Leaders: Lisa Petersen and Rick Hagen

Members: Ron Altemus, Susan Altemus

Guests: none

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50948813

Weather: Sunny, 66 to 73 degrees, 12-15 mph winds but not noticeable on the trail. Very nice day!

AMS: 10.5 mph

Mechanicals/Mishaps: none

Report: We started at the Glenn Dale Community Center in Glenn Dale Md. where there is plenty of parking, bathrooms, water and vending machines (unlike the official trail parking lots). We rode southwest from there on the Washington Baltimore & Annapolis trail to a pond near the southwest start of the trail, then spontaneously took a half a mile of Glenn Dale Rd. to see the ruins of the old Glenn Dale Hospital, formerly a tuberculosis sanatorium closed in 1981 due to asbestos.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Dale_Hospital From there we took the WB&A trail northeast toward the other end of the trail in Odenton.

The full length of the trail is 13 miles thanks to a new bridge over the Patuxent River connecting two existing shorter segments into one. This was once a railway line, nice and straight, except now there’s a dogleg near the middle to go over the new bridge. The trail is all nicely paved, about 10 feet wide, and passes through forest, along marshes and power lines, runs past peoples’ backyards, goes over rivers and mostly over and under roads (short tunnels). Elevation gains are gentle except for the hill north of the new bridge that switchbacks up a half a mile at a 5% grade. Going down this hill seems to take a long time so you won’t be disappointed that the downhill fun is over in a flash.

We stopped at Rieve’s Deli in Odenton for some food and conversation at an outdoor table. The deli employees came out to put the umbrella up to give us some shade.

We explored two spur trails near the new bridge, one going to the power lines west of the trail and ending abruptly, and the other near the bridge where the original train line went straight across the Patuxent. Something must have happened to that bridge at one time, leaving the two disconnected trail segments.

Wildlife: turtles on logs in the marshes, one trying to cross the trail that Ron assisted, squirrels of course, spotted lantern flies.