Walking with the Walrus

WASHINGTON DC USA YEAR-ROUND EVENT VOLKSMARCH
VETERANS DAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1997

by Kevin Shaw
Photos © Kevin Shaw, licensed to About.com What better way to celebrate Veterans Day than to do the very popular Washington DC year-round event! My friend Marty and I were off for the day, and along with my faithful pooches India and Peaches, we thoroughly enjoyed walking this trail past all the monuments and mall area of downtown Washington DC on this noteworthy day to remember our heritage and honor our veterans. I was a bit delayed for the agreed upon starting time of 11 AM due to a variety of reasons, including time taken to find an open on-the-street parking space, which eventually I did find. A good suggestion is to use the Metro Subway system if you possibly can. Marty already had me registered inside the Columbia Plaza Pharmacy, and we were on our way.
Down the hill on 23rd Street to the Mall area, we crossed Constitution and headed past the Vietnam Memorial to our left and toward the Lincoln Monument. There were a lot of people out on this day paying tribute to our veterans, especially at the Vietnam Memorial, where a special ceremony was about to commence to mark its 15th anniversary. We ambled down to the Tidal Basin after passing by the Lincoln Memorial, and started around. We took a slight detour over to the new Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, a very impressive memorial to our 32nd President, with several monuments inscribed with famous quotes by our "New Deal" president. A bit further along and we hit the first checkpoint, the Jefferson Memorial. I waited outside with the pooches while Marty went inside to get our start cards stamped by a Park Ranger. There are a lot of steps up this monument, with great views of the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and the entire Tidal Basin.
Continuing further around the Basin, we finally exited near the Holocaust Memorial on 14th Street, and walked toward the Mall. Passing the various Smithsonian Buildings, at Seventh Street we hit the second checkpoint, an information request off of a statue. The Washington Capitol Building was just a few short blocks before us but after writing down the second checkpoint information, we turned west away from the Capitol, heading back toward the start point. By this time the pooches were on "intense squirrel alert" as the mall area has plenty of trees supporting dozens of squirrels.
Passing still more Smithsonian Buildings, we walked on the Mall for about seven blocks to 14th Street, where we headed north up to the Commerce Building and the third checkpoint at the White House Visitors Center in the Commerce Building, once again an information request. This visitor center is a really nice one, and one I had not seen before.
We crossed 14th Street, and headed around the back of the White House to our right. No signs of Bill and Hillary, unfortunately. Out on the Ellipse to our left, workers were starting to construct the apparatus which will hold the National Christmas Tree. At the zero milestone marker, a TV reporter was preparing for a feature story. Further on, more doggie admirers asked to pet the pooches. Peaches, a nervous type, didn't enjoy it too much, but India, ever the engaging, outgoing one, enjoyed the affection and attention, and the break in the routine of walking.
After crossing Constitution, we turned and walked along it for a few yards, then headed toward the Vietnam Memorial. We turned to the left, and walked along the Reflecting Pool, allowing the pooches a brief dip to get a drink and cool off their feet. There are some really big fish in this body of water, and there were some fishermen out trying their luck. More and more people came upon us as we got closer to the Vietnam Memorial, and when we got there, the 15th anniversary program was well underway, with thousands gathered. Music and speakers entertained the masses. We managed to keep going along the perimeter, paying our respects to a few of the thousands of veterans. Many of the vets enjoyed talking and petting the pooches as well. It was good to see something brighten up their day.
After exiting the Vietnam Memorial, we crossed over Constitution once again, up the hill on 23rd Street, past the Department of State, and to the finish. We got our books stamped at the Pharmacy, and noted that we were walkers 510 and 511 for the year. In past years, I believe there have been quite a few more participants at this point in the year. We put our completed start cards and $4 in a self-addressed stamped envelope to mail in our necessary paperwork and fees. Many thanks to the Washington DC Area Volksmarching Club for sponsoring and supporting this top notch walk through our Nation's Capital. It truly was a memorably special walk on this cloudy, cool Veterans Day.

