|
|
|
|
 |
The Friends of the Washington and Old Dominion Trail (FOWOD) is a non-profit citizens organization dedicated to the preservation, enhancement and promotion of a unique recreational resource in northern Virginia: the W&OD trail, a 45-mile multi-use rail-trail that is owned and operated by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. We hope you will use this site to learn more about the trail, keep up to date on current events happening on or near the trail, support the efforts of the FOWOD, and share your thoughts and ideas with us.
Please note that the NVRPA maintains its own site, and that this one is wholly distinct from it.
|
|
 Calendar of up-coming events / items of on-going interest |
|
|
Significant announcements, construction/detours -- recent, underway, planned:
(1) W&OD Trail Announces Extended Hours
The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority has announced that, as of Friday, March 1, 2013, cyclists and pedestrians have access to the W&OD Trail beyond normal daylight hours.
The new W&OD Trail hours are from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., from Shirlington in Arlington County, all the way to the western town limit of Herndon in Fairfax County. Previously, the trail was considered off limits once the sun set.
“I am happy to see that NVRPA sees the W&OD as the premiere bike route in the region,” said Allen Muchnick, a board member at the Virginia Bicycling Federation. “This pilot program will help many cyclists that want to use their bikes for transportation and not just recreation.”
NVRPA has accordingly created a few new rules to ensure that the extended hours are as safe as possible for its users. For cyclists, riders are required to wear reflective clothing that can be easily seen from the front and rear. All bicycles must be equipped with at least one white headlight light that is visible in clear weather from a distance of at least 500 feet to the front and a red reflector visible from 600 feet to the rear. Additionally bicycles must be equipped with a taillight visible from a distance of at least 500 feet. This taillight may be affixed to the bicycle or rider and may be steady or blinking. Pedestrians, are required to wear reflective clothing that can be easily seen from the front and rear and must carry a light or wear a flashing light.
In addition, NVRPA notes that exceptional care should be taken when crossing highways including obeying all laws and posted signage. Trail users are also required to follow all existing rules and regulations governing the use the trail.
“As we all look for ways to reduce our carbon footprint, and improve both our health and environment, cycling to work is one great option. We want to be part of the solution, and help make this kind of healthy choice an option,” said NVPRA Executive Director Paul Gilbert. “Making the W&OD available during commuting hours is a significant step in the movement to encourage more non-motorized transportation.”
The NVRPA has posted nearly a dozen signs along the extended hours route to help make riders and pedestrians aware of the rules governing the new hours.
(2) Flashing Beacons Installed at Belmont Ridge Road
In an effort to allow Trail users to cross more safely an increasingly busy roadway, rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFB) have been installed and are now operational at Belmont Ridge Road in Ashburn. Please, be aware that these beacons are activated "on demand" by a large button readily accessible to both pedestrians and mounted cyclists (note the tip of the red arrow in the photo below). The choice of this sort of beacon for the intersection is well taken: studies conducted in other locations have indicated that drivers are four times as likely to yield to opposing traffic when warning signals are not continuously flashing.
Geocaching along the W&OD Trail
What is geocaching? An activity enjoyed all around the world by people of all ages and of all athletic abilities, geocaching combines sport, technology, and treasure hunting. With the help of a portable GPS unit that accepts coordinates, one player hides a cache (typically in a small, water-tight container) that contains a log book and other items, and often also a "treasure" that a second player who finds it is invited to take in exchange for the leaving of another "treasure" for yet another player. (Clues or puzzles are associated with the location of some caches; so, finding these requires some thought as well as a GPS device...)
Please note that, in order to play this environmentally-conscious sport along the W&OD, the guidelines of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority must be observed, and the NVRPA's form, available by clicking on this link, submitted. In a nutshell, geocachers should abide by the acronym CITO ("cache in, trash out").
For more details concerning geocaching and its etiquette, and to see how many caches are in our area, visit Geocaching: The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site. Other great resources for the activity include the locally oriented web site of the Northern Virginia Geocaching Organization and a more general, web-based guide to which this link will take you.
Are there caches hidden near the W&OD Trail? Yes, several. Some are linked to historical events along the Trail (e.g., a local geocacher has hidden one related to a Civil War skirmish involving the railroad), others to natural features, hobbies, etc. One good thing about playing this sport during the winter months: some caches may be easier to spot!
|
All 34 segments of the W&OD Trail Adopted!
