Category: Hiking Trail

Johnson Wildlife Sanctuary/Contoocook Conservation Area – Rindge New Hampshire

It was a somber day for a great deal of people and suffice to say on this year’s Independance Day I wasn’t feeling particularly like celebrating. It was a grim week and I wasn’t the only one feeling the crushing weight of current events.

But as the day progressed the mood started to change as so many of us checked in on each other. We acknowledged things were getting really bad but under the doom and gloom a seed of hope began to grow. We were going to survive this, beat it, and after that? The world is going to get better, be more kind. And in the meantime, while we all fight back in our own ways, it was important to remember one thing: no one owns our joy but ourselves. And it’s important to foster community and joy, especially in these tough times, to shine so bright no one can dim our inner light. But it still felt off to do the usual BBQ and fireworks, so now what?

For me I knew what my soul needed: a walk into the woods. And so with my mum and her little dog we headed to Country Road where I knew there were trails. I thought it was just another section of the rail trail but I was confused by the maps at the kiosk when I got there. They didn’t really match the paper maps they were dispensing and nothing looked like a rail trail. Still I saw one trail seemed an easy loop so we started by walking across the road from our parking spot and onto what looked like a small paved street being taken over by nature. However this only seemed to lead us to a quaint little residential neighborhood with private property signs everywhere. Where was the trail?? I had no idea so we headed back to the car and tried the trails directly aside the parking area beyond a gate.

From here we walked until we found a little pedestrian bridge and cobbled over it. There was another kiosk beyond with the same map with unnamed trails. We ended up taking what turned out to be a trail that I think was called Marsh View but I only saw the sign after completing it. Guess we went backwards. There were a couple benches and one view of the marsh. It was a decent enough trail if you’re looking for something easy, short, flat. The dog seemed to really enjoy it and despite the confusion the trails all looked well traveled. There was other people out there probably less confused than us.

I will likely go back and check out the other trail options. For today it was the perfect little distraction. A pleasant small walk into lush greenery. We managed to get back to the car before the tiny dog pooped out and before I overheated so it was a win on all sides.

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Purgatory Chasm & Love Lock Bridge – Newport Rhode Island

Sometimes you just got to get out of the house, get some fresh air, and poke at something with a stick. Maybe a dead bird. Just kidding, this adventure didn’t involve any dead birds.

This was another adventure in nostalgia where my companion tried to remember somewhere from twenty plus years ago enjoyed in the haze of mispent youth. I’m more than happy to oblige because I was a VERY well behaved youth who was monitored and controlled more than a felon with an ankle bracelet and it’s nice to see what freedom must have been like back in the day.

This time around I was treated to Purgatory Chasm, not the more well known one in Massachusetts but the one no one’s heard of in Newport Rhode Island. It’s so obscure the parking lot is tiny and only good for a half an hour of parking. There was however a handicapped space… in case you wanted to take your wheelchair bound buddies to a heavily rooted hill and an oceanside cliff for no particular or heavily insured reason.

Purgatory Chasm itself is only a hop, skip, and clumsy trip away from the parking lot and it reminded me a lot of Thunder Hole up in Maine, just smaller and somewhat less thundery. It still made a pretty good whooshing locomotive sound when the waves came in. I can totally imagine my nervy Puritian ancestors pointing to the noise growling from the rocks and declaring it must be the devil. Curiously although Heaven was always above for these people Hell always seemed to be here on earth – you can tell because they named half the land here Purgatory something-or-other.

Beyond the chasm there was also a lovely little love lock bridge my companion wasn’t even aware of. Clearly others had as it was FULL of locks, some of which had hearts and names carved into them, most of which were rusted to high hell because unlike other more famous love lock bridges this one was likely constantly sprayed with saltwater.

A few weedy little trails led to a handful of observation points that gave a pretty view of the beach off to one side, a weird sea monster looking set of rocks in the water and lots of ocean. There was also a tiny tree stump that had a heart shaped center ring that made me believe it may have been a Giving Tree – loving its people even while they were cutting it down. The scenery was beautiful but also clearly a lover’s nest reminding me just a bit of the beach the main characters of Wristcutters: A Love Story woke up on. If you’ve seen that movie you’re probably screaming just a little bit, if you haven’t you should totally watch it. It’s way more wholesome than the title infers, I swear! It’s dark comedy at its finest.

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Sandwich Recreation Area – Sandwich Massachusetts

This entry has to be the most ADHD adventure we have ever taken. It started because we were in search of a public bathroom and google was more than happy to oblige. That’s how we ended up at this lovely little park. I didn’t need a bathroom but I noticed a little pier-kinda structure and I wanted to poke at it. Below it swelled swarms of little fish who breached the surface in a way that made it seem the canal water was boiling. As I stood trying to take photos of this a seagull carefully aimed its latest BM at my companion. It thwacked the deck of where we were standing with a wet slap. MISSED! Seagulls are such fuckers sometimes.

