Allgood Festival - 39°34'18.40"N 79°44'33.17"W

Allgood is four day festival and camp-out with great music, great vibes, and great people. I have gone for the past two years and will probably go as much as I can for the rest of my life. Those four days have been some of the best days of the year for me both times I went. I even got to play my didgeridoo on stage with an artist called Dr. Didg, one of my favorite performers at Allgood. That was the best part of this past summer's Allgood for me. Phil Lesh and Bob Weir played with Further and did a Grateful Dead concert for 4 hours before Bassnectar performed during a glow-stick war for one of the most intense concerts of the festival, which was followed up by Widespread Panic with fireworks and candle lanterns which were lit and released leaving the sky absolutely covered with what looked like giant stars. There is not a care in the world, concerts go from 11 in the morning until 4 at night everyday on 3 different stages, and the best part of all... no cops are allowed onto the mountaintop.

Day concert- Flag

Widespread Panic

The early morning after a night of fun.

One of many, many hippies

Concert area day crowd.

Aerial Photo of Marvin's Mountaintop

Pictures by Sam Friedman - Allgoodfestival.com

Kilgore Falls - 39°41'34.36"N 76°25'37.15"W

This is Kilgore Falls. It is a waterfall not too far from my house. My friends and I go there a lot to explore, enjoy the views of the falls, go rock climbing, and to swim. There is a fallen tree stuck under the falls that you can stand on and be directly under the falling water. The waterfall is not that big, but still big enough for a fatal fall from the top of the rocks and also big enough to sit on a rock ledge behind the falls and watch the water come down without it hitting you. It is quite a beautiful scene in the winter as well when much of the waterfall is frozen.

Hemlock Gorge - 39°41'17.60"N 76°46'30.15"W

This is Hemlock Gorge. It is a part of the Gunpowder River which runs into the Prettyboy Reservoir and continues after the dam of the reservoir. It is a great place to hike and swim. The surrounding forest is gorgeous and the lanscape is filled with giant proutruding rocks. It is one of the most popular places to camp in Hereford, even though camping, fires, and alcohol are illegal.

Pictures from Hiventures.com

Prettyboy Reservoir - 39°38'38.27"N 76°44'38.00"W

The Prettyboy Reservoir is the body of water in my back yard. I have been exploring its watershed and playing in its 19.9 billion gallons of water since I was able to walk. It is a great place to hike on and off of fire trails, swim, watch nature, fish, and camp. However, camping, fires, and swimming are all illegal and one must watch out for DNR rangers. A great place to go in the reservoir is the Beckleysville Bridge. It is a very popular spot because people love to jump off of the bridge into the cooling waters below in the summer time. The Reservoir feeds into the Loch Raven Reservoir and its water eventually supplies Baltimore City. It's named Prettyboy after a horse. A man was riding his horse named Prettyboy through the reservoir during a drought. The water level was low, making for a lot of short cuts. However, duing one of those short cuts through the exposed surface, the horse got stuck in the mud. Not being able to save the horse, the owner had to put it down. The area around the reservoir was later named after that horse- "Prettyboy".

Picture from Retzer Cariaga Photography- http://www.retzercariaga.com/photo.php?id=129

This is a bald eagle in a part of the reservoir refered to as Frog Hollow Cove. This is one of the most popular places of the reservoir because a backroad surrounds the cove pretty tightly, making for quick access to the water. Bald eagles are not uncommon here, as there is a ton of wildlife. My friends and I have even seen a few bald eagles dive down to the water, catch a fish, and take it to a tree for a meal.

Picture from Hiventures - http://hiventures.com/Prettyboy/PrettyboyPics/eagle_11272005.JPG

This is a picture of the reservoir from a hot air balloon. There are always beautiful sunsets, just like St. Mary's.

Picture from : Up Up Away Hot Air Balloon Company - www.marylandballoonflights.com/images/pic21.jpg