April 14, 2018
This is a photo of Mile Marker 0 on the C&O Canal and was part of today's 17.9 mile training hike. Mile Marker 0 marks the "Watergate" to the C&O Canal from the Potomac River.
You know the old saying about biting off more than you can chew. Well, I almost did that on today's training hike. I started the day thinking I would go to Swains Lock and walk 15 to 16 miles on the C&O Canal. Instead, I changed my plans as I left the house and went to Marcey Park in Arlington to hike on the more difficult Potomac Heritage Trail (PHT). If I walked up the PHT to Chain Bridge, crossed the Potomac River to get to the C&O Canal Towpath, hiked down the C&O Canal Towpath, crossed the Key Bridge, and walk back up the PHT, I would have over eight miles. But when I got to Key Bridge, I told myselt why not go to the Arlington Memorial Bridge. I got there and said let's check out the Tidal Basin and the Cherry Blossoms. So I walked completely around the Tidal Basin and back to the Arlington Memorial Bridge to get to the Mt. Vernon Trail and eventually the PHT. I was tempted to call an Uber at the Theodore Roosevelt Island since it was so hot and I wasn't dressed properly. But I kept telling myself I had to finish what I started. I look some long breaks over the last five miles but eventually made it back. It was then that I learned I had completed a crazy 17.9 miles.
I don't think I will go back to the PHT for my training as I am 99% sure this trail will not look anything like the trail I will encounter on the Camino de Santiago. But it is a good trail. I will be back on it in the future.
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