Catoctin Mountains

Sunday, we checked out of the hotel and headed to the visitor center at Catoctin Mountain Park.  We got there early and there were still plenty of parking spaces.  After getting our stuff together, we set off on Cunningham Falls Nature Trail and hiked just over a mile to the split.  We turned left and crossed the road to take the short trail to Cunningham Falls.

With the recent hurricanes, all the waterfalls we had seen had really high water flow, but apparently the heavy rains hadn't come this far south.

After a couple pictures, we returned to Hog Rock Trail and started taking that up the mountain.  It was a steep climb up but soon we reached the Hog Rock Overlook.

It was very cloudy when we arrived, but we took a short break and view cleared a bit.  Continuing on, there were some cool rock formations at the top.

After crossing the park road, we soon came to Blue Ridge Summit Vista, which had really scenic views.

The Blue Ridge Summit Trail continued all the way back to the parking area.  I took a quick detour on Thurmont Vista Trail to the overlook, but there wasn't much of a view.

Then we finished the trail back at the visitor center.  It was very crowded by the time we were leaving.

From here, we drove south in Virginia.  We got off I-81 near Edinburg and drove into George Washington National Forest, parking at the end of FR-252.  We hiked up the steep Falls Ridge Trail and got off the trail near a cairn.  An obvious path with sporadic blazes led through the woods and down to Falls Run.  As we approached the waterfall, there were some cool cliffs along the creek.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of water at Falls Run Waterfall.  The high water seemed to be all up north.

Even in low water, it was a pretty cool waterfall over jagged rocks.

After some pictures, we hiked back.

From here, we continued south on I-81 to near Roanoke and stayed at the Quality Inn in Troutville.

Wedding in Baltimore

This past weekend, Sandy and I headed to Baltimore for her cousin, Melissa’s wedding. We headed up Friday afternoon after work to our hotel for the weekend – Hilton Garden Inn in Baltimore/White Marsh. The drive up was slow with much traffic congestion, so after checking into our hotel, we enjoyed the pool and hot tub for a little bit before these amenities closed. We then headed over to TGI Fridays for a couple drinks and appetizers before retiring for the evening. Saturday morning, we woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast was very good, but was not free, unfortunately. After breakfast, we left White Marsh and got on US-1 north for a short ways to the Jerusalem Mill area of Gunpowder Falls State Park and parked. We didn’t have a lot of time for hiking before the wedding, but wanted to get something in on National Trails Day. From the parking area, we hiked along the Jerusalem Mill Trail, which first ran along the perimeter of an open field and then ducked into the woods. We followed the trail for about a mile to where it intersects with Little Gunpowder Falls Trail. We could take this trail back to the parking area, but wanted to continue for a little longer. So we turned right and followed the trail as it headed steeply up a bluff over the river. We noticed a several patches of hostas growing along the trail.

They must not have as many deer here! In about a half-mile, the trail descended back to creek level via a couple of switchbacks and then crossed Wildcat Branch. This would make a good spot to turn around so we stopped here for a few minutes to enjoy the view.

A few runners and bicyclists passed us, crossing Wildcat Branch. These folks didn’t seem to mind getting wet and didn’t even bother to try to rock-hop the creek. I suppose it would have been difficult carrying a bike. Before heading back, we went out to a rocky area on Little Gunpowder Falls with nice views of the scenic river from here. A small pipevine swallowtail butterfly was fluttering about in the area.

After a short while, we turned around and hiked back following Little Gunpowder Trail. We turned right at the intersection with Jerusalem Mill Trail so as to make a partial loop on the way back. At one point, we hiked through an open area where mountain laurel was blooming.

I was surprised to see this more mountainous shrub growing here. Near the trailhead, we saw a little ringneck snake slithering through a grassy area. He was too quick to get a picture. Soon, we made it back to the parking area and drove back to the hotel. We took showers and got ready for the wedding and then drove into Forest Hill for the ceremony. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel for a little while, before heading downtown for the reception. Sandy and I both wanted to enjoy the open bar so we rode with her parents. The reception was held at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, an appropriate venue for a wedding reception for two engineers. Located right on the harbor, it was a great location and very scenic. Across the harbor, the iconic Domino Sugars building could be seen.

And when the sun began to set, the views of the harbor were great.

The weather was perfect and we enjoyed relaxing outside and enjoying views and open bar.

Around 11, the reception ended and we thankfully had Sandy's dad as a designated driver to get us safely back to the hotel.

Rocks and Wolves

Sunday morning, we woke up and went to breakfast with Sandy’s dad. After breakfast, we started heading north. There was a detour on MD-24 at Rocks State Park and we had to go a little out of the way. We followed MD-23 to MD-165 and took the short gravel drive to the Falling Branch area of the park. We arrived just before 10 and had to wait a couple minutes for the gates to open. Once the park opened, we headed out on the short hike to Kilgore Falls, the second highest free-falling waterfall in the state of Maryland.

At 18 feet, it’s not a particularly high waterfall, but very pretty with three distinct streams flowing over the rock face. As we approached the waterfall, we realized that we would have to rock hop across Falling Branch to get a good view of the waterfall. Not expecting a challenging hike, neither of us had worn hiking boots or brought trekking poles. But we found a couple of sticks on the ground to act as poles and made it across and headed up to near the base of the waterfall. It was a chilly morning and there was ice around the waterfall, making the waterfall that much more scenic.

