Burke Lake Park Trail, Fairfax Station, Virginia
Did you know that Virginia has 70 lakes and reservoirs but only two of them are natural? The Great Dismal Swamp (yes, that is real) is home to one, and Mountain Lake is the other. The Great Dismal Swamp and Mountain Lake are the exact kind of names we all know I adore. It will be really fun to visit those locations, I am certain. Especially if hiking around a regular ol’ man-made lake called Burke Lake is fun.
I am still settling in. It has been a slow burn for sure. It is hitting hard that this move really marks the beginning of the Empty Nest Phase of Adulthood. I have no kid bedrooms, only one bathroom, all of our dishes and furniture are brand new, and there is no schedule to worry about other than my own. Time is weird, man.
I have also realized I have major anxiety about the future of my oncology care. Even if it was shocking in the worst ways to be told that the cancer I have has no hope, I worked (work. Not worked. It is a job that is never done.) REALLY hard to move away from all the phases of grief and live in the acceptance stage. But to now live in civilization, a place where there are choices, options, great ideas, advancements, and potential tools towards treatments and cures, I feel apprehensive about perhaps having hope. Hope towards a cure may be far-fetched, but hope for treatments that provide less pain seems like it might be possible. It might not be, but if it is, it is here that it is likely to happen – not North Idaho.
Meanwhile, I hike when my brain is slightly less my enemy. Which means I have hiked maybe…4 times in the last five weeks since we have lived here. Ew. Seems like I need to pump up those numbers.
Burke Lake Trail
Burke Lake is one of the man-made lakes in Virginia. It is Hike 27 in 60 Hike Within 60 Miles – Washington DC, described as: “The 218-acre man-made lake was built on land in Fairfax County, Virginia, that was set aside by the federal government in the 1950’s to build an airport. Protests from residents, as well as the rapid expansion of Washington’s suburbs led to the construction of Dulles International Airport on its current site in Chantilly.
“Burke Lake Park is operated by the Fairfax County Park Authority, while the lake is maintained by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. the lake is stocked with largemouth bass, muskie, crappie, channel catfish, bluegill, and walleye. Bald Eagles and a variety of waterfowl can often be seen, including common, red-breasted, and hooded mergansers; common and red-throated loons; bufflehead, ruddy, and ring-necked ducks; and gadwall, pied-billed, and horned grebes. The loop trail traverses the lake and is well marked and easy to follow.”
The park does charge a fee for non-residents, but there was no gate guard when I went, so I am not sure how well it is enforced. If you enter the trail counter-clockwise from the parking lot, it begins with a paved section for accessibility. I think the paved section was approximately .75 miles long. The paved section included little docks/lookouts for disabled individuals to have better views of the lake and to be able to fish from the shore. These are the thoughtful things that are not found in the Inland Northwest.
There was a lot of people fishing along the trail and from kayaks out in the water. The parking lot has a boat launch and if I come back to this park I will bring one of my kayaks to enjoy after hiking. I entered the trail clockwise from the parking lot. This end of the trail is a well marked and is an official high school cross country track. It also has a Par fitness course where I saw several stations being used. I have seen many Par fitness courses and have never seen them being used. The circuit-training course has parallel bars, balance beams, a log hop, and more. There is also a disc golf course and a huge outdoor amphitheater.
Sam Dog and I ran and walked nearly 5 miles around the lake. The further away from the parking lot we got, the less people we saw, but within a mile or so on each side of the parking lot had a lot of people. The park and trail system are maintained really well and I saw no trash or dog poop. As I loaded my photos for this post, though, I realize there is still plenty of evidence of human life because nearly all of my pictures are of that special crossroad between nature and man.
This was a good day. We ran a little. We walked a little. We met another dog. Sam Dog smelled new smells and we saw a new-to-us beautiful place. And I have checked off another trail in the book.
This hike left me feeling more inspired than I have been. I met with Barbarian Scientist with increased energy towards tomorrow and then stupidly signed up for a 10k trail race. But, that is how it goes. It keeps me alive and “they” claim that is the real goal.
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