~12 miles @ ~15 min/mi

Comrades Ken Swab and Mary Ewell and I converge on the indoor tennis courts at the Locust Grove Nature Center for a Sunday morning jog along the Cabin John Stream Valley Trail. It's a nice but somewhat strenuous path that various among us have variously essayed before. (cf. HalfBeast, LateOctober2005JogLog, GoldenTicket, TheyBullRunRun, ...) Driving to the rendezvous point I cache food and drink at the River Road crossing of the CJT, allowing us to refuel at miles 3 and 9. In the heat and humidity we quickly exhaust our water supplies, so the resupply option turns out to be essential.

We set off shortly after 7am and immediately lose the trail at the corner of Democracy Blvd. and Seven Locks Rd. Eventually an off-road cyclist appears, lifts his bike over the railing, and vanishes into the woods. We follow him and thereafter only sporadically become confused. The park service brochure says that a Frank Lloyd Wright house is adjacent to the CJT, so as we progress downstream we look for it, making jokes whenever we see a candidate. (A small house-trailer in the woods, decorated with pink flamingo statues, is our final consensus for the most outrageous architecture.)

The trail south of the Beltway is rather overgrown, and since both Mary and I fear poison ivy our progress becomes tentative. We climb the steep wooden stairs and reach the turnaround at Cabin John Local Park (just north of the Potomac River) but find no water there. During our return trip a big box turtle is sitting in the middle of the path, but retracts into her shell before I can take a photo. At the River Rd. cache we finish all the drinks, with the help of two young buff gentlemen who are going fast but for less distance than we are. I haul the remaining chips and candy for the last 3 miles. Ken admits that both Mary and I sweat a lot more than he does.