[BSW] December 22 Solstice field trip + Trees + Next meeting

[KATHY BILTON]

Next BSW meeting will be on Tuesday, January 7 at 7PM.  Alan Whittemore 
will be the speaker.   Topic TBA.

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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

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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.