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Weather (Click Here)
Before you hit the trails or set up camp, make sure to take a second glance at the weather for this weekend!
Today's Moon Phase according to NASA (Click Here)
Waning Crescent: "The Moon appears to be partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is decreasing."
Famous Travelers (Click Here)
After the outdoor memorial service for their friend, John Burroughs at Licking Creek on July 24, a luncheon was served. President Harding thanked everyone and assured them that he had a splendid time. At about 4:00 in the afternoon, after spending a little more than twenty-four hours with the Vagabonds, President Harding and his large entourage of security guards and photographers returned to the White House.
The Vagabonds enjoyed the campsite so much, that they decided to stay a few more days after the President left. They fished at the conjunction of Licking Creek and the Potomac River and studied the canal boats hauling coal on the C&O Canal. The industrialists concluded the river’s water power was not properly harnessed; if it was, they believed that the C&O Canal would not be needed.
“Houses could be heated and lighted and factories operated on cheap water power,” Ford told a newspaper reporter.
On July 27, after a week long stay along Licking Creek, the vagabonds broke camp. Their camp site is now a Washington County park, Camp Harding, named in honor of the President who camped there. In 1921, the site was still the farm of Emmert and Mary Mason. Not long after he departed, Henry Ford showed his gratitude for allowing the vagabonds to camp on their property by sending the Masons a brand new Model T Ford as a gift.
The Vagabonds' camping trip in western Maryland was not finished. They had accepted an invitation to camp along Muddy Creek, in Garrett County next to a spectacular waterfall, a true wonder-work of nature. The invitation is said to have come from Fred W. Besley, Maryland’s first State Forester.
The distance from Licking Creek to Muddy Creek was about 90 miles. They traveled west on Route 40 through Allegany County, past Green Ridge Mountain, through the ridge and valley province, and onward, to the Allegheny plateau, and finally, Garret County. At Keysers Ridge, they turned south on present day Route 219 toward Oakland, Maryland, retracing the same route they took in 1918 traveling from between campsites in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
On their 1921 camping expedition, they turned south at Oakland, Maryland, and enjoyed a late lunch along a creek at Deer Park, Maryland. From there they traveled on unimproved roads about nine miles and set up their campsite at present day Swallow Falls State Park.
In 1921, this 600-acre tract of land was privately owned by the Grand Masonic Lodge of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, who used it as a retreat center. The Vagabonds camped under an ancient old-growth stand of Eastern hemlock and white pine next to the magnificent Muddy Creek Falls - at 53 feet the highest natural waterfall in Maryland.
Besley knew that the the Vagabonds' visit to Muddy Creek, with the positive press that was sure to follow, would capture the attention of the public. That attention would encourage the public to support Besley’s efforts to promote forest conservation and outdoor recreation in Maryland.
In 1923, two years after the Vagabonds' visit, Besley, through the State Board of Forestry, entered into a lease agreement with the Masonic lodge. Offutt Johnson, a retired DNR employee, and an avid Maryland State Park and forestry historian, shared this valuable historic information about the beginnings of Swallow Falls State Park.
“In 1923, The State Board of Forestry and the Grand Lodge of the Masons entered into an arrangement, that in exchange of the Masons allowing public use of the property, the state would manage and protect “the Falls of Muddy Creek “as an Auxiliary State Forest,” said Johnson. “The lease management agreement included a right of first refusal, should the lodge wish to sell or donate the property in the future. This agreement remained in effect until 1940, when the Lodge donated the tract to the State of Maryland, the Department of Forestry, two years before Besley retired in 1942.”
Public lands like Swallow Falls State Park and Green Ridge State Forest still serve as retreats where the public can come to relax, renew, and revitalize themselves in natural surroundings.
Vagabond John Burroughs perhaps expressed the joy people experience in Maryland’s parks and forests best when he said,
“To the woods and the fields or to the hills…there to breathe their beauty like the very air…to be not a spectator of, but a participator in it all.
Maryland Fishing Report - August 27th, Composed by Lyndsie Pratt (Click Here)
Mackerel and Bluefish: Mackerel and Bluefish are being caught as far north as the shipping channel outside of the mouth of the Severn! Fish the tide change, especially in the evening. Troll from there south using #1 or #2 planers and small spoons to find them. If you see schools of breaking fish, cast a metal jig such as a G-Eye Jigs Rain Minnow! Click here for a video about how to fish a rain minnow lure!
Red Drum: Schools of Red Drum are being found as far north as Taylors Island across to the Gas Docks. Your best bet it to ride around looking for them on your side scan, then jig for them, or to troll to find them. Trolling surgical hoses and large spoons works well.
Cobia: Cobia are found a little futher south than Red Drum, near Solomons and the Target Ship. You can troll for them the same way as Red Drum, with surgical hoses and large spoons on number 2 0r 3 planers. You can also look for them on and sight cast a bucktail to them, or you can use live eels or fresh alewife!
Panfish: Perch, Spot and Croaker fishing is still excellent all over the bay and in the rivers. Small pieces of soft crab and razor clams still seem to be the most productive baits! Look for structure, hard bottom or oyster beds!
Crabbing: Crabbing continues to be pretty good in the rivers even with the hot water temperatures. You’ll just want to move a little deeper to 6-8 feet. There is a mix of very small crabs along with large, full crabs, so you’ll have to weed through the small ones but should be able to get some nice ones as well!
This Weekend's Tide Predictions (Click Here)
Keep an eye on this weekend’s tide schedule. These are the predicted tides for the Western Shore of the Chesapeake from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Wednesday 9/1:
Low tide starting at 8:54 a.m. and again at 6:49 p.m.
High tide starting at 1:29 a.m. and again at 1:18 p.m.
Sunrise: 6:35 a.m.
Sunset: 7:36 p.m.
Thursday 9/2:
Low tide starting at 9:40 a.m. and again at 7:50 p.m.
High tide starting at 2:21 a.m. and again at 2:21 p.m.
Sunrise: 6:36 a.m.
Sunset: 7:35 p.m.
Friday 9/3:
Low tide starting at 10:56 a.m. and again at 9:47 p.m.
High tide starting at 3:10 a.m. and again at 3:18 p.m.
Sunrise: 6:37 a.m.
Sunset: 7:33 p.m.
Saturday 9/4:
Low tide starting at 10:56 a.m. and again at 9:47 p.m.
High tide starting at 3:56 a.m. and again at 4:09 p.m.
Sunrise: 6:38 a.m.
Sunset: 7:31 p.m.
Sunday 9/5:
Low tide at 11:30 a.m. and again at 10:41 p.m.
High tide starting at 4:39 a.m. and again at 4:56 p.m.
Sunrise: 6:39 a.m.
Sunset: 7:30 p.m.
Animal Cams (Click Here)
This week tune in to watch the Wolong Grove Panda Yard in Gengda, Sichuan, China.
Beach Cam
In the winter months we all long for the beach. Take a look at whats going on at your favorite East Coast beaches right now.
