Short Trips
Our crazy through-hike of the Rock Creek Trail, as long as a marathon from Lake Needwood in Rockville, Maryland, 10 miles from our home, to Georgetown in Washington DC. We used this hike as a preparation hike before our Grand Canyon trek, but in retrospect, we could have been better prepared for the preparation hike itself. We did not have breakfast before the hike and had very little food on us, planning to get food on the way. Unfortunately, even though we were in the middle of the city of Washington DC, the trail did not bring us close to any food places, and our energy level soon dropped after following the rock creek for a couple of hours, when we passed the magnificent Mormon Temple and crossed the Capitol Beltway. Approaching the DC Line (14 miles from Lake Needwood), CK's feet had developed some huge blisters, which made walking very difficult. Fighting hunger, pain and exhaustion, we hobbled into Georgetown 11 hours after we started.
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We learned an important lesson that day: it is imperative to wear suitable shoes, and bring enough food on hikes. Since then, we had successfully undertaken much tougher hikes, from the Grand Canyon to the Swiss Alps.
Lake Bernard Frank was also only minutes from our place.
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Visiting the National Zoo to see Tai Shan the baby panda. We saw him being nursed by his Mom, Mei Xiang.
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Lake Bernard Frank again. Spring has brought back the green to the woods.
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New River, West Virginia is famous for its steel bridge (876 feet above the river, a world record until 2004) and its whitewater. We could not bring our camera along when we went whitewater rafting, but we took pictures of the rapids from the rim.
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On the day after whitewater rafting, we continued our adventure by having our first lesson in rock climbing and rappelling.
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CK's 20-year reunion at New Jersey with his classmates at SFX.
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Fall foilage at Sugarloaf Mountain, 10 miles from our place. (There are many places of natural beauty within 10 miles of Germantown, Maryland.)
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Thanksgivings at Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland. Staying at a bed and breakfast, aimless canoeing, baitless fishing (got no fish, of course ...)
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Wine tasting at a winery near Baltimore, where more memorable than the wine were four very friendly doggies.
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Early spring at Cunningham Falls State Park, an hour from our home.
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Cherry Blossom Festival at the National Mall, with kite competition around the Washington Monument.
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The flowers were even more magnificent around the Tidal Basin.
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At the Baltimore Zoo.
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Another fall, another hike up the Sugarloaf Mountain.
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Thanksgiving bird-watching at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge ...
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Followed by a visit at Assateague Island National Seashore on the following day.
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Weekend trip at Tilghman Island, Maryland.
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A sunny day at the Cherry Blossom Festival. The whole city of Washington DC was at the Tidal Basin.
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Spring has returned to our apartment complex, and flowers were blooming at the parking lot.
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A day hike on the Billy Goat Trail along the Potomac River.
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On the first day of our West Virginia escape, we hiked up the Seneca Rocks. We had visited this 800+ ft tall rock formation years ago, and we remembered it was a tough climb to the top, so tough that a "Seneca Rock" became our standard measurement of elevation changes (like the Grand Canyon is seven Seneca Rocks deep). So it was to our surprise that we reached the top without losing our breath. Maybe the summer swimming exercise did have some effect ...
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In the morning of the next day, we went caving at Bowden Cave. It was a very wonderful cave, with no artificial help like walkways or lights, so we had to climb and crawl our way through the narrow natural passages, with a small brook vibrantly flowing beneath our feet throughout most of our trip.
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We were all muddy after caving. Our cabin did not have a shower, but the Cheat River was flowing right next to it, and we swam and soaked in its refreshingly cool water for a long time.
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In the afternoon we visited the Dolly Sods Scenic Area, an uncommon highland swampland.
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On our last day in West Virginia, we went via ferrata (rock climbing with fixed steel cables) at the Nelson Rocks.
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Orchid show at the National Aboretum.
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At Black Hills Regional Park, minutes from our place.
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At the Kennedy Center, overlooking the Potomac River.
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Long weekend at Montreal: the harbor on the river Fleuve Saint-Laurent (St. Lawrence River), the Notre Dame, and a nice dinner.
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A hike up Mont Real (Mount Royal), which gave the city its name.
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Eating and drinking after the hike, followed by an evening jazz concert.
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The Olympic Stadium, with its tower being the tallest inclined structure in the world, which due to financial and labor troubles was not completed until 11 years after the Olympics. One of the venues had been converted to the Biodome, an indoor natural museum.
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Most people visited Hershey, PA for the roller coaster at Hershey Park. We chose to spend our time at the Hershey Gardens instead.
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After a quick stop at the Hershey Hotel, and chocolate tasting at the Hershey Museum, we had lunch at a brewery 30 miles away, where we sampled their beer and sausages.
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At the butterfly house and insect show at Brookside Gardens.
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U2 concert at FedEx Field.
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Apple harvest at Fall.
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What was planned to be a weekend of bird watching at Cape May, NJ was derailed by poor weather. Nonetheless, we witnessed the release of four trapped eagles.
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A walk through the marsh and the beach.
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The sea was angry at Avalon.
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Created on 13th Sep 2009. Last updated on 19th Dec 2009.
ckchow.mbox@gmail.com