The route today took us over some familiar territory from old walks and also some new streets. Since the first kilometer or so followed the same route both out and back, I saw many walkers coming in and got the pleasure of exchanging greetings with them. Peaches and India also did with fellow mutt-marchers. Proceeding past the point of doubling, the pooches and I were out alone on the trail for a few minutes, until fellow club member John Kinsella joined me on the trail. It was great to walk with John, catching up on trail and new Year-round updates, and finding out how each other's families were doing, especially online.
After the initial 2.2 km on Bauer Drive to start, we turned onto Chadwick and most of the rest of the trail made you pay close attention to the directions due to many turns. I like that, keeps things interesting. 2 Checkpoints were found on the trail, answering questions of sights on the route. Newer housing with smaller trees changed into older houses with bigger, grander trees after crossing busy Bel Pre Rd. Also in this older section I have always noticed the interesting mailboxes I have never seen anywhere else. They look like miniature bomb shelters, with their substantial brick construction and considerable size. In this area of more mature trees there seemed to be more squirrels too, which peaked the interest of India and Peaches, to put it mildly. It is so fascinating to watch them "stalk" their prey, as if they can actually "sneak" up on the furry rodents and surprise them with a pouncing attack! They never seem to learn that this never works, that these squirrels are quite bold but probably see the dogs first way before the dogs see them. They definitely know their territory, and know how far it is to safety, i.e. where the nearest tree is to climb to safe haven. In any event, the squirrel "hunt" definitely keeps the pooches' interest up on the trail, and help wear them out. They are still sleeping as I type this a few hours after the finish.
The older neighborhood had a scenic interlude to highlight this section. Manor Country Club, established many, many years ago, was this highlight, as we passed several scenic holes and the clubhouse on the route. I haven't golfed in a while, but those holes sure looked inviting! Some of the roads we walked on in this section were not in the best of shape and were quite narrow and lacking in sidewalks, but luckily the traffic was quite light while we were walking through.
A short stretch after the golf course found us on the service road of busy highway route 28, but with the buffer of the service road, we were quite safe and relatively quiet. A few more turns after the Bel Pre Road turn and we were on the home stretch, back on Bauer Drive. Passing a large open athletic field for a middle school, I noticed that the parking lot was considerably more empty then when I had started. I hooked up the pooches on a tree just outside the Rec Center finish, and got my books stamped and picked up a few brochures. Unfortunately, some brochures were gone, due to the incredible turnout.
Fellow club member and event co-organizer (with her husband Stan) Dena Forster told me that our club also signed up 8 new members! I also found the final total of walkers on this day was 364. Normally we get around 100 to winter, one day, small window events that we started doing a few years ago, sometimes 200 on really nice days, but never this many! I would like to think at least a few came out from the calendar entry page on the www.ava.org website. Thanks so much to event organizers Stan and Dena, and the many other volunteers who helped with the success of this mid-winter event in suburban Rockville.
Seneca Valley Sugarloafers
Upcoming walking events in Maryland
