Bald Eagle, Patapsco State Park

What is it?

I live in Strangeville. Mind you, this place is a nice neighborhood with nice people, but something is always being tweaked or changed or mowed down or built. There is so much change that it becomes a constant, Large objects get staged here. You get to be aware that when things happen internationally they have an impact on my backyard. When I first came here there was some sort of demand for a certain type of wood. There were logs everywhere sitting idle. I never knew what type of logs but one day they all disappeared, but they had sat so long that all their bark fell off and nobody cleaned it up for months.

Then there was the time the dollar was weak and big monster capital equipment was everywhere, cheap stuff from Japan and Korea. One yahoo truck driver tried to transport of piece of it once and took out a bridge on the beltway, along with about 5 people. Then there was the time that aluminum was cheap. Some Russian bought about a billion ingots and put them all over the place. They sat for a couple of years and maybe he sold high, but one day they were gone.

Oddball stuff comes and goes, but with the help of the Internet sometimes I am able to find out what something is. Take a look at this picture and see if you can tell me what this is (Hint, it is part of a very popular item these days):













Here is a whole bunch of them from another angle.











Off in the distance are some pieces of the rest of the apparatus.








Of course, for that answer all you have to do is visit the Suzlon website for the obvious visual explanation.

Stealth Backpack

I've always looked at laws, rules and regulations as more of a suggestion than an absolute. So this weekend Keith and I did some backpacking. I am not at liberty to tell you where we went and what we did, but instead, I have decided to post some pictures as a clue. Those that really know their Mid-Atlantic topography will be able to figure it out. So go to the pics and see if you can guess where we were.

I will give you only one written hint, we were relieved to avoid these people and managed to convince the residents of the rest of the state not to sit on us. Hence, we are still breathing.

Oh, there is one pic off the WMRT, I did some biking later on and really like this one. True to my bear magnet form, another black bear crossed my path on the WMRT trail near Hancock which was a good thing, it was the 3rd and last day of Merryland's bear season and the bear was heading toward the C&O canal towpath. If he managed to stay in the area until sundown he would be safe for another year.

Michaux and the Shelter Fairies

Sometimes spectacular things happen in the woods.

I went on a mcom backpack hosted by Lisa this weekend. When we arrived at the Birch Run Shelter after a 10 mile walk in the woods in PA's Michaux State Forest you won't believe what was there. 3 guys whose names I didn't remember but were from Westminister had hiked up from a nearby road. They had packed in a cooler full of steaks, corn, vegetables, spices and sauces. But that was just the food. In addition they had a battery powered blender!!!!! Along with the blender they had a collection of fresh fruit, drink mixes, gallons of tequila, whiskey, vodka and several different types of beer and a great deal of ice. Now there were 3 of them and about 10 of us. But these guys had managed to pack in enough for everyone and they didn't even know we were coming.

These guys were Gods, because all I had brought was some raman. I told them they could have all of the raman they wanted but they politely refused. All our group had to do to partake in this largess was collect the firewood. I didn't take any pictures because I was too busy eating. I think Lisa took a bunch, I'm sure she will put them up on her site one of these days.

This weekend was fucking fantastic.

Black Bears at Shenandoah National Park

Note: This is an old post, just doing some maintenance. Please ignore if you have already looked at it.

I was minding my own business going down a Shenandoah road where I came upon a cub. I backed off a bit knowing that mamma had to be around somewhere, sure enough here she comes.


Things were going well, I keep my distance but I have to get my pics. Mamma crosses the street.
I stay still hoping she doesn't notice me. Ugh oh, not so lucky!
I guess I didn't back off enough, mama bear is going to teach Cham a lesson. Charge!
Sorry folks, I simply can't keep the camera still with my right hand, defend myself with my poles with the left and run backwards all at the same time. Some of the pics are more than little fuzzy, but you get the drift. There is a certain point where you just have to drop the camera and run for your life, and I had reached that. I looked back after I ran some and 2 more cubs drop out of the trees, mama was defending 3 cubs.

Here is a picture of a large male that I saw later in the woods. He also wasn't very pleased with me and threw me a rather dirty look, I had to back off of him too.
I ran into Binli and Michael on the trail, they are both looking good. They are becoming superhikers, they need backpacks. Here is the Slideshow: