The NCR Trail

One of my bucket list goals is to bike/hike as many rail trails as possible, beginning with Maryland.  I've officially started this quest with a hike on the NCR trail North of Baltimore.  We hiked 6 miles along the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail, which begins North of Baltimore near Hunt Valley.  The trail itself runs along the Gunpowder Falls River.  We began our hike at the trail head, and traveled North.  It was a great way to spend a gorgeous day!

This is near the trail head.  Can't you just picture the train tracks and the steam from the locomotive rising in the distance?  This was one of the few times along the trail when there were no people visible.  This trail was FULL of people - walkers, hikers, bikers, and joggers.  Everyone was out, enjoying the day!

So, this is a Lime Kiln.  According to the sign, a fire was kept burning at the bottom.  Stuff (trees, etc.) was dragged to the top of the wall and dropped down onto the fire.  Lime was made from the ashes. 

Well hey, it's the East Coast Greenway!  I've never heard of it before, although I've walked other trails with this signage.  Curious, I looked it up when I got home and found out more about the Greenway.  It is a developing trail system and will extend from Maine down to Florida.  You can find out more about the Greenway here:  http://www.greenway.org/ .  In a nutshell, the East Coast Greenway is intended to be the more urban counterpart of the Appalachian Trail. I'd like to think that this means there aren't as many hills on the Greenway...

The Gunpowder Falls River.

A lone runner off in the distance.

Check out the date.  1875.  That's the year that the original track bed and this bridge was built.  Okay, at this point in time, this date is only good for the masonry work.  The bed extending over the river has been replaced.  But still - this masonry has been around for over 125 years.  We live in a disposable society now. Do you think anything we build now will still be around in 125 years? 

A little side stream feeding into the river.  Gorgeous, isn't it?  Makes me want to get out and hike some more!