Category Archives: nature

ICELAND April 2023

10 Monday Apr 2023

Posted by in Hiking, HISTORY, Iceland, nature, Road Trips, Trails, Travel

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In April 2023 we took a trip to Iceland. Although the weather for the most part was not the best, all the beauty and wonder made the trip an unforgettable experience. Then again, the weather here on the Eastern Shore was not that great – two days before we left, tornadoes touched down just north of here. Volcanoes, blizzards and continental drifts are the norm in Iceland. We did see evidence of global warming.

We flew out of BWI Airport Sunday April 2nd on a direct flight. I do not believe I am yet awake from the time-zone differences. Our flight left BWI at 8:35pm. We arrived in Iceland April 3rd at 6:30am.

We arrive at the Keflavik airport which was about a 40 minute shuttle drive to our hotel, The Hotel Klettur (some locals say Klettur means ‘rock’, others say it means ‘cliff’).

Most walls outside the elevators had some information about local wildlife an/or ecology. Icelanders are very ecological in their thinking and doing.

Schindler’s Lift

Wonderful view outside our window.

You are given 2 keys to your room. One gets inserted into this holder. It turns on the electricity for the room. So, if you have food in your refrigerator, you have to leave one key behind.

We had a nice room. Our original hotel was overbooked so they sent us here. With an upgrade. And closer to downtown.

I don’t usually show photos of the bathroom, but something interesting here is the heating system. They use geothermal heat. Very hot water flows through that radiator. You regulate it with a valve, not a thermostat. No ac. Most people had their windows opened.

Since we could not check in right away, we took a 3 hour city tour. (The hotel has a luggage storage room to put our bags in). It was actually a really good tour. Our tour guide Dominique was very knowledgeable and took us everywhere.

First stop was the Northern Lights Center called Aurora. The guide in here filled our heads with wonderful photos, information and videos.

She also told us the best way to get a perfect shot of the Northern Lights. Nothing more than making sure the flash is off and set it for a 3-4 second exposure. Holding steady!

While waiting outside for the rest of the group, he was there in front of the Saga Museum. (The Sagas of Icelanders is supposed to be a literary classic? I bought it but haven’t read it yet – 781 pages)

He drove us to see one of the many lighthouses next. This lighthouse can only be accessed by foot during low tide.

The Hallgrimskirkja Lutheran Church with a statue of Leifur Eiricksson in front. The largest church in Iceland. The statue was donated by the US. There is an identical statue in Newport, Va. Here are some random photos. We went back a second day so we could go up into the tower. I grouped all the photos together here.

No sooner we walked through the tower doors, the bells started ringing! Very loud!

Misc info

Onto our next destination

Town Hall

Large relief map of Iceland

Moss may not grow on a rolling stone, but it does grow on lava rock.

Next stop, the Perlan Museum

There were photos explaining what you were viewing.

Lots of churches. They left Paganism 1,000+ years ago.

All of this on our first day! Before we checked in. Will tomorrow be a day of rest – nope!

A walk along the shoreline. They have two paths -one for pedestrians and one for cyclists.

Almost got a shot of her face in the hole. There are 100’s of statues and sculptures everywhere.

The Sun Voyager sculpture.

…is where Kathy put her foot down…

Mini lighthouse.

Performing arts center

Interesting Immersive Light Show.

Taking a walk around town.

Rainbow road with view of church.

Another statue of another famous dude (If I can’t pronounce your name, chances are I won’t remember you!)

2,082 miles from home and Kathy runs into some friends.

We all went to dinner after this. More on eating later.

Now onto day 3. This will be an 8 hour tour of the Golden Circle. Lots of riding, short stops except when money was involved (rest stop, souvenirs, food, etc.)

Green House. Mostly tomatoes.

Some people just cannot read – ooohhh look, tomatoes, snap.

Bees – imported. More thermal heating pipes and hydroponics.

Tomato soup and bread. Good stuff here!

No soup for him. There were quite a few horse farms around.

Next stop – geysers.

