Tag Archives: Maryland trail dames

by

A Taste of Autumn in August

A Trail Dame woman I hike with has claimed that I am magic when it comes to scheduling hikes in perfect weather. Well, folks, my streak came to an end in recent weeks! Two hikes canceled for thunderstorms. ⛈ Planning the perfect day to lead a hike doesn’t always work out…and this week I needed to reschedule a hike to last night…a sunset hike at Worthington Farm, part of Monocacy National Battlefield, in Frederick, Maryland.

Oh, but the weather gods shined on me once again! The weather was absolutely golden. The sun cast a glow over the fields and forest of late afternoon. The temperatures were delightfully mild, as well. We didn’t even break a sweat on this one!

We left the big house heading up Brooks Hill. There is usually a good view over Baker Valley at the top, but as we rounded the last turn in the path to the high point, we we met with a big green wall of corn.

Now, I can’t look at a field of corn without stepping into it…like crossing into a different world. Obviously, the Dames had to comply! 🌽😄🌽

Afterwards, we walked down along the river, before returning to the big house to wait for sunset. It did not disappoint. This is a wonderful place to watch the day end. We sat around the picnic table as the sun dropped lower and lower behind the distant ridges of the Frederick watershed. And then it was gone. The crickets began their rhythmic chorus and I gave a deep sigh. Hike on!

by

A Series of Unfortunate Weekend Weather Events

Oh, a hike leader’s lament! Over the last several weekends the Mid-Atlantic has had some questionable weather. This led to the shuffling and rescheduling of hiking events. Ugh…when is there ever enough free time for hiking?

Whelp, I looked at my calendar…classes end May 13, semester wrap up is the following week, then back to prepping the house for the floor guy (not to mention summer classes). Hmmm 🤔

All hikes were rescheduled to the week that is ending today…and WHAT.A.WEEK! A whirlwind of work and hiking and everything else! 😄

Tuesday found the Maryland Dames and me at New Germany State Park out in the far western portion of Maryland. Friday we scampered over Catoctin Mountain Park, and today, Saturday, we had a Meet & Greet for new Dames!

New Germany was an absolute fantasy land. Bright green moss covered forests, thick with towering hemlock trees, beckoned while giant ferns unfurled, spiraling dramatically. Trillium, Gaywings, Soloman’s Seal, and May Apple blossoms burst upwards through the mulchy forest floor. It was spectacular!

Fern spores
Trillium
Gaywings

Catoctin Mountain Park was a different, but still delicious, experience! It rained just before the start of our hike and the scent of the mountain woods was fresh and soothing. Moss covered boulders, bright green foliage, and a variety of wildflowers and fungi kept the hike interesting…not to mention an unexpected Tornado watch! We skedaddled soon after that alert. 😄

Wild Geraniums
Bellwort

And finally, the Meet & Greet at Monocacy National Battlefield, Worthington Farm! A super morning meeting a few new Dames! Worth every bit of my Saturday morning!

Dametastic morning at WorthingtonFarm!

It was a busy week…but overscheduled hiking events? I’m in! Hike On!

by

Flippity, Floppity, AT Hikers are on their Way!

Ahhh…all required writing for my grad class done, I can now get back to writing for fun!

Last weekend the Maryland Trail Dames represented at the annual Flip Flop Festival in Harper’s Ferry, WV.  I have to give a huge thank – you to Queen V for organizing this event! She told me to show up with a table and my camp chair…done!

20190427_081530.jpg

I rolled in at 7:30ish on Saturday morning to find that the Queen had already put up the canopy.  I pulled over to drop off the table then quickly found a parking spot.  Exiting my car, I was caught off guard by a gust of wind that whipped my car door back so hard I thought it would break.  Okay, then, let me just grab an extra jacket if that is the way it is going to be!

That was indeed how it was going to be on Saturday!  The wind would blow up the hill and literally force us to hold onto  the canopy, the table, our chairs, and the handouts so they would not be tossed up into the air.  We demonstrated quite a bit of agility, let me tell you!  In between gusts we managed to stake out the canopy…gonna give myself props for some of the knots I tied…held like a charm!

Sadly, the PATC canopy next to ours did not fare so well.  A particularly ferocious gust sent their canopy cartwheeling across the lawn!  They decided to move over to the lawn of Storer College afterwards…kudos on their decision as the wind did not let up.

We persevered, but decided eventually to ditch our canopy.   It was less stressful without the wind trying to shred it with every gust!

 

We ended the day in good spirits and vowed that the next day would be better!

20190427_140603.jpg

Great music, both days!

******

Sunday began with no wind, but rains poured down.  I was not scheduled to show up until the afternoon, but checked in with Queen V.  Everything was okay, wet, but okay.  Game on!

