to enrich the diverse communities throughout our state and is made possible by the generous support of our members.
Thank you.
[Narrator] Coming up, finding warmth in an icy tradition... Getting acquainted with the great outdoors... And state parks from the sky.
Next.
Outdoors Maryland  is produced in cooperation with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
♪ ♪ [footsteps] [rev of engine] [splashing] [roar of waterfall] [splashing] [waves rushing] [hooves clopping] [beating of wings] ♪ ♪ [Narrator] In the mountains of Western Maryland, shortly after first light... [Matt] Thanks buddy.
[Narrator] A small group of avid anglers prepares for an Arctic-like adventure.
Single digit temperatures won't deter Matt Sell and his friends, or even his seven-year-old son, Lucas.
[Matt] No dragging your feet.
[Narrator] When Deep Creek Lake freezes over, these guys warm to the idea of spending time together ice fishing.
[Matt Sell] It's a way for me to shake off some cabin fever in the winter time whenever there's not a lot else to do.
(soft scraping) [Narrator] But ice is dynamic.
It moves, melts and refreezes over time, making it prone to cracks and fissures.
That's why Matt and his crew check the ice carefully before they begin.
[Matt] Safety with ice fishing is paramount.
You always want to drill your way out to make sure that you're always on safe ice.
[Narrator] They need at least four inches of solid ice beneath the snow and trapped air bubbles in the top layers near the surface.
[Matt] Eight inches more than enough.
[Narrator] What they call black ice- [Matt] We're good to go.
[Narrator] Because you can see the darkness below.
[Matt] That is the ice that is the purest.
It's very, very hard and it's very strong.
[Narrator] With a safe path identified, they set up camp quickly.
♪ ♪ Other than small, portable pop-up tents, ice anglers in Maryland tend to brave the elements.
The team stakes out the area, (faint buzzing) drilling multiple holes, using live minnows to bait fish traps called "tip-ups".
[Fisherman 1] All right, this guy's ready.
Come on.
[Narrator] But ice fishing is more than just a waiting game.
[Matt] What I found is to be successful is you have to stay kind of mobile, keeping the ability to bounce from place to place, but not anchoring down just in a single ice hole and staring down one spot all day long.
[Narrator] Steps away from the tip ups, the guys use short sensitive jigging rods designed to keep them close to the hole and equipped with a fine wire tip called a spring bobber.
[Matt] Jigging is a style of presenting your bait.
It's just kind of an up and down motion, to put it very basically.
This time of year, fish can be lethargic and the bites can be very, very finicky and very light.
So those spring bobbers will allow you to detect a strike where without it, you may not see.
[Narrator] Modern technology helps with that too, like cameras that help monitor fishing lines and lures, [Fisherman 2] It's fun to watch him swim right up to the lure and look at it.
But I haven't seen any swimming yet.
[Fisherman 1] Oh he's coming.
Eat it.
[Narrator] And depth finders able to distinguish between the bottom, the bait... [Matt] That's the fish that just came up- [Narrator] And any fish eager for a bite.
[Fisherman 1] I'd rather see 'em on the depth finder and not catch 'em than not have the depth finder.
(laughs) [Narrator] A man made reservoir stretching 13 miles long and covering 3,900 acres when full, Deep Creek Lake was constructed in the 1920's.
Today it's a year round destination for outdoor enthusiasts due to its self-sustaining wild fishery.
[Lucas] Can you help me?
[Narrator] Ice anglers generally go after panfish like yellow perch, bluegill, and walleye.
[Matt] The fishery is the same in Deep Creek Lake, whether there's ice on top of it or not.
You marking anything?
[[Fisherman 3] Just one.
[Matt] I got nothing here.
[Fisherman 3] He's been marking them all day and he hasn't caught any so.
[Fisherman] Yeah, I know.
[Fisherman 3] You take that how you want.
[Narrator] But when the tip ups begin flying, [Matt] Flag up Lucas.
Flag up buddy.
[Narrator] A flurry of activity can easily ice the cynics.
[Fisherman 3] Ice.
[Fisherman 1] Oh yeah!
[Lucas] Yeah.
[Fisherman 4] Here he is, perching!
[Narrator] As the Western Regional Fisheries Manager for Maryland's Department of Natural Resources.
[Matt] Go ahead and get his head.
Get his head.
[Narrator] Matt knows Lucas has to let this 18 inch Northern Pike go free.
[Matt] Cold?
