June 12 National Arboretum - Mount Hamilton

We went to the National Arboretum on June 10.

The first thing we did was take the tram through the place to get an idea of what was there - its a big place; about 900 acres.

Then we did our first activity. We hiked up Mount Hamilton (about a 1 mile round trip). This is the highest point in the Arboretum and also the highest point (236' above sea level) in SE Washington DC west of the Anacostia River. For comparison, part of Tenleytown in NW DC is about 400' above sea level but most of the 'Federal City' is between 5 and 20' above sea level.

There is a decent view of the Capitol and downtown (its a better view in the winter when the leaves are off the trees).  If it had come out, the Capitol would have been just above Ann's left shoulder in the image with only her.