January 17, 2026 - Family Weekend at Deep Creek Lake, Maryland
We are driving to Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland, for our annual family snow weekend getaway.
Here, we are approaching the famous Sideling Hill Pass Cut on I-68, a 340-foot-deep notch excavated from the ridge of Sideling Hill, about five miles west of Hancock in Washington County, Maryland. Blasting was completed in August 1984. It is notable as an impressive man-made mountain pass, visible from miles away, and is considered to be one of the best rock exposures in Maryland and the entire northeastern United States.[
Our lodging at Deep Creek Lake. It was next door to the house we stayed in last year, and has exactly the same layout.
The snow was nothing like last year, but there was some, and it began snowing soon after we arrived.
Our minivan after receiving about three inches of snow.
Cold and dark Deep Creek Lake. But not iced over this year.
The dog who came in from the cold.
The snow was good, it was a little cold, and the ski lift lines weren't too bad.
Willliam sledding.
Don started up a fire in the evening.
Spooky.
It's always very pretty here in the winter.
Hiking through the old growth forest.
