Orange Loop, Savage River Lodge

My first hike at Savage River Lodge in Maryland over the long weekend was a short one, about 2.5 miles, much of it in a steady drizzle.  There are 13 miles of trail around this picturesque lodge, mostly well marked with colors and signs.  I've indicated on the map below the three hikes I did in three different colors.  Today's hike is marked by the orange track at the north of the map.  More than half of it actually follows a trail with orange blazes.  The blaze colors are green - red (for about 50 feet) - orange - red - green.

 As a hiker, none of these hikes were difficult or had difficult elevations.  But on cross country skis, there could be some challenging parts, so I have included an elevation profile.  The profile starts on the orange track near the center, heads northeast, goes around the loop portion counter clockwise, and then returned to the lodge by way of the original portion.  Click on the profile for a better view.

This hike had lovely forest views, and lots of evergreens.

In addition, there were good numbers of hardwoods showing their colors.

Here is a mixture of softwoods and hardwoods along the trail.

As far as wildlife is concerned, I got a brief look at a wild turkey, and I heard a barred owl call its distinctive eight note call over a dozen times.  It is almost exactly a year since I last heard one of these owls up in the mountains of southwest Virginia.  Rain or not, I enjoyed my little hike last Saturday afternoon.