Bodie's Trail, Savage River Lodge

For the second hike up at Savage River Lodge, my wife and I walked the very pleasant "Bodie's Trail," marked in a magenta color on my trail map image here.  The actual trail, named after the lodge owner's beloved dog, Bodie, is blazed in green.  We incorporated a short loop of the Woodcock Trail into our walk, and since we ended up close to our cabin before completing the entire loop, we cut the walk short for a lunch break without completing the loop.  But you can get a good idea of the entire loop from looking at the map referenced above.

Here is the elevation profile, which might be useful for cross-country skiers.  Since we did not complete the entire loop, you can see that the starting and ending elevation are a little different:

We had barely started the walk when we saw this brilliantly colored bracket fungi on a tree.

You can see the green blaze marking Bodie's Trail very well here.  The trail is very well marked and extremely easy to follow.

Since a lot of this area is a state forest, trees have sometimes been planted in very straight rows, like these spruce.

Mother Nature is starting to show off with her colors up in the Maryland mountains.

I am always looking for interesting looking trees, and this one certainly qualifies.

Here is another view of fall's beauty:

We thought this bracket fungi was reminiscent of formations one sees in a cave.  Isn't it cool?

This walk was perhaps the only time we were at Savage River when it was not raining, other than a tiny bit of drizzle at the start.  We thought that the weather was finally turning, and that there would be decent hiking conditions after lunch last Sunday.  We could not have been more wrong!

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.

Savage River Lodge - Overview

Well, I finally got my last post written the other day about Cape May, NJ, identifying the mystery animal that I saw.  So it is time to start another little group of accounts, this one about the Savage River area of Maryland.

If I were tell you that there is a spot in Maryland that averages 160 inches of snow a year, would you believe me?  Well, it is apparently true.  There is a nice, rustic lodge in this area, and there is so much snow there that they are open for snowshoe use and cross-country (Nordic) skiing.  These are two things I have not done since I left Maine, where we used to get a lot of snow - but only about half of what Savage River gets.

We have wanted to check this place out for a long time and finally did, expecting typical lovely October weather.  What we got instead was four days (counting the five hour drive to and fro) of drizzle and rain.  But you know, one cannot control the weather, so I made the best of it.  It is  lovely area for hiking with 13 miles of trail on their property and on the adjoining Savage River State Forest, and there are lots of wildlife.

Where is this snowy place in Maryland?  Well, it is up in the "panhandle," just a few miles west of Frostburg.  I've marked it with a little purple star on the map below.  Pennsylvania is to the north, just over the Mason and Dixon line a few miles, and West Virginia is to the west and south.

 How did Savage River get it's name?  Sounds kind of scary, does it?  Well, some long time back, a group of men were lost in the area and ran out of food.  After a time, they decided to kill and eat the weakest of the bunch.  His name was Savage, and when another party came along and rescued them, Mr. Savage's life was spared.  So the named the River in his honor.  That's all pretty savage, isn't it?

I really liked this place.  It was lovely and relaxing.  And rainy.  Did I mention that it rained the whole time?  Well, rain or drizzle 95% of the time.  The other 5%, it was trying to figure out how to start raining again, and it always succeeded.  Fortunately, we took lots to read in our snug little cabin, which was in a stand of red spruce, replite with red squirrels and red-breasted nuthatches.

Inside, we had a little gas heated Franklin fireplace for warmth.  Plus, it added some nice ambiance.  The place was very comfortable.  There is no television, which some would hate for a few days, but I was fine.

In addition to the 16 cabins for guests, they are building yurts for the upcoming year, and those looked intriguing.  That is a big financial investment.

Here is the lodge itself, surrounded by fog.  It is a comfortable place to hang out it.  There is a great fireplace, as you might imagine, and a nice dining room with great food.  There also is a library (each cabin had its own selection of books as well).

I really liked the Savage River Lodge and hope to go back. The five hour drive from our home makes it difficult, of course, to go for even a three day weekend.

I took three hikes while there, plus visited Kentuck Knob in Pennsylvania, and will write about these in the upcoming days.

What Am I?

