Duck Bouncer

One of the pieces of playground equipment at Elm Street Park in Bethesda.  A bouncer in the shape of a duck.

Blanche Lake, Utah

Sometimes I go places.  This was one of those times.  I was in Salt Lake City last week and on Sunday I went on a hike to Blanche Lake in Big Cottonwood Canyon.  The trail 3 miles each way, up hill on the way to the lake and downhill all the way back, This isn't an up-and-down trail, or one that is so steep it is nothing but switchbacks, it just steadily grinds upward, gaining almost 2,600 feet of elevation.

The lake itself isn't very large.  At one time there was a stone dam at the end, but it is no longer operational.  After I got up there it started raining, the rain and the sun battled it out, it would rain for a few minutes, then the sun would come out and dry things off, then the rain would push forward once again.  Since it was warm out, the rain was not much of an annoyance.

If you look the opposite direction, you can see the canyon you just hiked up.  There is glacier-scoured rocks, low bushes, and a variety of trees.

Railroad siding at Connecticut Avenue

 I like looking around for traces of the old Georgetown Branch railroad line, so I was thrilled to find another abandoned siding.  This one is on the Georgetown Branch Trail, between Bethesda and Connecticut Avenue,  In fact, it is within sight of Connecticut Ave.  In the picture above you can see the fence that marks the edge of Columbia Country Club.  There is a little path next to it and you can walk in a bit and see the rail road tracks

Abandoned railroad siding near Columbia Country Club

 The siding continues to the trees almost to Connecticut Avenue.  Here is a nother bit of it.  In the background you can see a bench and the Georgetown Branch trail.  If you zoom in you can see one of the rails is covered with a bit of chain link fence.

 The siding goes right up to the parking lot of Parkway drycleaning.  I wonder how many people have parked here never knowing what is right next to them.

End of the line

The railroad siding unceremoniously ends with the rail sticking up a bit from the ground.

Next time you are going down that part of the trail, it is worth taking a minute to check out this relic of slightly earlier times.

Railroad siding near River Road

I have walked along the Capital Crescent Trail near River Road many times but I have never noticed the bit of railroad siding that remains in one spot.

See it? It is easy to miss, on the left about 5 feet above the trail and overgrown with vines.

Here's another closer look. This is the end of the siding, I believe this particular bit is to keep railroad cars from rolling off the end. Given how overgrown the rest is I wonder if someone pulled some vines away to make it more visible.

 I walked up the embankment to get a closer look and the rails are still there, going off to the right through the trees.  I removed some vines from a bit of the rail so I could get a better picture.  The cross ties are rotted and spongy, I thought the were going to break when I stepped on them.

The siding connected to the main line right around where the bridge that goes over River Road is.  There is a gravel road next to the trail and you can see a single rail embedded in the road.  Behind that is an open area that slopes up.  This was recently re-graded, the siding is a bit to the left and several feet lower than the current grade.

I walked back among the trees looking for more signs of the siding.  It is all still there, just overgrown with ivy and very hard to see.

Tree trimming on the Capital Crescent Trail

I took a walk along the Capital Crescent Trail yesterday and saw a crew out trimming trees that were overhanging the trail.  They were between River Road and downtown Bethesda, MD, near the Washington Episcopal School.

Yesterday was a bit cooler than earlier in the week but still nice weather to be out walking.  This weekend will be in the upper 70's, perfect for being outside.

Unidentified railroad track equipment

I was walking along the Capital Crescent Trail, which runs along what was once the Georgetown Branch of the B & O railroad.  There are very few remaining relics of the railroad, mostly just a partially visible rail here and there.  However, I did run across this very large, and very puzzling metal thing.

I can't really find the words to adequately describe it, so I can't really search the web to find out what it is. It is about as wide as the rails of the railroad track, has what looks like a pressurized vessel with various pipes going here and there.

If you want to see it for yourself, it is just a bit north of the Dalecarlia tunnel.  I'd like to know what it is, so if you have ideas, leave a comment.



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UPDATE 5/2: I heard from Ben Sullivan who runs a website about the Georgtown Branch railroad line. He said in part "It is indeed the frame of a railroad car and the piping and tanks you described on your blog are components of the brake rigging on the car." And gave a bit about a possible reason: "My best bet so far is that it's part of a derailment wreck and the useful parts of the cars (ie. the wheels, trucks, coupler boxes and bolsters where the trucks were mounted) were all cut off with a torch and taken back to the shop. The rest of the scrap was left to rot. As far as a time/date/reason as to why they were there will be much more difficult. I'm still working on this problem but I doubt I will find specifics."

