Resisting the change of season

Some will not submit until snow falls and draws the curtain on autumn. This canoe is beached on Brice Run just before it passes under the Old Main Line and feds into the Patapsco River between Daniels and the Dorsey tunnel on the Baltimore County side. It was the only water craft I saw today during my hike.

Found some rocks today that looked blood stained. I think I know what it is. More on that after I check with my geologist.

Autumn Light

Westbound Out of the Mt. Airy Tunnel

CSX 7834 out of the western portal of the Mt. Airy tunnel, headed for the midwest with a trainload of cars.

Mt. Airy - Point of Convergence and Divergence in Central Maryland

Mt. Airy is a small town at the geographical heart of central Maryland. It is the only place in the state where four counties meet, Frederick, Carroll, Howard and Montgomery. It is west of Baltimore and north of Washington. The headwaters of the Patapsco and Patuxent rivers are there only .6 of a mile apart.
The four counties meet at Parr's Spring, the headwater of the Patapsco on the historic Four Counties Farm on Parr's Ridge. The Patapsco river divides Carroll and Baltimore counties on the north and east from Frederick, Howard and Anne Arundel counties on the south and west as well as Baltimore City on the northeast from Anne Arundel county to the southewest The Patuxent river divides Howard,  Anne Arundel and Calvert counties on the east from from Montgomery, Prince George's, Charles and St. Mary's counties on the west. The historic National Pike from Baltimore to Illinois passes along the southern boundary of Mt. Airy, as does the Old Main Line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, now owned and operated by CSX.

Liberty Dam and a Controlled Burn at Soldiers Delight

Went out with Chris today to the base of Liberty Dam and Soldiers Delight, neither of which he had visited before. Between the two hikes we stopped briefly at the shooting range of The Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore on Marriottsville Road. There had been a controlled burn of one section of grassland at Soldiers Delight since I hiked there by myself last Sunday. A few hot spots were still smoldering as we walked beside the burn area.

Soldiers Delight - Eastern Loop Trails

This morning I hiked about three miles on the eastern side of Soldiers Delight along the Choate Mine, Red Run and Dolefield trails. The temperature  was in the 40s with a northwest wind about 15 mph, a little chilly but ok because I was on the move. Red Run was pretty.and the Dolefield was mostly forested.

Some areas were completely taken over by chest high briars. In those places you couldn't leave the trail even if you wanted. Lots of deer tracks, but didn't see a single animal other than birds.

More photos here.

Soldiers Delight is Delightful

A unique serpentine barrens landscape on a beautiful day, temperatures in the 50s. Soldiers Delight Natural Environmental Area, near Owings Mills in Baltimore County, is a place worthy of return visits.I hiked a 2.5 mile loop on the Serpentine Trail with vistas like the one below.

There is also an attractive Visitor Center, and today, after my initial hike, I went on an excellent guided informational group tour on the history of chromite mining at Soldiers Delight. The Choate mine is on the Choate Mine Trail. More photos from my hike can be seen here.