Bluebells
Another yearly spring tradition that I like to take part in when possible is my yearly trip down to see the bluebells. There is a large but fairly obscure park near my house which fronts the southern bank of the Potomac river. Every year for about a week in spring the bluebells bloom like crazy along a wide stretch of the river bottom.
This event isn't quite as publicized as the cherry blossoms. These means it is tricky to get the timing right since I can't go to the internet to look up peak bloom days. I hiked down there about a week and a half ago and saw that the plants had all sprung up but weren't in bloom yet. I guessed this past weekend would be about the right time and so on Sunday I made a second trip.
The weather was perfect, and this was by far the most crowded I had ever seen the park. Of course crowds are a relative thing. I probably saw 50 hikers, dog walkers, joggers and horseback riders over the course of the 3.5 hours or so I was in the woods. For this park that is pretty impressive. I've spent entire days in that park before without seeing a single soul.
The other flower that blooms at the same time is a small white aster. It tends to grow better away from the river. There are spots where it completely covers the ground as well, but they don't tend to look as impressive when you take a picture. The white color tends to get washed out against the background of old grey leaf ground cover.
Since I was in a bit of a hurry I decided to not take one of the smaller trails to the river that I normally take. I opted for the wide main path that is part of a maintenance road for some water lines that run down by the river. This is in part why I saw a bit more people than I normally do. There were a few patches of bluebells deep in the forest but it is down by the river where they grow best.
Once at the river I got off the main road and switch to a narrow footpath that winds along the bank. I walked about half a mile slowly along the river. There were spots where the bluebells grew in great big patches, and there were spots where they stretched out nearly as far as I can see.
Slideshow of all the pictures I took