Steam Train Penstock in Use

Two years ago I took the above photo of the penstock at the old Western Maryland Railroad station in Cumberland, Maryland. This past weekend I was in Cumberland again and took the photo below which shows the penstock in use supplying water to the tender of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad steam engine 734.

Brice Run

         Hiked Alberton Road along the Patapsco River to Brice Run and sat by the little falls there.

             On the return walk I saw these geese on the river. I think they are staying the winter.

On the Appalachian Trail in Maryland

Hiked a short section of the AT today with my brother Chris. We ran into a section hiker named Don. He  makes us look like pikers. He is 70 and so far has hiked 1,600 miles of the 2,200 mile trail whenever he can get away from work. Yeah, he is still working after retiring from teaching. This morning, hiking alone, he started at Dahlgren Backpack Camp and was headed north for a shelter just above of Rt 40. He does about 10 miles a day.  We met Don at an elevation of 1,350 feet at GPS coordinates 39 30 28 N and 77 37 16 W.  Go Don!

                                                                      Don

We were headed south to the Washington Monument built by citizens of Boonsboro, Maryland in 1827 and restored by the CCC, Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s during the Depression.

Washington Monument

                                   View from the base of the Washington Monument.

Access to the inside and top of the monument is currently blocked because it was struck by lightning in August 2015 and the structure is being evaluated  for safety.

                             Large paper wasp nest we encountered just to the side of the trail.

                                                     The AT footbridge over I-70

Greenbriar State Park

Western Maryland Scenic Railroad

            Steam still rides the rails in Western Maryland between Cumberland and Frostburg.

            Through the Cumberland narrows with a view of the Allegheny Front escarpment.

Kilgore Falls and King and Queen Seat at Rocks State Park

Yesterday was perfect autumn weather for the trip to Rocks State Park with my brother Christopher.

Kilgore Falls

                                                      The King and Queen Seat

Drier Than Expected

Things turned out drier than expected this past weekend at Fells Point after the scheduled Fun Fest was cancelled because of the threat of flooding in low lying waterfront areas. Better safe than sorry, but happy the predicted flooding did not occur. The nice looking tugs shown here are out of Yonges Island, South Carolina, where things were really, really bad in the flooding department. Rain causing disaster conditions in the Carolinas. For them it was a good weekend to be in Baltimore.