indeed i never recovered it at all
>
> of course my try was correctly focused on the low water line
> so no wonder i missed or overlooked it at the high water line
>
> but a more careful reading of the topo & bus&ss would have
told
> me even back then that i wasnt ultimately looking for dcva wm1
> anyway & not at any water line
> since it is not the dcmdvan marker
> but only the next best thing to dcmdvan
>
> still
> the retry obviously needs to focus first on recovering this
marker
> precisely because it will suggest or actually indicate the best
> available alignment of dcmd
> & from a distance of only 1 tripointing stitch away from
dcmdvan
> rather than from all the way over the horizon
>
> > Since that boundary is the vestigial DCVA boundary, it will
align
> > perfectly with the DCMD boundary coming from across the
> river.
>
> the boundary will but as noted probably not the building
>
> > Perhaps this will be of help in finding the precise area of the
> > river bank. You can click the image to zoom in one more step
> for
> > the closest view of all.
> >
> > The web site at http://www.deepwater.org/trails/#phtrail says
> that
> > there is access to the Potomac Heritage Trail at "Pimmit Run
> (at
> > Chain Bridge)" [in Arlington County], and that the "trail follows
> > Pimmit Run for a short distance before a low-water crossing
> into
> > Fort Marcy Park" [in Fairfax County]. Thus, the trail crosses
the
> > county line over 300 yards away--and across a ridge--from
the
> > tripoint on the river bank.
>
> good finding
>
> so thats a dead end
>
> but fortunately your new improved aerial view does give us a
> great peek & some hope at least of walking up the right bank of
> the potomac from the mouth of pimmit run anyway
> just as mike & i imagined the trail might do for us
> except on our own
>
> for even if this route is too hairy for a regular hiking trail to
follow
> it might still be a tad less hairy than trespassing down the cliff
>
> end inserts
>
> > Lowell G. McManus
> > Leesville, Louisiana, USA
> >
> >
> > --- In BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "aletheiak"
> <aletheiak@y...>
> > wrote:
> > > i saw that in the trail blurb & on the topo too
> > > & figured it must be so
> > > even tho the trail is named for the river
> > > & even tho it sounds & looks fully 500 feet off its course
there
> > >
> > > but the first thing the blurb says is
> > > this trail extends along the bank of the river
> > >
> > > & the trail is also shown hugging the bank
> > > everywhere else on the map accompanying the blurb
> > >
> > > so rather than interpreting these remarks as conflicting
> > > i am guessing that the bit about the george washington
> parkway
> > > overpass must refer to a small local displacement that the
> trail
> > > makes from the bank in order to get around the mouth of
the
> little
> > > pimmit run feeder stream there
> > >
> > > or maybe it is just an incomplete instruction for how to
wend
> > > ones way down from the higher chain bridge causeway
level
> to
> > > river level via the declivity of the feeder stream
> > >
> > > but time will tell
> > > & the cliff & rich homes are of course still there if we need
> them
> > >
> > > parking is a bitch in that neighborhood tho
> > >
> > > will you be joining us please
> > >
> > > --- In BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "bjbutlerus"
> > > <bjbutler@b...> wrote:
> > > > The description of the Potomac Heitage Trail at
> > > > http://www.washdc.org/trail8.html says that west of the
> Chain
> > > Bridge,
> > > > the trail is located beneath the high overpass carrying the
> > > George
> > > > Washington Parkway. This seems to place the trail about
a
> > > quarter of
> > > > a mile west of the Potomac River and, worse, west of
> Pimmit
> > > Run and
> > > > Chain Bridge Road. The previously mentioned "rich
> homes"
> > > are on the
> > > > east side of Chain Bridge Road (VA 123). Therefore I
don't
> > > think the
> > > > existence of the Potomac Heritage Trail says anything
> about
> > > the
> > > > public/private status of the riverbank, nor does it provide
> any
> > > > improvement in access to DCMDVAN. Topozonic details
at:
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
>
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=38.931&lon=-77.1204&s
> > > =24&size=m&symshow=n&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25
> > > >
> > > > BJB