RIP White Flint Mall

Last weekend I went to White Flint Mall to see what was left.  The Boomingdales part was torn down last year and the rest of the mall has rapidly emptied out.  The only stores I saw were the post office (which closed last Friday), a jewellery store, the Dave & Busters (which lost a court fight to stay), PF Changs, and Lord & Taylors.  The rest of the Mall's three levels are empty.

The main entrance.  The Cheesecake factory used to be on the right, but now it is at Montgomery Mall.

The forever "Temporarily out of service" escalator going up to where the Borders bookstore was a few years agoi.

The Bloomingdales end of the mall has been blocked off with black plywood.

The food court doesn't have any restaurants in it anymore but there are tables and chairs left if you want to bring your own lunch.

One of the painting in the food court.

The mall directory is blank now, which is an odd sight to see.

C & O canal at Edward's Ferry

The weather is cooling off, but there is still time to enjoy the outdoors. On Thursday I decided to walk along the C & O Canal and see how the leaves were changing.

I went to Edward's Ferry, it is about 45 minutes from Bethesda, MD, but isn't nearly as crowded as the canal around Great Falls or Swain's lock can be.  Edward's ferry is right at lock 25.  The lockhouse has been maintained and you can even rent it for the night.

There used to be a small community at the ferry, there isn't much left, but this building has been partially re-built.  I went here a number of years ago and at the time, this was two-story ruins.  It is hard to say how much of the brickwork is original and how much is rebuilt, but I think a lot of it is rebuilt.

If you walk north along the canal for about a mile you get to a place where the canal went over a stream called Broad Run.  The stone work is all still here, and the creek flows across the canal and under the tow path.

Here is how the trail looks north of Edward's Ferry., lots of greens and yellows this time of year.

Just a little south of Edward's ferry is what is left of the Goose Creek river lock (Goose Creek in Virginia enters the Potomac on the other side of the river). This is actually a combination of two locks, this picture was taken from the lower one looking up at the upper one.

Here's is the Potomac river looking north. If you look closely you may be able to see the boat launch ramp at Edward's ferry on the right.

Another view of the river lock right where it connects to the river.

Just a little further south is the Chisel Branch hiker/biker campsite.  It has a picnic table, grill, and port-a-potty.

While on my walk I saw a nice deer crossing the trail and this red fox.  He was a bit suspicious of me and kept his distance.

I also drove to the next access spot at Sycamore Landing.  There is a soybean field right next to the parking lot, and of course, miles of towpath to walk on.

Go visit Luray Caverns

 If you have never been to Luray Caverns (in Luray Virginia), you should go.  Especially if you have kids (bring them along of course).  Luray Caverns is one of the most impressive underground cave systems in the country, and certainly the best one within a days drive of Maryland. It is less than two hours away from Bethesda so you can easily make it a day trip.

 It isn't the biggest cave system, actually, it is fairly small.  It's claim to fame is the plethora of impressive stalactites, stalagmites, and flowstone.  They have guided tours that go through the cave following a paved path that is suitable for both wheel chairs and strollers.  The tour itself takes about an hour, but there are other things to do on the property such as seeing the Luray valley museum or the antique car museum.  The car exhibit is surprisingly good, the pack a large number of examples of early automobiles in the exhibit and it is well worth the time to walk through it.

One of the more unusual formations is called "fried eggs" because it resembles two sunny-side up eggs.  They say that the centers used to be yellow like egg yolks but the color wore off from people rubbing them.

This isn't a place you go back to year after year.  It doesn't change much.  However, going there every 20 years or so is well worth the effort.  If you have already been there, you should consider going to Skyline Caverns too.  I don't think it is quite as awe inspiring, however, it does have some types of rock formations that Luray doesn't have, so if you like Luray, you'll probably like skyline too.  I have some more pictures of Luray Caverns if you want to see them.

Starry Night in Bethesda

 

Next time you are on Norfolk Avenue in Bethesda, MD, look for this art installation by Union Hardware.  It is a rendition of Vincent van Gogh's "Starry night" except it is done with different types of kitchen/bath hardware.  Lots of various kinds of handles and metal plates.  It's really neat, I walked by it a few times before going by on the same side of the street and getting a close look at it.