A walk along the river

I was out for a meeting yesterday afternoon. It ended early and I planned to head home and plow through work email for the rest of the workday. It was so beautiful outside that I put myself down for a couple of hours of vacation time instead and took a walk.
I went to the Daniels area of Patapsco State Park. It's not far from my house and I sometimes take my kayak there to paddle up the river.

On foot, my favorite route there is to take a path along a ridge that meets the river about a mile upstream and then return along the riverbank. There are several stands of tall tulip poplars along that route. They seem to do well in the hollows between the hills. On windy days, which yesterday was not, it's fun to watch them sway back and forth.

I usually come upon deer in the woods and along the river I'll sometimes see turtles or frogs and occasionally a beaver. There are always geese. I think people feed them because when you get close to them they swim out to the middle of the river but then hang around and watch you. It's late enough in the year that they wouldn't be protecting a nest so I assume they're hoping for a handout.

The light along that part of the river is always good in the late afternoon but it's best at this time of year. Yesterday evening I was there early enough that there were very few other people around. Taking those hours off was a good decision.