Loch Raven ~ After The Snow

I've been to Loch Raven Reservoir in Baltimore County, Maryland many times as I live not too far away from it. However, I've never been there after a snowfall so, today, I'll be showing off some photos that I took there after a snowfall that we had last week.

What is also interesting is that this and a small snowfall that we had a few days prior was the first significant snowfall that we've had here in almost three years. That is not normal but the last two years we just narrowly escaped the snowy weather systems that came our way. To be honest, I'm not complaining though! 😉

There are two dams at Loch Raven Reservoir but the older and smaller dam which we approach first is obscured by trees and plant overgrowth and I usually can't get a very good photo of it but here is a photo that I was able to get looking back at it.

This is the larger dam which has some overgrowth also but is not as obscured by it. You can also see quite a bit of ice on the water here.

The overgrowth at the larger dam gets worse as you drive up to it but there is a window of opportunity to get a few good photos of it without having to park and walk down to it. When we don't park and walk down then at some point I'll just be clicking away with my camera just after the overgrowth and hope that I get a couple of good photos. There sure was a lot of water flowing over the dams on this visit!

My photos are from much of the span of Loch Raven Reservoir along Loch Raven Drive and were all taken from the vehicle I was riding in (both moving and parked). This span is between Cromwell Bridge Road and Morgan Mill Road. My photos were also all taken with my phone camera as this was not a planned excursion but I'm happy with how they came out and hope you enjoy seeing them.

Additionally, I had my window open for most of these and it was cold and windy so I still got snowed on a little. Totally worth it!

This snow was a mixture of wet yet a fluffy consistency so it clung nicely to the branches of trees and shrubs yet the wind was able to carry it up, at times, into snowy clouds in front of us as well.

One of the most awesome things that my husband and I saw, that I wasn't able to photograph, was a Bald Eagle. It was gracefully gliding over the water right over this bridge. There was just no way to stop but I was overjoyed with seeing it. One person did stop briefly on the road which is not a good idea as the road has some winding to it. It is not a safe thing to do but, luckily, there is a speed limit so other cars weren't going too fast and slowed down. We saw it on the way back and my window was on the far side so I did get to see it but, as noted above, I was unable to photograph it. I probably wouldn't have been able to get a good photo with my phone camera anyway. This was the first time that I can remember seeing a Bald Eagle here but my husband says that we have before. What can I say ... I have a worsening memory problem. I wouldn't mind quite so much if I could forget some of the "bad" memories ... lol.

I put this little gif together from photos I snapped up to the bridge. It took me a lot of time yesterday to put it together in a nice looking way and I even added music to it just to find out that I couldn't find a way to upload it. So, I made a giphy account today and put it together again minus the music.

Hope you liked it even without the music?! Here are a couple of photos where the wind was blowing the snow and making big clouds of white misty snow. It was also looking even more cloudy in the skies as another weather system was coming in that night.

I could've gotten out here but I didn't. Not only because it was cold and windy but the day before I did go on a walk and it was also in some snow and ice. I was pretty worn out and sore from that so I was not up for another trek in the snow so soon.

It was just as pretty to see from a warm vehicle even if I did, occasionally, get some snow in my face from my open window.

The trees looked especially pretty with snow on them!

In this next photo you can see the little island in the background. I wasn't trying to get it in my photo but I'm glad I did. It also looked like the water was a little higher than usual.

I only snapped a few more photos before we headed back over the bridge again to leave.

All of the following photos were taken on the way out and while the truck was moving. We couldn't go too slow as there was a car behind us but we didn't go too fast either. Once the car that had practically stopped to see the Bald Eagle saw us coming up on him he sped up and continued on. We saw him stopped and knew why so my husband had already slowed down as did the car in back of us.

So, you might see a bit more blur in the last few photos but don't worry I discarded the worst of them. Here, it doesn't look like much snow on the ground but I think that is because there are a lot of trees that kept it from hitting the ground. The snow didn't stay long on the streets either which is a good thing.

This brings me to the end of my post and last photos. Hope you enjoyed seeing Loch Raven after the snow! ❄️