Bare Butts, Squashed Frogs and Coyotes

Annie, Meredith and I walked 11.5 miles yesterday in Rock Creek Park! It was my longest walk yet for this training and the weather could not have been better. I even sported my new fanny pack (which rests on your back, not stomach) with dual water bottles and lumbar support. Loved it.

Beach Drive is closed to traffic on the weekends and makes for a wonderful long trail in use by many walkers, runner, bikers and a few roller bladers.

A few highlights from our time include bare butts, squashed frogs and coyotes. These are some of the many sites you can hope to see if you spend time in this national treasure of a park. Bare butts are most likely to be encountered on the shores of the creek, as small children prepare to frolic in the creek and parents frantically strip them down in hopes of saving their clothes, but not their kids, from creek water.

Squashed frogs, on the other hand, can be found on the northern end of Beach Drive, in abundance as you draw close to the Maryland border. Now, I'm not trying to imply that Marylanders have more road rage problems, but seriously, they have been squashing a large number of frogs.

Finally, as I was researching trails in the park, I came across a notice on the park website indicating that citings of coyotes in the park have taken place since May 2004. We had our eyes peeled and saw many dogs that acted and looked like the wild animals - but no real coyotes. To be on the safe side, we took the park service advice and did not feed the animals.