While exploring Cape May Point State Park a couple of weeks ago, I came on this bird sitting in a tree over the water.  It is one that I see from time to time, but never frequently, and not for a few years now.  This is the best look I have ever had at this usually very secretive bird, and I watched him for a good 15 minutes.  Put on your thinking cap, as this may not be an easy one.  The first time I saw one, it was hiding in a marsh up in Maine, making this incredible call.  I kept watching until I found it so I could figure out what the bird was that had such an unusual call.

In wetlands damp I'm always found

It's for my call that I'm renowned

My pattern's brownish and white streaks;

I have a sharp and spear-like beak

And with that beak I'll try to spear

Whatever creatures come too near

Be they frog, mouse, or yummy fish

To catch dinner is my fond wish

My color pattern helps me hide

Tall reeds is where I'm often spied

And so, how are you thus far fairin'?

You guess that I'm a stocky heron?

Now how can I describe my call

Which if you hear it should enthrall?

"Oong-ka-choonk" with pumping sound

Which loudly booms o'er marsh and ground

Not easy, is it?

Well, I threw

a lot of

facts in the

verse above

If you ever

heard one of

these stocky

herons then

you will get

this one.

Scroll

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for the answer

and photos

Within your brain did the facts churn

To guess American bittern?

I've never before seen this bird when it wasn't hiding.  This one was just sitting up in a lovely flowering tree over the water, maybe catching the morning rays.  I really enjoyed that my day and his intersected for a little while.

I've only heard a bittern a few times.  I used to see them in Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge from time to time, and they were always very secretive.

Higbee Beach WMA

I've been too busy lately with my Team in Training event, the Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon to complete my descriptions of my three Cape May, New Jersey hikes.  But I am finally catching up here, with a short account of my hike at Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area on September 28.

Yes, there really is a beach there, on Delaware Bay.

The trails there are not well marked and often barely distinctive from game trails.  This one is typical, and some were much less distinct than this one was.  My brother-in-law was hiking with me, and I think he got a little nervous at times.  And I saw stars when I ducked to go under a fallen tree, but didn't duck far enough!  But we were never in danger of getting lost.

We ran into two young women with a dog and four very little kids, and they told us roughly how to find a lake.  With that information and my GPS, we headed towards the lake and found is, with high sand dunes all around like this.

It was a really pretty little lake, a gem so near a city.  I wonder how many people vacation in this area and have any idea that such a pretty little lake exists so close by?

 Panoramic view of the lake....

I had really hoped to see migratory birds and other wildlife here, but it was the middle of the afternoon, and other than an egret, there was no other wildlife visible.  We did see this cactus with fruits, which was pretty neat.  And we had another nice walk, maybe about 2.5 miles, in extreme southern New Jersey.

Cape May Nature Conservancy Preserve

On the way to Cape May Point State Park last Friday, I passed a sign for a Nature Conservancy migratory bird refuge, and thought "Hmmm! That is worth a visit!"  So last Friday, my brother-in-law and I returned and walked their 1.5 mile loop trail.

The refuge is a mix of open meadowland like this,

and of wetland like this.

There are also two points where one can access the beach (when the endangered plovers are not nesting).

We spied this persimmon tree during our walk.  They didn't look quite ripe yet, but soon enough - maybe even today - raccoons, opossums, and gray foxes will be feasting on persimmons.

Isn't this a lovely way to remember a friend?  So few words, so simple, but right to the heart.  What else could anyone want said about themselves?  Gone at age 50 - I wonder what his story is?  I wonder if friends ever come to this bench and sit there and chat with him from afar?

Swans are such a pretty bird.  We saw a number of them on the hike.

You can see how close this preserve is to the state park with this view of the lighthouse.

I couldn't resist snapping a shot of this large painted turtle in the shallow water.  This seems like a great place for all kinds of wildlife.

I watched this egret concentrate on lunch for a while.  Unlike a lot of egrets, he was not skittish around people.

I think this might be a black duck but am not sure.

We had a great walk there, and saw many more birds not pictured, including some Caspian terns and pintail ducks.

