Outdoors Girl: Questing at Catoctin Furnace in a heat wave - Maryland parks and outdoors: Life in Maryland’s great outdoors by Candy Thomson

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July 8, 2010

Questing at Catoctin Furnace in a heat wave

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

All good Questers go to Catoctin Furnace.

Seriously, in the middle of a heat wave Park Quest 24/7 has me looking for the remains of a pig iron furnace in Cunningham Falls State Park.

The musical rushing of Little Hunting Creek is my soundtrack as I hike toward the furnace nicknamed, "Isabella," gathering answers to the Park Quest challenge and filling in my worksheet.

Park staffers Tom Harbold and George Oed are my hosts and my quizmasters ...my cheering section, too. Thanks, guys.

The Manor Area of the park has some cool owls and hawks at the aviary.

But now, it's time to answer the puzzle based on the clues.

The answer is...Nope, I'm not telling. Come figure it out for yourself!

Now it's off to South Mountain State Park and the final Quest of the day.

Park Quest 24/7 Tracker.

Posted by Candus Thomson at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Park Quest 2010

Comments

So glad George and I were able to be of service! We enjoyed your visit to our Park - please feel free to return any time, especially when you're not on such a grueling schedule. Have been greatly enjoying your account of ParkQuest 24/7, but are sure you'll be glad for the chance to rest when it's over. Hang in there!

Posted by: Tom Harbold | July 13, 2010 11:11 AM

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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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