Click here for further details regarding the program. |
Clustered blooms of one variety (Asclepias tuberosa) of the butterfly milkweed cup the sun of early summer.
The leaves of the plant are the sole source of nourishment for the Monarch caterpillar, and that diet preserves
the distinctively marked creature against predation by rendering its flesh extremely unpalatable, even toxic.
When it emerges metamorphosed from the chrysalis, the butterfly, also distinctively marked and
unpalatable, possesses a proboscis instead of jaws so that it is able to feed only on fluids.
[You may click on the image for a closer view.]
Like sticks & swirls of sugar-dusted blue taffy, the center of the chicory (Cichorium intybus) blossom is the natural allure
of one of the most generously distributed weeds to be found along the Trail.
Roman gardeners actively cultivated the plant for its leaves (used in salads);
some moderns continue the practice, also preparing the root for beverages.
[You may click on the image for a closer view.] |
Crown vetch/crownvetch (Coronilla varia), which is native to Europe, southeast Asia, and northern Africa,
is considered to be an invasive species, and yet it is commonly planted along roads and waterways
in order to provide quickly and easily ground cover for the control of erosion.
N.B.: Both chicory and crown vetch -- but not butterfly milkweed -- are considered to be invasive, non-native species and, as such, the Friends advocate the cultivation or encouragement of neither along the Trail.
The FCPA publishes a pamphlet that treats of all of the invasive species in our area. That document may be obtained by sending a check for $10.45 (payable to the FCPA) along with a note stating that the money is for the non-native invasive plant ID book to:
|
FCPA
Resource Management Division
12055 Government Center, Suite 936
Fairfax, VA 22035 |
|
|
|
Turtle, watch
Often spotted on the Trail as it plods along (stopping now and again to crane its neck), the eastern box turtle -- Carolina terapene terapene -- has been firmly established in our area for many millions of years. Although this fascinating reptile has not yet become an officially endangered species, it is most certainly at real, ever-increasing risk due to the ongoing (and accelerating) destruction of native habitat, climatological change, AND the well-meaning hikers and children who, when they take the turtle home, inevitably bring about its premature death. This final risk, of course, is one that is within everyone's direct power to eliminate easily: if you should happen upon one of these grapefruit-sized, brown and yellow tanks, simply enjoy its company in the wild, but please DO NOT take it home.
An entertainingly reflective appreciation of the virtues of our regional testudinate was framed for the North Carolina Legislature when that body decided to adopt the turtle as the official state reptile in 1979:
|
H. B. 384 CHAPTER 154
AN ACT TO ADOPT THE TURTLE AS THE OFFICIAL STATE REPTILE FOR THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.
WHEREAS, the turtle is a most useful creature who serves to control harmful and pestiferous insects, and acts as one of nature's clean-up crew, helping to preserve the purity and beauty of our waters; and
WHEREAS, the turtle is derided by some who have missed the finer things of life, but in some species has provided food that is a gourmet's delight; and
WHEREAS, the turtle, which at a superficial glance appears to be a mundane and uninteresting creature, is actually a most fascinating creature, ranging from species well adapted to modern conditions to species which have existed virtually unchanged since prehistoric times; and
WHEREAS, the turtle watches undisturbed as countless generations of faster hares run by to quick oblivion, and is thus a model of patience for mankind, and a symbol of this State's unrelenting pursuit of great and lofty goals; and
WHEREAS, the woodlands, marshes, and inland and coastal waters of North Carolina are the abode of many species of turtles; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. Chapter 145 is amended by adding a new section as follows:
"§ 145-9. State reptile.— The turtle is adopted as the official State reptile of the State of North Carolina, and the eastern box turtle is designated as the emblem representing the turtles inhabiting North Carolina." |
|
|
|
|
(Continuing) Call for Photographs or Videos
We continue to request that Trail users send along to us (by e-mail attachment or, if the files are large (> ca. 10MB), through services such as Dropbox) their best images of the W&OD; videos from cameras mounted on helmets, cycles, etc. are also most welcome. Particularly desirable are images of the area under threat of deforestation, that is, from Cochran Mill Road east of Leesburg to Route 287 east of Purcellville. Credit for the photo or video (which may need to be edited a bit) will be given, of course, but the Friends wish to reserve the right both to use the image on the website and to incorporate it into presentations made in opposition to the proposed deforestation.