Our guide today was very good – Inga. But, when we got to the geysers, she neglected to tell us that the active one was up the hill some. We watched this steam up for about 15 minutes!

There she blows!

Next up – a fairly large water fall. And a woman who protested and won, the building of a new power plant on the falls. Her name was Sigriour Tomasdottir. She was the daughter of the farmer that owned the waterfall.

Walking down to the bottom was closed off.

On to the next adventure – tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia. This is the only place on earth you will see 2 tectonic plates meeting above water.

Nice paths and boardwalks all over the place.

A line of people heading to the bottom, where the land splits.

Was hard to see this bird – Rock Ptarmigan. Icelanders and snow foxes eat them.

A flag between continents.

On the ride home – long day.

We were supposed to see the Northern Lights two nights ago but the tour kept getting postponed because of weather. This night we went…

The full moon gave off a lot of light.

Lots of moonlight but an eerie beauty over the landscape.

A wisp, but a Northern Light to behold. Went out about 9, saw them about midnight.

Thursday is the South Shore Adventure. We will get to see waterfalls and glaciers. And it snowed! Some pics on the ride out.

Waterfalls everywhere.

Did we leave our heart in Iceland? Yes.

Skogafoss Waterfall.

A double rainbow and a triple dose of tourist.

Up in the cliffs, hiding from people.

More to nature than the obvious.

Riding away from one waterfall, heading to a glacier.

Peeled off parts of the Solheimajokull Glacier. The black lines are volcanic ash that were covered over again and again for thousands of years.

Another tour group on the glacier.

On to the town of Vik.

The giants – King and Queen on a ship. We will next head around that mountain to the Black Sand Beaches.

Like the Giant’s Causeway of Northern Ireland.

Our guide told us that stunt pilots love to fly through that hole in the cliff.

This is the one that got us wet.

On the way back to town we stopped at another waterfall. Seljandsfoss.

More rainbows.

It was easy to get wet here.

One of the only disappointments was not being able to go behind the waterfall. These people did, but when I am in someone else’s land, I respect their wishes. One guy who didn’t, fell on the ice (why it was closed) and cut his hand wide open.

Gnomes live in that cave.

So it is time to head back to Reykjavik. Took some miscellaneous photos on the way.

Steam vents just pop up randomly. People are told to be careful where they build their homes. The steam will heat their houses or destroy them.

Nice farm. The lava is covered in moss which decays then more moss and so on, eventually becoming dirt that will allow wheat to grow.

The driver would not pull over so Kathy and I could check out the cemetery.

Random photos.

Cant stop me..

Chinese Embassy.

They love their wrestling.

Our first dinner out. We watched a video about this place before we left and thought we should try it, except for the rancid shark!

Really a bizarre mural to look at while eating.

This was called the Baldur. Pickled herring on rye, I did not care for it. In the middle is Mashed Fish on rye, which was really good. Then rye bread ice cream. Melts in your mouth!

We then went to dinner at this place with Kathy’s friends, Donielle De and her husband Larry.

They start you off with an item new to the menu. This was salmon. OK I guess.

That is butter for your bread on that rock.

Kathy got the vegan meal.

I got pasta with cod and shrimp.

Another night we had carry-out fish and chips. Notice wood fork. Everything is recyclable. And if you want a bag, you will have to pay for it.

Baked beets.

Next morning, heading home. the bus picked us up at about 12:30. Supposed to fly out at 5pm. Due to winds the plane did not take off until about 8:35pm. Long wait in a small airport with not enough seating. We arrived at BWI at 10:20pm EST. Left the long term parking by 11:30pm. Arrived at home 1:45am.

I am so glad that we were able to take this trip. We will probably go back one day to see all the things that we missed.

God is good.

George Chalmers of Fochabers

29 Wednesday Mar 2023

Posted by in Farm, general, Hiking, nature, Trails

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As many of my Facebook friends know, if Kathy and I are not at Furnace Town volunteering or cleaning up some cemetery, I can usually be found on Merrill’s property clearing trails and boundary roads. A couple weeks ago while there I asked Merrill where he wanted me to cut next? He said to clear from where I stopped the other day and head over to the cement marker. The map below shows my progress. CM are cement markers. It is really quiet back there except for the occasional ‘Peepers’ near the angle irons.