20190427_154803.jpg

Queen V recruits future Trail Dames!

The crowd had diminished to near zero by 3:30 pm, so we called it a day and dismantled our glorious set-up. 🙂

20190427_163025.jpg

A long time ago, Queen V had been given the name “Bag Lady”….I believe she has been rechristened with it today!

Thanks to the several amazing volunteers from Trail Dames, we have many new women interested in hiking with us!

******

Side note 1: Guys, I am glad you stopped by our table…however, if all you had to say was “oh the Trail Dames, I’ve been looking for a Trail Dame”… then go find yourself one somewhere else…We don’t play like that! 😀

Sidenote 2: If you are that person, who signed up for information by leaving us a link to your porn site…we don’t do those kind of events! 😀 😀 😀

Sidenote 3: If you are the guy that came over to mansplain how we had anchored our canopy ALL WRONG and we needed to untie everything and re-do it, then I want you to know that it NEVER CARTWHEELED ACROSS THE LAWN, bwahahahaha!

******

I love you guys…Hike on!  😀

20190427_110750.jpg

 

by

AT – VA Loft Mountain to South River Picnic Grounds

Midway through Fall and stuck deep in a pile of ungraded projects…and part 2 of my take-home mid-term from my grad class.  No wonder I want to stop everything and go back to summer!

Fond memories of backpacking in August with the Trail Dames of Maryland.  I am getting better at leading these backpacks…but I am no pro!  I love giving these women the opportunity to get out in the woods for a night or two.  and Honestly, what I get in return is so much more than I ever anticipate!

We backpacked the weekend of August 11 – 13, 2017.  Setting off from the Loft Mountain camp store, we promptly crossed paths with a rattlesnake…that I initially thought was dead.  Um…NOT DEAD! However, it was quite diplomatic and did not rattle at us, instead, after tasting the estrogen soaked air with its pink flickering tongue it very politely slithered across the trail and into the woods. R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

DSC01329

The first day went uneventfully, but had some good ups and downs.  By the time we arrived at the first shelter we were beat!

DSC01347

We had lunch by this beautiful waterfall

DSC01350

Right after we had to climb a big hill…of course! These views don’t come for free! 🙂

Yay! the shelter!
Hanging out, eating dinner.
My Big Agnus clinging to a slopey spot.
And Lola brought the AT Game!

I will say the first night was not my shining moment.  I had the WORST nightmare about a bear pushing in on my tent and trying to mouth my arm.  In my sleep, I thought “oh, Lola is tented right up the hill.  Let me yell loud enough to get her attention.”  And then, you know, I couldn’t make a sound because that is the way nightmares do you! So, I kept trying and this bear kept butting into my tent, and I couldn’t make a sound and it WAS SO REAL!!!!  and then finally, AAAAHHADAHLGOGGEOJ01%^#@856y27542uhfwiurhtfa;wp293456891205-9815 LOUD AND CLEAR! and my eyes shot open…nothing, I was staring at the ceiling of the tent, heart pumping wildly, ears pricked for any sound and then I  was like “holy crap, I just yelled out loud…I AM AN IDIOT! 😀 Oh my God, please, tell me that no one heard me…

Day 2 was a filled with bigger climbs and a bigger threat of rain.  The last climb to Hightop Hut was muggy and long.  Sheer exhaustion steered us straight to the shelter for a well deserved sit down before setting up tents, gathering water, and all the other little tasks that needed to be done.  And then there was thunder…okay, tents up NOW!  We were lucky that all of us had our tents up and were back in the shelter when the skies opened up for a beautiful thunderstorm.  It was truly lovely after walking in the hot, humid, sticky forest all day.

DSC01380

Always nice to have a helping hand when navigating around downed trees! This is what makes Trail Dames great! 🙂 🙂 🙂

DSC01382

Love ❤

DSC01389

Breakfast at Hightop Hut

The final day we headed towards South River Picnic Grounds with absolutely gorgeous weather.  The thunderstorm and knocked out the humidity and walking was pleasant again.  We were a good team and found ourselves laughing out loud at some of the silly things we saw or did.

Kathleen 1

Hightop may never be the same!

DSC01392

More gorgeous views!

And then there was a dare to climb up on a pile of rocks.  And me being BoobOnARock…I did.  Hike On!

Renate 2

BoobOnARock on a rock hahahaahaaaa! Photo credit to “Overkill”

by

Living it Up on the Loudoun Heights Trail

Mid-Week hikes are a luxury.  While the rest of the world shuffles off to work, the Maryland Trail Dames were getting ready to cross the 340 bridge by pulling our gloves, hats, and layers into place.  The crossing of the bridge would be the killer with traffic whizzing past blasting us with cold air and fumes.  A necessary evil in order to start climbing Loudoun Heights on the other side of the Shenandoah River.  At 10 am Wednesday morning it was bitter cold, yet bright and sunny, so we anticipated shedding some of those layers as we climbed almost 1000 feet to ridge!