As my other companion came out of the bathroom and found us we all noticed there was a really populous pedestrian and bike path aside the canal. Should we check it out? We’d already had a REALLY full day and it was approaching evening. Hey look! Birds! And so we found ourselves walking down this path with a bunch of other people, all different paces, us getting increasingly distracted by the alarmingly calm wildlife. We first approached a huuuuge swarm of cormorants just gathering atop a bridge. Not far from them there was several storks just fishing, not a care in the world to the people going by, of course sea gulls continued to make their presence known, and then as it was evening the bunnies and groundhogs started showing up…

By now we’d already walked quite a way but there was a bridge not too far away. We should just walk to the bridge, I suggested. The closer we walked to it the farther away it seemed to become! And at some point my body had had enough with my bullshit and I just started overheating like an old steam locked car. Since we had not planned to go for a full hike after a trip to the bathroom no one as carrying water. I contemplated climbing down the banks of the canal and dipping my feet in the water. Eventually we made it somewhat close to the bridge where there was a bench that I promptly melted into.

By now the sun was going down and there was this gorgeous pink hue in the sky highlighting the bridge and reflecting on the water. SO GORGEOUS. I could not have planned this if I tried! And so even though my body was fucking done with me and I was in pain and turning all kinds of funny colors I was still with it enough to be completely and utterly thankful for this absolutely bonkers detour because the photos I was taking were so well worth it, as was the time spent with some of my favorite people.

It was A DAY. A long, weird, whimsical day and this was the perfect way to end it. or at least end the adventuring part as we shuffled back into the car and drove into the great blue yonder. This was a surprise destination for sure but if you’re in the area and aching for a good enjoyable walk (or bike ride) check it out! The scenery was amazing!

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Old Jail Lane Hiking Trail – Barnstable MA

Sometimes when you have been out adventuring for as long as I have the inspiration starts to run a little dry and then you just have to ask the universe what it thinks you should do. In this particular case it thinks I should go to the oldest wooden jailhouse in the United States which was said to be open. Sounded good to me so off we went! And there it was in all it’s adorable glory sitting next to an old blacksmith shop and a Naval Museum. But woe! Although the brochure on the door said it was open it was not. So we took a walk down the trail directly behind it – two days in a row – because as you guessed it, it wasn’t open the day after either.

And you know what? The trail was a destination in and of itself! Cute and cozy and near civilization and yet covered in vines and greenery that made it seem like an import of some far away jungle. Before very long we crossed a railroad track which provided a fun opportunity for photos. Beyond that there seemed to be a number of unmarked trails all jutting off of each other. I am honestly not sure where we ended up or why. But when I started overheating we headed our way back, having had our walk in for the day.

It was kind of cute. I would definitely tell someone who lives in the area to go check it out. Maybe you’ll get lucky and the old jailhouse will be open! If only… as for the trail, it was nice, worth travelling very far? maybe not. Although the surrounding area was super interesting and unique so maybe….

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Prescott Farm Trail – Middletown RI

It’d been a hell of a few weeks for me and unfortunately, I think my chaos gremlin followed me to Rhode Island on this particular week because my usual travel companion wasn’t having an easy go of it either. We both needed desperately to get out of the house but lacked the energy to actually do so. A compromise was made – to stay in town and go back to a destination we’d already been to before – a destination I remember taking photos of but for some reason cannot find said photos or blog entry?? Shame because I took very few photos this time around thinking I already had plenty!

Prescott Farm is the site of a historic farmstead and gristmill. It has one of very few surviving windmills in here in the US built in the early 1800s and there are several other historic buildings also on the property you can poke at. And “gardens,” lots of “gardens” which appear to be wildly out of control fenced in weeds… which I guess are mostly native and probably were used at some point by locals but I definitely saw some things in there that clearly blew in from somewhere else. A vegetable garden this was not. Although I did find a patch of choke cherry trees along the perimeter. SOMEDAY. Someday I’ll have land and chokecherry trees of my own with which to make jam with.

The location is known for its little duck pond where a gaggle of them wait to be fed. We however were here to check out the hiking trails first so off we went past the old homestead, the historic markers, and the windmill, into the woods! The woods were a well needed respite from the heat. Despite the fact that today was hotter and muggier than a teenage Shrek’s jock strap (sorry) the woods were cool and refreshing! And pretty! We found a bunch of little fairy houses that someone had left at random trees and then I spotted a really fat deer – the first one I’ve seen on island in all my visits here! And just beyond the deer we came across a weird bird sitting at the edge of the water just chilling, giving no mind to us whatsoever. My companion thought it was a hawk because of its coloration and short stubby shape, I thought it was a blue heron because of its beak. Drawing closer to it I realized it wasn’t nearly big enough to be a heron and its beak definitely wasn’t that of a hawk. We were both bewildered by the animal who still didn’t care we were staring at it like leering predators. We’d only later learn its identity by posting photos on FaceBook – it was a night heron. I have never heard of such a thing and am growing increasingly concerned I might be wandering ever closer to becoming a birder, the horror. This goes doubly for my companion who thought he heard an owl. This resulted in us both stalking a mourning dove to the chimney of the farmhouse. To be fair the “mourning” sound of mourning doves does sound a bit owl-like.