So I start cutting, looking for what I thought would be a regular 4″x4″ Boundary Marker like the ones pictured below.

I’m cutting and cutting looking for this thing when up through the woods I see this.

This is interesting. It’s a big marker. Getting a good look at it, it appears that when the concrete was poured into the form, the form had nails in it spelling out various undecipherable words, names and dates. I did not want to mess with it until I got permission to do so.

Merrill said it was alright to clean it up so Kathy and I did just that. We carefully removed the rotten wood around the nails which were firmly seated into the concrete. I was surprised that they had not rusted away. After that we used a brush and water to clean off the algae, lichen, mold and mildew.

After cleaning as much as we could (we were limited with the amount of water we had, although I did find a pool of water in the woods and when I asked Merrill about it, he said it was probably from the days of making moonshine in a still back there?! More research for another time!), we were able to read the inscriptions.

“SITE REDOAK FIRST BDRY [Boundary] PATENTED TO GEORGE CHALMERS OCT 9 1765” There was a large red oak tree here at one time which not only marked the boundary of George Chalmers property, which he called ‘Fochabers’, it now marks the county line between Worcester and Wicomico Counties.

Worcester County was created in 1742 by the dividing up of Somerset County. Then in 1867 parts of Worcester and Somerset were divided up to create Wicomico County. (This is probably why I am having such a hard time doing land acquisition research).

The top of the marker which was easier to clean, restates what the side says, with some added information. These markings appear to have been made while the cement was wet.

SITE REDOAK FIRST BDRY FOCHABERS PATTE[N]TED TO GEORGE CHALMERS OCT 9 1765 MERRILL G CULVER DEC 10 1951

Let the research begin: First we asked Merrill what he knew about it and he gave us the below plat map. It has the property listed as ‘Focubus’. I just love some of the names that were given to these properties: Cary’s Folly, Hogg Quarter, Buck Harbor (Kathy and I hiked a DNR trail down here called that), the Rice Patch and Dunkirk to name a few.

Here is another plat that went with it, although I cannot make heads nor tails of it. More great names though: Indian Range, Slim Chance, Smullen’s Content and Neglect. Some of these dates pre-date the American Revolution…

Which brings us to the man himself – George Chalmers. Painted by Tannock in 1824.

The below, brief biography was obtained from Wikipedia, the book The Colonial Legacy Vol I by L. Leder and from the Maryland State Archives. Another book The Public Life of George Chalmers by G.A. Cockroft is one of those scanned from the original book and turned into a reprint. I did not buy the original or the reprint. $$$

George Chalmers was born on December 26, 1742 at Fochabers, Moray, the second son of the local postmaster, James Chalmers (who was a grandson of George Chalmers of Pittensear in Lhanbryde) and his wife Isabella. After completing a course at King’s College, Aberdeen, he studied law at the University of Edinburgh for several years. [It is not clear whether he graduated from either school]
Two uncles on the father’s side had settled in British North America, and Chalmers visited Maryland in 1763, apparently to assist in recovering a tract of land about which a dispute had arisen. [It is noted in The Colonial Legacy Vol. I. by L.H. Leder that Chalmers came to America with his only uncle, Robert, in 1763, who died a year later at which time he received his uncle’s inheritance. He used that money to purchase large tracts of land, one of which was 1,007 acres in Worcester County. He then sold it for a huge profit. (As of this writing I am waiting for the state archives to get back to me on whom did he sell it to?)]

As far as the land dispute, there are a few listed in the Md. State Archives…. And Further in Case of the Decease of the said Robert Chalmers before the Affairs and Business hereby Committed to him shall be finally Concluded And we Considering that he has taken alongst with him George Chalmers Son of James Chalmers Postmaster in Fockabin & Nephew to the said Robert Chalmers to be a Companion We hereby in that event Constitue & appoint the said George Chalmers to Succeed the said Robert Chalmers as our Attorney in the Premisses Giving & Granting to him full Power and Commission to Act and Do for us as the said Robert Chalmers may or can do by Virtue hereof and that Immediately after or how soon the said Robert Chalmers death happens he being alwise liable to account to us all his Intromissions… Another land dispute on the other side of the bay involved William Paca.

