Scott's Run Nature Preserve - One of My Favorite Places

Beautiful Scott's Run in McLean, Virginia

I love taking pictures!  Photography has long been an interest of mine.  I also like to travel, though usually we do weekend trips close to home.  The great thing about living in Virginia is that there are so many wonderful things to see within a half a day's drive.  So, I thought I would share a few vacation ideas from time to time.  Here is one you might not be familiar with, but is one of my favorites.  This is Scott's Run.

Scott's Run is a path along the Potomac River in McLean, Virginia just outside Washington, DC.  It is found within the Scott's Run Nature Preserve, a small park just off Interstate 495.  It is also very close to Tyson's Corner, which if you haven't heard of it, is a HUGE shopping complex.  (The perfect day trip  - hike a little in nature in the morning - feel good about self - reward self with massive shopping trip in the afternoon) The Manassas / Bull Run battlefields are also nearby, and I will post about them on another day.  It takes about 4 hours for us, once we land in Crisfield, to get to Northern Virginia. Northern Virginia has so much to offer in terms of things to do!  I try to go a couple of times a year.

There are different trails to hike at Scott's Run Nature Preserve.  We always do the River Run Trail, because it has such an nice bonus at the end...a waterfall!  This may not be exciting to you - but we don't exactly have a lot of waterfalls on the coastal plain Eastern Shore of Virginia.  Waterfalls are also a photographer's dream!

Here are some pictures from our hike during Spring Break two years ago.  N. has grown so much since then! Here he is being a good sport and carrying my camera equipment over the "jumping stones" that help you cross shallow parts of the water on the trail.  I had two cameras that day. He's carrying my big camera, while I have the little point and shoot - because of the two of us, I am the one much more likely to end up in the river.  Those stones are very photogenic, but not exactly an easy crossing for the non athletic / non teenager types (like me).

In this picture we've struggled made it up a killer large hill and back down the other side to the Potomac. At this point I know I am in trouble because the down side of the hill was an even steeper angle than the up side, and that's the only way back to the parking lot.  N. scouted around and found a downed tree limb that was just right for a walking stick and gave it to me for the climb back up the hill later. That was so sweet.  I still have the stick.  I keep it in the trunk of my car for further hiking trips (and the memories of this one).  You can not go into the Potomac here even though it looks tempting.  The current is very swift!

Turn left at the bottom of the hill and walk along the river and around a bend and this is what you find!  Scott's Run Falls.  Oh so pretty, and on the day we were there, deserted!  Seriously, there was only another couple there when we approached.  We let them take pictures for a few minutes while we sat and rested, then they moved on with their hike and we had it all to ourselves.  Except for the eagle!

We saw, what I am pretty sure, was a bald eagle.  He made several close passes over us, but I wasn't able to get a good picture.  That little black dot in the picture above is him, use your imagination.  LOL   

Here is my best shot from that day, using the artsy "slow shutter" effect that is a must for waterfall shots to get that misty water look.  I was pretty impressed with myself on this one.  Thank you N. for toting my big camera and tripod and making this shot possible, and for being such a good travel buddy.  My husband works on a tugboat and has a two weeks home, two weeks away rotation, so pretty often it is just N and I on our little getaways since school vacations never seem to coincide with R's schedule. It's the life of a tugboat wife, I'm used to it.  And we do usually try to go somewhere as the whole family at least once every summer.

And here's a shot N. took of yours truly, resting and contemplating how in the heck am I going to get back up that hill.  I really want to go back to Scott's Run this fall.  I can only imagine how beautiful it would look decked out in fall colors.  But that hill is already on my mind...