Cunningham Falls State Park: The Manor - A Complete Tour

 Author's note: I started writing this entry in 2021 after our first stint as Camp Hosts at the Manor. Now, in 2025, we are on our fifth season living in the forest and taking care of "our" campground. We love this place. 

During the Spring, Summer and Fall of 2021, we spent a total of four and a half months at a single camp ground in Maryland. We were working as Camp Hosts and we fell in love with the camp. The campground is called The Manor and it is the smaller campground of Cunningham Falls State Park, just off of Route 15 near Thurmont, MD. Just down the mountain from Camp David.

When we secured the job as Camp Hosts at the park, I didn’t know a lot about either of the campgrounds in Cunningham Falls. I had done a little research a few years ago as I was planning a hike in the area that I never took, but I didn’t know much about The Manor. We would find out that this small campground of 31 sites was a true diamond in the rough. A hidden gem, that we got to discover, explore and come to love. It became our home for the seasons and we hope to spend more time there in the future. 

The Manor is located just off of Route 15 in central Maryland. About two miles south of Thurmont, MD and around 10 miles north of Frederick. The park entrance is right at the highway and I’m pretty sure the camp was there before the highway. 

When you first enter that section of the park, you pass a control station that is never manned. It has an honor box where the righteous will leave their three to five dollars to enter the park and use the day use facilities. Two automatic gates come down sometime around 2200 each night and open around 0600. 

The road moves to the left with another splitting off to the right and going up the hill to the campground. As you follow the left road, there is the first parking lot on your left. This is where we send the overflow vehicles in camp and where hikers will park as they head up the Bob’s Hill trail. 

Shortly after that trailhead is an area to the right that is set up as a short archery range. During the summer, the park runs informal archery training on Saturdays for anyone eight and above. A small fee is charged to participate. 

The second parking lot on the left is usually used by playground users and picnickers. A pretty large playground with lots of mulch and soft paths made of recycled rubber sits against the woods beyond the first picnic tables. There are several tables in the area each with a grill. There is also a rest room at the edge of the area next to the playground. In between the rest room and the playground is a short interpretive trail that leads to the Visitor Center and Aviary. There are signs with a short story that children would enjoy as they walk through the woods. 

Continuing along the road you come to the Visitor Center and Aviary with a small parking lot. Another trail leads up the mountain to the right and meets the Catoctin Trail after about a hundred meters. A turtle habitat sit outside the Visitor Center containing box and wood turtles. 

The Visitor Center is mostly open on weekends during the season and is usually full of interpretive displays. A volunteer is usually working there to answer questions about the park and trails. A couple of snakes usually hang out in some aquariums just inside the doors. 

The Aviary has a number of “representatives” living there., a Screech Owl, Great Horned Owl,, a Red Shouldered Hawk, Red Tailed Hawks, and an American Eagle all live here. They each have come here after suffering accidents or illness that have left them unable to live in the wild. Some are missing a wing, some just can’t fly anymore. They are well cared for by the Park Naturalists. You can walk around the outside of the building where the birds are exposed to the weather and learn a little bit about each of the different species. 

Between the two buildings the trail from the playground ends with lots of native wildflowers that are the perfect habitat for butterflies, bees and humming birds. 

Continuing down the hill you come to the lower parking lot. This area is surrounded by more picnic tables and grills, another rest room and Little Hunting Creek runs along the edge. At the very end is the start of the Iron trail, which follows the creek for a ways, then crosses the highway on a high footbridge, before continuing on to Catoctin Furnace and beyond. This hike is a very interesting one through the history of the area. 

On the northern edge of the parking lot is a wide path that leads the the Parks only rentable pavilion. The large, covered shelter has several tables which can accommodate large parties and even weddings. There is a nice stone fire pit at the one end and two grills are also installed in that area. The trail that started at the playground and split off at the Visitor Center ends here. 

Several trails lead from the picnic tables near the creek and follow along to the Catoctin Trail. This blue-blazed, 27 mile long trail starts in Gambrills State Park, crossed the creek here and heads up Bob’s Hill. It travels over the mountain and down into the valley where the main part of Cunningham Falls State Park is located, including the falls themself. It continues another 10 miles to its terminus to the north. 

Moving back to the Day Use area, we come to the road that leads to the campground.

The road leads about a tenth of a mile to the Registration Shed. Campers with reservations will pick up their prepared camping permits which they will display on their dashboards. This permit also allow that vehicle to enter the main part of the park fee free. 

Next to the Registration Shed is a wood shed that is stocked daily by the Camp Hosts. Another honor box system collects the $6 a bundle fee to get your fire pit going. 

Three dumpsters stand nearby in the area for all your camping trash and recycling. 

Across from the Registration shed is site M1. This site is comfortably long, easy to pull into and acceptably level. This site, like all sites, contains a picnic table, a fire pit and a lantern stand that has a high counter build onto it. Perfect for holding a camp stove, water jug or basin or for preparing a meal. 

Continuing along the road and starting up the hill you come to sites M2 and M3 on the right hand side. They too are fairly long and easy to get into.

The roads of the campground have no actual names, but there are signs at strategic points letting the campers know which sites are located where. I have given each of the different sections of the roads my own names. This first section that leads from site M1 to M5 where another road branches off to the left I call the Toddlers.

Site M4 is on the left and site M5 is on the right. Both sites are as good as the other three before. 

The traffic through the park is all one way now, so at times you must make several loops to cover every site, but for now we are turning left and following that road to sites M6 through M10. I call this road Child.

M6, on the left, is the first electric site you come to in the camp. It is long, wide and flat. The power pole contains a 30A outlet and two 15A outlets. 

Site M7, on the right, is what we call a buffer site. It is only used if a problem arises with another site or some situation calls for the need to put a camper there. It is usually empty even on the busy weekends. This site also has electric. It isn’t an optimum site. The driveway is a little sloped and it isn’t as long as the other sites we have passed so far. 

Next you come to site M8, also on the right, this the only non-electric site on Child road. It’s sloped driveway and separate raised tent pad make it much more suitable for tents than trailers, but small trailer can and do pull in here. 

