Hollow Brook Trail

July and August this summer was pretty quiet for me.  I focused hard on BJJ, so I was often wiped out by the time the weekend rolled around.  I felt bad for poor Millie, who hasn't been getting out as much as before.  I did take her once to a swim meetup at the Northern Virginia Animal Swim Center, and occasionally I took her on our usual hikes through Riverbend and/or Great Falls.  I was starting to get a bit bored of those hikes though, and also didn't like that there were often nasty streams or the Potomac River that Millie can jump into.  So I finally got around to trying a new hike.

Since I worked out a lot during the week, I wanted to keep my hike short.  I found the Hollow Brook Trail, which was just shy of 4 miles, and 860 feet elevation.  Perfect.  The trail was fairly easy, with a side trail to a tiny waterfall, and a view at the end.  It is part of the Appalachian Trail so you could continue on past the view point.  I haven't done it yet but may some time.  I should probably get a map though to see if there's anything past it worth going to.  Anyway, Hollow Brook was a really nice hike, with very few people unlike Riverbend/Great Falls, and no nasty water for Millie to get into.  I went back a second time and enjoyed it then too.

Depending on the time of the year, you may see through-hikers or section hikers on this trail.  I saw one on the first hike as I arrived back at my car.  He popped out of what I thought was nowhere, but then realized he was coming up the AT.  He was the first through-hiker I've met, and wasn't carrying as much stuff as I thought one would.  He was in running shorts and sneakers, which he claims dries faster than hiking boots.  His pack was not much bigger than my day pack, with some plastic bags hanging off of it.  He didn't even have a tent, just tarps.  Someone else told me though that there were huts every 10 miles or so.  He also carried tarps to sleep on and use as protection.  He was skinny and unshaven.  He probably covered about 20 miles a day.  He made through-hiking sound pretty doable though and made me think about the possibility of doing it myself some day.