From kathy at fred.net Sun Dec 1 13:31:54 2019 From: kathy at fred.net (KATHY BILTON) Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2019 14:31:54 -0500 (EST) Subject: [BSW] =?utf-8?q?=F0=9F=8E=84_There=27s_still_time_to_sign_up_for?= =?utf-8?q?_the_Holiday_Potluck_=F0=9F=8E=84?= Message-ID: Please sign up so that Paul will be able to get an idea of how many are coming so that he can buy the right amount of drinks, bread and misc. items. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M9VAyUPNYcqcnC9e9FX0gxKzDefqO55K1QxvKCpUNwo/edit Tuesday, December 3, 2019 from 6pm to 8:00 PM (food set up will begin at 5:00 p.m.) Presidential address: A Botanical Tour of the Holidays by Melanie Schori, BSW President The potluck will be in our regular meeting room, VZ Conference Room (WG 33) Ground Floor of the West Wing, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. When you pay Paul for the potluck, you may wish to include your 2020 dues: $10 per person, $15 for couples. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? See a recent interview with Robert Bateman and Bristol Foster who made a 14 month trip around the world in the Grizzly Torque (1957-1958): https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=556&v=1HyzkXHOsKo&feature=emb_logo From kathy at fred.net Tue Dec 17 13:09:01 2019 From: kathy at fred.net (KATHY BILTON) Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2019 14:09:01 -0500 (EST) Subject: [BSW] December 22 Solstice field trip + Trees + Next meeting Message-ID: Next BSW meeting will be on Tuesday, January 7 at 7PM. Alan Whittemore will be the speaker. Topic TBA. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Appreciating the need for ? and the beauty of ? the urban forest https://caseytrees.org/2019/12/appreciating-the-need-for-and-the-beauty-of-the-urban-forest +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ December 22, 2019 Annual Winter Solstice Field Trip and Hooley at the Gold Mine Tract of C&O Canal National Historical Park, Montgomery County, MD 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Field trip co-sponsored by the Potowmack Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society and Botanical Society of Washington. This year?s Solstice Field Trip is in memoriam of Mary Pockman, Oliver ?Ollie? Flint, Laurie Eyde, Art Tucker, Mary Painter, and Vicki Funk. Leaders: Rod Simmons, Matt Barker, Ken Bawer, Carole Bergmann, Marney Bruce, Margaret Chatham, Annie Gilliland, Scott Graham, and Greg Zell. Celebrate the beginning of the winter season at the Gold Mine Tract with its spectacular scenery and diversity of native plants, wildlife, and natural communities! This 550-acre forest is situated in the Potomac Gorge and is one of the largest interior forested tracts remaining in the Maryland Piedmont region. The Gold Mine Tract is underlain by metasedimentary rocks of Lower Cambrian and Neoproterozoic age - mainly schist, metagraywacke, phyllonite, and migmatite. We will see a diversity of native trees, many champion-sized and old-age. Field trip is free and open to non-members. Registration is not required. For ARMN members, this event will apply towards advanced training hours in botany, dendrology, forest ecology, and geology. Bring: Wear sturdy shoes and bring lunch or snacks and water. Most of the walk traverses rolling, fairly open forest along trails, though some steep grades will occasionally be encountered. Directions: Take MacArthur Boulevard west from the Capital Beltway to the parking lots off MacArthur Boulevard directly across the street from Old Anglers Inn. (If traveling the Capital Beltway (495) north or south, take the Clara Barton Parkway exit heading west. The parkway dead-ends at MacArthur Boulevard just past Carderock and the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center.) Meet at the edge of the parking area: 38.9818873, -77.2262411. Restrooms are also available here. Carpooling and arriving early are highly recommended as parking spaces can fill up quickly during weekends. Carpooling: For those interested in carpooling to the field trip ? or has room to provide a ride ? please email Kathy Bilton at kathy at fred.net closer to the time and she will send out a list of names, general location, and contact info which she has received so that folks wishing transportation to the field trip can arrange something. A number of folks in the Alexandria-Arlington-D.C. area will likely be looking for a ride to the site. For folks who aren?t able to stay the full time, there will be numerous points throughout the field trip to depart from and