Moving along we come to site M9 on the right. This is the camps only pull-through site and it also had electric. Several trees near the driveway still make it a little challenging for bigger rigs to get in, but it is possible. This site also has a slightly raised section where the table and firepit are located. 

Sites M7 through M9 each have a path that leads to the bathhouse. There is also a path that runs from the road to the bathhouse in between sites M7 and M8. 

M10 is the last site on Child road and is also nice and long. This electric site will fit most rigs, but some trees, and being at the end of the road can make pulling in a long setup challenging. In the spring a large mulberry tree drops its fruit right on the site, fulling the table and ground with plenty of berries. This could be a boon or an annoyance, depending on how you look at it. 

At the end of Chile Road, you must take a left, this heads back down hill to a stop sign. A right turn will take you back down to the day use area and the exit to The Manor.

Turning left, we continue around and when we reach Preteen Rd, we go straight. I call this part of the camp Tween/Teen. Sites M11 and M13 are on the right and M12 and M14 are on the left. They are all good sized non-electric sites. M14 has a good path to the bathhouse. 

Across from M14 is a small building where the water is purified, softened and checked often. There is a large, but quiet generator next to the building that keeps the water pure and flowing in the event of a power outage. Also next to the building is one of two water points in the campground. This pump flows very well and even though it is on the “wrong” side of most trailer fill valves, it is easy to run a hose to the other side. There is still a slight incline to the road here, so tank level indicators may be a little off if you are checking that while filling. 

The next road on the left is the Young Adult section. Across from that is M15 the co-Camp Host site. It is usually hidden from the reservation system and is used as a second buffer site when there is no co-Host. This is the site we stay in while volunteering at the park. We love this site. It is long and level, with electric and within reach of the water point with my 65 feet of hose. Muddy Run flows behind the site and is a usually emitting a peaceful gurgling sound. Our dog Ginger liked to walk down the short path and cool off in the creek during the hot days. The stream isn’t at all muddy, but maybe in the days when the mountain was devoid of trees due to the nearby iron industry that wasn't always the case.  

As Young Adult road starts, there is another paved path off to the left. This accessible path leads to the one bathhouse in the camp. The men’s side has two toilets, a urinal, two sinks and two showers. The Woman’s has three stalls and two showers. 

Outside the men's side is a deep sink which has a garbage disposal. Perfect for the campers to use to wash their dishes. The shower stalls are roomy and the water always hot and at a good pressure. Being well lit at night, it does attract a good deal of insects and spiders. 

Back on Young Adult road, we have site M16 across from the bathhouse road. It is spacious and level. There is a small path at the back that connects to site M23. Good for a several site family camp.

M17 is on the right as you move down the road. It is adequate and has electric. The driveway is a little sloped and the site is a little shorter than most of the other sites. 

M18 is across from M17 and is another one of the prime sites. Long, level and easy to back into, with electricity. This site has a short path to the bathhouse path. 

M19 is on the right next. This is another short, sloped driveway site. We have had a couple campers reject the site because their larger rig wouldn’t fit or was too hard to level off. If you have a small trailer or a tent, this electric site would work fine. Otherwise, I would avoid it. 

Site M20 is like M18, long, level and electric. Maneuvering in has been a challenge for some, especially when a large part of a trunk of a tree that had been cut was directly across from the driveway. One of the sawyers of the park cut the stump down dramatically and getting in has become a little easier. 

Site M21 on the left is the dedicated Camp Host site. It is the only site in the camp with full hookups. It is long and level. At the end of it is site M22, which is no longer a rentable site and is now just an extension of the Camp Host site. It was too close to M21 and campers complained about the proximity of the vigilant Camp Host. 

At the end of Young Adult road, we turn left again and go down the hill. First we come to the second and last water point in the campground. It is on the left. It is also on a slope, but this one is on the “correct” side of most trailers. 

Further down the hill is site M31 on the right. Long, level and easy to enter. This non-electric site is on the outer edge of the camp with no close neighbors. If seclusion is your goal, M31 is your answer.

Circling around once again, we go past M15 Camp Host site and continue up the hill on the Twenty-something section of the camp. Site M23 is first on the left. It is a good site that connects to M16 and is close to M24. M24 is right up the hill and is just as spacious and level. 

Site M25 is at the top of the hill and the most distant from the rest of the camp. At least that is what most of the campers think when they reserve it or, yes, squat in it late at night. We have given this site the special name of Isabella, and have made up our own stories about the ghost of Isabella and how she haunts that site and the woods nearby, making the campers do weird and stupid stuff. We choose Isabella, not only because the furnace stack down across the highway bares the same name, but there is a path next to the site that leads straight up the hill. It terminates in a cliff-like jumble of rocks and at the bottom of the rocks is a sign naming the area Isabella’s Rocks. Our made up story alludes to something tragic happening among those rocks. Other than being haunted, the site is fine for camping. It is the only site that is set up “backwards” than the others. Meaning the table and fire pit would be on the opposite side of the door to most trailers that you would pull into the site. It is mostly used by tent campers though and they don’t care which side the table and pit are on. 

Continuing along, the rest of the sites are on the left. M26 is just across from M25 and M27 is spaced a good way away and has a path that leads to M28. M28 and M29 are close together and have a short path between the two. There is also a path between M28 and M29 that leads to the Young Adult road and another path that leads to the bathhouse. All of the sites on Twenty-Something are non-electric. 

The last site in this campground tour is site M30. It is long and level and also next to Twenty-Something road. A short path at the back leads to the road. 

All in all there are seven electric sites and twenty non-electric, for a total of 27 reservable sites. The roads in the park are somewhat narrow, hence the one way traffic flow and the whole campground is situated on the rocky tree filled hillside. 

Some of the good things about this campground is that it isn’t as crowded and busy as the main campground over by the falls which has over 100 sites. There are plenty of trails in the area to access and cooling off in Little Hunting Creek is fun and refreshing. The creek is managed as a wild trout stream and only artificial lure fishing is allowed and it is catch and release. 

