Cunningham Falls

Today, I took Gregory and went hiking in the afternoon. Since he's only five and I haven't been hiking in quite some time, we picked something pretty easy, a hike out and back to Cunningham Falls that's just over a mile and only about 300 feet of elevation change. These falls are the highest in Maryland at something like 78 feet, which just doesn't seem like very much after the kinds of scenery I'd see in Washington.

They are in the Catoctin Mountains, part of the Blue Mountains, which are themselves part of the Appalachians. It's hard to believe that these were mountains that had once been similar in size and grandeur to the Himilayas some 200 million years ago as they've been worn down to nubby little hills that hardly count as mountains.

Not that I mean to be down on the Maryland countryside - it's beautiful, too - but I really like the sweeping majesty of high, craggy mountains. I choose to take this as an opportunity, reason to travel more often than I might otherwise.


Cunningham Falls

You can see in the photo above that there was a bit of snow around the falls, although the daytime temperature will in the mid-40s. The left-hand cliff face, doesn't get much sunlight, so there were a couple places where some secondary water trickles had created interesting icicle formations that reminded me of the flowstone formations I saw in the Cave of the Bells in Arizona.


Icicles

Gregory did great. The last trip I took him on was Sugarloaf Mountain, also in Maryland, back in June of last year. Climbing up the rocks along the side of the waterfall was the most challenging part and not part of the 1.2 mile hike. One particular rock started with a jagged step up about at his chest height. I gave him some pointers about where to put his feet and he struggled with that first bit, but after he got past that, he scrambled right up to the top of it before I could even think about following him up. He got to the top and sat down, so I got a picture of his success.


Gregory Conquers a Big Rock

Finally, Gregory seemed to really enjoy it and was telling me even in the parking lot that he wants to go again. I think this shot of him really sums up his excitement. Or maybe it doesn't, and it's just funny.


Gregory's Big Mouth