adding to the bottom
--- In
BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "aletheiak" <aletheiak@y...>
wrote:
>
> since mike
> whose idea it originally was
> had to postpone our dcmdvan try
> i too put it off mentally & headed directly for the blue ridge
> instead
> especially as the dc urbopolis is so crazy anyway
> as well as hardly autumnal at all yet
> etc
>
> but a few wrong turns & traffic jams after heading out of
frederick
> toward mdvawv on saturday
> & i found myself barreling willynilly down the freeway toward
dcmdvan
>
> & i justified this change of course
> not only because mike had said to go ahead without him
> but especially because i knew more prep would be needed if our
> eventual try was to be a real success
>
> & yikes
> i didnt even have a gps receiver
> which i expected would be essential if any real improvement was to
> be made on the previous try
>
> so i knew this would be in all likelihood strictly exploratory
> & not really a distinct try
> but i barreled on
> mindful not only of mike
> but of the participation of lowell & arif & brian too
> & of all the unsolved puzzles that still remained
>
>
> first the rendezvous & no parking puzzle
>
> tho i had suggested to mike that we meet & try to park where the
> potomac heritage trail emerges from fort marcy & crosses chain
> bridge road
> this was a complete bust
> so it was lucky we never actually tried it
>
> for one thing
> the trail is unsigned & so indifferently blazed in such various
hues
> of blue & green that i never even caught sight of it til much later
>
> & there is in fact no parking anywhere near there
>
>
> then
> i had to actually solve the parking puzzle for the first time
> since you may recall jc had just waited for me in the car on the
> arfa line with the engine running on my last try
>
>
> what i learned is that there are really only 2 possible legal
places
>
> one is at glebe road & 41st
> directly under the george washington pkwy overpass
>
> & there is closer parking at fort marcy
> but it is accessible only via the parkway
> which you have to drive all the way down to the key bridge to
access
>
> & i used both of these areas at various times during my 24 hour try
> which went more or less as follows
>
>
> first a rude awakening
>
> the previous dangerous tresspass route that i followed circa 1997
> past the rich houses along the arfa line & down the cliff was no
> longer even an option
>
> these properties & practically all the others in the neighborhood
> are now fully enclosed by iron gates & hi tech security etc
>
> so my first approach was from the chain bridge as mike suggested
>
> the view from the bridge is quite forbidding
> & reminded me why i went straight down the cliff the first time
>
> a very rocky & sheer right bank upstream as far as the eye can see
>
> still i tried to descend right there but got only halfway down to
> the river level before giving it up
>
> it might have been possible to inch our way the full half mile
from
> there up to dcmdvan with finger & toeholds but it wouldve taken at
> least all day
>
>
> this left only the downstream approach via the potomac heritage
> trail northbound from fort marcy
>
> but the next rude awakening was that the trail doesnt just cross
> chain bridge road & descend directly but
> as i later learned in stages
> it follows the road upstream for half a mile & then continues
> another mile north wedged between crest lane & the parkway before
> finally letting you down onto the river a good mile or more above
> dcmdvan
>
> very rude
>
> so rather than just accepting such a fate unquestioningly
> i next checked every possible loophole
> examining every property line for a crevice
> trying especially 44th street
> which at first offered some false hope
> & a path between someones hedge & someone elses fence
> part of way
> until you hit the nettle tree
> etc
> etc
> all ends
>
>
> so it was back to the potomac heritage trail in the morning
> for the last best & only hope
> short of kayaking the falls
>
>
> but i see i am going to have to pause here
> since my time is almost up at this computer
ok mike &al
i see i will have to make a still longer story even shorter now
but basically
after many circuitous wanderings & escapades
including more than one spooky wrong turn into a parkway exit in
nearby mclean for the george bush center for intelligence
which fortunately was closed
with turnabout permitted
or i might have regretted badmouthing cia & usgs mapping all at once
here i was on the morning after all the above
afoot & making good headway at last on the potomac heritage trail
headed in the wrong but only possible direction
what joy when the river finally came into view & the trail descended
to the now comparatively gentle bank
but there was no trail from here downstream & only dense thickets
below the cliff
so i started picking my way thru this last country mile
& immediately flushed a bambi
toward dcmdvan
which i took to be a good omen
& whose tracks i was able to follow
until i flushed it again with its doe very near the tripoint
i had to make myself pretty small or contorted to get thru in places
& went barefoot most of the way
of necessity
which was easier on the sand & mud than on the rocks & ers
& i imagined not being able to keep up with you mike
& finding brian waiting for us in a kayak at the tripoint
wondering what took us so long
but it was a long hard bushwhack past many rich houses
first just to reach the dam
& then to continue toward the bridge
with many near impasses as it loomed larger
before the particular rich houses we know & love came in view
first governor robbs in fairfax
then the well hidden one directly on the arfa line
& finally the monster on the arlington side
but again
no marker wm1 anywhere in sight
& this despite my much improved fix on the alignment & water line
thanx to all the intervening research
there is a big down tree just there tho
which could be lying across the marker
not to mention the great mess of rocks & ordinary veggies in which
it could also be hiding
a bit of good news is that the rocks closest to the river just there
are tall & vertical
so if we ever do find the marker we can just hang out over the edge
there to claim to be directly above the low water mark
regardless of how the low water mark is ever defined
the river was quite low yesterday btw
with 8 or 10 vertical feet of rock exposed below the veggie line in
most places
since i was exhausted on the return trip
instead of retracing my steps all the way back to the trail
i detoured up a flight of stone steps when only about a quarter of
the way back there
which led to perhaps the richest estate of all
meaning there was almost certainly nobody home
& tho i had to pick my way carefully anyway
as i was carrying a pillowcase rather than a backpack
& had to climb around one iron gate & force another ajar
i did eventually emerge at the entrance to 700 chain bridge road
happily just below the head of crest lane
any idea who lives there lowell
what a house & grounds
so anyway the bottom line is
i would like to try it again with the gps receivers
so as to get it down to within 10 feet of the marker
if the usgs map is right
hahahaha
& then
assuming we are so lucky as to find the marker
to get a true compass bearing from there to the tripoint
& one side errand might be to check out markers wm2 wm3 etc
just to see what the series looks like & make wm1 easier to spot
so there is definitely somewhere left to go here
practically virgin wilderness in the capital of the free world
saw only 2 other people the whole way down & back
kayakers