Walking Carderock and C&O Canal, Maryland

Walking

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Walking

Walking with the Walrus

AVA Walking Events and Clubs | Baltimore, Maryland

CARDEROCK (C and O CANAL)- SAT DEC 26, 1998
11 KM VOLKSMARCH - EVENT REVIEW -

by Kevin Shaw

What better way to work off that big Holiday meal than participate in a walk on the day after Christmas. My club, the Seneca Valley Sugarloafers Volksmarch Club Inc, hosted this walk starting out of the Carderock Picnic Area in suburban Maryland. My faithful pooches, India and Peaches (I planned on also bringing puppy Cosmo, but he was being bad when I was leaving home, so I left him home. ), and I met my friends Eric, Marty, and his wife Cheryl at the start point just after 11 AM on a cloudy, cold day at the outset, with snow on the ground from a small storm this past Wednesday, which provided icy footing on the trail on occasion. Normally rated a 1+ due to its essentially flat nature, with the snowy trail conditions I guess the rating was more like a 2 on this day.

Preregistration was required for this event, since no monetary transactions were supposed to occur at the start point, since it is inside the C and O Canal National Park boundaries. So start cards were waiting for us, and all we had to do was sign the waiver. Event volunteers Ed Branges and Lynn Towle were quite organized and helpful in getting started with minimal effort. Certainly a friendly word helped out too. We picked up a map/written directions, though I kind of doubted it would be needed a lot, since we had walked this part of the towpath in previous years.

Walking on the snowy path on this cold winter day was heavenly. A great way to get in the winter spirit/ mood. Except for a few spots, the footing was pretty good. The canal was frozen, though not thick enough to walk on, even for the pooches. Due to floods during the past few years, the towpath is still under reconstruction, and a few detours were necessary off the towpath to get to the turnaround point. Some people elected to just walk the 6 km option. However, we all walked 11 km.

With the leaves off the trees, great vistas of the Potomac River and tributaries were afforded soon after we started the walk. With the trail a basic out and back, we saw plenty of long-time volksmarching friends heading in as we walked outbound. The pooches also had plenty of chances to socialize with their friends on the trail, both human and canine. Restrooms were available at the start/finish and along the trail where the towpath had to be abandoned due to construction and an alternate trail used. A section of the Canal called widewater, where the canal widens out into a lake with significant geological cliffs and rock formations, was traversed on this detour.

About 150 walkers were out on the trail on this day. During our inbound return, the sun came out and clouds parted. Despite the sun, very little melting of the snow on the trail occured while we walked, and the wintry scene persisted nicely till the end. Occasional glimpses of neighborhood housing and the David Taylor Research Center right at the start/finish were noted, otherwise just wooded canal towpath was our usual walking environment. The path was wide enough at most points to easily allow an uninterrupted flow of walkers and occasional bikers in both directions.

We finished the course eventually, and once again were greeted by our club friends Ed and Lynn in the Carderock parking lot. There was plenty of parking, though we had to park in a secondary lot on the other side due to the good crowd. Our books were stamped, the pooches got a drink, and we were once again happy to have experienced this beautiful winter day walk. Thanks so much to Ed and Lynn for helping out and to my club for providing the necessary support to have this successful and fun walk.

Marty, Cheryl and I topped off the day's festivities by enjoying a hot cider at the Old Angler's Inn, a landmark restaurant/ bar near the finish that has been around since 1860 or thereabouts. The roaring fire and holiday decorations put a fitting end to the walk. We met up with a few other walkers there, and learned more about one of Washington's long standing institutions. I had passed this place so many times in the past, but this was my first time inside.