Although I never found it a nuisance and some of the campers also didn’t mind was the possibility of road noise from nearby Route 15. Light sleepers may be bothered though. 

The major con of the campground is that there is no dump station for the self contained trailers to empty their tanks. Campers can drive over to Houck, the main campground, which has a dump station next to the camp office and can be used for free. It’s only six or seven miles, but it is on windy mountain roads. 

In summary, I can’t recommend trying out this campground enough. We fell in love with The Manor during our time here and have continued to come back each year to serve as Camp Hosts and enjoy watching the seasons change in "our" campground. 

Camp Hosting in a State Park

 It was February of 2021. We had been full time RVing since the last September and we were trying to plan how we would spend our spring when we returned to our Home Base area in Maryland. We had doctor appointments and our grandson’s birthday and other things that we wanted to do back “home,” but the question remained where we would park the trailer while we were there doing these things.

One day I was looking around on the Interwebs and I started searching for Camp Hosting volunteer jobs at the Maryland State Parks that in the area of our Home Base. 

I found a few prospects and sent in my resume and cover letter. Not a long time later, I got a reply from Claudia, the volunteer coordinator at Cunningham Falls State Park in Thurmont, MD. I had been to this park twice before. Once to be a volunteer in an all women’s adventure race and the other to find a geocache. 

After some back and forth emails and a video interview, we were offered a position as co-camp host at the Manor which is the smaller campground in the park. It sits right off of Route 15 on a hillside called Bob’s Hill and is wooded and a little secluded. 

Lisa and I would team up with another camp host who had served the year before and was returning for the whole season. She would break us in and teach us how to do the job. 

The original plan was to arrive at the very end of March and stay for about six weeks. They ask for a minimum time of 30 days and we thought that 45 days would be plenty of time to get all of our appointments completed and then we would start exploring somewhere else as summer started.

Being the time of COVID, our plans changed as in person appointments were harder to get than we planned and our six-week gig stretched to three months. 

It was really fun watching the forest transform from a mid-spring sparseness to a lush, fully leaved summer forest. We really didn’t mind extending our stay. We both enjoyed the work and our daily walks up the mountain was a good workout for both Ginger and myself. 

Our co-host stayed at the other end of the road from our site. Her site also had a sewer hookup, which I would use every two weeks to dump our blue boy. It was a little bit of a hassle to maneuver it around the small trees and rocks in her site, but still better than hooking up the trailer and driving seven or eight miles on mountain roads to the main campground where there was a dump site. Not having a dump site at the Manor is really the only minus of camping or hosting there. 

We were issued a set of keys, for the Visitor Center, Maintenance shop and the bathhouse. We were also issued a t-shirt each that said Volunteer on it, a florescent vest that said the same, a radio and charger. The radio was our main means of communication with the rangers, camp office, park office and maintenance staff. 

The Camp Hosting agreement stated that we would be required to provide 20 hours of work a week per adult and would be provide a site with electricity. There are some flaws with this system, since the cost of a site is the same if a regular person is reserving it no matter if it is one person, or six. But Claudia assured us that as long as the work was getting done, the hours would happen. She was right that we had no real problem doing that amount of work each week between the two of us, but as a stickler, I tracked what I was doing each day, just to make sure. I still thought we were being “underpaid,” but we needed a place to park the trailer and I really did enjoy the work. 

One thing I realized as we were finishing up our first three month stint, was that I had not taken a single day off. I had done some work every day for three months. Now, to be fair, some of those days consisted of about an hour or maybe two as Ginger and I walked through the camp and down to the day use on our morning walk, but I was technically working as I checked sites and picked up trash along the way. I’m not complaining, but when we came back for our second stint, I made sure we took actual days off where we actually left the camp, sometimes for the whole night. 

The schedule at the Manor was pretty loose. Sharon and I would coordinate our movements with each other, ensuring at least one of us was always on board. If both of us had to be out of camp, we would let the Duty Ranger know, and they would cover us until we returned. We didn’t have a set “day off” and that was ok. It was flexible enough for us to take time off when we needed and not have to wait for our day off to roll around. 

Our co-host, Sharon, was a very nice lady. She did a lot of the greeting work with her open personality and we did most of the grunt work. We shared a Gator which carried all our tools for cleaning the sites. An ash bucket, shovels, rakes, water to put out hot ashes and a broom. We parked the Gator at her site, where we also kept the charger. It was an electric Gator. I really liked that thing. It was easy to drive and we didn’t have to deal with refueling with gas. It also ran way quieter than the gas models. Ginger really liked riding in the Gator. Every time we appeared to be heading to the Gator, she was getting up and trying to come along. We weren’t allowed to head out without her or we would be subject to her high yips of abandonment. 

Cleaning the sites each time they were vacated. We started calling it T & A, which stood for Trash and Ash. It was the minimum we would do to a site to get it ready for the next camper. Another thing we liked to do was rake the site of any leaves, sticks or other debris and make it look real nice. 

Our routine would be to roll up on the site in the Gator. The three of us would disembark, I would grab the shovels and handle the firepit first. Ginger would jump off and start checking the area for any edible refuse, carelessly left by a camper. She was also our supervisor. Lisa would grab trash picker and trash can and check the area for any trash. We developed a real good Trash Eye doing this job. No piece of micro-trash would escape our gaze. It is something we both can’t stop doing even though we have completed our gig as Camp Hosts. 

I would flip back the fire pit on its side. This was our signal to each other that the site had been cleaned. That way, as we or Sharon made a round, we could easily tell if a site needed cleaning. I would check the ash for heat and then transfer it to the ash bin in the Gator. If it was hot, I would sprinkle some water on the coals to make them safe. 

After that, we would both grab the rakes and clear the debris off of the site. I liked the little lines the rakes made as you scraped them across the fine gravel. It had a Zen effect. Also, I found myself thinking of my dad a lot as I raked. He loved to rake and our campsite we owned when I was a teen always was spiffy looking and well raked. I would channel him as I did the job. It gave me peace. 

Other parts of the process was to make sure the breakers were off if it was an electric site and check around the edge for any discarded items or trash. 

