Full Moon Hike at Meadowlark Gardens

Full Moon at the National Arboretum, Washington, DC

Last night after work I went to Meadowlark Gardens for a Full Moon Hike. I have always wanted to do a full moon hike since I first heard about it, and the National Arboretum in downtown DC has one every month, but it fills up so quickly I can never get a reservation. Also, theirs is a five-mile hike from 8-10 pm, so I thought the 1 1/2 hour hike at Meadowlark (earlier, and much closer to home) might be a way to try it first. So I got there around 6 pm and a naturalist talked to us for a little bit about the park and then began leading us (about 25 people) on the hike. We listened for birds, and he pointed out the different voices, the robin being the most prevalent in the early evening and of course the Canadian geese, which make a lot of racket. He also did some owl calls, hoping to get an owl to call back, but no luck tonight. He talked about the wildlife at Meadowlark-- even though they have an 11-foot deer fence around the entire 75 acres, there are still about 5-10 deer living in the park that have snuck in when the gates were open for one reason or another. They have 2 geese dogs, which live in the park and chase the geese away (the geese are a problem). It was very interesting to see a few new trails that I didn't know about.

It was very pleasant and peaceful being there in the evening. But of course because it was cloudy tonight, we never did see the moon. The naturalist told us the full moon this month is called the Sap Moon, because it occurs when the sap on the trees is running. When I got home, I went out on my deck and there it was, the moon, shining bright.