Mount Marshall, Bluff Trails: Birthday hike

 

I hiked with friends on Mount Marshall, Bluff Trails for 12 miles with 2700 feet elevation gain in 80sf. It was very humid so my clothes was soaked with sweat and hiked slower than my friends, yet I got opportunities to observe many mushrooms (including snow fungus, aka white jelly mushroom) in the himid forest and harvested about one pound of eatible mushrooms.

We had a birthday celebracion after the hike, and shared cold drinks, snacks, and a chocolate birthday cakes which caused my calareis intake more than burned during the hike. LOL

After my grocery shopping, i stopped by Reston Pool Party to claim my benefits as part of the HOA fee. A thunderstorm hit, so I quickly walked around the site, tasted some lemonnate and got mt box of pizza then headed home.

Plus my weekdays run 9.5 miles, I logged in 21.5 hike/run miles this weekend.

Annual So Kids SOAR Adaptive Water Sports Clinic @ Pohick Bay Regional Park

I volunteered for the Annual So Kids SOAR Adaptive Water Sports Clinic @ Pohick Bay Regional Park and served two girls with physical and developmental disabilities and their mothers. Solo kayaking 1 hr during lunch time, stayed hydrated/cooled from 9 am to 3 pm, by fully utilizing a shaved ice truck and finding shade/water when needed.

I stoped by to visited a family in Burke then joined a friend to walked over 1.5 mile one way to see fireworks (celebrating Alexandria City's 276th and the USA’s 249th birthday) from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

I ran 13.5 miles during the week, plus this busy Saturday, I think that I logged in enough exercise this week. I am camping in the local library while waiting for Xfinity to restore my internet service. A big thunderstrom hit my town on Saturday afternoon, destroryed some network components I believe, and also fired my router/gateway since Motorola doesnot provide a grounding pin on its power adaptar! I plugged in a spare router and run it via a surge Protected extension cord. Xfinity fonally fixed its part so I can provision my router and made my internet up and going again.

7/4 roller coaster hike

 

I took a meetup hike today along the roller coaster section on Appalachian Trail for 10 miles with 3200 feet elevation gain in the high 80sf yet with cold breeze. There were Tons of raspberries on the trail, and I are quite a few.

Plus my weekdays 10 miles run, I logged in 20 hike/run miles this week.

2025 Restie Awards Ceremony

 

I attended 2025 Restie Awards Ceremony this Sunday for winners of best play, actor, actress, etc. of this year’s productions by Reston Community Players. I ushered most of their plays at the Center Stage in Reston Community Center. The theme today was Disco brunch so a few people dressed bell bottoms and wore platform boots.

I didn’t hike this week, but logged in 24.77 miles run.

Weekday Ducky Ridge hike to avoid heat

 

Since this weekend will be in the 90sf, I hiked with a friend to the Ducky Ridge for 12 miles with 2200 feet elevation gain. It was in the 70s under the shades, and not as humid as last weekend, so I felt pretty good hiking on this federal holiday.

I just ran 5 miles Saturday morning in the 70f, plus weekend run and hike, I logged in 20.3 hike/run miles this week.

Hike Sugarloaf Mt in Maryland

 

I joined friends to hike Sugarloaf Mt in Maryland where I hiked more than 20 years ago. It was in 70sf but foggy and humid so I struggled to sweat. We did not get the views I saw online . I posted the entrance photo which opens at 8 am. In the early 20th century, Chicago businessman Gordon Strong bought land around Sugarloaf Mountain. In 1925, he commissioned architect Frank Lloyd Wright to design an automobile destination for the summit, but it was never built. President Franklin D. Roosevelt considered the mountain for his retreat but chose the nearby Catoctin site (now Camp David) after Strong's suggestion. In 1947, Strong established a trust to maintain trails and facilities. The mountain remains open to the public but is privately owned by Stronghold, Incorporated.

We started with a steep short climb on the sunrise trail to get warmed up, got up and down twice but did only 10 miles with about 2000 feet elevation gain. I felt very sluggish. It may be because that I spent the last three summers overseas (north EU, Africa, Russia/China), so I am not used to hot and humid hikes. Hope I will ease into summer hikes soon.

I rush home and signed up online to attend 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Army Grand celebration for the festival, then gave due to the forecast 200,000 crowd and rain. I checked Sunday news and saw not that many people showed up. I will plan ahead for USA 250th Birthday celebration on 7/4/2026.

Instead, I ran 4.7 miles after the hike. Plus 6.6 miles weekday run, I logged in 21.3 hike/run miles this week. I felt much better running in 80s f with lower humidity.