Little Bennett Park, Montgomery Co. Md.

I am standing along Dark Branch Trail in Little Bennett Park. The stream in the distance is Little Bennett, some 150' below me. This is a very steep ridge in the foreground. While I sketched here today an eagle soared through the valley several times making his loud cry. This is a nice vantage point.

This is Browning Run Trail in Little Bennett Park. When you reach near the top of this trail the path becomes very wide; obviously a former road. The tall poplars and oaks create a grand palisades at this point.

 I cannot find the name for this small feeder stream to Little Bennett Creek. It is intersected by the Tobacco Barn Trail in Little Bennett Park. Although the bottom of the creek is plainly visible throughout the creek's width, near where I am standing the creek undercuts a tree so severely that the water depth under the tree roots must be 6 feet or more. These little streams can really fool you as to their depth in places. To reach this area I sketched, the trail's terrain climbs about 125 vertical feet then plummets back down to the creek swale.

This is Wims Meadow, home of African American Baseball in Montgomery County from around 1930 until 1950. The primitive backstop marks the location of home plate from my vantage point in centerfield. According to what I read, Sunday baseball was immensely popular here for the residents of not only Montgomery Co. but also from Washington, D.C. as a large following would make the long journey from D.C. to this small former orchard to watch sandlot baseball. The site is located in Little Bennett Park.

This was a very interesting occurrence; a spring head bubbling out of the root mass of a very old (probably oak) tree. This tree was still living. The location is Little Bennett Park. What a cold chilly day for sketching but extremely quiet here and appealing, nothing but the sounds of leaves falling and squirrels foraging, woodpeckers drumming on a tree and occasionally the hooves of deer running.

This small stream, cascading under down trees, is where I found a spearhead. I had to work fast as there was a very high ridge before me and the sun was going to disappear behind it making the air a whole lot colder then it already was.