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July 10, 2010

Day Four is in the books

I didn't have the time to catch a fish at Elk Neck State Park's Wapiti Pond.

But a bald eagle flew overhead and circled once, right next to the trail sign showing a picture of one.

"Pretty cool," naturalist Crystal Hudson says.

The park has at least five pairs of eagles and several Great Blue Herons that feast on the fish in Wapiti and the nearby Northeast River.

I'll be back to fish here myself.

Hudson swears "you're almost guaranteed to catch" a largemouth bass or sunfish.

Seeing an eagle was a great way to end the fourth day of Park Quest 24/7.

My Park Quest passport is filling with stamps signifying hikes taken, quizzes answered and new facts learned.

Now it's off to Southern Maryland to hook up with some friends for three Quests.

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Elk Neck Naturalist Crystal Hudson

Park Quest 24/7 tracker

Posted by Candus Thomson at 4:40 PM |
Categories: Park Quest 2010
        
About Candus Thomson
In a world of paper vs. plastic and candy mint vs. breath mint, my early memories involved a debate about the merits of freshwater vs. saltwater.

On the one hand, a great uncle’s fishing cabin on the Susquehanna River beckoned, but so did family gatherings on the Jersey Shore.

The correct answer, thankfully, was, “both.”

As The Sun’s outdoors writer for more than a decade, I’ve fished across Maryland in one day, hiked the width of the state in one hour, camped overnight in the median of I-95 to experience the wildlife between the fast lanes and chased mountain bikers in a 24-hour marathon race.

Those are some of the highlights. I’ve also fallen in a raging Gunpowder River during a trout survey (photo available upon request), had a shark spill its guts on my clothes and been stuck in a sub-freezing Vermont wilderness with men armed with flintlocks and hatchets, shuffling along on ancient wooden snowshoes.

And, in my travels I’ve met lots of you, who share a love of the outdoors and the good times and mishaps that go along with it.
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