Blizzard 2016

When you have a blizzard you need to hire local crews. All these guys and a gal did a great job helping me dig out.

The Library of Congress - Washington's Most Beautiful Piece of Architecture

Jericho Covered Bridge Under Reconstruction

    The bridge spans the Little Gunpowder Falls near Jerusalem Mill and connects Baltimore and        
    Hartford County. Go to this link and this link to see the bridge as it was a year ago.

                 

                            A yellow fungus or mold is growing up the trunk of the tree above.

Busy Beavers and a Stubborn Maple

     Hiking yesterday I encountered two things of interest; a beaver lodge at Meadowbrook Park in
     Howard County and a stubbornly green maple among the naked trees along the Patapsco River
     Valley in the Daniels sections of Howard County.

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