The most amazing storm of the summer woke me up last night around 2:30 and kept me up for its entire forty minute duration over Baltimore, MD. The lightning was non-stop and knocked the power out for a few moments at least three times. I got a few long exposure pictures of amazing lightning strikes with my camera, but the lightning also killed the DSL connection, so I'm writing this from work and probably won't be able to get the pictures online until Monday.

At 6:15 I was supposed to hike with Steve Killen at Gunpowder. I had my alarm clock and watch alarm set for 5:30 this morning, but the power reset the time on my alarm and I forgot to activate the third alarm on my watch. At 6:10 I woke up with the sun and realized that I had exactly 5 minutes to get to the Hunt Valley Marriott to meet everyone for my hiking class. I knew I wasn't going to make it, but I couldn't afford to miss another class, so I drove out there anyway.

Around 6:30 I got into the lot and didn't recognize any of the cars there, so I called the instructor's house. His son answered and told me he wasn't sure about anything but the fact that the hike would be in Gunpowder Falls State Park. I looked at my ADC map of Baltimore County and headed off down Ashland Road from York Road towards the park. The first area I pulled into was the Paper Mill Road entrance to the Northern Central Railroad Trail.

It was about 7:00 when I pulled into the parking lot, but knowing how the group tends to delay a little, I figured that if they started on the trail from that point, I could catch up with them in about an hour at a brisk pace and carpool back with someone at the 12 mile point.

I set on down the trail with three bottles of water and my keys just a few minutes after 7:00, working my way north towards Parkton, MD, 12 miles away. The weather had been really bad in the city last night, but the trail was amazingly clear of any debris, and the sand and gravel combination making up the trail was packed and solid, so I had a good walk. Along the way I passed the lime kiln, Gunpowder Falls, and hundreds of other walkers, bikers, and cyclists out for a beautiful morning.

About 1 hour and 45 minutes later I realized that I wasn't going to catch up with my group. At this point I had made it about a half mile past Corbett Road, not quite to the 7 mile marker. With six miles behind me and no group in site, it occured to me that I was going to have to repeat every step in the reverse direction in order to get back to my car in Ashland, MD.

I turned around and headed back towards the south along the trail. I hadn't had time to eat before hopping on the trail that morning, and I look up and down every intersecting street for signs of commerce and a diner somewhere off the road. It didn't seem too likely and I didn't want to waste any more footsteps than I had to at the time, so I just kept walking.

Just south of mile marker 4 on the trail I spotted the Sparks Bank Nature Center at the intersection of the trail and Sparks Road. I saw a DNR Ranger sitting out front, so I wandered up the handicapped access ramp around the side of the building and asked him, "So what's this place all about?"

"It's a nature center for kids," he replied, as a smiling middle-aged gentleman came walking out the door towards us.

"It's a nature center for everyone!" he said with a smile.

I didn't need any more invitation than that, and as he went out on the porch to talk to the ranger, I made myself at home. The place is absolutely wonderful for kids of all ages, even mine. The first thing I noticed was all the wildlife; turtles, snakes and frogs of all shapes and sizes, examples of local butterflies along the trail, and a whole host of fun things to enjoy.

I explored the place by myself for about ten minutes before the curator came back in, accompanied by a husband and wife with their young son. The curator kicked into full gear and proceeded to walk around the building giving the tour of all the animals and interesting objects in this one-room collection. After the brief tour and a chance to play with all the animals, I grabbed a trail map from the windowsill, jotted down the volunteer number and name of the place.

A half an hour later, I refilled my water bottles at the pump behind the center and got back on the trail headed south.

On the way back I noticed just how high and fast the water level was. Being the cynic that I am, I assumed that the filthy, muddy, murky water of the Gunpowder Falls was just the way it always was in Maryland, but listening to the coversations of others hikers and bicyclists as they passed me led me to realize that it was usually low and clear enough to see the bottom of the water from most parts of the trail.

I had the pleasure to see a number of different butterfly species which I couldn't even begin to identify, got to greet many dozens of folks on the trail with a happy "Good morning!" over the course of my hike, and finished my 12 mile hike with only one rest and rejuvination stop at the nature center and 3 hours and 45 minutes of solid walking.

I wish I could have brought my camera, but I'm hoping to make a trip back to the center tomorrow (by car, since I have another hiking class trip scheduled for the afternoon) and talk to the curator about setting up a web site to describe the center and possibly even an interactive computer display.

Got back to Hunt Valley, MD a little after 12:00, and the China Buffet was closed so I had to grab a sandwich at Subway across York Road instead. Best sub I ever tasted.

All in all, a day well and healthily spent. I love the woods, they make me feel so alive!

No Comments | #783

Unless noted, all content on epistolary.org is © Copyright 1999-2008 to Rob Carlson with all rights reserved. All information is verified when possible, cited as appropriate and applied in the real world at your own risk. Send all feedback to rob@vees.net.