[Narrator] It's too small.
[Matt] Nice one.
[Narrator] But he also knows there's more where that came from.
Even at an elevation of about 2,500 feet, This is still Maryland, not Minnesota.
So ice fishing season is short.
Maybe two months in a good year.
Along another stretch of the lake's 65 mile shoreline, John Steinbach leaves the deeper depths to friends and sets up this small cove to enjoy his lifelong pastime and target Bluegill.
[John Steinbach] My first time ice fishing probably was when I was five years old.
My dad took me out and I've enjoyed it ever since.
[Narrator] Baiting his hook with a moth larva called wax worm.
John jigs with purpose.
[John] Jiggling the bait, trying to make it alive and attract the fish.
For some of us it's a way of life.
It's not for everybody.
Test your patience.
It's you against the fish.
So these are all what we call back home, nice eating size.
[Narrator] For 15 years, John and his friends have held youth events to share their knowledge and lure a new generation to ice fishing.
The Deep Creek Hard Water Anglers stress the importance of safety first.
What to do if you fall through the ice.
[Fisherman 5] And kick like you're swimming until you're porpoised up onto the ice.
What you cannot- [Narrator] And what not to do when someone else does, [Fisherman 4] Run right up to the edge and say, here, let me help you.
They just proved that the ice is weak there.
[John] But see how I'm jigging it?
[Narrator] Then they take the children on the ice, hoping to hook the attention of young families.
And a fish, of course.
[Boy] I'm hoping to catch something.
[Girl] It's fun.
I'm cold, [Woman] (laughs) It's fun.
I'm cold.
[John] We just see this as an opportunity once a year to give back.
If we can get one child interested in the outdoors, interested in conservation and becoming a fisherman, then it's worth it to us.
[Fisherman 5] Did you get something?
[Narrator] While the fish eluded the children at the youth event, the anglers around the bend came for the camaraderie as much as the catch.
[John] I'd rather be outside doing this than sitting in the house watching TV.
[Guy] Yeah.
[Narrator] Matt wants seven-year-old Lucas to know ice fishing is about more than what you eat in the evening.
[Matt] My son, if you ask him, he will tell you that his favorite part of every day is catching the fish.
But what I enjoy seeing is him interacting with not only me, but my friends on the ice.
(in the background) Ohh!
[Matt] And whenever he has some success on the ice, he catches a fish.
The excitement and just his thirst for knowledge about it all.
It's a really cool thing to watch as a parent.
It's rewarding.
[Narrator] Matt and the team ended up with a modest haul for the day, but breaking down camp, they know their time out on the ice was time well spent.
[Matt] The obvious measure of success is how many fish that you catch, but for me, I consider a good day to go out there, catch a few fish, and have a good time with my friends and my family.
♪ ♪ [Narrator] On a misty August morning, tucked away in the serene woodlands of Western Maryland... ...a group of adventurous women have gathered together to find knowledge and community in the great outdoors.
Mother daughter duo, Jody and Emma Wenzel traveled from Pennsylvania and Baltimore to the mountains of Garrett County, Maryland for a weekend of learning and bonding.
(buzzing) They are two of over 100 eager participants registered for Becoming an Outdoors-Woman.
A three-day retreat led by the Department of Natural Resources.
Here, women learn a variety of outdoor skills.
[Woman] There he is right there.
Everything from learning how to cook cornbread over a campfire to the proper sighting in of your crossbow.
[Danny] The top pin is 20 yards.
[Narrator] DNR's Karina Stonesifer has been a coordinator for Becoming an Outdoors-Woman programs since their earliest days in Maryland.
[Karina Stonesifer] It started actually in the nineties out in Wisconsin.
They were trying to figure out why women were not participating in a lot of, you know typically male dominated outdoor activities.
They brought a group of ladies together for a weekend, identified a series of barriers that have predominantly kept them from participating.
And the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program was born from that weekend, and it is now an international program, and it's, in Maryland it's extremely popular.
[Danny] And that is us as a hunter, we are a management tool- [Narrator] Jody and Emma's weekend journey begins with one of the program's tracking and hunting courses.
While they don't expect to find themselves in pursuit of whitetales anytime soon, their love of deer and a hint of nostalgia inspired them to enroll.
[Emma Wenzel] My father is a member of a hunting camp, which we grew up going to.
I mean, that was a vacation spot.
That's my favorite place to be.
So I think it's like I've grown up with it.
