Leader: Joe Marx
Members $33; nonmembers $46
Soapstone Branch, located in Washington’s Rock Creek Park, is a typical Piedmont stream with a geologic history that includes tectonic collision, sedimentary burial, and relatively recent uplift. Today’s stream valley is underlain primarily by schist and soapstone, metamorphic rocks that formed a half billion years ago through intense heat and pressure. The modern landscape is a product of erosion, as the stream carves into the underlying bedrock. We will hike from Connecticut Avenue down to Broad Branch Road and back, about two miles total. The trail is moderately challenging—unpaved, with some rocky sections and several stream boulder crossings. REGISTER.