21 June 2021

5 miles / 1,122 ft ascent / 5 hours

I’m proud of my boys for climbing to the top of Maryland Heights under their own steam! Especially since it was 90 F (32 C) that day and a tough walk even for mum and dad!

(It was their second mountain summit after Weverton Cliffs.)

O wore his green dinosaur backpack the whole way, so he could collect things along the way. Here he is striding along the C&O canal:

And here’s D climbing up Maryland Heights. He brought a Lego set and a plastic bag to collect a caterpillar (which we eventually found and brought home to release in our garden).

Half way up Maryland Heights. Managed to get the whole family smiling at the camera:

The top! The view from Maryland Heights, looking across the Potomac river to Harpers Ferry, is fantastic.

Here’s the family portrait at the top. We were all hot and sweaty from the climb. D loved dipping his hat into the streams to cool himself off. All in all, a fantastic family day out!

This was our last hike of 2019.

We squeezed it in during that weird period between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

For Lexi and me, it was our second hike up Weverton Cliffs (route description). For the boys, it was their first real mountain climb.

Weverton Cliffs, Md. is the third mountain hike accessible from Harpers Ferry, after Maryland Heights and Loudon Heights. It’s a 9-mile out-and-back from Harpers Ferry — much too far for a 2yo and 4yo — so we opted to start from the car park at the base of the mountain.

The route is part of the Appalachian Trail. It’s a short and easy climb and rewards walkers with some of the best views of this area. It’s well worth doing but I’d avoid weekend afternoons.