MD Rocks State Park, White Trail Loop, Cousins Hike 2022

Close to home for our 2022 Cousins Hike at Rocks State Park in Northern Maryland for a short but entirely fun "romp around the ridge" on the White-Blazed Trail for 3.5 miles. My daughter Emily, two of her kids, Cousin Amy and I had a fantastic outing. Rocks State Park is where I served for some years as park ranger and where Amy and Emily had many outdoor adventures as children. It was a great day for hiking - sunny, highs in the 20s - with a solid trail except for the south slope of the ridge where the frozen ground gave way to slick mud.  This my 2022 52-Hike Challenge Hike #4.

All kinds of erosive features are found on the hike up from Deer Creek. (Pic by Amy)

"The Rocks" is named for a large, high outcrop of exposed metamorphic rock  (Pic by Em)

The rock formations at Rocks State Park are very, very old. Made up of metamorphosed ocean bottom sediments and some igneous intrusions, the ridge is part of an upthrust belt of metagreywackes, quartz, and gneiss - very hard stone indeed. It is a popular spot for rock climbing with a number of routes and pitches that cover the southern (warmer) exposed face. I learned to climb here when I was younger and served as a member of the high angle rescue team when I worked here.

Mairin "walks the plank" and stands 100' above Deer Creek (Pic by Amy)

 

Aiden was happy to go not so far but loved it immensely. 

I won't go into "King and Queen Seat" stories as all are ridiculous legends about indigenous people created by the tourism industry in the early 1900s, but our hikers did enjoy exploring the exposed clifftop for a long time and even sitting in the "throne seats" (actually half-potholes created by running water) before setting out on our loop hike around the ridge. Once on the trail, we made good time through a mature red oak forest that was blanketed in mountain laurel and studded with small outcrops that the kids loved climbing over. I was inspired to start taking more video in order to practice video editing and maybe creating a YouTube channel for our outdoor adventures someday.

Aiden and Amy in the "King and Queen's Seat"

The valley cut by Deer Creek.

Cousins Amy and Emily had many adventures in this park when they were young!

Around the ridge we spotted a few charcoal "pits" or flat oval ground hearths where the fuel was made to fire the iron furnace (now gone) at the base of the north side of the hill on Deer Creek. Rock hopping our way around the slope on a bouldery section of trail, we could make out the sparkling water of the creek far below us and hear its rushing waters. Like many Mid-Atlantic parks, this one was once the scene of heavy industry that has been reclaimed by nature. The still-standing (and lived in) iron master's house and company store were visible across the creek. These are privately owned and not part of the park.

The White-Blazed Trail Loop on the north slope.

Beech leaves still clinging until budburst (Pic by Em)

Here's our video to celebrate Cousins Hike 2022. This was my first attempt at using Kinemaster and I need to learn more about all its features, but it was really cool that I could do it all from my phone from pics, videos, editing, effects, and music to uploading to YouTube. I'll get better at it with more practice!

Not a very long hike, but one that was kid-explorer-paced that brought the kid out in all of us. This whole family is outdoorsy and loves talking about adventuring and I am chomping at the bit for semi-retirement to share more adventures with them. Standing at the base of the climbing cliff I could still see our climbing group in my mind like it was yesterday, everyone in their harnesses, belayers watching those on the pitches, and climbers working their way up the grey wall of stone. How time has flown by! "What's our motto?"  "Onward!"

 

"The Rocks"  (Pic by Em)