Leader: Stephanie Mason
Location: Widewater on the C&O Canal
Members $35; nonmembers $49
An elder of a Native American tribe from the Pacific Northwest advised: There is more to be learned by climbing the same mountain a hundred times than by climbing a hundred different mountains. Following this admonition, we’re offering this series of broad-based nature explorations along the Potomac River’s C&O Canal and its varied habitats–from upland rocky woods to rich floodplain forests. Our monthly hikes will return each month to a stretch of Towpath moving from the Widewater access upriver to Great Falls. Here we’ll traverse the bridges out to the Falls overlook–and after enjoying the drama and din of the tumbling water, we’ll retrace our steps back to our starting point for a total of around 4 miles. We’ll experience lingering summer in September, autumn’s colorful transformations in October and November, and then the arrival of winter’s open landscapes in December. On each walk, we’ll keep our eyes and ears open for the changing seasonal activity of wildlife and plant life. These hikes will move faster and farther than our usual naturalists’ shuffle. REGISTER