Maryland and Virginia fox hunters almost never see, much less kill, a fox. This is social riding in a group following hounds which are not expected to do much actual chasing.
Off-hand, I mentioned to a woman we were doing terrier work, and she made a distasteful expression. She was engaged in social riding with a “season” that no doubt ended in a fancy dress-up ball. She had no idea what American terrier work was about, but we were clearly the unwashed and we were not wearing $700 riding outfits. My double-knee Carrharts had holes, as did my 30-year old canvas shirt which was fraying on every edge, In the world of mounted fox hunting fashion is king, and looking down from a horse comes naturally. Ah well, I’m glad to be me, and not them, and no doubt they felt the same. In any case, one woman in the scrum did not speak for all.
A note about the mountain in the back of the picture. That's Sugarloaf.
Sugarloaf is a 3,200 acre private park in Frederick, Maryland, that is free admission, and open to all.
The mountain was bought around 1900 by Gordon Strong, a Chicago patent attorney and businessman.
Strong set up a trust fund in 1947 which maintains the trail system and other facilities. There is active deer control to preserve forest cover, but no other hunting that I know of. There are major cliffs and terrific views here, and it’s a popular near-DC hiking destination with nice well-maintained forest and lots of Mountain Laurel.
There are Black Bears and Eastern Timber Rattlesnakes on the mountain, but the only real danger is falling. That’s a real danger at spots — some steep trails and terrifying edges are patiently waiting for the young, stupid, and clumsy.
Of note: Gordon Strong tried to integrate schools around the mountain in 1912, and though unsuccessful, he made sure the black school was better, and with a better teacher.
Gordon Strong was my kind of man; nature-centered, community-minded, looking down on no one, though he owned the largest mountain in the immediate area.
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