On a New Year’s morning when plenty of runners and cyclists took to the Mount Vernon Trail to get their first workout of the year in, a group of volunteers hit the trail with trash bags and equipment designed to fill potholes.
Mall Davis, a truck driver from Prince George’s County, Maryland, was among the first to arrive, ready and eager to get started. The chilly, damp weather and gray skies did nothing to dampen his spirits.
He’d heard about the New Year’s Day cleanup in a previous report on WTOP.
“It was like a bucket list thing, just to help clean up the Potomac.”
Davis said he feels a real connection to the 18-mile trail that parallels the Potomac River.
“I walk over here, up and down to Old Town to get my coffee and Danishes and to get my fresh air on my days off,” he said.
Davis showed off what he’d already collected along the trail.
“You’ve got water bottles, tin cans — a lot of garbage,” he said, noting the plastic caps and pieces of foam packaging in the trash bag.
“It’s the little stuff,” he said, that often ends up washed into the Potomac River.
Judd Isbell, one of the founders and the president of the Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail, was among the groups of volunteers pulling up invasive plants, picking up trash and smoothing the trail.
“The Mount Vernon Trail was my very first impression of D.C.,” said Isbell, who described arriving at Reagan National Airport and riding in a taxi cab while marveling at all the people out enjoying the view from the trail.
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“I ride bikes a lot for transportation and for fun, and so it’s a trail that I use almost every day and a trail that I just really love,” Isbell said.
Working alongside Isbell to fill potholes was volunteer Tony Olivieri, who explained he joined the volunteer group at the height of the pandemic, when he was looking for outdoor activities.
“I’ve been coming for two-and-a-half years now … over 60 or 70 events now, I think.” Olivieri said.
The group gets lots of positive feedback from trail users, according to Olivieri. He said cyclists especially appreciate the work to smooth out the trail.
Walkers also appreciated the group’s work. Regan Karlsen and Brittany Bailey were walking their dogs Monday.
“We were actually saying how we should be out here (volunteering),” Karlsen said. “For anyone whose dog isn’t trained and might be picking up trash and doesn’t know how to drop it,” the trash clean up is especially helpful, Karlsen said.
While the trail is maintained by the National Park Service, Isbell said he’s very happy to pitch in throughout the year.
“I always say ‘I don’t have to do this, I get to do this.'”