[Danny Fisher] You get that arc to fall to the target and so on and so on.
[Narrator] Instructor Danny Fisher starts off with the basics.
A rundown of some of the tools and equipment needed for a safe and comfortable hunt.
[Danny Fischer] You have to put your powder down here.
Put your shoulder the same way.
See how much you're stretched out?
[Woman] Yeah, I think that one's a lot more comfortable.
[Danny] Oh yeah.
Makes a big, big difference.
[Narrator] But the class really starts to pay attention when Danny starts giving insight into surprising deer sounds.
[Danny] Basically this is calling young.
(deer noise) Come over here.
You're getting too far away from me, ok, but if you- [Danny] Yeah.
They- they walk right up to you.
Ah they're petting me, give me an apple.
Um, but if you're in the hunting area of a state park... [Narrator] For many, this isn't their first time at a Becoming an Outdoors-Woman or BOW retreat.
[Tina Gregor] The thing with soap is you can create whatever you want to create, you know.
[Narrator] Tina Gregor has been attending their workshop since the very beginning.
After feeling like she had taken almost every course they had to offer, she started volunteering at retreats and later joined the committee.
[Tina] But yeah, but you can do any color.
You can even mix colors because- [Narrator] She now teaches soap making alongside her daughter, Stephanie.
This is just one of the many unique classes offered here.
[Tina] Just because it's about the outdoors, it's not all about hunting.
We have all kinds of different photography and kayaking and outdoor cooking and... we've had leather crafting in the past.
Blacksmithing.
We have classes for everybody in every interest that somebody could think of.
(metal ringing) [Narrator] Meanwhile, the other mother-daughter pair have taken to the woods.
These beginner bird watchers are off to a great start.
[Woman 2] Oh, there's one right there.
[Avian Guide] That's a yellow belly sap sucker.
[Woman 2] I can't see them though.
I can hear them.
(whooping bird calls) [Avian Guide] There's a sap suckers.
So this is a family group because they nest here.
And this- this species, by the way, used to be considered gone from Maryland, a historical breeder, and they've really exhibited a resurgence.
[Man] You make maple syrup you got to boil it down.
[Narrator] Sapsuckers predominantly breed during the summertime in New England and Canada.
[Avian Guide] Now, but do you see in all these plumages, even these young guys, look at this young one.
[Women] Yeah.
[Narrator] A sighting in Maryland at this time of year is quite a lucky find.
[Avian Guide] The kind of thing that we- [Narrator] While most women sign up for the retreat in hopes of learning new skills... ...the weekend is about much more than just taking classes.
[Tina] You make friends here.
You know, I know people here from 1995 that I still keep in touch with from the first workshop that I went to.
(laughing) [Fisherwoman] All right.
Big fish.
[Narrator] Jody and Emma are ending their weekend, with something different.
Forest bathing.
This meditative practice is cleansing, just not literally.
It started in Japan in the 1980's as a way of reducing burnout in Japanese citizens.
Its core concepts revolve around the senses, encouraging you to take in the sights... sounds... and textures around you, as you move with the rhythm of the forest.
[Jody Wenzel] Cause I journal when I bike ride, so I see something, get off my bike and sketch or take a picture, write about it.
But this was like I saw beyond that, my attention was not just on that one thing, so it taught me I'm missing a whole lot.
(chuckles) [Narrator] A deep reconnection with nature is one gift this retreat has given Jody and Emma, but it's not the only one.
[Man] Are they flying that way?
Okay, good.
(gasping) (bird calling) [Emma] And I just think it's truly such a rare thing that the committee has been able to foster here.
I knew we'd have a good time.
I knew we'd learn things, but it's such a singular environment, really like just supportive and everything like that.
And I just think that being here with my mom made it that much more special.
You know.
[Jody] Yeah.
♪ ♪ [Narrator] It's late summer on Maryland's Eastern shore.
(waves crashing) Dawn breaks gently over the sandy dunes, the swath of color, a welcome prize for early risers who venture out in the brisk morning air at Assateague State Park.
From above, this two mile stretch of ocean and bay may appear small compared to the imposing national seashore that surrounds it.
But Maryland's easternmost state park still earns the respect of the many sun seeking beach lovers and avid campers who frequent its sandy shores.
But for some, it's not the beach, but rather the offshore winds that hold the allure.
Kitesurfing the mighty Atlantic Ocean and neighboring Sinepuxent Bay is a thrill that takes strength and skill.