When we were done with the site, I would give Ginger an indication that we were done and if she approved, she would head to the Gator and hop in, ready to head to the next site. 

During our first part of the gig, I brought up a wheelbarrow from the maintenance shop down the hill and had my own set of cleaning tools. I would use it to do some of the sites near our side if I didn’t feel like getting the Gator at Sharon’s or if she was using it. It was a pretty good workout to push the barrow all the way up the hill. Especially if I had a good load of ash on board. I think I lost about fifteen pounds during that first three months. 

Greeting the campers was another part of our duties. We would basically say hello and introduce ourselves. Pointing out the rules and amenities of the camp, where the bathhouse was, firewood, trails, etc. Answer any questions they had and let them know where to find us if they needed anything. My and Lisa’s basic method was to not bother a camper if they were in the middle of something like setting up or unpacking. Most times I would just wave and say hello, then move on. Sharon had her own method of greeting, so we were happy to let her carry that load. She was also working full time from her RV, and was a night owl, so we easily settled into a routine of doing the jobs that we excelled at. I was always up early and started cleaning sites as soon as they were available. I would have most things ready early in the day. She liked to do rounds later in the day and sometimes well after dark. It worked well for both of us. 

Another duty was to fill out the camp permits each day. The Manor is isolated from the main part of the park and the larger campground and we were mostly on our own here. There was no camp office on this side, and the contact station at the gate was unmanned. At first, Ginger and I would head down to the Visitor Center (which was mostly closed early in the season due to COVID) and use the computer there to run a report on the comings and goings of the campers. With report in hand I would write up the permits, which were a basic form that showed the site, check out date and check out time. We would also write the campers last name on the side, so they could easily find their permit. We would place these in the registration shed which was at the entrance of the campground. A clip with a site number was where we put the permits. 

Unfortunately, not every aspect of the job is unicorns and rainbows. The camp had rules and our job was to only inform and remind errant campers of those rules. The rangers and, if needed, the Natural Resources Police (NRP) were the enforcers. 

Being a resident of the campground, though, we were the first people the campers went to when they had a problem. Luckily I only had to deal with loud or unruly campers a handful of times. Site 25 seemed to be the campsite that attracted the most attention. Mainly because the campers thought it was the furthest away from the hosts, and it was, but we had named the site Isabella and it was always on our radar. The first time I had to go to site Isabella was to help a guy find his girlfriend who had ran into the woods in the dark in the middle of the night. It was about 4 am and I was heading to the bathhouse when I heard some noise and then saw a guy riding down the road the wrong way. I stopped him to ask if everything was ok, and he said his girlfriend had run off. Long story short, they had actually snuck into the camp that night and she was unstable in some way. I had actually had to call the NRP for help and three cop cars showed up. Two state police and one NPR. That was exciting. They ended up abandoning gear and never came back to claim it or pay for their night in camp.

Another time I had to calm down a rowdy party of drinkers at Isabella. Alcohol is forbidden in the park, but as I always say, discretion goes a long way with a lot of rules. These people were showing no discretion, so I needed to remind the site renter of the rules. They quieted down and complied, but you could tell they were just having a good time. The last time I had to got to Isabella, I was awakened by a knock on the trailer door by a tent camper down the hill from Isabella. She said the group up there were having a loud party. I put on my fluorescent vest and headed up the hill. It turned out to be a small group of Jewish boys who were just having a late night fire with some maybe a little too loud conversation. One guy was actually at the next site over where he had gone to pray and read his bible because they were talking too loud. I reminded them of quiet hours and walked back to camp away from the rowdy party, not. 

A few other times I would need to remind people to use cups or keep the alcohol inside their trailers. One group of older ladies had a whole outside bar set up next to their trailer. They were celebrating one of the girl’s birthdays. It was all about the spirit of the rule, not the letter, as we were told during training by the Park Manager. I always use the word discretion when I warn someone about the rules. 

After we had extended our stay, I got my own sign on the the reservation system and was able to download the software on my laptop. It made the whole process so much easier. Especially when there were late reservations during the day. Not having a printer, I would just save the report as a pdf in my Google Drive, copy it to my phone and have an electronic clipboard of the report in my phone whenever I needed to reference it. 

The bathhouse was a special challenge during our stay. We weren’t responsible for cleaning the building, the maintenance crew were responsible, but we were to check it each day, make sure it had TP and no major messes that needed to be cleaned up. If we found a problem, we were to call the cleaning van and they would take care of it. The problem with this was the cleaning crew were mostly made up of post millennials who weren’t very good at the job. You would think that keeping a common area like a bathroom would be a high priority, especially in the middle of a pandemic, but each day we discovered that they really weren’t doing the job they were supposed to be doing. 

One of the problems were these same guys were also responsible for other jobs like mowing the acres of grass at both sites, and other maintenance jobs throughout the park. It became a bone of contention during our stay and to be honest, led to some outright frustration on my part, which at one time, led me to express my anger a little too verbally. 

It took several weeks until I was able to score a TP key so I could properly keep the dispensers full as they should be. I mean, they would let both of the huge rolls expire before replenishing the dispenser and that just isn’t the way it is supposed to work. I’m gonna stop here on my harping. Let’s just say, we didn’t agree on the proper way to clean a head. 

One more duty was to keep the wood shed full for the campers. Three pallets of wood would be delivered down to the maintenance shed ever two weeks or so and we would transfer the bundles from there to the wood shed each day. It was an honor system where the camper would take their bundles then put their money in an envelope and shove it in an honor box. I like throwing those bundles around. Another mindless, menial, task that got your blood flowing. 

Down the hill from the camp was a Visitor Center, Aviary (where a number of owls, hawks, turtles and snakes lived), a playground and several picnic tables with grills. At the bottom of the parking lots there was also the parks only large, rentable picnic pavilion. 

We were responsible for checking these areas and picking up trash and cleaning the grills. On our morning walks, Ginger and I would walk down and wind our way through the area, looking for trash and checking the grills. If a grill needed cleaning, we would pull off the grate and let it hang. It was a another signal between the hosts. When a grill was clean, we would put the grate on the top most shelf. 

