Drive To Catoctin Mountain
I slept again in Chez Walmart and woke around 6:30. I went into Walmart to get some ice, a banana and berry juice. When I came out, the sun was hitting all the trees around the parking lot creating a bright yellow light on everything.
Ottwheels: Sunlight and Window Shades
I drove back to my favorite Walmart in Bel Air for my coffee and to get online before heading to the mountains. I went to Sprouts supermarket for lunch and to pickup a few things for camping. Sprouts reminds me of a cross between Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. The boxed salads was fresh and delicious.
I left Bel Air, MD around 2:00 pm headed for Catoctin Mountain National Park. I decided to avoid highways and toll roads which added some time to the trip. I also pulled out the camera and had it on the front seat incase there were opportunities for photographs along the way.
As I was pulling out of the driveway at Sprouts, a woman, probably in her 80’s, driving a very small car, turned into my lane. I looked over at her and in the passenger’s seat was a skeleton with a black bowtie, a three-cornered hat, and what looked like blood on the side of its jaw. I wondered what she was in such a hurry for.
My one hour and forty minute trip turned into almost four hours. I was driving the back roads at 5mph over the speed limit. This was way too slow for most of the drivers on these roads. So, I would periodically pull over to let them speed by. I would often see them miles later, sitting at a light.
I pulled over in front of a horse farm because the trees were so beautiful. While I was capturing some photos, the owner pulled out of the driveway in her Mercedes sedan and rolled the window. She said, “Aren’t they just beautiful in this sunlight?”. I agreed and she told me she hoped I got some good shots. I walked over to the horses to get some photos and they started to come closer until they were spooked by a loud truck.
I came through the small town of Monkton, MD and as I passed a red brick building, I saw a cafe sign in my review mirror. I made a u-turn as soon as possible. It had been about 3 hours since my last cup of coffee. I parked in the lot beside the hotel and discovered the cafe was closed. The building was sitting directly beside a rails-to-trails route. I thought rails-to-trails was new in the last 25 years, but I learned that this trail had been converted in the early 80’s. There didn’t seem to be much in Monkton, but there was a lot of cyclist passing the cafe. I thought what a lost opportunity for the hotel. I walked around and talked to a few people about the trail that went up through Pennsylvania. It was a nice 30-minute detour.
As I got close to the Catoctin Moutain Park, traffic became backed up. They were repaving the main road into the park. Camp David is part of the Catoctin Mountain Park and I wondered if the re-pavement was being done to impress foreign dignitaries because the old pavement didn’t really look bad.
It was still light when I arrived, but I knew I didn’t have a lot of time to setup the site in daylight. I was camping in the Owens Creek Campround at site 26. Every site was clearly marked and the directions were easy to follow. I’ve gotten pretty quick at setting up the tent and air mattress. I also wanted to try my new canopy for over the picnic table which I only setup once in a practice run. It took a little bit longer than I expected to get the canopy up, but it made such a difference.
There weren’t a lot of people at the campsite. It was Thursday night and near the end of the season. I guest there were 10 tents scattered around the park. Each site had a paved drive for the car. The sites are terraced with the tent on the upper terrace, and the picnic and fire ring on a lower terrace which is built up from the rest of the forest. Some real thought went into making sure the sites were well laid out.
Tonight, I had Boca burgers with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and extra onions. I made butter noodles with marinara sauce for the side. True confession, I had a beer despite it not being allowed in the park. It was nice to sit under the canopy. There isn’t much protection, but just being under a covering makes you feel more secure in some strange way.
It was going to be cold tonight (around 35 F) so I made sure I used the extra down sleeping sack.