This 3.9 mile loop hike occurred on Wednesday, November 6, 2024. It was just me on this one.
I arrived at the parking lot at Leopold’s Preserve around 9:00 AM. It was about 70 degrees. There was a porta-potty there so I used it. I also came across two trail maintainers in a golf cart. I said Good Morning to them and then started the hike. I would see them again later.
The last time I hiked this trail was in January, 2019. I was hiking it with Tom O’Brien and Dave McIntyre. Tom passed away last week. And Dave had some back issues and retired from hiking a few years ago. I thought about both of them during this hike.
They had made a number of improvements to this trail since the last time that I was here. They added signing for Leopold’s Loop, which kept me from getting lost on this trail this time. They relocated some of the trail so that there was no more road walking along Throughfare RD. And they made the trail wider. All of these improvements were a great help.
The sun was very strong today. I didn’t post today’s selfie pic as the sun was blocking me out. The tree canopy was only at about 50% due to fall leaf loss. So there was still some protection from the sun. There was a small offshoot loop trail at around the 40% point on this trail. But I didn’t take it. At around the 50% point on this trail I came out to US15. I walked northbound the sidewalk along it for about 500 feet, crossed the entrance to the
development, walked another 500 feet, then went back into the woods.
At the first nice looking log that I saw I stopped and took a break. It was around 10:15 AM. I drank an Ensure (the old person’s elixir) and popped a Force Factor Total Beets chew and started hiking. I again came upon the two trail workers on the golf cart that I passed at the beginning of the hike. I thanked them for maintaining the trail, then I continued.
I was walking parallel to a railroad track and a stream for about a half mile. Then just the stream for another half mile, then I passed a few small ponds. I made it back to the parking around 11:00 AM. Not bad timing. It was 83 degrees and a bit humid when I finished this hike. I used the All Trails app for this hike. Cell service was spotty and I couldn’t track my progress. But the static map did help me finish this hike.
The organization that cares for this trail is called
They own land in Page County, VA and are all about conservation of various properties. All I can say is that they have done a nice job of maintaining and improving Leopold’s Preserve. And I am envious of the people that live in the development that this trail surrounds. They can just walk out their door and do a nice 3.9 mile loop trail whenever they want.
This was a beautiful day to take a hike. I’m glad that I got out to enjoy it. It made me almost forget all about the election results 🙁
Mike C
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