My various adventures of a "Going Outside and Doing Things" nature, mostly in the great outdoors of Colorado. Hiking, playing with the dogs, rock hunting, abandoned houses, gardening... and probably more!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

July 5, 2012 - Daniels, Maryland


Okay, so the 5th was probably my favorite day as far as what we went to do is concerned. I’m definitely splitting it into two posts, though, and this one doesn’t break up quite as easily into two perfectly chronological things. So this post is kind of the intro and conclusion, while the second post is the one actually covering the specific things we set out to see.

 On the 5th, we went to Daniels, Maryland. There’s a brief history of the town given here, but basically, it was a mill town. In 1940, the C.R. Daniels company bought the town, and used it exclusively for the mill workers and their families. In the mid-60s, they decided to get rid of the employee housing, and then in 1972 Hurricane Agnes wiped the town out entirely. Building next to a river tends to be a poor idea for this very reason.

You can still see a few remains from the town. The main road through the town still exists, and is now the path along the river. You can also still see some remaining foundations of houses, some rusted remains of cars, and things like that.

This was the main road.

Sexy tiger beetles! (OMG they are so pretty, though!)

Fungus!

Rocks and plants.

Ferns

Still amazed by the green.

So that horrible storm that had come through a couple days before meant
there were a lot of downed trees and other destruction.
There were signs warning that the area hadn't had any cleanup done yet.

More rocks.

There were raspberries everywhere this year. And a daddy long-legs.

One of those rusted cars.

Mossy rock wall.

As we were walking, we spotted a deer just standing ahead on the path.

I kept wondering how close to her we'd be able to get.

Turns out, pretty close.

Remains of building. (I think this was an old train trestle?)

Overgrown wall.

Another fallen tree. Took some of the road with it.

Current train trestle.

More wall ruins, near that train bridge.

Long wall.

Another deer across the river.

More fungus!

There were lots of these ropey vines hanging down.

Taken just to show THIS IS WHAT HUMIDITY LOOKS LIKE. We don't get much in CO.

Flower!

The next post will include more from the Daniels area, but for now I’ll jump ahead.

There was a really bright sunset on our way back.

Bonus abandoned things!







Actually, these are all outbuildings of various sorts on Alex’s friend’s property. (Well, the spider isn't a building... it's just in a building.) There are a lot of old sheds and things that have no current use, and have therefore been left to the elements.

And my favorite bug-type critter we saw on our trip visited us. A Virgo Tiger Moth!

I just think he's gorgeous!


I know, I take a lot of pictures of bugs...

S/he kept landing on me, too! And it wasn't until looking at this picture that I realized its upper wings are see-through.

 And some miscellaneous things:

Looks like leaves.

Another of the cute little grapevine beetles.

STOP TIME. Automatic superpowers!

Long-suffering dog. Can't you tell?

Just when you thought it was safe... HOUSE CENTIPEDE.

So yes, the next post will have a little more about Daniels.

4 comments:

  1. The deer looks really interesting. I mean, I've seen deer here, naturally, (when hunters aren't shooting them from their vantage beer swilling spots), but that deer looks different from the deer I've seen around here. She looks really ethereal in a way -- like...Celtic deity sort of way (if that makes sense).

    I love the moths, and the beetles are all pretty. I love the two green ones gettin' it on. Shiny!

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    1. I think in the west we mostly have mule deer, where this girl is a white-tail. She's definitely different than the ones I'm used to, but she wasn't as flighty as the other white-tails we saw while we were there. She was lovely.

      The moths were awesome, and I loved those bright green ones!

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  2. Also, I love your dog. He's so adorkable.

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