easily get back to the parking area. *In the event of heavy-steady snow, sleet, pouring rain, or icy, dangerous conditions of roads, the field trip will be cancelled. From kathy at fred.net Thu Dec 19 15:31:29 2019 From: kathy at fred.net (KATHY BILTON) Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2019 16:31:29 -0500 (EST) Subject: [BSW] Update on Dec. 22 Winter Solstice Hike + carpooling emails Message-ID: Below Rod's message about parking for Sunday are some emails (with their permission) from people who are offering or requesting to carpool. Map referred to is linked to rather than attached. ------------------------------------------------------------ From: Rod Simmons Rod.Simmons at alexandriava.gov Update on December 22, 2019 Annual Winter Solstice Walk: Parking is in the lots off MacArthur Boulevard directly across the street from Old Anglers Inn (see attached and below). Do not park in the Old Anglers Inn parking lot for this event! https://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/upload/Great-Falls-hiking-trails-map-accessible.pdf We will meet at the edge of the larger parking lot. Evidently, the Bay Journal blurb for the event directed folks to meet at the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center. This, however, is not correct and we will not be meeting there, mainly because of the $15.00 entrance fee to park and access this end of the park. There is no fee to park and access the park from the Anglers parking area. The weather on Sunday is expected to be milder, in the 50s, and mostly sunny. Therefore, parking may be somewhat limited at the Anglers lots. If you don?t find a space at the Anglers lots, you can consider ?improvising? as lots of hikers and kayakers do along MacArthur Blvd. (and hope that NPS is accommodating the unauthorized overflow as they usually do). I?m not recommending this option - only saying that the south side of MacArthur Blvd. here is traditionally used as a sort of defacto overflow parking. Another option is to continue a short ways up the hill on MacArthur Blvd. to the dozen or so unmarked parking areas along the gravel shoulder on the north side of MacArthur Blvd. just east of the intersection with Falls Road. If you do park here, walk the Gold Mine Loop eastward past the Rockwood Spur to the Anglers Spur and look for the group (see attached map). https://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/upload/Great-Falls-hiking-trails-map-accessible.pdf Lastly, if the Falls Road parking is full, consider taking MacArthur Blvd. to the entrance to Great Falls Park, paying the entrance fee (NPS works hard and does a great job stewarding our parks, so these fees really help), parking, and walking eastward to the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center and head of the Gold Mine Spur (see attached map). Take this trail to the Gold Mine Loop, turn right and walk south along the Loop to the Angler?s Spur and look for the group. If you do take this option, the group that started from Anglers will be walking towards you, albeit likely slowly. Again, it is recommended that folks carpool as much as possible and plan to arrive a bit early. Hope to see everyone - it?s been a long time since we?ve hiked the Gold Mine Tract for the Winter Solstice Walk! ---------------------------- So far, there's been an offer of a ride from Vanessa Beauchamp who will be coming from the Towson area (+2 more from people in Virginia - see below) and can either drive others (two comfortably, three mildly uncomfortably) or ride with someone. Let her know! I asked her about her route: For me, 83 to 695 to 95 to 495 is the most straightforward, but I can also come down 29 or swing out on 70 and go south from there. They all take about the same time. I can also come through Baltimore City if people need rides from there. Vanessa Beauchamp vanbeau at gmail.com or you can call/text 443-986-2925 ------------------------------------------------ Hi Kathy,Jim Huddle and I have two spaces in our car if there is someone (s) who want to join us. We could equally join a carpool. If alone, we'll drive our tiny car... So looking forward to our celebration! Thank you, Kathleen Kust kathleenkust at gmail.com 703 836 5868 (h) 703 216 8897 (c) North city of Alexandria: 3104 Russell Rd. 22305 ------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2019 10:16:27 -0500 From: Peter Hansen Subject: Carpool Sunday Hi Kathy, I'm emailing you cause I'm interested in carpooling to the walk this Sunday. I live in Arlington just a little west of Ballston near Lacy Woods park. Thanks, Peter