MD Oregon Ridge County Park: Slow Loop

Oregon Ridge County Park, Red Trail: 2 miles 

Quarry lake is 40' deep!

Somehow we found ourselves on a section of trail that had been closed, although when we came to the taped section prohibiting us from going any further, we had already been on the trail for a while. So, there we were in front of the parking area, minutes from our finish at a heavily damaged section of washed out trail that clearly said (from the parking area) DO NOT ENTER. Oh well, every hiker for themselves. Some chose to jump the tape and navigate the wash out carefully down. I chose to bushwack on to a deer trail that cut a diagonal path across the steep slope. Voila! Nobody got arrested. 

Chestnut burr

The downhill finish to our slow winter hike on the Red Trail marked the last hike of 2023. If there was ever a reason to explain why we were so slow, today's hike provided it - a family of nature nerds who can't resist checking out every little stream for benthic life, rolling logs for winter salamanders and invertebrates, and winter botany. While other hikers were doing laps around the two-mile loop trail (most of them with dogs) we just puttered along oooo-ing and ahhh-ing at the winter world. 

Dusky Salamander

All that was missing was the snow and ice which has been absent this year so far. Hopefully 2024 will have some colder temps and some snowy ground cover in store. I do think part of my feeling out-of-sorts lately is that I really miss a proper winter. Winters with snow on the ground for more than a few days in a row are becoming quite rare in this part of the Mid-Atlantic. Yet, snow is such an important aspect of our winter ecology that we aren't alone in feeling how the lack of it affects our year-round ecological health. 

"Princess Pine" Lycopodium

On this day, the last hike of 2023, it drizzled and was chilly, but waters ran clear of ice and there were no ice flowers to mark the trail. There were lots of doggy poop bags left on the side of the the trail in this high traffic park and I came away wondering why people can't just pack a zip-lock or container to pack out the bags rather than leave them for someone else (the poop bag fairy?) to collect? The dogs, on the other hand, were wonderful to meet and greet with lots of wagging and nose-boop kisses. 

Even the tiniest stream holds winter life - but no ice yet.

I'm not going to whine about "winters when I was younger" but I will say that in my lifetime I have witnessed drastic changes in the cold season. I will also say that when I was in high school, winter outings on snow shoes with our biology and art teacher on weekends were the absolute best and kept us literally deep in winter ecology and culture for months. I learned to love winter from people who loved it even more. We didn't have the means to enjoy skiing holidays or trips to famous winter wonderlands like some families did, however, but we did have some very astute winter biologists with whom to share our winter breaks close to home. Here's to my teachers on snowshoes (raising a glass to Tolkien on Jan 3), to "The Professors." 

Partridgeberry 

One of my New Year's resolutions is to find the delicate flowers of the winter Partridgeberry. I am always finding it by its prostrate growing habit hugging the winter forest floor and very happy when I can find a few of its Christmas red berries still clinging on. But with so much else going on in spring time, I tend to forget about this little shrub (yes, it's a shrub) that can cover a half-acre of forest floor with one plant. This year I will make every effort to catch this little gem in bloom! 

California hiker in Maryland (American Chestnut)

Another reason we were slow was to better enjoy each other's company with one relative, my hiking buddy niece who has since moved to California (and a whole new hiking world), and the rest of us quite tired with all the busy-ness the holiday season inflicts upon us. It's the way of winter, though, a slow down and rest a little kind of world where we all spent a few hours just finding a little peace and quiet and each other's curiosities about the winter landscape relaxing. 

Notes:

Oregon Ridge Nature Center and Park https://www.oregonridgenaturecenter.org/

Our fault for not consulting the notices section on the park's website where it clearly states the trail closure near the quarry lake. Thank you for not arresting us. We were kind of confused...