The parking lot is a fee area, so pay the $10 bucks to support the NPS.  The pass is good for three days, so after I finish this post I might head back for another hike in the area! 🙂

20160106_143943.jpg

340 Bridge over the Shenandoah River looking towards West Virginia side

Once we crossed the bridge, we climbed the AT up, up, and up and as AnnaMarie would say “Suck it up, Buttercup”!  As expected a few layers came off!  Thelma, a fellow Trail Dame, suggested we take the orange trail first, then loop back on the blue trail.  Great suggestion!  The orange trail was extremely pleasant! It was a nice change from constantly going up.  It is level and well marked which allowed us to make good time with little effort!

In the summer, this hike would have only the views marked on the map…two at power lines, then another at Split Rock.  But in winter? Ahhhh…all the views you could want!  No leaves make mountain hikes even more glorious.

20160106_112545.jpg

Holy crap! I think my lips are purple! 🙂

The path became more rolling once we met up with the blue trail.  We went to the left, headed for Split Rock.  It all seems so easy…because the trail is going down to Split Rock.  The view here though is worth it!  and the women on the trail with me were so funny!

“Suck it up, Buttercup!”  became a repeated joke as we met each hill with gusto.  At each overlook we had a micromanager or two when it came to picture time…after being asked to tilt the camera this way and that way, and move to the right, then to the left I busted out laughing…”What is your job anyway???” Snorts of laughter permeated the air. 🙂  and don’t even let me start with the selfie stick…oh jees’…It was a good thing no one else was on the trail!

2016-01-06-15.58.09.jpg.jpg

Looking across at Maryland Heights

20160106_122928.jpg

View of Harper’s Ferry from Split Rock

img_20160107_084114.jpg

Like a Model Train Set!

After lunch at Split Rock, we climbed up to the ridge once more.  There were some sweaty faces in that last push to the ridge!  Then it was easy, a little rocky, but easy sailing on the blue trail and a quick trip down the AT back to the 340 bridge.

20160106_135420.jpg

Looking calm, cool, and collected…like they hadn’t even exerted themselves. 🙂

In the whole time we were on the mountain, we did not see any other hikers! So if one is looking for solitude on this hike, go on a weekday.  I have heard that on the weekends it can be crowded at Split Rock.  I totally get that because it is such a great place!

We finished at 2:30 and the sun never really made it over the ridge.  Still seemed like morning with the long shadows filling the valley.

Off to more chilly adventures! Hike On!

 

Image by

3/29/14 Another Cancelled Hike for the Trail Dames? Argh!

Well…this has turned out to be a hiking week BUST!

I had two hikes planned this week for the Maryland Trail Dames, one for Dames looking for a challenge and one for beginning hikers.  Both, yes, both got cancelled due to the weather!

On Wednesday, I had scheduled an 8.5 mile loop hike at Catoctin Mountain Park.  This is a strenuous loop which allows hikers to visit Chimney Rocks, Wolf Rock, Thurmont Vista, Hog Rock, and Cunningham Falls.  It is a beautiful stretch of trail.  On Tuesday, like much of the eastern seaboard, a weather system brought in snow.  It wasn’t very much snow, like 3 inches, but it froze overnight when the temperatures dropped into the teens.  This would make the steep climbs absolutely horrendous for those of us without microspikes.  On Wednesday, winds also became a factor with wind chills dropping to near zero.  So SLASH, SLASH, and it was cancelled.  So disappointing. 😦

But this is what we would have seen if we would have been able to go! 🙂

 

Chimney Rocks

Chimney Rocks

Today, Saturday, I had planned a nice gentle hike for Dames at Worthington Farm (part of the Monocacy Battlefield). When I scheduled the hike I imagined warm spring breezes, sunshine and spring flowers popping up along the trail.  In my head I could see the river flowing in a lazy fashion while birds flitted about singing to each other as they built their nests.  But NO, we have to endure this outlandish rainy weather that has resulted in flood warnings!  Guess hiking next to the river was out of the question. SLASH! Another one bites the dust!

However, let me just give you a little glimpse of what delights awaited us if we could have gone!

View of Baker Valley

View of Baker Valley

 

I am so bummed!  Just itching to get out with the Dames on an adventure!  Our next hike is scheduled for April 12 at Sky Meadows SP in Virginia.

If you are on the trail that day and see a bunch of women having the time of their lives, then stop and say hi! Guaranteed that bunch would be us!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

But you know what would be even better (if you are a woman over 18)?  You could join us!  http://www.meetup.com/Maryland-Trail-Dames/

Hike on!