Patapsco State Park and the Suspended Bridge

Despite a few glimmers of interest from adopters, Lars is still with us and has settled down a bit from his initial frenetic frenzy of humping. With all these dogs around, the important thing is to get them all some exercise so they're nice and calm in the house and everyone gets along better. 

Through one of Florian's teaching gigs, he heard about a great trail in Patapsco State Park near Ellicott City so we decided to check it out. 




















The first time we went, it was after a big snow. 

It was a cold day and the trail hadn't been cleared, so the hike was a workout for us all. 

The weather didn't keep the deer away. We saw a couple of them early on the trail, and promptly decided to put Fozzie's lunging, barking, yodeling noggin in a head halter or else we'd finish buried in a snowdrift.

Fozzie loves his reflective, flannel lined jacket but he's not so thrilled with his head halter, which apparently makes his nose itch. 













And relief comes only from rubbing his head against things, or burrowing it under things, or in this case making himself into a little brindle snowplow.

 Enough of that Fozzie! We've got a long way to go. With all the snow the main entrance to the park was closed off, so we had to park down the road in a parking lot, which made for a long walk and some exhausted dogs.

It also meant we didn't get to see all the things we wanted, so we resolved to come back when there was less snow.

After a relatively warm week, this past weekend was a good opportunity to try to get a bit farther in. 

A beautiful, sunny day made for much better hiking weather although it was still cold, 


and still some snow on the ground. 

 Cold enough to make these incredible little ice cathedrals 

where the water rushed past old logs reaching down to the current 

creating gorgeous chandeliers like you might see in the crystal palace

where the benevolent King Lars rules over his kingdom with a firm yet fair paw.

Onward along the trail, past cool, spooky old ruins along the train tracks. Apparently, this was part of an old flour mill.

There was once a small town here, and interpretive signage showed townspeople cooling off in the stream on a hot day.













Finally we came to the suspended bridge, which we'd wanted to see when we came the first time.

Pretty sturdy, didn't rock too much when we crossed and Lars and Fozzie went right across. Lamar might not have liked it, so good thing we left him at home this time.

Don't tell him I kissed Lars.

What a great park, with many more trails to be discovered!