Clarke’s Gap

Clarke's Gap is a railroad cut between two ridges of Catoctin Mountain, on which we live. (I still find it funny to think of it as a mountain, being more used to mountains in the Northwest. This isn't very high in elevation - just foothills of the beautiful Appalachians farther west.) The W&OD bike trail runs through here on what used to be the Washington & Old Dominion railway.  

General Braddock marched through here earlier, long before any railroad or bridge, on his way to the massacre up near Fort Duquesne. 

If you headed back in the other direction, you could ride all the way in toward DC and connect with another trail to take you along the Potomac River and down to Mount Vernon, George Washington's eventual home. Back when he marched with Braddock, he was only 23.

W. did ride his bike a fair distance today, down to his office after working hours, for the exercise and to pick up some plans. I drove down to pick him up, and it was a beautiful evening zipping down to Fairfax with the windows down. Grabbed some coffee together and drove home toward the remnants of the sunset.