~3.6 miles @ ~15 min/mi

Midges orbit like stars in the sunbeams. The trail cuts through primordial ferns and skirts poison ivy thickets. Late afternoon light glints blinding off the river. A young man sits by the water, smoking meditatively. After today's visit to friends Mark & Kimberly I'm on the south side of the Potomac as rush-hour traffic clogs the roads. So I park at the end of Live Oak Dr, where Mary Ewell (2008-05-24 - PHT and CJT) and Kate Abbott (2009-01-19 - PHT Valkyrie) joined me for Potomac Heritage Trail runs in years past. Deadfalls make the descent to the American Legion Bridge a scramble. At the sign "Turkey Run Loop" I branch right and follow yellow blazes upstream and then uphill until the trail intersects the path down from the PHT 50k aid station at Turkey Run Park — familiar terrain from 2007, 2009, and 2010. By the time I'm back to the car rush hour traffic has cleared.

^z - 2011-06-26