10 KM NIGHT VOLKSMARCH - GAITHERSBURG MD USA
SENECA CREEK STATE PARK - NOVEMBER 15, 1997

by Kevin Shaw

On this cloudy, cool mid-November Saturday, for the first time since my surgery I did two 10 km walks in one day. Helping out my club, the Seneca Valley Sugarloafers, I did a prewalk, or workers walk of the 10 km woodland trail for our Club's big 10th anniversary walk coming up next weekend. I will post more about this really soon, probably sometime on Sunday. But suffice it to say that with recent frequent and occasionally heavy rains, the trail was quite muddy and downright wet in some spots, and not easy to negotiate in a few spots. We need some drying out during the next week, which is what is predicted. The pooches accompanied me, and didn't have any trouble with this trail, but then again they have 4 paws on the floor, as opposed to our 2 feet.
On Saturday evening, I helped out at first in the parking of cars at our 3rd annual moonlight walk in Seneca Creek State Park, only about a mile from where I live. The park is not normally open at night, but walk organizer Bill Larson is a part-time volunteer ranger with the park, and with our two year round walks and frequent park improvement donations and volunteer work outings, we have a nice connection with this park that helps when we want to put on special events such as this one.
Different from the past, which I only learned about today, was the basic organization of this walk. Maps with directions were given out, and walking in a group was not a necessity. Some groups did form, as some people did not bring flashlights and were in need of light to be able to read the directions, but on the whole, the approximately 150 walkers we had for this walk all walked at their own pace. I am sorry that in recent walklist posts I had thought that this walk would be as in the past, with groups walking together with guides and sweeps. Like mentioned above, I only learned about this just this morning at the workers' walk. I did see Jim and Pat Means at the walk, and they were the ones on the walklist who had asked this specific question about walking in a group vs. walking at your own pace.
The trail wound around paved park roads within the park. Cloudy skies predominated, with light rain breaking out during the walk. I met up with my friends from the office, Jeff Stuart and Eric Johnston at the start and we walked together. Unfortunately, park regulations have strict rules against pets within the park boundaries, so I had to leave Peaches and India home for this walk. The park roads cut through a lot of beautiful park woodlands, with occasional views of Clopper Lake in the central part of the park, and through picnic areas and open fields. Flashlights illuminated our way when necessary, but after getting our eyes used to the darkness, it really was pretty light out there. Undulating over the park environment, there were a few minor hills but a 1+ trail rating kept those to a minimum.
The big surprise to my friends and I was the displays for the upcoming winter lights show already being up and in place. While they weren't energized, we could shine our flashlights on each structure and see what they were. Animals, Christmas figures, snowmen, Clown figures, snow scenes, et al were found all along the trail. The show will be illuminated in a few weeks, at the beginning of December and during the entire month of December. This "dark" preview kept us going to see what was next, and what kinds of displays were out there.
There was one self-service checkpoint near the Buck Shelter on the picnic pavilion loop at the far end of the park. Soon after that checkpoint while we were heading back to the start point, the rain became a bit heavier, and we swore that there were some snowflakes mixed in. We did not actually see any real, live animals on the trail, though some others reported that they did (deer, fox, squirrel are commonly found in the park, especially on the woodland natural trails where our 2 year-round events mostly go).
Hot cider, coffee, doughnuts and other baked goods were available for purchase at the finish point, which was the Visitors Center near the entrance to the park. We were the last ones off the trail, so there wasn't much left by the time we got back. However, since we lasted longer on the trail, finishing up about 8:30 pm (we started about 6:30 pm), the showers quit and the moon came out from behind the clouds to illuminate the last few hundred yards of the trail back to the finish. So the official title of this walk as a moonlight walk really was partially true for us. It's nice to have a different type walk like this, especially for me since I live so close to the park and normally see it only in daylight hours. I think everyone had a good time, especially shining our flashlights on the winter light displays, which entertained my friends Jeff and Eric and I throughout the better part of the trail. This event has improved in stature and attendance each year, and we hope to continue to make it that way in the coming years. Thanks to the rest of my fellow club volunteers to help put this walk on, especially club POC for this event, Bill Larson, who set up the trails and provided most of the logistical details that helped immeasurably in the success of this walk. Club event organizer Ed Branges also helped out logistically in many ways, especially with supplies brought in his "volks patrol" van.
I must say that with a change in shoes and socks, plus some new gel insoles and moleskin, I did the second 10 km of the day without too much pain. I am tired, but it is a "good" tired. Now let's see where I can walk tomorrow- Ummm- there's the walks at the Pentagon, and then there are always all these great year round walks around here... Decisions, decisions.... What a joy to be able to walk in all these different places and environments! Thank you, thank you fellow volksmarchers for coming out and helping to make this walk a success!!

Area and Walking Information

Seneca Valley Sugarloafers
AVA Walking Events and Clubs
About.com Washington DC
About.com Baltimore, MD
US National and State Parks

More Walking With the Walrus:

Kensington, Maryland April 12, 1997
St. Michaels, Maryland April 26, 1997
Rockville, Maryland, Gunston Hall Plantation, Virginia, May 3-4
Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge, May 10
Guy Mason Park, DC, May 24
Flower Valley/Rockville MD, May 31
Washington DC National Trail Day Walk, June 7
New Freedom, PA, June 15
Ft. Belvoir, VA July 4
Seneca Creek State Park, Gaithersburg, MD Sept. 13
Bolling Air Force Base GLOBAL Walk Sept. 21
West Laurel, MD Oct. 4
Baltimore Oktoberfest, MD Oct. 11
Annapolis Oktoberfest, MD Oct. 12
Louise F. Cosca Regional Park, Clinton, MD Nov. 2
Westminster, MD Nov. 9
Washington, DC Veterans Day Nov. 11 and Seneca Creek Park
Black Hills Regional Park, MD, Nov 22-23, 1997
Hershey Holiday Walkfest, PA, Nov 29, 1997
Alexandria Scottish Walk, VA, Dec. 7, 1997
Union Station Walk, DC, Dec. 20, 1997
Carderock, MD, Dec. 27 1997
Rockville, MD Jan. 10, 1998
Fairfax, VA Jan. 31, 1998
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Washington, DC Feb. 22 and Thurmont Maryland Feb. 21, 1998
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George Mason University, Fairfax Virginia and Olney Maryland, March 14-15, 1998
Emmitsburg, Maryland, March 22, 1998
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Roosevelt Island, Maryland, April 5, 1998
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Union Mills Homestead, Westminster, MD June 15, 1998
Hagerstown, MD August 15, 1998.
Baltimore, MD 10/12/98
Patapsco State Park, MD 10/31/98
Seneca Creek State Park, MD 11/7/98
Kentlands and Gaithersburg, MD 1/9/99
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