It’s my understanding that this is a popular waterfall and swimming hole in the warmer months, but early on a November morning, we had the place to ourselves. We didn’t linger long, however, as we had to get up to Pennsylvania. We drove for a little over an hour through Lancaster to the Wolf Sanctuary of PA. Sandy’s mom had suggested we visit while we were in the area. We arrived right at 12, purchased our tickets, and started the tour. There were a lot of people here and our tour group was fairly large, but our tour guide, Denny, did a great job and the tours still felt personal. For about 2 hours, Denny took us around to meet the different packs.

The first pack we visited was Merlin’s pack, including him, Keisha, and his son Tioga. Merlin was the alpha, but he wasn't interested in food or visitors today. Tioga, was very interested in food, however. If Merlin had been interested, Tioga would have had to wait for his treats. At one point, Tioga peed in his enclosure. Almost immediately, Merlin jumped up, ran across the enclosure, peed over Tioga’s spot, then ran back and went back to sleep! It was amazing how he showed his dominance.

Later, we visited the large pack with about a dozen wolves, some who were hungry and excited for treats, others who didn’t bother getting up.

Sandy’s favorite wolf was Winston, an older wolf who lived in this pack. Denny said he had to specially give Winston his food as the others sometimes bullied him.

At one point on the tour, Denny made howling sounds. Soon, one wolf joined in howling, then a couple more, and pretty soon, just about all the wolves were howling! It was a beautiful sound.

We had a really good time on this tour and it was great to see how these people were taking care of these beautiful animals.

Our tour finished up a little after 2 and we started heading back to Maryland. But before we headed back to her relatives’ house, we stopped back at Rocks State Park and went to the Rock Ridge Picnic Area. It was getting late and we didn’t have a lot of time, so we quickly hiked the short red trail to King and Queen Seat.

This huge rock outcrop above Deer Creek provided great views in the waning daylight. It’s believed to have once been a ceremonial meeting place for the Susquehannock people. We climbed around on the rocks for a bit and got some pictures of the lovely views over the Deer Creek valley and then headed back to the in-laws.

We had dinner with her family again and then started getting our stuff packed up in preparation to head to Pennsylvania.

Great Falls and Billy Goat Trail

For the Thanksgiving holiday, Sandy and I had to head up north to visit her relatives. So of course, we had to get some waterfalls on the way! We would first be heading to Forest Hill, Maryland to visit her aunt and uncle. We left early Saturday morning and started heading north on I-85 and I-95 through Virginia. Near Washington, DC, we got on I-495 and took Clara Barton Parkway to the Great Falls Tavern area of Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park. After paying admission and parking, we headed out past the old tavern along the towpath following the canal. After passing the Mercer canal boat that was propped up in the canal, we turned right to head towards Great Falls. The Olmsted Island Bridges are a series of wooden bridges and boardwalks that extend from the towpath to the far end of Olmsted Island.

The Potomac River is turbulent here, tumbling down cascades and rocky falls as it flows past the island. We followed the bridges out to the far end of Olmsted Island at a viewing platform for Great Falls.

Great Falls is a surprisingly large waterfall on the Potomac River at the fall line - where the Piedmont transitions to the coastal plain. Even more surprising is its close proximity to Washington, DC, only about 15 miles. The falls consists of a series of cascades totaling about 76 feet in height with a huge volume of water.

We had a nice panoramic view of the falls from the overlook, but it was from a distance. Visitors are not allowed off the wooden viewing platform for a closer look. It was also quite crowded, so we got a few pictures and then headed back. We had forgotten to pick up lunch, so we quickly headed back to the car and got some snacks, then headed back down the towpath.

Right before the stop gate, we turned to get on Billy Goat Trail A, which heads out onto the rocky Bear Island. This trail is a lot of fun as it involves much scrambling over rocks and boulders and even a section where we would have to scale a cliff. The trail starts off moderate - rocky ground, but mostly flat and not too hard to follow.

There were a couple nice spots with great views of Mather Gorge and Potomac River and the Virginia park on the other side.

About half-way, we got to the cliff. The main path up and down goes through a crevasse in the cliff to provide some footing. There were a bunch of people coming down and we didn’t really want to wait, so we just climbed up along the side to make it to the top. We continued along, eventually descending down to river level at Purplehorse Beach.

I climbed out onto the rocks for some more pictures of the river, but there was a good bit of ice out here and very slippery. Then, we finished up the trail, arriving back at the towpath about a mile down from where we had gotten off of it near Widewater.

As we started hiking back, we stopped at a little pond to see a beaver walking across.

The pond was partially frozen and the beaver was making his way across, slipping and sliding as he went. At one point, the thin ice broke and he splashed into the water, then made his way to the edge. He was poking around looking for food and eventually climbed up to the towpath to nibble on vegetation right alongside the trail.

We got some pictures and video of this beaver, who didn’t seem to be afraid of humans at all. Then we finished walking back up the towpath to the tavern and returned to our car. This is a great little park, right outside Washington, DC, and I’m glad we made it here. We’ll have to come back to explore more again some time soon when we have more time. From here, we finished the drive up to Forest Hill and had dinner with Sandy’s family before going to bed early.