Tiny Waterfall
Thursday, January 26, 2017 9:03 pm
Location: Patapsco Valley State Park: Woodstock/Granite Area (7.0 miles)

Returning to the Patapsco Valley State Park, I continued my exploration of the Woodstock Area with MAHG. Today’s hike started at the same place as last week’s hike, but headed north, instead of east.

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Clouds in the Valley
Saturday, January 21, 2017 10:30 pm
Location: Shenandoah: Timber Hollow Bushwhack (6.0 miles)

Today, I joined the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) for a hike in Timber Hollow, in Shenandoah National Park. This hike, the “Len Wheat Bushwhack Series #3”, was the first hike I’ve done that was largely off-trail: a bushwhack. This hike’s goal was to visit some of the ruins of abandoned houses in Shenandoah, from before Shenandoah was a national park, and it was as great as hike as it was difficult.

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The Patapsco River
Thursday, January 19, 2017 10:30 pm
Location: Patapsco Valley State Park: Woodstock Area (8.1 miles)

Today, I returned to the Patapsco Valley State Park for a fourth time to hike in its Woodstock Area, with MAHG. Today’s hike was a scouting hike: thirteen of us met to scout out a trail route that would hopefully become part of MAHG’s staple of hikes.

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View from Hog Rock
Monday, January 16, 2017 9:46 pm
Location: Catoctin Mountain: Hog, Wolf, and Chimney Rocks (8.3 miles)

My second hike this year, with MAHG, revisits the Catoctin Mountain Park on Catoctin Mountain, following a loop around the national park.

With the temperature above freezing, the landscape today looked much different than what the mountain provided two Saturdays ago. Some very nice weather last week and rain over the weekend assisted in melting the snow that previously covered the mountain, leaving a trail largely clear of the signs of winter.

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Snowy Trail
Sunday, January 8, 2017 10:37 pm
Location: Catoctin Mountain: Bobs Hill, Cat Rock, and Cunningham Falls (14.2 miles)

It’s a new year, which means, it’s time for a new hike! My latest hike with MAHG was on the northern part of Catoctin Mountain, in Cunningham Falls State Park and Catoctin Mountain Park, near Thurmont, MD.

Cacoctin roughly parallels South Mountain (about 7 miles to the west), the mountain the Appalachian Trail follows in its course through Maryland, making this the closest hike I’ve done to the AT in Maryland (besides the AT itself).

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