To see our gallery of images from the Trail, click here.
|
An additional source of information concerning the Trail
The W&OD Trail Report offers all Trail users an opportunity (to quote from and to paraphrase the recurring page header) "to report what they see during their use of the trail" and to share that thoughtfully with other users. The site's archives also contain a number of fine photos of wildlife and flowers.
|
Some reasons not to retrograde the W&OD Trail to a rail corridor:
|
|
•None of the occasional -- and thankfully as yet unsuccessful -- efforts to bring about the transformation of the W&OD Trail into a new NOVA rail system takes adequate account of the fact that there are over 70 at-grade crossings spread along the length of the park. Traffic on the region's nearby roads would worsen considerably if such a system were built at ground level; and, of course, to construct an elevated train through the same corridor would cost many additional billions of dollars.
•It is important to recognize that the W&OD Trail is already a transportation corridor. A great number of cyclists and pedestrians use it regularly as a route from home, direct or via Metro, to work or to shopping.
•The W&OD Trail is, above all else, a very popular recreation destination. Between two and three million people use it each year, thus making the W&OD the most -- or perhaps only the second most (after the Minuteman Bikeway in Massachusetts) -- successful rail-trail in the entire country. The Trail also functions as an important greenway for wildlife in our area. It provides food and shelter for birds and animals, both native and migrating, and in this way enhances our lives by providing an increasingly urbanized NOVA with an echo of its more sleepy, sylvan past.
|
|
The Friends continue to offer for sale From Alexandria to the Blue Ridge—The Story of the W&OD Railroad, an hour-long documentary on the history of the W&OD Railroad which became available through the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority in July 2003.
This video and its companion piece, The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park, will begin running on Arlington Cable channel 71 in mid-March, and each continues to be played regularly on the Herndon Community Access channel (#42 -- Verizon FiOS; #23 -- Cox Cable).
|
EMF and the W&OD
If you are concerned about the possible effects of all of that electricity surging tsunami-like into the metro area through the wires not so far above your head along much of the Trail, you may be interested -- and relieved -- to read this article reproduced by American Trails a few years ago.
One of our board members has noted, however, that EMF does affect certain heart monitors, especially on humid days.
|
|
|
Continuing to pursue its effort to assist pet owners in their extension of the courtesy of cleaning up after their pets, FOWOD now has in place along the Trail four "mutt mitt" stations:
We hope to continue to increase the number of stations along the course of the Trail. You may guide us in the selection of new locations by e-mailing your suggestions to the Trail managers.
|
Brief film clips (roughly half a century old) of trains running on the W&OD are now available for viewing/downloading.
|
One of the earliest signs of the arrival of spring on the Trail is the shrill chorus of the spring peepers. Click here for an explanation of the frog's scientific name and a brief note on the German count who composed the world's first detailed description of the amphibian.
|
|
Some background on, and an appreciation of, the Vienna Mural Project.
|
Click here for a chart including the elevations and GPS co-ordinates of all of the mileage markers along the W&OD trail.
Click on the image of the document immediately below to download the complete -- and more readily scaleable -- PDF version of a review of the previous month's activity of our Trail Patrol members. The group is now in the 13th year of its existence.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The board of the FOWOD normally convenes from 7 P.M. to 9 P.M. on the first Tuesday of each month at the Vienna Community Center (see the schedule below). All are welcome to attend, but we do ask that guests contact in advance the W&OD Trail Office (703-729-0596) so that we may make the appropriate arrangements.
|
•schedule of meetings for 2013•
June 4th |
-- |
Vienna Community Center |
July 2nd |
-- |
Vienna Community Center |
August 6th |
-- |
Vienna Inn |
September 3rd |
-- |
Vienna Community Center |
October 1st |
-- |
Vienna Community Center |
November 12th |
-- |
Vienna Community Center |
December 3rd |
-- |
Vienna Community Center |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Many thanks to Debby Stover, who originally provided the basic design
for the majority of the pages located on this website.
|
As he has done since the FOWOD first came to the internet in September of 1999,
W. McCarthy continues to compose and/or edit (as appropriate)
both the HTML code and the material posted on this site.
.
|
• The W&OD Trail is owned and operated by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority • |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
