We took advantage of the Indian summer weather two Sundays ago to continue our explorations. We started on the canal towpath near Sangamore Road in Bethesda and immediately encountered the surprising Sycamore Island Club, a throw back to the turn of the century - the 19th, that is. The two acre island is a private community organization founded in the 1880s. Club members reach the island by boat or a hand-drawn ferry (see here). The island is loaded with stored canoes. I'm thinking of joining if they'll have me.
We headed south past Little Falls and the pumping station. There are numerous islands on the route. In the channel between the Maryland shore and the first island south of the pumping station is a kayak slalom course. Unlike ski or bike slalom courses, where the poles are set in the ground, this was set up with poles that were attached at the top to a matrix of criss-crossed wires. An ingenious solution to the problem of flooding. Maybe next summer I'll bring my kayak down and try it.
I've mentioned the dearth of wildlife along the towpath before. Today surprised me. I'm not sure whether it's the cooler weather or the fewer humans invading the woods, but there seemed to be more wildlife. We saw our first pair of deer, a large doe and a yearling buck with antlers still downy. There were also throngs of wood thrushes fluttering in and out of the bushes and a half dozen ducks in slow pools of the Potomac. Black squirrels, too, chattering at us from the tree branches.
Our interest was piqued at Lock 6 when we noticed a sign saying that visitors could stay there overnight. It turns out that the Park Service has rehabbed three of the old lockhouses - 6, 22 and 49 - and rents them by the night. For a mere $125, you and a bunch of friends can live like a lockkeeper of old, albeit with a modern kitchen and AC. If you prefer la vida rustica, you can stay at Lockhouse 49 with a portable hotplate and a nearby portable toilet. Tough choice, but I'm not sure I can talk my friends into trying 49.
This past Sunday was a different season. The leaves are all gone and the feel of winter was definitely in the air. We hiked the section of the canal from Brickyard Rd. in Potomac to Lock 8 in Cabin John, about four miles. For the first time since we started the blog, we had a guest join us. Our friend Chris Abraham, social media guru and pizza gourmand,rambled along, drawn by the promise of beer and jazz at the Irish Inn in Glen Echo if he survived.
These hikes are a tonic for the soul and help clear the brain. Walking with Chris was delightful, as the conversation ranged from law to social media to unicorns and beyond. We discovered the park at Cabin John - not sure how we'd missed that all our lives - and ran into what appeared to be a meeting of the Corsican-American society devoted to playing petanque (or whatever they call boules in Corsica). We decided that the ship basin at David W. Taylor must be at least 1/3 mile long. There were more deer and some of the most beautiful emerald-headed ducks I've ever seen. The wood thrushes were still noisy.
Chris survived. It was long past dark by the time we left the Irish Inn. Frost was crystalizing on the roof of the car. Welcome to winter.
