Walking

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Walking

Seneca Creek State Park - Blue (Clopper Lake) Trail

Gaithersburg Maryland USA - Saturday, September 13, 1997

by Kevin Shaw
Sorry for my absence on posting about walks; I have been doing a lot of other things, including non-event walking and non-event biking, mostly on the towpath along the C and O canal. On, Saturday, September 13, I did the Clopper Lake Trail, one of two year round events (FAQ on YRE) in beautiful Seneca Creek State Park in Gaithersburg Maryland. My club, the Seneca Valley Sugarloafers, maintain these YREs in the Park. We held our annual club picnic at the Bobwhite Shelter in the park after everyone walked a YRE trail. This shelter wound up as being a temporary start/finish for these YREs for the day. The Shaker Forest Festival, an interesting array of crafters, woodworkers, et al, are set up this weekend (and next, and were set up also last weekend) in the park also, and the lake trail went right past the festival.
Both YRE trails are outstanding natural path walks that are beautiful and very enjoyable no matter what the season. I was surprised to see how many trees are changing colors already. Dogwoods are most notable among the species that are changing, into brilliant reds. Some maples and oaks on the outer edges of local woodland environments are just starting to change over to yellow and red. Most of the year we have had significantly lower than normal precipitation, which can contribute to the early color changes.
Great views of Clopper Lake and a variety of wild animals were enjoyed this warm, sunny, late summer day. Deer are famous in this park, they are all over, and if you don't see it on either one of the YRE trails you are not very observant. Today I saw several, especially in this one spot not long into this day's walk where I almost always see them. Geese, ducks on the water, and many varieties of land birds were in evidence on this day. I noticed along a couple of spots on the trail away from the water concentrated areas of starlings, something I never noticed before.
I live within a mile or so of this walk, but I don't do it that often because State Park Regulations forbid dogs on the grounds. On this day I walked by myself, since I arrived a bit later than the 10 AM start time most people came for.
Another great aspect of the YRE trails in this state park is the great variety of environments the trails take you through. Wooded uplands, open meadows, lakeshore trails, park roads, and boardwalks make walking the trails a real joy. And they are beautiful no matter what the season. A few years ago I walked the original trail on a snowy January day by myself and it was truly one of the most memorable walk events I ever did.
At the picnic after the walk, I received a certificate of achievement that I was supposed to receive at the June AVA convention. Somehow it was misplaced, and I was not there for the entire convention which might also have contributed to some confusion. It made me proud to receive such an award, but completing this walk, rated 2, also was quite an accomplishment today. The only walks I have done the past few months have been on the very flat C and O canal; today's trail took me up and down quite a bit, giving my recuperating knee/leg quite a workout. There have been about 100 walkers so far this year on the original blue trail (rated 2+ - more upland walking and a bit less around the lake) and about 130 on the (blue) Lake trail that I did on Saturday.
The trail is well marked with little wooden AVA markers, along with a map and detailed directions to go along with the markers. I have done both trails several times through the past five years, so I basically can just walk and not have to read much.I am so thankful to my club, the Seneca Valley Sugarloafers for hosting and managing this walk so well.