A fork in the road | Yogi said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." So I'm following the white blazes.
C&O Canal National Historic Park, Maryland, November 16, 2018 — Sometimes these days it’s hard to find peace and quiet, free from Washington’s noise. That was our quest when we planned a Friday morning hike in this particular park. Good choice. We were rewarded with fabulous weather, nature’s serenity and the warmth of good friendship.
The water level has risen because the Potomac River watershed precipitation levels are far above normal.
The part of the C&O Canal park located in urban Washington has three hiking trails. The Billy Goat A trail was flooded and closed for safety reasons. Link to blog about Billy Goat A The adjacent Billy Goat B has been closed for maintenance and redesign for awhile, and only the more distant Billy Goat C was open.
Rather than drive to Billy Goat C, we decided to wander the canal towpath out and back for a few miles. That proved to be serendipitous.
Earlier in the week, the weather report predicted snow. With steely resolve we vowed to persevere regardless. Knowing how inaccurate longer term weather reports are, we rightly kept our fingers crossed.
Over time the report shifted to rain, then finally to a reasonably warm 30 to 40-something morning dusted with sparkling sunbeams and kissed by a light breeze. It was perfect for dancing down the pathway.
In all it was a day any little kid would love. Besides, who are we at heart but big little kids who are allowed adult beverages.
Along the way, we told stories, laughed, snapped a ton of photos, and complained about politically induced headaches.
In total, we discovered three blue herons patiently earning their living trolling the abundant canal waters. This is one.
Another heron working the far bank. These birds are quite large, about three times the body size of the mallard ducks which also were in the area.
In places the canal is wide and deep blue. In others it’s shallow, snagged with tangled trees, dabbed with floating green algae.
After our hike, we adjourned to a nice Tex-Mex place where, over a tasty lunch and margaritas, the conviviality continued. We’d earned it.
Hiking and Working on the Appalachian Trail and Shenandoah National Park, October 4 – 10, 2018 — Being busy beats boredom more often than not. It’s the same when work is pleasure and pleasure is work.
Road Scholars offers several hikes in our region. The one in which we are normally involved is hiking legs of the Appalachian Trail (AT) in four states – Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia – in that order. We have one more of these on schedule for this season.
The other offering is four days hiking the AT across Maryland’s 42 miles. This is a gentle hike compared to rest of the AT with most of the miles spent running a ridgeline on an old logging road converted to trail.
We were asked to fill in for leaders who could not make it. Good weather graced our participation and the hikers marched into Harpers Ferry in good spirits.
The next day, my friend and colleague Mary Thurman, currently Blackburn Trail Center caretaker, offered to help with some trail maintenance on the AT in Shenandoah National Park.
On a grossly muggy day, we weeded a couple of miles worth of trail on two sections in the North District and removed seven blowdowns, two by handsaw; the rest with a chainsaw.
The long sleeves, gloves, face shield, and buff are to protect from poison ivy which is atomized by the string trimmer. You can feel the spray as you go.
Soon Mary will be headed for her next gig at the Grand Canyon. I’m going to miss her. This spring my wife and I are going to celebrate my 70th birthday in Colorado with my siblings and cousins. Mary and I plan to hike the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim on the way.
Twelve hours later. Here we go again. Time for the White House Hiking Group’s planned hike up Old Rag, Shenandoah’s most popular hike – so popular that it was on Thomas Jefferson’s bucket list back in his day.
We rendezvoused literally at Zero-dark-thirty in order to get a jump on the crowds. On a rare dry day in a rain soaked summer, you just knew people were gonna come, and they did.
Dawn cracked with an unexpected overcast. Since you hike Old Rag for the views we prepared for disappointment. Imagine our delight, popping out of the gloomy clouds into happy sunshine.
No rest for the wicked. Tuesday and Wednesday brought the Road Scholars again, this time hiking the AT in four states.
This bunch was unique – a running group from Grand Rapids, MI. They’ve been together for decades and were a hoot!
Meanwhile Sophie endured surgery to remove a cancerous cyst. The bounce is returning to her step and the prognosis is good.
Not until the heavy exercise was over, did the weather turn toward autumn. The humidity and temps are mercifully down just in time for the Hoodlums trail crew next weekend. See you there.