After checking the whole area, we would head up the Catoctin Trial for a little ways. The trail crosses the Little Hunting Creek here then heads up Bob’s Hill. We would go up a ways then head back down on another trail. It was a good part of our morning routine. 

Being at the less busy side of the park, we had a lot of autonomy. The rangers would make regular rounds through the day use and the camp and always asked if we needed anything. They were also available on short notice with a quick on the radio. There were two different types of ranger, but they all did the same jobs. The classified, I think they were called, were the full time rangers, working the whole year. The seasonal were hired to cover the busy months of the season. We got to know and like all of the rangers at the park. They were all well qualified and would help us whenever we needed it. They also left us alone a lot of the time, which I also liked a lot. 

Listening to the radio traffic on a busy summer weekend made us very thankful that Claudia had placed us on the Manor side of the park. The main park has a very popular waterfall, as is evident by the name of the park and the parking lots fill up pretty much every day from late spring throughout the summer. Listening to the rangers, park office, camp office and contact station coordinate that hectic pace mad us really happy to be on the sleepy side of the mountain. 

The wildlife over on this side of Bob’s Hill was also plentiful and varied. There was a herd of deer that would move up and down the mountain and a few turkeys that had a very large brood that would move through the camp, looking for scraps and whatnot. I was the only host on this side to see a bear. Well, Ginger saw it too. I was sitting in camp chilling out with Ginger. Lisa I think was off visiting her father. Our patio area faces the side of the hillside that we had scoured endlessly in the spring looking for Morel mushrooms with no success. Suddenly I saw out of the corner of my eye some dark movement. It was a very large bear moving across the hillside and down towards the creek that ran behind out site. I checked to make sure Ginger was secure on her leash as I fumbled to get my phone out and grabbed for the radio. 

I called in the sighting to the Duty Ranger as the bear crossed the creek and stood looking at me from about 50 meters away. Still fumbling for my phone, I brought up the camera app and thought I had hit the start video button. Of course, in my excitement, I messed that up somehow and the only video was a short second of me actually hitting record, when I thought I had hit stop record and then turning off the phone. I had failed at capturing the bear’s visit on digital film. 

At about that time, Ginger caught sight of the bear and started barking. The bear headed up the hill away from the annoying canine.

Shea, the Duty Ranger arrived as we were walking up the road with Ginger still barking into the forest where the bear had disappeared. We briefed her on our encounter and I tried to show her my footage. That was when I realized my fumble. 

The bear seemed to have moved away from Ginger’s racket and we walked up the road to where a couple of campers were. We gave them a heads up on the sighting and reminded them to not leave any food or trash out at their sites. It was an exciting encounter. 

Another resident of the rocky, wooded hillside are snakes. We came across a couple garter snakes and black snakes, but the most interesting residents were the copperheads and timber rattlers. I saw my first copperhead ever when I was once again chilling in camp. I was sitting on my chair and saw movement not five feet away from me. It was a young copperhead that had come into camp. I jumped up and grabbed a broom, steering the critter away from the rug and trailer. I guided him a little bit away from camp as Ginger slept unwary. I called in the sighting to the Duty Ranger and I think it was Cody who showed up along with Cricket, the park’s environmentalist. She quickly bagged the young thing and we moved it across the creek to be released. This one I had good video of. 

Our next snake encounter was a rattler, that was reported by one of our regular campers at the park. I called it in and followed it along a trail in through the high brush near the bathhouse. I also got some good video of this guy. 

Aaron had the Duty on this day and he also had some snake handling gear in his truck. The bag had a short pole, so he was understandably cautious as he tried to figure out the best way to get the snake in the bag. This was the largest snake we saw this season, so his caution was warranted. He called a few people for backup and no one was available to help. I reminded him that I was right here and very willing to help. I think he was afraid of me getting bit, and blah , blah, blah, whatever. I was going to help one way or another. After a bit more waiting, he made the grab and it was text book. 

I helped him bag the snake and we released it across the creek again. This was starting to be routine to release poisonous snakes near our camp and Lisa pointed that out. I know the water wasn’t much of a barrier, but this one we walked up the hill a lot further than the first one. 

I few days later I was talking to Melissa another of the classified rangers and she mentioned she had snake handling gear in her truck that she never planned on using, and offered it to me. I happily took possession of it and put it in my camp. It was a grabber, a hook (that helps support the snakes weight as you lift it) and a bag with a long handle. Little did I know I would be using it a couple days later. 

It was dusk on a weekend night and I heard the call on the radio that a camper had called the ranger reporting a snake in their camp. I luckily had the Gator with me and I grabbed the snake gear, and headed up the hill just as I saw Shea head up there in her duty van. 

I was really excited to be using my new gear and after checking with Shea who had no snake handling gear, I moved in for the capture. The campers had cornered the critter under their canopy and it was well lit with their flashlights. I grabbed it quickly and Shea held the bag as we bagged it. She held the bag as we used the Gator to move to the “snake release area” and once again we released a poisonous snake about 60 meters from our camp. I had found my calling. 

July was approaching and our three month stint was coming to an end. Most of our doctors appointments were complete, but there were still a couple to take care of, but it was time for a break from cleaning other people’s campsites. After the forth of July weekend we packed up camp, cleaned site 15 and headed out. 

As we were planning our departure, I mentioned to Claudia that we might want to come back again later in the year and she heartedly agreed that we were surely welcome back if we wanted to. We had promised to watch our daughter’s dogs when her and her husband went on a long delayed vacation to Hawaii in October. We might need a place to put the trailer for that week and their house was only about 30 minutes away from the Manor. 

The next two months were spent in the general area of PA, MD, NJ, and NY. When we started to look at our plans for the end of summer and beginning of fall, we thought it might be a good idea to come back to the Manor for another sting. I emailed Claudia to see if they needed us and her response was something like, “Yes, a million times, yes. 

As September was waning, we pulled into site 15 again and set up camp. For both of us, it oddly felt like we had “come home” again. 