In 1766 “…he moved to the New Frontier Town of Baltimore.” Where he practiced law, that he was not impecunious while living in Maryland. Receipt found in 1764 of a warrant for over 1,000 acres in undeveloped Worcester County.
As a Loyalist, however, at the outbreak of the American War of Independence, he abandoned his professional prospects and returned to Great Britain. Several years then passed before he found adequate employment.
Chalmers was a fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries of London, an honorary member of the Antiquarian Society of Scotland, and a member of other learned societies. His library was left to his nephew, at whose death in 1841 it was sold and dispersed.

Random Notes from Md. State Archives:
1781 “List of Persons Indicted for Treason May Term 1781.” July 15 Indictments brought against inhabitants of following counties on May [8], 1781: Prince Georges, Kent, Anne Arundel, Saint Marys, Charles, Frederick, Washington, Calvert, Baltimore, for “adhering to the Enemy”; against following people: Jonathan Boucher, Henry Addison, Daniel Addison, Daniel Stevenson, Charles Gordon, John Montgomery, Daniel Dulany, Daniel Dulany of Walter, Lloyd Dulany, Walter Dulany, Nathaniel Richardson, Anthony Stewart, George Howard, Henry Riddle, Philip Key, Leigh Master, Bennett Allen, David Carcand, Thomas French, William Edmiston, George Chalmers, William Dickson indicted for treason; no person outlawed in May term 1781.

Kathy and I visited the Nabb Center (where we both told them that if they have any research, filing, scanning, etc. that needs to be done, let us know – they never did). Their loss!

They did find some land records for us which are not the easiest to figure out. One mentions Dunkirk, which Merrill told us about, and how it relates to his father’s (now his) property. I am still waiting for the Maryland State Archives to get back to me with the timeline and ownership of the property between 1765 and 1951.

But to the Nabb Center’s credit, they did help us find the location of a cemetery that we have been looking for. Another blog for another time.

I would like to thank Merrill for giving us permission to post this and to Kathy who is always ready to take on a new historical research project!

Trap Pond Kayak

24 Monday May 2021

Posted by in Eastern Shore, kayaking, nature, State Parks

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First kayak adventure of the season at Delaware’s Trap Pond State Park in Delaware. It usually costs us $8 to park at the boat launch. This year we decided to go ahead and get a yearly, out-of-state permit (for seniors) since we like hiking, biking and kayaking there. The permit covers all state parks in Delaware except Fort Delaware State Park and Pea Patch Island.

Water was calm. And since it was a very nice day weather wise, there were a few people on the water. We paddled a little over 3 miles.

As usual there were a lot of turtles sunning themselves.

Into the cypress swamp. Arrows pointing the way to Terrapin Branch. On Google maps this is called Thompson Branch.

Flowers already in bloom on the lily pads.

Looking at me looking at him.

Google Lens app says this is a Yellow Crowned Night Heron? Not sure.

Some ducks, some snakes and a heron.

A wonderful day to be out kayaking. Thanks God!

Pusey Trail and Cemeteries

15 Thursday Apr 2021

Posted by in Archives, Cemetery, Eastern Shore, Genealogy, Hiking, nature, Road Trips, Trails

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A week or so ago we found a brochure called “Just Walk”. It was put out by the Worcester County Health Dept. You could sign up and receive gifts for the miles you walked on 15 different trails. Most of which we had already hiked. There were a couple we hadn’t so we decided to go ahead and do it. The first one we picked was the Pusey Branch Trail on Old Furnace Rd near Old Beech Rd.

There is a cemetery at the front of this trail, so we thought we would check it out.

Lost part of his tail and has a hole in his side.

