Broad Creek Park, Annapolis, Maryland

On a trip to Annapolis, I stopped off in Broad Creek Park to find a couple of geocaches, not realizing the park had a nice, adventurous trail to explore.

My first destination was Hamilton! On the way I saw some interesting natural formations and unnatural ones (but made of natural materials). 

Some big boulders

A small shelter near the boulders

Little did I realize that my destination was right by the shelter. The geocache was hidden in a tree, but way up in the tree.

Hidden in plain sight

I am tall enough to reach it unaided. Unfortunately, there was no log to sign inside the hanging cache. The discovery was an amazing moment.

The next cache I searched for was Naptown Trails. The trail to it runs along a tributary that feeds into Broad Creek. I was close but not too close to the water on the trail.

Water down below

The trail was encouragingly flat and easy to follow. The park service even cut a log out of the way!

Easy access

As I went along, I ran into another man-made construction, this time one to help the hillside from washing away into the creek. A sign explained the project.

Slowing down erosion

An explanation of the project

Things took a turn for the worse as I continued down the trail. My first obstacle was a more recently fallen tree that was not cut through. I had an easy enough time getting under it.

Less easy access

As I was about 100 feet away from the cache, I ran into a more substantial obstacle.

No access at all!

I might have been tempted to jump the fence and look around but it was Friday morning and the work crews were not far away. This is another part of the park that is being modified to preserve the park. So I decided discretion was the better part of valor and decided to head to a third geocache in the park, Truman Parkway Rain Garden. I said goodbye to the swampy bit of the creek and headed uphill.

Creek or swamp?

Further up the hill, I ran into the red fence again and had to jump it to get to the nearby parking lot where the final cache is located.

Not too tall

The final cache is an Earthcache, which does not have a container with a log to sign. Instead, it points out a location of geological interest. In this case, the locals installed a rain garden to catch all the water coming down off Truman Parkway. Road water often has pollutants that are bad for the flora and fauna of the creek. A rain garden is a drainage area that the road water has to go through. The soil and specially-selected plants absorb the pollutants before they can go downhill. The sign was just barely legible.

Don't come here at night if you want to read it!

The rain garden caught a lot of leaves

After sending an email with information from the sign (the typical way to get credit for an Earthcache), I headed back to the car. On the way I saw a fun sculpture outside the Parks and Recs building.

Happy kids

By my parking spot, I saw the most unusual bench ever. It was nailed to a tree and far too small for human usage. Maybe it's a spot for birds to perch and poop instead of hanging out on cars? The "seat" of the bench is a metal mesh, just the sort not to keep any droppings.

Convenient for someone?

The park was fun to visit and I may come back in a couple of months to check on the other cache if the construction finishes.