Useful Professional Development?

This past week, I had the opportunity to participate in a professional development session that was put on by my district. It was supposed to be yet another MWEE (meaningful watershed educational experience) training session, and because of previous (and required) MWEE trainings plus the fact that most of the district sponsored sessions suck, I wasn't holding out hope that this session would be any better. 

The training was originally going to be at the district's main hub for outdoor education, the Smith Center, but quickly changed to an up-county facility I hadn't heard of before. No biggie to me; with a 9:30AM start time, I knew I had plenty of time to get there. I did find it interesting that the Kingsley Environmental Center is right next to a correctional facility, and wondered if that was part of the reason it is, in the trainer's words, "underutilized." 

Anyway, one of the things the trainers reminded us of was that incorporating a MWEE wasn't just a suggestion in the high school science curricula, it is actually a requirement per the Maryland State Department of Education. It falls under the environmental literacy requirement, and the MWEE itself is part of the Chesapeake Agreement that was signed by governors of all Chesapeake Bay watershed states and the District of Columbia. Environmental literacy is required in science courses, and because it isn't part of some end-of-year test, it is often scoffed at by teachers. Even though it's embedded in the district's curriculum guide, teachers skip over it when they can. 

After STEAM in the Park, and thinking of ways to incorporate my experiences there into next school year, I walked into this training hoping to come out with ways to link the MWEE and a National Park experience with my students. The training was definitely helpful and more importantly, fun and interesting! We spent most of the time by Ten Mile Creek actually doing the stream study instead of sitting in front of a screen talking about a stream study. 

part of the area we surveyed

our quantabs showed very high chloride levels in the water

I found a caddisfly larva

someone else's hellgrammite

one participant was more interested in collecting vertebrates like this salamander

We did some chemical testing as well as looking for macroinvertebrates to assess the biological health of the stream. Overall, the stream seemed pretty good at the area we surveyed, despite a near-toxic chloride level reading (mine was 215ppm, and another group's was in the 230ppm range). We saw larvae of two different species of caddisfly, larvae of damselflies and mayflies, crayfish, rifflebugs (and their larvae), hellgrammites, salamanders, frogs, small fish, lungsnails and more. 

The last time I did a real stream study with students was with my forensics students at Northwood. We partnered with the AP Environmental Science class to participate in the One Montgomery Green Clean Headwaters program, and did a stream study on a little stream that feeds into Sligo Creek. Before that, it was at Watkins Mill, when Lauren Wilkinson set up a trip to the Great Falls area on the C&O Canal to do a stream study there. 

Northwood Forensics and APES students participating in the Clean Headwaters program

I really want to do something with my Wheaton students next year that incorporates things I learned at STEAM in the Park plus the MWEE. I have ideas, I just need them to coalesce into something actionable. 

After the training, I took the time to go over to the Edwards Ferry area of the C&O Canal, and wandered from there up to MM32 and back. There were a ton of turtles out, including a snapping turtle with a smaller turtle sitting on its head at the Broad Run double culvert. 

This was right after the smaller turtle swam away from the snapping turtle and I realized there were two turtles

The double culvert is an interesting structure. It's not quite an aqueduct as there are no arches, not even a single arch like at Fifteenmile Creek. But it's more involved than the usual culverts that appear regularly along the towpath. 

View of the Broad Run double culvert approaching from the east

Looking down on Broad Run from the west side of the structure

While the day had started off nice, by this time, it had become pretty hot and muggy, and with limited water supplies with me, I turned around just past Broad Run when I saw MM32. There weren't many other things to see along the towpath (likely due to the oppressive humidity), though I found it interesting that the dilapidated wire fence I saw had evidently been around for so long it had become incorporated into several trees' trunks. 

barbed wire emerging from a tree trunk

There is a lockhouse at Edwards Ferry (and the remains of a community), and it's one of those restored by the Canal Trust as a place to stay. One of these days, I do want to stay at one of the lockhouses; it seems like a neat way to experience the towpath. 

Lockhouse for Lock 25

Overall, it was a good day. Now, we plan for the road trip. I just got my folding shovel so I can do some dispersed and/or backcountry camping as needed or desired. I still need to get some replacement "sleeping pads" for the leaky ones in the tents. I also need to replace my trail shoes (and/or get new hiking boots)!

road trip planning; yes, we're also using Atlas Obscura in the planning!

There's never enough time for getting ready for the road trip, just like there's never enough time to do all the things we want to do on the road trip!

note : some links may be associate links where I get minimal compensation for any click-throughs and/or purchases made
 

 
 

Wanderlust Close to Home

After physical therapy today, I was hit with a bout of wanderlust. Since we have tickets to see Thor: Love and Thunder tonight, I didn't want to go too far, plus I also am a little shy of needing to get gas since the Camaro requires premium. Since I bought a Maryland State Parks Annual Pass this year, I opted to go to the close-by Patapsco Valley State Park and hike around on some trails I haven't really explored. 

Of course, the first thing I realize is that I wasn't going to have my hiking poles with me, since I left them in the Crosstrek after our trip last weekend. I didn't really want to just go along the paved Grist Mill Trail, so I just figured I could find a long enough stick somewhere along the way. 

Wineberries were prevalent along all of the trails I was on

I started off on the Santee Branch Trail, heading roughly north, and when it met up with the Bull Run Trail, I paused for a moment to admire the bike "shop" that was installed there. It looks like it has tools and a bike pump for mountain bikers who find they need it along the trail. I wonder how many other ones there are in the park?