We then see this headstone. I knew by the writing and style that it is a military grave. When I got home, I decided to do a little research on S.C. Stevens. Private Stanley C. Stevens enlisted into the Union Army (Civil War) on August 30, 1864 at 28 years old. He was in Battery E of the 6th Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery. He was enlisted for 1 year and mustered out June 13, 1865. I could not find his birth or death dates.

We finish looking around and head to the trail.

The trail needs some maintenance but it is well marked.

We came to a secondary trail and headed that way.

The White Trail took us to a swamp, bright green life in an otherwise old, dying forest.

A few boardwalks and busted up benches along the way.

We found another path off of the designated path and tried to take that one but there was too much water.

Informational signs along the way. This one asks what is in a cord of wood?

I don’t think so! A mound of rotted wood.

Our path. A short hike and I couldn’t wait to get back and fill out the Health Department form to start earning free gifts!! Ha!! Get to the bottom of the form and it informs me that we have to be Worcester residents to register!!

As I mentioned above, I did some research on Pvt. Stevens. Because this hike was on the Pusey Branch and there were Pusey headstones in the cemetery, I just assumed the name of the cemetery was Pusey? (Researchers NEVER assume!). I went to the Find a Grave website and saw that the Pusey Cemetery is a couple miles west on Meadow Bridge Rd. The above cemetery is called the Nazareth Cemetery, from a church and not a private one.

So, a week later we head to find the Pusey Cemetery. As we head down the road Kathy sees some headstones in the woods. This one is a private cemetery called Bounds-McAllen Cemetery.

A small cemetery and not the one we are looking for. A photo on the Find a Grave site shows it with a fence. We head further up the road and we see a gate on a trail and we think this must be the place. Walking back about 700′ we found it. Seemed odd that there was a marker on the outside of the fence.

We found another Veteran’s grave. There is more available research on him, on Google, than that on Stevens. As can be seen, he was in the Confederate Army, the cavalry. Here is a link for info. http://www.mikehitch.com/me/5062.htm Thanks Mike for the info.

And here we have a tree growing on top a dead stump.

A photo from 2013 of the cemetery, Some sites show it just as the Pusey Cemetery. On other sites I saw it called the Pusey-Maddox Cemetery.

After visiting here, we hiked some. Another story, another time.

It would be nice to know the story of the two service men. They are buried a couple miles from each other, in cemeteries with family members of the same name. Did they know each other. One item I read about Azariah was that he enlisted in the union, was captured by the rebels and joined them?? So many questions, so little time…

Chandler Tract (White Trail) 4 3 21

04 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by in biking, Eastern Shore, nature, Photography, State Parks, Trails

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This was a 3.6 mile or a 4.1 mile hike, depending on which map you use, in the Pocomoke State Forest. There is also a Green Trail (4.4 mi) and a Blue Trail (5.2 mi) in the same area. We chose the White Trail because it heads towards a creek – Corkers Creek. The entrance is across Rte. 113, from Shad Landing. Nice empty parking lot.

Maybe they will put up a trail map here one day.

Only saw a couple cyclist on the trail. Otherwise a nice quiet hike. The Green and White trails intersect for a short distance. We know what the dots mean, unsure of the numbers though. I wrote the park service to ask them. Waiting to hear back.

A few muddy spots starting off, but mostly dry. It is the Eastern Shore and there will be mud!

Buckshot warning about straying away from the trail…

But where would you go? Lots of thickets on one side and a swamp on the other. But I do know what they mean. Up on the Gunpowder Trails they don’t want you straying off – it can and will cause erosion.

Up ahead where Kathy is, take a sharp right.

Which didn’t seem right. We ended up at a ditch. On the other side in the distance I saw a trail marker…so let’s go.

Up the other side and a few 100 yards ahead we came to marker 77. End of the ‘Official’ trail.

Corkers Creek passes down below and across the way we see another mound. (Wondering if at one time a bridge crossed here?) One of our maps says Colburn Trail is over there.

We look to the right and head down to a nice area.

Kathy’s photo of some of the Cypress Knees.

Back up the mound and then down the left side.

Read that this was designated as a canoe creek. Don’t think so. Maybe at one time.

