He finished!!

One of my boy scouts opted to do the hiking merit badge rather than the swimming merit badge. As a side note, the swimming merit badge can be earned in a week. Theoretically, so can the hiking merit badge. Loyal readers may recall that I have referenced going on 10 mile hikes with one of my boys at least a few times in the past 10 months. Two weeks ago we finished the final hike - a 20 miler. Truly a bittersweet moment.

I live in a beautiful area and I love hiking so this merit badge was the perfect excuse to get out and actually hike, much more than I normally would have planned to do. The requirements are to complete 5 ten-mile hikes and 1 twenty-mile hike. So I've seen over 70 miles of the Potomac Heritage Trail, Elizabeth's Furnace, Bull Run Park, Manassas National Battlefield Park and the C&O Canal.

For this hike we started early (5 am) to finish before the day got too hot. Having regretted not bringing my camera on most of these hikes, and knowing that sunrise one the canal would be beautiful, I made sure to pack it this time. I was not disappointed! The opening photo is from Lock 10, underneath the Wilson Bridge on 495 about 7 am. Click on the photos below for a larger version.

Need to insert another shout out to Jake for the great hiking socks!