Bull Run 6.66

 Saturday, May 1, 2021

Hi Blog!

Happy May Day! We are currently in Bull Run Regional Park. This is one of the closest RV Parks to Arlington, VA. We had a great week with William at Cedar Lake Campground in Dover, PA. We have this weekend to ourselves, as William and Company took off to Philadelphia to spend a special Mother's Day Weekend at Katie's house. After all the driving we've done recently, we decided today would be a no-driving-day. Now, that doesn't mean we didn't go anywhere or do anything. Au contraire!

We have worked hard during our Covid Winter staycation to exercise and lose weight. This would be our first long hike after having lost 20lbs of pack weight! We would like to continue with our exercise program, so we started the day with a two mile run. After breakfast, we mosied over to the start of the Bluebell Loop Trail. 

A hike would not be complete without a trailhead selfie!

It's hard to believe that the last time we were here was in September. The view is totally different. Instead of all the fall colors, we are surrounded by various shades of green.

The boardwalk takes us through a marsh.

The Bluebell Loop actually follows part of the Bull Run Occoquan Trail, which, starting in our campground, stretches about 20 miles in a generally southern direction, first along the western bank of Cub Run and then continuing along the northeastern bank of Bull Run, and ultimately along the north shore of the Occoquan River.

Once we reached the intersection of the Bluebell Loop back to camp, we left most of the other hikers behind. It is always fun to run into some fun guys on the trail.

The morning was crisp and cool. However, it didn't take long for the sun to warm things up. 

The last time we crossed this bridge, a deer waded through the stream right under us. We waited as long as we could, but we never did spot the deer this time.

We were dissappointed in the Bluebell Trail. We expected to see Virginia bluebells the likes of which we saw in the Gifford Pinchot State Park. Unfortunately, spring came early down here in Virginia. The bluebells were past their prime. We did find these pretty eastern red columbine.

After three miles, we reached the Compton Road Parking area off VA 28. If we have time later this week, we will drive down and park here and see if we can log a few more miles on the Bull Run Occoquan Trail.  Just below the VA 28 trailhead, Kathy spotted this water tower, which does not seem to be in service anymore:

Just past the trailhead, we found a sandy beach area for our lunch break.

When you look at this picture, it is hard to imagine a busy highway overhead.

As we hiked back toward Bull Run Regional Park, we left the crowds and noise behind. After our run this morning, and another 6 miles of hiking, we were beginning to feel our legs. We're just lucky we don't have as many legs as this guy!

When we first walked past this large puddle of water on the trail, I noticed the tadpoles. However, it was still pretty cool in the morning and no one was moving around.

On our return trip, they were much more active. To see the tadpoles swim, click the link to this video of the tadpoles rushing away from us.

As we reached the Bluebell Loop, we ran into a number of day trippers and campers. We also realized that, in all our prior stays, we never did complete the Bluebell Loop. We always just walked back on the boardwalk. So we decided to continue on the Bluebell Loop, back to the main park road.

Now that we have completed the Bluebell Loop having not seen any bluebells, we know why we never completed the loop before:  there were no bluebells.  However, the trail was pleasant as it meandered through a flat wetland area back to the main section of the park.  Reaching the road, we turned and walked a mile or so back to our campsite.

We are still getting used to living in the RV again after seven months of sticks-and-bricks. Now that things are opening up again, we hope to get out and explore some more. Stay tuned.