We walk a ways and come across the most Cypress Knees we have ever seen.

Kathy heads over for a better look…

Instead of heading back the way we came, we cut through the woods, but still have to navigate the ditch. I thought Kathy was going to want us to cross the log.

Some really nice close-ups that Kathy took.

Below is the map that AllTrails has. Path looks pretty straight and narrow – in and out.

Here is what it looks like enlarged, at the creek. We were all over the place!

Another wonderful adventure! We will probably do the Green Path by bike, next trip.

Pete and Repeat

27 Saturday Feb 2021

Posted by in Assateague, chincoteague, Eastern Shore, Hiking, National Parks, nature

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An old joke but still cracks me up – If Pete and Repeat were sitting on a fence and Pete flew away, who was left? Repeat. Ok, If Pete and Repeat were… and on and on it goes until someone tells you to stop it! What does that have to do with a nature hike post? Nothing, other than the fact we have repeated this trip to Assateague Island in Virginia a hundred times. And we never get tired of it. And we always seem to find a new adventure awaiting us – whether we are biking or hiking.

This particular trip was just to get out of the house before the rains came, have lunch and to look at the ocean from the parking lot. But the lot was closed so we decided to see what was going on.

Me wondering where all the sea shells are?

The beach is under a constant state of erosion and the Rangers/contractors are under a constant state of trying to fix it. I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that the Atlantic Ocean and Tom’s Cove will soon be connected. That at the rate of erosion, maybe by 2025 this stretch of the beach will be gone. So much for doomsday projections…Kathy and I headed over to the cove. Kathy was wondering how are we going to get over to that strip of land. The tide was the lowest we have ever seen it. Off in the distance is where we usually hike – The Bi-valve Trail.

Mostly hard sand but there were some pockets of mud.

Quite a few varieties of shells. Mostly empty oysters and mollusks. Some clams here and there.

Kathy’s photo of some bivalves.

And a very lonely, cold, star fish.

Time to head back and we thought this path would take us towards the beach. It didn’t.

It took us somewhere alien! I have an app on my phone called Google Lens, which if you take a photo with it, it will tell you what it is you photographed. The app didn’t know what to make of this.

We finally make it back to the parking lot. Amazing how it changes every time we visit. Bulldoze the sand up in a pile and the ocean just washes over it.

After walking around for a couple hours we then headed to the Crusty Crab at Greenbackville for a couple oyster sandwiches and their delicious coleslaw. Sat at the beach and ate. The tide was also low here…

Another great, repeat adventure with some new twists! Thanks GOD!

Blades Road Trail

09 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by in Eastern Shore, Hiking, nature, State Parks

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Part of the Pocomoke River State Park. Short hike, about 4.1 miles. We did this trail last month and revisited for other views, other areas we did not walk last time. Nice skim of ice on some of the water in the marsh.

Lots of reflections

Some interesting colors left behind from the local unicorns maybe?

Judy in disguise…or Kathy with a new pair of glasses!

Pump parts

Playing in the pipe or looking for unicorns.

Tree stand for unicorn hunters

Duck decoys

The trail and the sights

A lot of these photographs were taken by Kathy. My camera has been giving me some trouble here lately. Especially with the batteries keeping a charge or even charging at all.

All in all it was a great day for a hike. Thanks Kathy and thank you God!

Seaford and Cape Henlopen

24 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by in Eastern Shore, nature, Sewage History, State Parks

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Drove up to Seaford Delaware to visit a family friend we haven’t seen in a while. Nice little town. Met at the local coffee shop, Every Fiber. Staff very pleasant. The upstairs is a meeting hall for the local Masons, which were established at Seaford in 1866. They moved to this location in 1912.

After our visit we drove around to check out the town. They are in the process of building a new park on the Nanticoke river. Across from which, we saw this big guy sitting there (Once again I leave the house, forgetting my good camera, only having my Canon point and shoot!)

Old granary with a couple locomotives.

Old Seaford train station and tracks.