We quickly settled back into the routine of being a Camp Host. The busy part of the season had ended after Labor Day and we easily handled the duties of keeping the Manor clean and ready for campers. During the week now, the camp would only have a few campers, but the weekends still would fill the camp and keep us busy doing our duties. 

The forest once again transformed from full summer lush to the crisp scents of autumn. Fall has always been my favorite season, so it was good sitting in one place and watching it arrive. 

The next five weeks went by quickly it seemed. We did the work and received no pay. Our site was our pay, and it was worth it. 

Our daughter’s vacation arrived and we watched the house and dogs. Lia stayed at the house with all three dogs and I would either come back and forth and do the work each day or stay the night in camp if needed. 

At the end of October the main campground closed for the season, but the Manor remained open. We would now be catering to the hunters who would come to walk up the side of Bob’s Hill looking for their prey. The bathhouse was scheduled to be closed around November 1st and they brought in a porta-potty for the winter. The Manor would stay open for campers until mid-December. It was time for us to move on.

We had made our plans to start running from winter, but had a few things to take care of in Pasadena first before heading south. 

Sharon had taken a much needed break from the campground the last week we were hosting, but got delayed down in North Carolina waiting for windshield wiper motor for her RV. 

We headed out on the afternoon of November 2nd, leaving the camp temporarily hostless. The rangers would cover until Sharon returned. She is scheduled to stay until the end of the season. 

We really enjoyed our time at the Manor and will most likely return if they will have us sometime in the future. Claudia is an excellent ranger and supervisor and it would be a pleasure to work for her again. 

Hell and High Water - A Novel

 I have had this story in my head for about a decade or so and over the last several years, I have finally knocked it out of my head and into a digital universe. I had started the beginning somewhere around 2018 or so. About 19,000 words. Then I discovered something called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) where you attempt to write 50,000 words in the month of November. I won my first NaNoWriMo in 2019, shortly after we started full time RVing. But the story, now at around 70,000 words was only half done. The story sat for another 11 months and then I did my second NaNoWriMo and got the first draft done at about 120,000 words. There is sat for a couple years. In 2022 I decided to pick it up again and do my first edit of the story. Fleshing out things I left incomplete, adding and deleting stuff, finding typos, bad grammar and punctuation. and adding about another 9,000 words.

I had no professional help, but I'm ready to put it out there. Soon, I will be converting the somewhat finished product into an eBook and publishing it on Lulu.com.  For now, I'm posting a chapter a day on my AT Facebook Page until I either get the whole thing on there or I catch up to where my "final" editing is. (One last go through until I pull the trigger). 

I'm going to post the chapter links here if you want to read them from here and don't do Facebook or whatnot. 

Here's the synopsis:

Sergeant First Class Clayton Collier has been in the Army for 19 years. During a survival training evolution, some very bad things happen. The war that brought on this new world only lasted four days, but it really did the job. Clayton is now separated from his family by a landscape full of beauty and danger. He decides to forsake his duties and get back home, where he hopes to find his family still alive and waiting for him. As he makes his way over the 1000 miles he needs to travel to get home using the famous Appalachian Trail, Clayton encounters many challenges along the way and meets several interesting people. Clayton teams up with several unique hikers, who help each other during their trek.

Legalese:

This is a work of fiction. All the names, characters, businesses, places, and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2023 by Joseph Harold

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Dedication:

Dedicated to my hiking partner, LoGear, who always walks beside me, even if she is several meters ahead, and to my girls, who inspire me every single day.

Lastly, to Xander, my little fox. Your loss will be felt the rest of my life, being able to imagine what could have been, was my therapy.

Download the ePub here: Hell and High Water

Chapters:

Chapter 1 - Army Training Sir - Monday, June 4th

Chapter 2 - Survival of the Fittest- Monday, June 4th - Tuesday, June 5th

Chapter 3 - FUBAR - Wednesday, June 6th - Thursday, June 7th

Chapter 4 - The Attack of the Hill People - Thursday, June 7th

Chapter 5 - A Footpath in the Wilderness - Friday, June 8th

Chapter 6 - Hiking North - Saturday, June 9th to Friday, June 15th

Chapter 7 - The Home Front - Friday, June 15th 

Chapter 8 - The Smokies Saturday, Jun 16th to Friday, Jun 22nd

Chapter 9 - Town Visits - Saturday, June 23rd to Friday, June 29th

Chapter 10 - The Home Front II - Thursday, June 28th

Chapter 11 - The Resistance - Friday, June 29th to Wednesday, July 4th

Chapter 12 - Decisions - Thursday, July 5th to Tuesday, July 10th

Chapter 13 - Home Front III - Tuesday, July 10th

Chapter 14 - Gnobbit and Finn - Wednesday, July 11th to Saturday, July 21st

Chapter 15 - Home Front IV - Saturday, July 21st

Chapter 16 - Pushing North - Sunday, July 22nd to Thursday, July 26th

Chapter 17 - Part II

Chapter 18 - Waynesboro - Saturday, July 28th to Sunday, July 29th

Chapter 19 - Home Front V - Sunday, July 29th

Chapter 20 - Shenandoah - Monday, July 30th to Thursday, August 2nd

Chapter 21 - Home Front VI - Friday, August 3rd to Saturday, August 4th

Chapter 22 - Shenandoah II - Friday, August 3rd to Sunday, August 5th

Chapter 23 - Home Front VII - Sunday, August 5th to Monday, August 6th

Chapter 24 - Home - Monday, August 6th to Tuesday, August 7th

Chapter 25 - Assault on Weather - Tuesday, August 7th 

Chapter 26 - Many Partings - Wednesday, August 8th to September and beyond

The Wounding of Vixen

 

Vixen is our house.  We live in her.. She follows us around as we travel the country. Camping in the places that keeps us close to the earth.  

Last March. Vixen was wounded.  One of her tires fell off.  It was totally my fault.  This post is a lesson in maintaining your house or you may end up actually homeless for a time.

We were driving up I-81 on our way to Base Camp where we would prepare for our next gig as camp hosts at Cunningham Falls State Park.  It was a rainy, gray day and we were heading for our next Harvest Host location where we would spend the night before finishing this latest leg of our travels. 