A combination tool/air pump station for bicyclists

There were quite a few birds, rabbits and squirrels along the trail, and some interesting fungi. I found one cluster of slime molds that was pretty intriguing. 

A cluster of slime mold

I paused by a small stream (Bull Run? Though the maps all say "Bill Run," so I'm not sure which is correct), and saw at least two kinds of crayfish, but couldn't really get a photo. 

It's not Cascade Falls, but it was still pretty

An odd looking rock 

Once I met up with the Soapstone Trail, I followed that in the direction that I thought would be taking me back to the Camaro. Instead, I ended up at the trailhead at Rolling Road. No biggie; I headed down a different way. It was a little traumatic at first, as there was barbed wire next to the trail. This triggered bad memories of a random stretch of barbed wire along the Patapsco River that almost ended my life so many years ago on a 4-H trail ride. 

No idea why there was a barbed wire fence here

I ultimately ended up at the Lower Glen Artney area, where some Civilian Conservation Corps-built shelters are found, just as they are in other areas of the park. 

The CCC built a lot of shelters and other structures at Patapsco Valley State Park

I opted to just follow the road back to where I'd parked, as I was out of water and I was tired. My trail shoes also are worn out, and I'm pretty sure I bruised my right foot when I stepped on a rock. It wasn't a long hike, but there were a lot of steep hills and with the humidity, I was soaked with sweat yet not cooling down. Needless to say, the first thing I did when I got home was shower! 

My Camaro makes me happy

Looking over the trail map for the area when I got home, I see lots more opportunities for hiking, even as the Grist Mill Trail will be closed after Labor Day for about a year to fix the footbridges. I need to print out the trail map and keep it with me! 

I'll leave you with a photo of tiny mushrooms; these were barely an inch tall and the slender stalk looked delicate. 

Larger than life

note : some links may be associate links where I get minimal compensation for any click-throughs and/or purchases made

Beauty in the Rot

Pat wanted to go fishing yesterday, so I tagged along. I didn't bring my rods this time; I just wanted to wander. His destination was Dam #4 along the C&O Canal, and I figured it was high time that I traversed the section of towpath between there and Taylors Landing, if not all the way down to Snyders Landing. 

This great blue heron thought Dam #4 fishing was a good idea, too.

Dam 4 is approximately mile 84.6 along the C&O Canal, and Taylors Landing is at 80.9. Snyders Landing is 76.8. Pat usually fishes for 3-4 hours at a spot, but as I started moving along the towpath, I saw several other people fishing around Dam 4. I wasn't sure if that would affect Pat's decision to fish there, though I have had good luck fishing at Taylors Landing and thought maybe he'd shift downriver if needed.

It was forecast to be in the mid-to-upper 80s, and "low humidity," though I thought it was pretty muggy outside even at 8AM. The temperature never seemed oppressive, but the moisture in the air and the reminders of the damage from a storm the previous evening made me wonder if more storms were on the way. 

Of course, all of the rain and humidity meant there were a lot of fungi, slugs and other decomposers to be seen amidst the fallen limbs and five foot jewelweed.

Moisture drips from a yellow jewelweed flower

A small helicoid snail

A wood ear fungi grows on a fallen log

I saw a lot of wood ear (jelly ear) fungi and the ubiquitous shelf fungi, and not a whole lot of the stereotypical club or mushroom fungi. I suppose the mushrooms would take another few hours after the storms to pop up. 

The remains of a tree, showing the internal structure of a trunk and wood ear and shelf fungi

A reddish orange jelly fungus on a fallen tree at Lock 40

Split gill fungi on a limb

It's July, and so flowering plants were in the minority. I did see some small, unripe pawpaw fruits, and lots of jewelweed, but that was about it. There were tons of mosquitoes, and I was pretty happy to have bug wipes with me to keep them at bay. 

Pawpaw fruits knocked down by the storm

A few months ago, I hiked up from Ferry Hill to Snyders Landing and saw Lock 39. This time, I saw Lock 40, between Taylors and Snyders Landings. The stone is in really good condition, though it's far enough from anything else that the vegetation around it is completely overgrown. 

Upstream side of Lock 40

Looking through the lock channel from the upstream side

Looking at Lock 40 from the downstream side

Probably the strangest thing I saw on the trip was the interaction between two black-and-yellow flat millipedes. When I first saw them, they were about an inch apart, crawling in opposite directions. They quickly turned towards each other and started..... I don't know what. Mating? Fighting? It wasn't clear. I took a few photos and left them to do their Mutual of Omaha thing. 

This was right after they "noticed" each other

I can't tell if this is fighting or mating

Anyway, I had little-to-no cell service most of this hike, so while I was trying to keep Pat updated on where I was, I wasn't getting any response from him. When I arrived at Snyders Landing, I send a text and a photo, then wandered over to the parking area where I saw the Crosstrek. He said he hadn't caught anything and so finally just gave up. I had texted him that there was no one at Taylors Landing, but he hadn't stopped there to try. His loss; last time I was skunked at Dam 4 and drove to Taylors Landing instead, I ended up with a 17 inch walleye. 

It was a good hike, with lots of little things to see if you know what to look for. I need to do this more often. 

A small brownish-orange slug crawls on the cut edge of a fallen tree

note : some links may be associate links where I get minimal compensation for any click-throughs and/or purchases made