Peaking Through the Fog

It was Halloween morning, 2015, and I planned on joining my running buddies for a walk/run along the C&O Canal at Old Anglers Inn. That night before the weather conditions changed and it became apparent that this Saturday morning run would start out cool and probably foggy. I grabbed my camera and tripod instead of my Brooks Beast’s.

It’s 7AM at Old Anglers and the six of us would trek out to the canal – some to walk, some to run and me to carry my equipment to the big pool of canal water a mile away.

Frankly I was hoping for brilliant fall foliage to reflect into the mirrored water of the canal water below Great Falls. What I got was white fog and plenty of it.

Strange how fog moves – like in the movies – it’s slow and enveloping. One moment you think you see the other side of the canal and 10 seconds later it’s fogged in. My challenge was to focus on something that I could see and grab whatever color shape the foliage 50 yards across the water would give me. I resigned myself that I would have to enhance the image later in Photoshop.

I was at the Mile 13 mark for nearly 90 minutes – my running buddies had returned by this stakeout and then left me long ago for coffee and a bagel while I rubbed my hands to keep warm in the 34-degree fog. There was no visual sighting of the sun since the fog bank that enveloped the Potomac Gorge snuffed out any strands of golden autumn sunlight till well after I left for Sprinkles in Potomac Village.

We are lucky in the DMV – blessed with many scenic national parks – many of which we can reach without too much trouble or effort. What I have learned over time is that the views always change, whether it’s the Jeff Memorial, the Glen Echo Carousel or the C&O canal. You never know what basically to expect till you get there so you need to arrive early or stay late to get the views that others miss.

This upcoming year on August 25, 2016 the country will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service (NPS). Follow the NPS by going to FindYourPark.com to find out what is happening at a park near you then tweet your photos to #FindYourPark.

I will be traveling in 2016 and I plan on taking along my cameras and my National Park Passport and finding those scenic views like those where I have peaked through the morning fog.