I felt nothing out of the ordinary, but a car came up next to us, beeping alarmingly and pointed at the back of the trailer.  We quickly pulled over and got out to check it out.

This is what we found.

Failed Wheel Bearing

One of our wheels had fallen off.  Not gone flat. Fallen Off. We were about to become Homeless with three wheels.

We sat on the side of the highway for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do next.  Of course, I immediately went into troubleshooting mode. We have road-side service with our insurance company, so that was the first item on the to-do list.  I called and give them my information and described our situation. They told me they would call back when they had found a tow for us.

I started searching the area for RV Repair places, not wanting to sit idle while every truck that came by shook and rattled our poor baby as we sat inside. I had lowered the stabilizers, but the the rear, driver side stabilizer had been damaged as the tire rolled out from under the trailer. 

I found an RV repair place about 15 miles up the road and he told me to bring it in.  He also mentioned that he could provide a tow if the insurance company has any trouble finding anyone.  

The rain had slackened and then quit as we waited.  Suddenly, we heard a knock on the door.  I came out to see a trucker walking back to his rig.  He opened his passenger door and pulled out my tire.  He told me that a fellow trucker had put out a heads up on the CB radio and he had located the tire and brought it to me.  I guess it wasn't too far back, but this was great.  The tire was still fine, but the wheel bearing had broken apart which was how the wheel had just come off. I had been planning to have the bearing re-greased when we got to camp, but I was at least a year late on the maintenance and apparently this is what happens when you defer maintenance too long. 

Eventually, the insurance company called back telling me that they couldn't find anyone to tow me.  I gave them the RV Repair information and in about another hour and a half, a tow truck showed up with the RV Repair guy.

They chained up the axle, hooked it up the the repairman's truck and headed out. We noticed that he was driving pretty fast, but thought he knew what he was doing.  Shortly after that, smoke started coming out of the other tire.  He pulled off the highway and they took their time re-chaining the axle.  This time he went slower and we had no trouble getting to his shop.

After a quick check of the damage we were told that we needed a new axle and it might be a five week wait for it to come in.  "Supply issues" due to COVID of course.

We checked into a local motel for the night to decompress and plan our next move and the next morning we went back to the shop and removed all we could of importance from the trailer and transferred some unneeded items from the truck.  

Sadly, we left Vixen in the lot as we headed north to Maryland. I called our volunteer coordinator at the park and told them we will be several weeks late for our camp host gig. No worries, she said.  Our spot would be waiting for us.

We spent a week at our daughters, then a couple weeks in Philly at Lisa's father's house. We were on our way to Cape May for another week or so when we got the call that the axle was in and they would have it ready in a few days. 

After a couple days at the shore, We headed back to Philly and I continued on the next day to VA.  I got a room about 45 minutes away from the shop and picked up our house the next day. I didn't even mind driving through some spring snow on the way down.

Snow

I checked out the repairs and talked to the mechanics about several different things.  I had all four tires replaced and the bearings greased. I once again reinforced in my head the importance of not deferring important maintenance for the trailer.  We now had better tires than we had, a new back axle and freshly greased wheel bearings.   

Everything was pretty much back in order and I headed out with our house behind me once again as it should be. 

I headed straight to the Campground and pulled into our camp host site. A week later, I went and picked up Lisa and Ginger and everything was pretty much back to normal after that. 

All fixed

An unexpected adventure that I prefer not to repeat in the future.  

Peace,
Homeless On Wheels
Adventures with Vixen

Campfires and Cooking

The Lure of a Campfire

For me, campfires have always been an important part of camping. I love the smell of the wood smoke, (unless it’s in my eyes). The dancing flames are the best hiker TV you can find, and the warmth is always welcome on a cool evening in the woods. 

Cooking on the fire has become a common occurrence in our camp. We started cooking meals on the fire shortly after starting RVing full time and plan to continue as long as we keep camping in areas that allow fires. 

So far, it hasn’t been anything elaborate. Usually chicken thighs, pork chops, turkey burgers or fish. We like to put corn on the cob, unshucked and soaked in water. The water turns to steam and cooks the corn as the leaves protect the kernels from being burned in the flames. 

People leave a lot of stuff behind when they are camping, so we have accumulated a few things that we could use. One is a small grill that is on legs that sits over the coals of the fire. At first we thought it would be too close to the flames, but we have found that it cooks pretty good if the flames have calmed down some. 

We make the fire and feed the logs in until we have a good bed of coals. Throw the grate on after spraying it with some pam and then place the meat on the grill. 

Gathering Wood

Processing wood has become a new hobby for me. I love gathering wood in the forest for the campfire. We have yet to purchase firewood on our travels. If I’m able to gather and process my own wood for free, that is what I’m going to do. I have a bow saw a hatchet and a 2.5 lb maul. I like to process the wood into sizes that will burn efficiently in the fire. If the log is too big, it takes a long time to burn and usually it doesn’t burn with a good flame. I will cut and split the wood in to a size that will burn well. 

When we were camp hosting, one of the benefits of cleaning camp sites is getting to collect the wood that the campers purchased and then left behind. We got a lot of wood that way during our time at The Manor. I would also collect the half burnt larger logs that were left in the firepit and burn them to ash in my firepit. Sometimes I would split the half burned stuff to make it burn a little better. 

There is nothing more comforting than staring into the dancing flames of a crackling fire that you have built. It is mesmerizing. The warmth is always nice and using the fire as a tool to cook a meal is the utmost in self reliance. 

Fire Starters

Usually we can get the fire started by saving burnable trash and using that to get the kindling going, but I have been making nice fire starters for quite a few years. 

They are simple and based on the cotton ball/petroleum jelly concept. I got the idea from a fellow bush crafter that I met on line several years ago. The recipe is simple. Take those round makeup remover pads and dip them in melted petroleum jelly. Let them cool off and put them in a tin or zip loc bag. I can usually get all the ingredients at a local dollar store. I but those foil pie tins to melt the PJ in and the makeup pads come in like a pack of 100. I have found that half a pad is usually good enough to get dry wood burning, so I cut them all in half before dipping them. 

