Walking with the Walrus

10 KM VOLKSMARCH
DAMASCUS (MAGRUDER BRANCH TRAIL), MD USA
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1997

by Kevin Shaw
My pooches, India and Peaches, my daughter Robin and I headed out on this beautiful Saturday a bit north from my house to Kings Valley Park in Damascus and the start of my Seneca Valley Sugarloafers Volksmarch Club's 10 km walk. I take a bit of special pride each time my club does a walk on this trail, as 4 years ago I scouted out this trail right after it opened as a possible trail for us to put an event on. This was a limited start window event, from 8-9 am. We got there a few mins after 9, but were still able to walk. We were walkers 118 and 119, but there turned out to be 132 on this day.
This trail is an out and back route, so we were afforded the pleasure of seeing most of the walkers coming back as we were going out, and even seeing the few behind us still going out when we were returning. Great to see several "regular" walkers who I have not seen on the trail for a while.
The trail starts in Kings Valley Park out in the open, on rolling hills with tennis courts, softball diamonds and most notably soccer fields on both sides of our trail. After about 1 km, we start heading down the biggest hill on the course, and leave these fields and lots of kids playing soccer into the quiet, tranquil forest of the Magruder Branch valley. The paved path winds gradually down through the woods into the valley floor and crosses the Magruder Branch, a small stream that eventually finds its way into Rock Creek and the Potomac River in Washington D.C. Here it is a quiet, small stream, quite clean, clear and slow moving, especially during this dry year we are having in this area. India and Peaches cooled their pads off and relieved their parched pallets in this stream several times. They also visited with several of their canine cohorts on the trail, as long as they passed the pre-meeting screening Robin did by simply asking, " Is your dog friendly?, Ours are!"
Besides the paved path, the route followed numerous stream crossing wooden/iron bridges, and long boardwalks over marshy areas. One road crossing (Sweepstakes Road) about 1.7 miles into the walk had to be negotiated carefully, as the cars plunged into the valley without much warning. This marked the 5 km turnaround spot, and an unstaffed checkpoint and money collection can. Fees could not be collected at the actual start/finish since it was in a county park, so the fees for both the 5 km and 10 km were collected at the checkpoints for each of those distances. The turnaround for the 10 km was 1.4 miles past Sweepstakes Road at Valley View Drive, where Bob Caldwell and Claire Kinsella, daughter of walk organizer/POC John Kinsella were waiting for us. The trail was basically flat along the stream valley, until we approached the 10 km checkpoint/turnaround point, where the path climbs out of the valley and onto Valley View Drive, pretty close to the downtown Damascus area actually.
The trail in the valley is somewhat open, but with trees on both sides most of the way. These trees are just starting to show a bit of the traditional fall color change. We didn't see a lot of spectacular wildlife while walking the trail this day, but in past days we have walked this trail one can see deer, soaring hawks and buzzards, squirrels, et al. I did spot a wooly bear caterpillar on the trail, a "sure sign" that winter is on the way!
We took about 2 hours to do this trail; many speedy walkers did it in 1 1/2 hours. I engaged in several brief conversations along the trail and at the checkpoint with several other volkssporters. John Kinsella and his son took care of our start cards and event books at the finish. I picked up a few future brochures, and exchanged some information with Ed Branges, who was in the process of taking over finish duties from John Kinsella. Many thanks to the few club members that volunteered their time and efforts to lead to a successful Saturday morning walking event in a very pleasant part of rural Maryland. I am sure we will return to this lovely spot several times in the future.

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
Rockville, MD Feb. 7, 1998
Washington, DC Feb. 22 and Thurmont Maryland Feb. 21, 1998
College Park, MD, March 7, 1998
George Mason University, Fairfax Virginia and Olney Maryland, March 14-15, 1998
Emmitsburg, Maryland, March 22, 1998
Jug Bay, Maryland, March 28, 1998
Roosevelt Island, Maryland, April 5, 1998
Roanoke, Virginia, April 11, 1998
Cedarville State Forest Maryland, April 26, 1998
Butlers Orchard Farm Market, Maryland, May 3, 1998
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
Darnestown, MD 1/9/99
Calverton, MD 1/13/99
Kenwood (Bethesda) MD 4/10/99
C and O Canal Paw Paw Tunnel 4/17/99
Franklin Farm, Herndon, Virginia 4/24/99