On a blustery, partly cloudy, cold day with occasional snow flurries, my pooches India and Peaches joined me on a 10 km walk on this Saturday around the suburban neighborhood of Calverton Maryland. Spanning the border between two counties, Montgomery and Prince Georges, the area is really in a transition zone between the coastal plain and the foothills of the Appalachians.The 10 km trail, rated 1+ had a gentle rolling feel, with lots of moderate ups and downs along the well marked trail.
The Freestate Happy Wanderers sponsored this walk, hosting about 270 walkers on this one day event, starting us out at the Ramada Inn just off Interstate 95. I had hoped to meet up with some friends to walk with, but no one showed up, so we just registered and were off on our way. Saw many of the usual walkers at the start point, and most everyone was in a hurry-up mode, just to keep warm.
The trail was a bit confusing at the beginning, so trail markings really helped in addition to the directions and map everyone had. We passed a housing complex marked by a lighthouse and pond, with plenty of honking ducks and geese that Peaches wanted to get a lot closer to. We alternated between apartments, town houses, and single family houses, along with an elementary school and the associated fields and playgrounds for the first few kilometers.
Eventually after circuiting around the school, we wound up in a long stretch of quiet single family houses in the Calverton community. After making several turns and twists, we went a good ways on one street, Castleleigh, on a long gradual uphill route.At the top of this gradual hill we turned off Castleleigh and on to Kilkenny and then Galway, and our first checkpoint at the Galway Elementary School. A nice couple was there, outside at the entrance to the school, trying to stay warm. The pooches got some needed water, I got my start card marked, and picked up some candy. A minor revision to the walk route was deseminated to all walkers by the volunteers there, just to get around the school. It was quite open there, and with the cold, snowy breezes it was not a place to linger around very long.
Getting back into neighborhoods once again, we had a transition into a different neighborhood on a paved trail between houses, across a fenced off culvert on a small bridge, and onto Pretoria and Shannandale Drives. Some nicely wooded lots were passed, and once again a gradual uphill to the second, unstaffed checkpoint just off busy route 29. I was amazed just prior to this checkpoint in meeting a couple of doggies. They were not on the volksmarch, but this border collie was quite active, and Peaches and he had a rather unfriendly confrontation. Another brindle colored dog ambled over to us slowly, and somehow even Peaches gave this dog respect; he still goes out twice a day to walk, but is 18 years old, way up there in dog years. I hope mine can make it that long!
I met a few more volksmarchers at the checkpoint, but with the wind whipping up a bit, we certainly couldn't linger. Retracing the trail a bit along Shannandale, but heading downhill, I caught a nice vista with a double towered building at least 10 miles away that I did not recognize. Turning on to Ofallon there was a short down and then up another hill where at the top we turned onto busy Cherry Hill Road at the White Oak Armory. Large shopping areas could be found to the right, but we were turning left.
Large apartment complexes along Cherry Hill Road gave way to another large shopping area at the intersection of Calverton Blvd, where we turned left at the traffic light. A long gradual downhill started out in more apartments with a small pond on our left, but eventually back into the usual older single family modest housing in this suburban community. We crossed that culvert once again, passing several streets which we had passed earlier on the way out along Casteleigh. Along the way here I noticed a sign marking entrance into Prince Georges County. I had not noticed a similiar sign going out when entering into Montgomery County, not sure if there actually was one or if I just missed it. I was gratified that I stuck it out for the entire 10 km, as the trail finished up at the end of Calverton Blvd and the Ramada Inn.
I turned in my start card, got my books stamped, and passed around thanks for the nice walk to many of my friends in the Freestate Club after putting the pooches in the car, since they weren't allowed inside the hotel. The combination map, written directions and occasional markers gave a winning combination for a great trail. I hope to visit this community again sometime in the future for another nice walk. Thanks, Freestaters!
Seneca Valley Sugarloafers
Upcoming walking events in Maryland
Volksmarch and Walking Index Web page
About.com DC/Annapolis
US National and State Parks
