Hiking in Rock Creek Park, Meadowside Nature Center Trails, on January 21, 2001 after a new snow fall of a couple of inches.

Overall, a nice hike, although over-used and over-developed.

I hiked 4.2 miles in 2 hours and 21 minutes. Average speed, when I was moving, was 2.6 miles per hour, maximum speed was, somehow, 16 miles per hour (probably when I was sliding down a hill).

For having seen only six hours of daylight, this snow had seen quite a lot of use. View looking down-trail.

View looking up-trail.

The "Old Nasty Trail" is only 0.26 miles long.

This is the lake that the "Lakeside Trail" (3.13mi) goes around.

I did say "over developed", didn't I?

"Lake Frank" was formed by building a big ol' dam across Rock Creek.

The preview (on the camera) of the last picture looked funny (due to the brightness of the day) so I took another one.

Looking the other way. I guess they put a fence up so that we wouldn't go sledding down this amazing hill.

This was found in the woods at the left of the picture above.

What you can't see here is the missing bridge to the left. Apparently, they build a new one. To the right is an electrical power thingie (a little house inside a fence and labeled "High Voltage").

There is a bird in here somewhere. It looks attached to the tree.

I couldn't figure out where these rocks came from. They look entirely out of place here.

Like all the rest of my hikes, I eventually deviated from the trail and got a little lost. The next three pictures are when I realized that the insignificant trail I was "following" wasn't really a trail.

I dunno. They just looked cold.

I eventually pushed my way through the wild country and stumbled upon....the old deserted parking lot.

And the old road leading to the old parking lot.

The old road is now part of the Lakeside Trail.

Fortunately, the old road lasts not too long (0.5 miles or so) and then hits a nice stretch of trail that goes by a little lake with lots of ducks or geese or something in it.

As I was slowly and "quietly" making my way down to the lake, I guess I scared someone. This guy and his family left in a hurry.

The rest of them just moved away from the shore.

Some wandered around on the ice.

These two, however, were only five feet from me and never woke up. I didn't see them until I was leaving.

There was something scurrying across the ice.

Look closely (maybe click on the picture).

Keep looking!

They're there!

See 'em yet? I was playing hide and seek with a pack of deer.

This picture came out a pale, lifeless representation of the coolness of this area. We completely miss the fact that the snow was untouched, that both sides slope down to the stream, and that the trees seen near the top are making a wonderful tunnel about five feet tall.

This is looking to the left of the previous picture. A small nuclear device was exploded just as I took the picture, or maybe I was covering the light sensor on the camera.

Fortunately, I'm generous with my pictures. This is looking to the right.

Out in the middle of nowhere (I'm, once again, off the trail) we find the rusted remains of something.

Up to now, the hike had been easy. That stopped real fast, when the sign said to cross this. On a normal summer, spring or fall day, it would have been fun! On a winter day, it's a little challenging. See the ICE on the rocks? Near the top of the picture, there is a jump of about four feet, which was kind of scary. This picture is taken after I crossed. I was slightly tempted to jump back to the middle and get a picture looking up/down stream there. I thought I took another picture of this, but I guess I didn't press the button hard enough.

This is looking upstream.

And downstream.