Bles Park, Ashburn

24 May 2016

The weather has decided to skip spring altogether and jump straight to summer. Temperatures jumped 10 degrees today, and are forecast to rise to the upper 80's and low 90's for the next week.

Still, the low 80's are lovely for a hike, especially one mostly in the shade. And Bles Park is a great place for a hike. Its paths wind partly along a river and partly through woods.

However, its paths turn muddy easily, and this happened to me. It drizzled steadily all weekend, and a thunderstorm struck yesterday. Most of the paths dried up, but every few dozen yards the path turned muddy; in some places positively swampy. Not a place for sneakers, much less flip-flops.

But let it dry out and it's a practically perfect hiking ground; nearly flat, with varied terrain from stream-side to meadows to woods.