Walking with the Walrus
FLOWER VALLEY/ROCKVILLE MD USA VOLKSMARCH
SATURDAY MAY 31, 1997
My club, the Seneca Valley Sugarloafers, hosted a 2 day, 2 event walk out
of the Bauer Drive Recreation Center in Rockville Maryland on Saturday,
May 31 and Sunday, June 1. One trail, with 5, 10, and 15 km options
headed up to the Lake Needwood area, and the other, a 11 km distance,
headed through part of Lake Frank and into the Flower Valley neighborhood
area of Rockville. Since the Flower Valley walk was a new trail, Peaches,
India, and my daughter Robin and I decided to do that walk on Saturday.
Registration was quick and easy, with color coded start cards to
differentiate the different trails. A quick downhill out of the rec
center and down Bauer Drive, crossing busy Norbeck Road, and into a
neighborhood. Met a nice lady there with two dogs, same colors as Peaches
and India, with plenty of licks and woofs from the four of them. Robin
fawned all over her doggies. A turn downhill after a km or so, then the
end of the road, a barricade to cross, then old pavement no longer used
for vehicular traffic became our trail. A turn to the right and before
long we saw Lake Frank.
Still more people crossing our paths, many with
doggies, so Peaches and India were really charged up. We reached an old
abandoned parking lot, then into the woods and a nice, natural shaded
Lakeshore trail to follow. The written directions along with a map were
nicely detailed and quite accurate.
Gradually the lake narrowed into Rock Creek northern branch. Many
fishermen were out on this day, strewn along the shoreline. A really nice
spot were we had to cross the Creek at the Sunfish Trail sign allowed the
pooches a natural drink and a nice swim. I managed to stay dry crossing
the waterway, but Robin got a foot submerged in crossing. With the sun
coming out on this humid day, the shade was really nice to relish right
here.
Another km and we had to turn off this shady wooded trail, and into
an uphill on a grassy trail through a more open, meadowlike environment.
This was really kind of different, as it wound around in S curves up the
grassy slope. We reached a guard rail, and a pond off to the right at the
top of the slope, as we returned to civilization in the Flower Valley
neighborhood on Hornbeam Drive.
Really nice houses, well maintained and beautifully landscaped, replaced
the rustic woodland of our previous few kms. Just before the first and
only staffed checkpoint of this walk we refreshed ourselves with a kids'
lemonade stand. They did not even know that there was a volksmarch
crossing through their territory! It sure tasted good, and we had to wait
a few mins for their pitchers to be refilled.
After this brief stop, we
headed onto Flower Valley Park and our only staffed checkpoint. We hit
both crews during a shift change, and we also met up with fellow walklist
contributor Don Jaynes of the Pentagon Pacesetters. He had posted
recently about some of the same walks I had, so it was inevitable we
would meet up on the trail sometime. We walked together for the next 4 or
so km, crossing back over Norbeck Road and into the older neighborhoods
in the Manor Country Club area. I had walked in this area once before,
and always noted the bomb shelter type of mailboxes in this area. Not
sure when they were built, but these boxes really do look like they are
encased in such a substantial fixture that they could withstand quite a
blast.
Igot so busy talking with Don that I left Robin and Peaches lagging a
bit behind. So at the end of this street I let Don go on and I waited for
Robin and Peaches. We cut through on this short trail from a cul du sac
to Bel Pre Road just before it dumps out onto Norbeck Road. We were
almost done, and I encouraged Robin to keep going, we were almost there.
Passed a Church just after Nadine Drive, then onto Bauer Drive again and
to the finish.
This 11km trail had a little bit of woods, but mostly neat suburban
neighborhoods. Some very unusual older houses around the Manor Country
Club. An unmanned checkpoint at the Country Club showed how old the golf
club was; 1922. Many thanks to many of my fellow club members who helped
out in making this a very successful walk. We both got some new club
shirts at the finish, and picked up our award, a nice National Trails Day
commemorative key ring. There were about 240 walkers doing both trails on
this day, with about 443 total for the two days. I returned on Sunday for
an club officers meeting in the morning where we mapped out our plan of a
walk a month for 1998 and the 2 major events for 1999.
Then Robin and I
went off to Lake Needwood for checkpoint duty. I managed to get a 5 km
loop in around the lake with the pooches, but Don Jaynes said he would
post about that loop as part of this total 15 km trail he did before he
did the Flower Valley walk with me on Saturday afternoon. It was great, I
must say! The pooches really enjoyed it, I know that much!
All in all a great weekend of walking and meeting up with plenty of
walklister contributors/lurkers and doggie admirers/owners.
Seneca Valley Sugarloafers
AVA Walking Events and Clubs
About.com Washington DC
About.com Baltimore, MD
US National and State Parks
Previous Walking With The Walrus:
Kensington, Maryland April 12, 1997C and O Canal April 19, 1997
St. Michaels, Maryland April 26, 1997
Rockville, Maryland, Gunston Hall Plantation, Virginia, May 3-4
Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge, May 10
C&O Canal and Mt. Airy, May 17-18
Guy Mason Park, DC, May 24
