Thursday, June 10, 2010

McKeldin Area Hike

I've become a big fan of Meetup.com, which is a "network of local groups" and lets people with various interests organize activities. It is great for somebody new to an area, like myself.

After a little searching, I found a local hiking group that offers several hikes a week, including short ones during the week. So rather than sit around Thursday evening, I decided to attend a hike in the McKeldin area of nearby Patapsco Valley State Park. I could have biked or run but sometimes it is nice to mix it up and be active in a different way.

Six of seven of us met at the trailhead and started out for a short hike before dusk. Everybody was pretty friendly, including the hike/group leader Kellie, who coincidentally lived in Central Florida for a number of years!


River Bank
Originally uploaded by klbarrus



The terrain was rolling hills with one major descent to a path along the river. After some small rapids, we climbed back up to the starting point.


Rapids
Originally uploaded by klbarrus



Kellie brought her dog which had a lot of fun running back and forth between hikers. At the top of the rapids her dog went in for a drink but stepped a little too far and was afraid to come back. He just froze up and looked at us for help. So Kellie and another hiker Steve got close and were able to reach and help him back. Her dog is a German Shepherd, but is getting old (12 years or so)... plus with the rapids nearby I think he just got nervous. The good thing was the rapids were short and slow so I think the dog would have been fine had he slipped - he would have just had a ride for 100 feet and then come to shore thoroughly soaked!

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