Headed to the other side of the river to see if I could sneak up on the eagle for a close up. Nope…I startled a heron and when he flew off, the eagle flew away also. Got a photo of where he was resting though!

Left there and headed to Lewis. We were going to check out the ferry but decided to go see the sea at Henlopen State Park. Lots of snow Geese flying overhead. First thing we came upon was an old Battery – Herring Battery.

Historical sign describing its use.

Standing at the top of the dune we saw all these groups of white on the ocean – thousands of Snow Geese!

Views from the Battery – towards lighthouse and then towards Rehobeth.

Walked down the path to get a closer view of the geese.

And there they go!

Found this guy on the beach. Not sure what he is – prawn, shrimp, mini-lobster? But he was still alive. No sooner than Kathy puts it back in the ocean, an eagle swooped down and snatched him – Where’s the camera!!??

Looks like this washed up on shore. As did someone’s driver’s license. Tried to find the person on the internet, but no luck. Need to turn in to the police.

One of the many towers along the beach.

On the ride home.

Nice little road trip.

Fourth Annual Christmas Adventure

11 Friday Dec 2020

Posted by in Hiking, nature, Photography, Road Trips, Trails

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Wasn’t sure we would make it to Baltimore this year, to decorate our favorite building in our favorite park – Cromwell Valley Park. But we did! Heading across the field towards the Greenhouse Path (Not sure when they started calling it that), up in the distance we see the little house. Many years ago it was a bath house for the family that use to live near here.

Wondering how many more years our little house will weather the storms. I wish there was a way myself or any of the park volunteers could restore it.

And here I am, decorating.

Our finished Christmas gift to the park.

Time to make a Christmas wish…

We walk the trail to the woods and then head through to the old balancing reservoir shaft.

On to the Sycamore Trail

This is new. Built in 2019 by a Scout for his Eagle Scout Badge.

Hike towards Mine Bank Run. Can still tell this run continues to overflow it’s banks. Stopped to check out what I call the Bubbling Pond. They call it Marble Spring. It bubbles up from lime underground mixing with the water. Not much bubbling today.

From Mine Bank to the Lime Kiln Trail. I am still amazed at how these were rebuilt.

View from the top looking towards Long Island Farm.

The sky was spectacular this evening. This is at the park.

This one was taken from the Eastern Shore at the Bay Bridge. We pulled off of Rte. 50 to eat and look at the water and ships.

Kathy took this one from the car, heading towards Vienna.

Beautiful day! Beautiful adventure!

Nassawango Creek at Low Tide

29 Sunday Nov 2020

Posted by in Eastern Shore, kayaking, nature

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Headed out a little late for a long kayak adventure so we decided to go to a spot nearby – Nassawango Creek to the Pocomoke River. We have done both of these this past summer, but this is our first time going all the way down the Nassawango to the Pocomoke. The water was unbelievably low today and as we stood on shore looking, the creek was still flowing out, rather rapidly.

I prefer a ramp/launch to get in and out of my kayak. I know I risk scraping the bottom quite a bit, but I’d rather do that than fall in! The water being so low, you need to step down two steps. (This is my favorite photo, taken by Kathy)

Kathy went in at the steps, I slid in next to this varmint box. A muddy mess here.

Low water for the whole trip, to and fro.

In the photo below there is a cobweb just floating along with us –

Alright, already we’ll all float on
Ok, don’t worry, we’ll all float on
Even if things get heavy, we’ll all float on… (modest mouse)

A splash of color to brighten the day.

Some very nice reflections.

The Pocomoke River up ahead.

A couple speeding boats zipping by. Kayakers get no respect on this river.

After about 3.5 miles, time to head back. Under the Nassawango Rd bridge.

Another nice reflection shot by Kathy.

Two steps down and waiting for the combine to cross over.

Our trip. Just over 7 miles with all the zig-zagging and crossing over the Pocomoke.

Another great kayak adventure. Next time we will need to check the tides. We hit a lot of submerged tree limbs and could not cut across the lily pads like we normally do. But it was still a great day to be out and grateful to be able to take these kind of trips.

Thanks God!