{"id":4561,"date":"2019-02-21T22:59:26","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T14:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/?p=4561"},"modified":"2022-04-23T06:50:26","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T22:50:26","slug":"20190221maryland-heights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/21\/20190221maryland-heights\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiking Maryland Heights in Harpers Ferry Area"},"content":{"rendered":"

A winter morning when I hiked Maryland Heights, overlooking the historic town of Harpers Ferry, at the confluence of Shenandoah and Potomac River.
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\"Harpers<\/a>

<\/br>Harpers Ferry from Maryland Heights<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/p>\n

Just like three weeks ago, snow had fallen over the mid-Atlantic region. Since I enjoyed my time hiking Loudoun Heights from Harpers Ferry then, I decided to visit the region again. This time, I picked the other of its two famous trails, Maryland Heights.
\nIt turned out that with more snow on the ground (because I arrived earlier in the day) and some clouds covering mountain tops, I had greater fun this time.<\/p>\n

\"Country<\/a>

 \"Country<\/a><\/br>Country Road<\/br>For the first part of my trip, I deliberately stayed off Interstate 495\/270 (to avoid morning traffic rush since it\u2019s a weekday), and picked a series of country roads instead. The snowy scenes along these roads were magical.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\"Harpers<\/a>

<\/br>Harpers Ferry Tunnel<\/br>From a bridge crossing over its not-famous east end.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\"Sandy<\/a>

 \"Sandy<\/a><\/br>Sandy Hook Road<\/br>Approaching trailhead, with cliff on one side and river on another.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The workers had cleared off snow for most of Sandy Hook Road (yet its remaining width was still seemingly less than two car\u2019s width), together with one of the two trailhead parking lots. Throughout my hike I believed my car was the only one in the parking lot.<\/p>\n

\"C&O<\/a>

<\/br>C&O Canal<\/p><\/div>\n

\"C&O<\/a>

<\/br>C&O Canal Towpath<\/br>There\u2019s a small distance from the roadside parking lot to trailhead, I covered this segment on the Canal towpath. Some footprints from earlier risers.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\"Animal<\/a>

<\/br>Animal Footprints<\/p><\/div>\n

I started my climb at 9:10 in the morning, of what\u2019s officially part of Harpers Ferry National Historic Park (yes, in theory NPS charged admission for this trail).
\nAnd here’s GPS tracking:
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