Go Fever

 Do you ever have that restless feeling when you don't want to stay at home with the routine things that need to be done? Do you feel like you need a change of pace, even if it is just for a short while? That's what I call Go Fever. And I had a case of that this morning. I told Ward what I was feeling, and he was game for an outing. We decided to check out a cave that we had recently heard about that was only 40 minutes away. We headed for Camel's Den Cave in Patapsco Valley State Park. 

Patapsco Valley State Park is a large park running 32 miles along the Patapsco River. The cave was a short walk from the Daniels parking area.

The trail started next to the Patapsco River (looks like a small pond here).

The trails were generally sandy and surrounded by Japanese stilt grass.

Japanese stiltgrass was introduced to this country over 100 years ago in some packaging material. It has become invasive since then.

We had to cross two streams on the way to the cave. Luckily, neither of us fell on the slippery rocks.

Camel's Den Cave. It is a tectonic cave, meaning it was formed by tectonic forces, unlike most caves, which are formed by the dissolution of rock (such as limestone). It was small by most cave standards, only going about 20' back from the entrance.

On the way back to the car, we saw a great blue heron.

Ward wanted to see the Daniels Dam, just down the road. The dam was built originally in 1833 and was used to power mills in the area. 

The mills have long since closed, and the dam is no longer needed. The Dept. of Natural Resources has just begun a study on removing the dam to improve fish passage. Three other dams upstream have already been removed.* 

The town of Daniels was a company town for a cotton mill. The mill was active from the 1830s to the 1960s. Hurricane Agnes in 1972 wiped out the town, and this church on the hill above the dam was the only surviving structure.

We hiked to the top of the hill to get a better look at the church. 

There was a nice view from the top. 

We made it back to the car just as it started to rain. We were stuck in road construction traffic on the way home, but it was all good because I had packed snacks. All in all, it was an excellent cure for my Go Fever.

Until next time...

* The DNR sign put an apostrophe in the Daniels name, but that's incorrect.