View From the Cape May Light

On Saturday, I returned to Cape May Point State Park for a little while to walk the 199 steps to the top of the light house and enjoy the views (and the strong breeze).  Below me, I could see some of the terrain that I covered the day before in my hike in the park.

I took a couple panoramic photos, this one to the south and west:

and this one more to the west and north.  Clicking the panoramas will enhance the view.

I also looked down on the old WW II bunker that guarded the Atlantic side from U-boats.  The people walking on the beach look like ants in comparison.

Here is a view of one of the ferries, heading back to Delaware.  They seem to run about a half dozen or more times a day.  In for foreground is the old fire control tower that remains from the war.  Men in the towers would look for enemy subs and provide the data needed to the gun fortifications so that they could aim at any subs seen.  I am wondering if any shots were ever fired in anger from the artillery that was once here?

Cape May Point State Park Nature Hike

We spent a long (but too short) weekend in Cape May, New Jersey, and Friday morning, my brother-in-law and I went for an early two mile hike in lovely Cape May Point State Park.  We saw some wildlife - the hawk migration is underway, as is the migration of birds in general and of monarch butterflies to the mountainous pine forests in Mexico - a place they have never been to but that they somehow know they must reach it for the winter.  We also got a good look at a creature that I will feature soon in a "What Am I?" post.

We got there just as the sun was coming up over the ocean.  The park is at the southern-most tip of New Jersey between the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay.

 The hike went by marshes quite a bit,

 with lovely fall flowers like this goldenrod and daisies in bloom, as well as ...

 great views of the light house.  We climbed up the lighthouse the next day.

Sometimes, the trail went through open woodlands, like these.  There are also areas where they are planting and protecting native trees.

 There were canals like this from time to time.  I wonder if this is man-made?  See the lighthouse just to the right of photo center?

 Our hike continued on the beach, where we went right past this old military bunker.  I assume it was from World War II, when Nazi submarines would come right up to our coast line and even up the Delaware Bay to attack merchant shipping.

The hike to this part was the first of three hikes we did in southern Cape May this past weekend, so there is more to come, as well as the interesting bird that I saw.

So Disappointing!

A couple of weeks ago, I discussed how I was planning a four day backpacking trip with two other guys.  We even picked our spot out recently.  All seemed set.

Then, a woman I work with left a couple of weeks ago for a new job, and last week, I was assigned one of her projects.  I had my first meeting with the customers last week, and they were discussing a three day pre-implementation exercise on a Friday to Sunday.  As fate would have it, it is the weekend I am - was - going backpacking.  So much for that.  I can't just disappear off the face of the earth for four days while the project team works day and night over three days!

That was the only weekend we three could all go, so while I urged the other two to go forward with it, I think they are cancelling too.  It is too bad.  I was really looking forward to a few days in the fall up the mountains, camping out by the trail, and this in really disappointing.  I can't wait to be retired when my time will be my own!

Well, so be it.  There will be other trips.  Right now, I am thinking of just picking a weekend when the weather looks OK late in the fall and make a last minute decision to go backpacking by myself one night.  Shenandoah National Park would be the likely location.  Better a short trip than none at all.  Time will tell if I can pull that off or not.

What Am I?

During my six mile hike / training walk Wednesday after work, I spotted this creature in Maymont.  Maymont has a number of captive creatures on display, but this mammal was wild and uncaged.  I bet you can guess his or her identity.

I am, I state, a herbivore:

Love tender plants, and nothing more

I eat like crazy, put on fat;

Winter arrives in nothing flat

And winter I will spend in sleep

In my burrow, safe and deep

Beneath the snows I hibernate

For spring's fresh green I will await

But humans state I have my day:

In February, so you say

You say I can predict the weather

Emerging from the earth's nether

On just this special winter day

To see my shadow, with dismay

And winter will last six weeks more

While deep beneath the ground I snore

I think

you have

enough

clues now

to guess

correctly

Scroll

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for the

answer:

How much wood can a woodchuck chuck?

Did you guess right? Were you in luck?

I am pretty sure that woodchucks, also known as groundhogs, don't have the power to predict or change the weather, although they can awaken on a warm winter day, come outside for a bit, then return to hibernation.