So ready for warmer weather and kayaking season again! On a warm Saturday last fall, we started our exploration of the Schuylkill River, near Landingville, PA, down to the basin created by the Auburn Dam. Because of a dam constructed to catch coal mine silt in the late 1940s — part of the effort to […]
nature-focused
Amazing Nature at Bilgers Rocks
I’m always game for interesting rock formations and outcroppings, so when I learned about Bilgers Rocks, I knew it had to be on my visit list. The World Is Looking to US, carved in 1921 just after WWI, the “War to End all Wars” Bilger’s Rocks is a massive, 300 million year old rock formation […]
Cass Scenic Rail Road: Gorgeous Scenery at Bald Knob
Nestled in the mountains of West Virginia, Cass Scenic Railroad State Park offers scenic train rides to the top of Bald Knob. It also transports passengers back in time to relive an era when steam-driven locomotives played an essential role in local industry. The history of Cass follows the evolution of the lumber companies that […]
Potomac River Paddling Adventure in Dyke Marsh
Dyke Marsh Preserve, one of the few remaining freshwater tidal wetlands on the Potomac is best explored by kayak or canoe. Located on the west bank of the Potomac River south of Alexandria, Virginia between Old Town Alexandria and Mount Vernon. Dyke Marsh consists of about 380 acres of tidal marsh, floodplain, and swamp forest. […]
Almost Too Much to Do in Moraine State Park!!
Beginning with this post, I’m starting a series about things to do and see in Butler County, PA. This is the first installment. To see others in this series (once they’re published), click on the label “Butler County” below this post. Looking to enjoy the fall foliage? Take a boat ride on the Nautical Nature! […]
“Yaking” in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
I’ve been to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) several times, always excited to see and enjoy the birds and wildlife. With the purchase of our new kayak earlier this summer comes the opportunity to explore it by kayak. We visited the refuge about 2 weeks ago, in mid-September. Blackwater NWR was established in 1933 as […]
Wetipquin Creek Kayaking Adventure
The Nanticoke River is the largest Chesapeake Bay tributary on the lower Delmarva Peninsula, meandering gently through marshland, forests and farmland, on its journey from southern Delaware to Tangier Sound in Maryland. The Nanticoke watershed is also the most biologically diverse watershed on the Delmarva, and is home to the highest concentration of bald eagles […]
A New Look at a Lake Revisited
I’ve been visiting Lake Elkhorn, in Columbia, MD, for longer than two decades. Years of walking dogs around the lake has made the lake familiar and comforting. It’s one of my favorite places in Columbia, and despite its local popularity, it’s restful and relaxing. Lake Elkhorn is a 37-acre reservoir located in the Owen Brown […]
Reflections on Trap Pond
Freshwater wetlands once covered a large portion of southwestern Sussex County, DE. Featuring the northernmost natural stand of bald cypress trees in the United States, Trap Pond State Park retains a part of those wetlands’ original beauty and mystery. (The bald cypress is a wetland tree adapted to areas of calm, shallow standing water.) Ironically, […]
Hike to Annapolis Rocks
“Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the green deep woods. … Of all the upness accessible to mortals, there is no upness comparable to the mountains.” — John Muir, Naturalist For almost any hiker in the East, the Appalachian Trail has a curious draw. Colleagues of mine have spent […]
Shinrin-yoku at Scott’s Run Nature Preserve
Forest bathing — essentially just being in the presence of trees — is the practice of taking a short, leisurely visit to a forest for health benefits. The practice originated in Japan where it is called shinrin-yoku (森林浴) in Japanese. The Japanese practice of forest bathing is proven to lower heart rate and blood pressure, […]
Baltimore – Washington Area’s Best Urban Oases
When the urban jungle becomes too much for us, we naturally seek an oasis of peace and calm amidst the asphalt and pandemonium. I’ve found eight surprising urban oases offering us the promise of lovely vistas, green relief, or a pleasant walk. These are all near or in Washington DC and Baltimore. Check them out […]
Lovely Urban Oasis at the US National Arboretum
Dogwood Alley. I’m always excited to discover an urban oasis — a place to retreat far from the madding crowd! In fact, I spent this past Sunday morning exploring just such an oasis: the U.S. National Arboretum. The National Arboretum is a garden, a park, and a research institution, part of the USDA. Its 446 […]
Eagles at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is one of my favorite places to visit. Recently I unintentionally visited while exploring the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, retracing some of the important places to the African American community in the 1800s in Dorchester and a few of the stops along the Underground Railroad. The driving tour led […]
C&O Canal: Paw Paw Tunnel to Lock 56
Our destination on this lovely, late summer Sunday morning was 20 miles of the C&O Canal between the Paw Paw Tunnel (mile marker 156.2) and Lock 56 (mile marker 136.2), which is the terminus of the Western Maryland Rail Trail, which we’ve biked several times. The Paw Paw Tunnel cuts 5 miles length off of […]