♪♪ The winds here are strong and predictable, making for perfect kite surfing conditions.
Assateague was part of an ambitious venture Maryland embarked upon between 1945 and 1975 that established dozens of new state parks, like its neighbor in Snow Hill, Pocomoke River State Park.
From its headwaters at Delaware's great Cypress Swamp, the Pocomoke River flows 45 miles before it empties into the Chesapeake Bay.
Along the way, it provides abundant flat water through small creeks and inlets for paddling trips by canoe and kayak in picturesque cypress groves.
From the backwater trails of Pocomoke... to the manicured beaches and Civil War reenactments at southern Maryland's point lookout State Park.
(boom of cannon) Maryland's park system encompasses more than 97,000 acres, 48 state parks, many based around lakes, rivers and bays.
They cover a varied terrain ideal for outdoor play.
[Dave McGill] Maryland is just a fantastic place for trail lovers.
[Narrator] Dave McGill is the Maryland Advocacy Director for the Mid-Atlantic off-road enthusiasts.
The group builds and maintains trails throughout the state.
Today we're at Seneca Creek State Park near Gaithersburg.
[McGill] Seneca Creek State Park is a long park.
It runs along Seneca Creek for almost 15 miles.
It's really nice to have so much water in the area.
Seneca Creek is what creates such wonderful land.
[McGill] We have trails that go right through the middle of corn and soybean fields, which are an awful lot of fun, especially during the season.
There's a lot of woods, field edges.
That's just a fun kind of natural playground for bikes.
[Narrator] Most Maryland parks are easily recognized and well maintained with lots of things to do for most skill levels.
Wills Mountain is not one of those parks.
[Dave Best] The park itself is one of the newer established parks.
[Narrator] Dave Best is the lead ranger here at Wills Mountain.
[Best] What we're in the process of doing is making this a climbing friendly area here on Wills Mountain.
[Narrator] Wills Mountain is a rugged, undeveloped site overlooking the Cumberland Narrows just outside of the main part of town.
[Mark Kochte] This part of Wills Mountain here is, unique in all of Maryland.
[Narrator] Mark "Indy" Kochte is with the Western Maryland Climbing Coalition.
[Kochte] We have this very expansive cliff face that's about three quarters of a mile from end to end, and it goes anywhere from 20 to almost 200 feet tall.
[Narrator] The narrows is another 400 feet below the cliff space.
So at the top, a climber here is looking at a 600 foot drop at its steepest point.
Not a climb for the faint of heart.
[Best] It offers a plethora of type of climbing for top roping.
Easy climbing, hard climbing, and tread climbing.
We want to come out, we want to have fun.
We want to enjoy.
[Narrator] While Indy and his team were taking in the view from above, 600 feet below, a group of rail enthusiasts is enjoying a ride pulled by a vintage steam engine.
Steam trains regularly hauled loads of coal through mountain towns like Cumberland until the mid 1950's.
Today, the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad transports passengers back in time on a 16 mile adventure from Cumberland to Frostburg.
The early morning sun peaks over the dew-laden trees, illuminating an ethereal mist hanging low over Deep Creek, Maryland's westernmost lake resort.
The adjacent 1800 acre Deep Creek State Park is a genuine testament to an early park service tenant of "preserving necessary space for vigorous outdoor activity to improve body and mind."
The park has 20 miles of hiking trails and shoreline, as well as two protected beaches for swimming.
The glass-like lake is a serene place to kayak, canoe, and stand up paddle board.
♪(rock music)♪ Deep Creek Lake got its start nearly a century ago from a hydroelectric project here that damned up the Youghiogheny River.
The dams water release schedule makes for some tremendous whitewater boating.
If you happen to miss the release, you can still run rapids at the top of Marsh Mountain on the world's only mountaintop recirculating whitewater course.
The three quarter mile course uses six separate wave shapers, creating anything from Olympic caliber whitewater to family friendly rapids.
The Maryland State Park system remains one of the oldest, most vibrant and diverse in the United States today.
From tranquil backwater, to sheer mountain cliffs, to the pristine waters of wild-running rivers, our parks offer a diversity of nature and beauty to enjoy today and for years to come.
♪ ♪ [Narrator] To stream episodes of Outdoors Maryland, visit mpt.org.
And don't forget to follow us on social media.
[owl hoots] Learn more about Maryland's diverse natural resources at... or download the official mobile app.