First time at Patuxent River State Park

Even though it is less than a half hour away, I had never been to Patuxent River State Park. It's a long, thin park that surrounds the Patuxent River, which is also the border between Montgomery and Howard counties.

Apparently it has a network of social trails, but there are two developed areas in the south and central sections. I went to the southern section, where the nature center is. (Important: It has a restroom, but no merch.)

My hike comprised a loop of the yellow-blazed Free Flowing and red-blazed Cemetery trails. With a few side jaunts, it totaled five miles. River views were mostly confined to the Free Flowing trail, and they are likely most visible in winter.

I would return here again; it's pleasant and has the plus point of novelty.

First day hike, 2026

T and I were just two of many people who headed out to Seneca Creek State Park for one of Maryland's first day hikes.

We hiked partway around the lake and got stickers.

Last Monocacy work day of the year

Our final trip involved removing some blowdowns, checking out a possible reroute, and moving this sign about six feet.

C&O end-to-end, miles 137-143

This section of the C&O was personally notable, as it was the first time in this endeavor I did a section downstream first. More generally, it was a very pretty section, with hills crowding the river into narrow hairpin turns.

I joined up with a trail crew buddy for this section of the C&O. We left from the Fifteenmile parking lot and headed downstream almost three miles, just past mile marker 138, to where the WRMT joins the towpath. This was where I had left off last time. We then headed back, with a side jaunt to look at the big gate over the railroad tunnel entrance. The tunnel is now an important bat hibernaculum.

Upon reaching Fifteenmile, we continued upstream around another peninsula, past mile marker 143, to where the WMRT ends. A short path connects the towpath with the end of the WMRT here. We used the path and the WMRT itself to shortcut the peninsula back to the car.

I am now 3/4 of the way done - which puts me in a little bit of a ract to finish before the end of the year.

Hike Across Delaware, again

We interrupt this endless procession of canal for ... a different canal. For the second year in a row, I participated in the Wilmington Trails Club's Hike Across Delaware. The hike follows the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal from Maryland to the eastern shore of Delaware City, 15 miles total.

T joined me for it this year, despite having to get up at a painfully early hour to make the 8:30 check-in. After driving into the sunrise, we collected our bandannas and got on the bus to the starting point.

The weather was perfect, the pavement was hard, and it was good to have company.