The pad will burn for several minutes and you can even dip it in water before lighting it. The PJ makes the pad practically water proof. If I am trying to start a fire with damp wood, I might use two halves. You can even get them flaming with a fire steel. You just scuff the pad up a little to get something that will catch a spark and they will flame right up. 

A few years ago, I went a whole year or so, lighting dozens of fires and never used a match or lighter. It was just fire steel and the pads or natural tinder like broom sedge or birch bark. Bush crafting is another hobby of mine. I like to learn the primitive ways to thrive in a forest environment. 

Fire Safety

Fire making skills is an important part of bush crafting and camping. Even if you are in a trailer or other RV and staying in campgrounds all the time. It brings me close to nature. 
Of course fire safety is always of the utmost importance. I always check the fire danger in my area and will keep a good eye on the fire. Dousing it with water or dirt when I’m done is an important part of the process. Windy weather always makes me more cautious. 

A daily ritual of sharing marshmallows with Ginger

When I was long distance hiking, I didn’t make fires very often. Usually after walking all day up and down mountains, my energy was at a very low level at the day. What I usually did was set up camp, get water, eat dinner using a cook stove and go to bed or relax for a while. There were several times when I would gather wood with the intention of making a small fire before bed, but after doing the other chores, I was so spent that I didn’t have the energy to make the fire. The times that I did make a fire though, I never regretted. The magic of a fire is very rejuvenating. 

So, I will keep making those fires as we travel around the country. I’m sure there will be times when we are in places that don’t allow fires. Camp Lejeune, for instance, where we are at the time of this writing. They don’t allow any open fires or flames. I’m sure when we get out west, we will encounter other bans in the tinderbox of those western states. No worries. I’ll just wait for the next time were in a lush, damp forest and then I’ll stare into those flames and think about what I can cook on the fire next. 

Watching a Forest for a Season

 Living in a Forest

I consider myself somewhat of an outdoorsman.  I love being out in nature and experiencing the weather, the flora and the fauna as it goes about its business. For the first time in my life, I have spent the turning of the seasons, living inside a forest. Watching it change and come to life as the days grew longer and then shorter again. 

We arrived at the foot of Bob's Hill, part of Catoctin Mountain, at the end of March. Spring was getting underway, but still had some way to go.  The day we arrived a sleet that turned into a snow squall blew over the mountain and dropped the first flakes on my shoulders that I had avoided the whole of the winter.  

Site 15

We settled into Site 15. It was close to perfect.  The site was plenty big enough for the coach, and level.. There was a nice running stream named Muddy Run right behind the site that Ginger would use to cool herself off later in the season.  The bathhouse was just down the path and we really didn't have any close neighbors. 

Spring

The forest was still mostly asleep when we arrived.  We were at the base of a mountain and Spring was underway, but still coming on.  You could easily see through the whole campsite at this time, since the undergrowth hadn't started growing yet.  

Easy to see through the trees

Mayapple

Daffodils

The stream was running fast and full. Some of the trees were starting to bud and a few of the flowering type were sending out their blooms.  The forest felt like it was slowly waking up.

Summer

As the trees began to leaf out and the undergrowth came out, the campground started to close in.  Where we used to be able to see easily across the campground, was now just a wall of trees.  You had to actually walk around the camp to see all the sites and campers. 

Ferns

Ginger cooling in Little Hunting Creek

The stream slowed to a little more than a trickle, but was present the whole summer. 

With the warm weather, came the cicadas. Brood X was hatching and early on, we saw many signs of them coming out. Small holes in the ground under the leaves and one or two here and there.  This trickle soon became a torrent and the cute bugs with bulging red eyes took over the forest. Their cacophony filled the hillside and they were everywhere.  We enjoyed them being around.  They were harmless and fun to play with.. 

Cicada Love

Drawn to the only light source in the forest

I named this one Clyde

Lisa would pick up the ones that came dive bombing into camp and release them on a tree.  We would spend the next several minutes watching it climb to the top.  

Wildlife

From day one we started seeing several deer that lived on the hillside and routinely moved from up the hill through the camp to the open grass down below.  There were also several female turkeys that would walk through camp. Later their brood could be spotted moving from one campsite to the next, looking for bugs and scraps as they followed their mothers up the hill. The snakes and bears also came out as the season changed.  We started seeing different snakes. Garter and Black snakes at first. Then copperheads and rattlers.  I had a copperhead slither into my camp one day as Ginger and I were sitting outside enjoying a lazy afternoon.

Rattle Snake

Copperhead

Garter

On another day, Ginger and I were outside and i spotted a bear moving along the creek on the hillside above our camp.  It crossed the creek and passed about 100 feet away. When Ginger saw it, she started barking and scared it up the hillside.  It was an exciting experience.

I became proficient at picking up snakes with the tools the ranger game me and releasing them across the creek and up the hill.  

The forest came alive with the warm, summer weather.  

Relaxing by the fire

Our nomad garden

A Break From the Forest, Then Fall

In July, we left the Manor and went exploring in the general area, but we came back in late September and got to experience the forest changing from high summer to fall.

When we left, the wine berries were just getting ripe.  We had been waiting for them to get ready for several weeks. They are so good.  

Wine Berries

As the year moved on, the leaves started turning and falling and covered the forest floor with another carpet of leaves that would eventually add to the duff that helps nourish the plants and trees.

Fall arrives

The fall also brought out another insect. This one not as cute as the cicadas.  The dreaded stink bug.  These MF'ers got everywhere in their quest to avoid the colder weather. They found their way into our trailer and found all the places to hide.  Several months later, we are still finding their hiding places and throwing them out into the cold.  

The days became shorter and colder and when November rolled around, it was time to go.

The Circle of the Year

When we pulled out of site 15 in early November, Fall was in full swing and the forest was preparing to go back to sleep for the winter.  It was a very nice experience to see the forest go through its annual changes and to be sitting in the middle of it as it happened.  Everyone should spend a year and a day or some long part of a year inside a forest.  Just to see how it lives.  

Our flag display

Black Squirrel