The trails were very short and sweet and at times a little messy but it was cute and I was happy to have seen some wildlife. We were however about to approach the famous duckpond. Ooooooph, it was very choked in out in weeds, I don’t think they were native either. However, the ducks still persisted, as did frogs, baby turtles, pond skimmers, diving beetles, and a fantastic orgy of every kind of dragon fly you could think of just finding their love match. It was kind of funny. The ducks showed interest in us only as long as it took to figure out our sorry asses didn’t have any food for them and then they wandered off crankily quaking at each other.

This was a nice little diversion – just the amount of green and activity I needed to get back onto a path of a well-regulated nervous system. So, if you’re in town maybe check it out. It’s rather cute, child friendly, and has a little history. Also, the windmill is nice to take photos of.

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Gramwell Trail – Mountain Brook Reservoir – Jaffrey NH

It has come to my attention this entry from last fall was never published so I’ve decided to release it into the world today. Late is better than never! So here we go…

Over the past few years I have had to get more creative in how I find trails, especially ones close to home that no one seems to know about – like this one! Believe it or not I found it while looking at a Redfin map. Whhhy it was on a realtor’s map I couldn’t tell you but I knew I had to swing by and check it out.

I had no idea that I’d be driving down a series of sketchy camp/dirt roads to get here. The Prius LOVES me for these unplanned adventures, especially when fallen leaves obscure the road and make everythign slippery. Nothing like having the fear of God put back into you because you’re driving a Prius.

ANYWAY. This place is near civilization and yet still in the middle of nowhere. It’s odd, but the PERFECT introvert’s trail! Although there was a cute little parking lot which had room for numerous vehicles we were the only ones there on this day and according to reviews online this seems like it is usually the case. Maybe because it’s new? The trail board claimed it was only set up in 2016 and already was faded almost beyond being able to read. A handwritten note to the side pleaded for help to repair the bridges.

The trail itself was a bit wet and slippery under a thick layer of dead leaves but other than that it was an easy trail that ends at a cute little pond view before attaching to a well known snow mobile trail. It made for a really lovely afternoon walk. We didn’t see another soul and it was SO QUIET. A hidden gem indeed.

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Beautiful Picnic Spot (video) – Ayer Massachusetts

Today I was doing errands and decided to go on a hike afterwards. I found the Ayer Conservation Trails at 73 Groton-Harvard Road Ayer. It was weird, parking was on the opposite side of the road and the kiosk was behind a guard rail and didn’t look like it’d been replaced in yeeeears. I wandered down the trail and when I saw a VERY decrepit sign readin, “pond” with an arrow I followed.

Turned out this was just a series of viewpoints off the main trail but it was GORGEOUS. I took this short video to show you all and then was called home for an emergency so I didn’t get to complete the hike. But I decided to post this anyway because it was still very cool. Video below!

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Browning Mill Pond Loop – Arcadia State Management Area – Exeter Rhode Island

I can no longer blame covid lockdowns for my increasing poundage. Time to get off my ass and do some hiking! Mild hiking though because it’s already a bajillion degrees out and I have the knees of an old peasant woman.

This particular hike was inspired by a random person on FaceBook who posted photos of some sort of ruins and said they were in the Arcadia State Management Area but failed to say which trail or how to get there, only cryptically remarking this whole area was once used for quarrying and there is still some evidence of such. What kind of evidence?? They did not specify.

And since I didn’t know this place had multiple trails I was left to ask the internet for an address. The address it gave me was to their headquarters, which we’d very quickly learn was nowhere near any goddamn trails. However we didn’t know this because the map on the bulletin board here made it look like the trails were a quick skip down the street. So we tried. Turns out this was literally the worse map I have ever seen, I think a Kindergartener may have made it. There were no trails just at the bend down the road as it seemed to specify, just residential houses. And since we were in almost direct sunlight on the road I was already overheating but worse my ankle froze up, and then my foot, and then I was limping in great pain and suggesting we go back to the car because my memory of passing the pond trail said it was nowhere near here. And I was right. It was past the bend, a good way down the road, after a left turn and a ways down that stretch, all and all probably 1-2 miles from our starting point! And there were three ill-marked parking lots. I ended up in the one meant for kayaks and small boats! But too aggravated at this point to change that we decided it was probably fine as none of the other cars here had boats or boat hitches either. There was however a bathroom so even though the trail (road?) wasn’t really marked we headed in anyway.

That’s how we ended up accidentally sneaking up on a lady on her cell phone who was sitting at one of three picnic tables. Did we just park at a picnic spot or was there an actual trail here?? It wasn’t clear until we were at the pond’s edge. There was indeed a loop trail going all the way around it but again this was a hunch, there was no bulletin board or map here which is seriously odd considering there were walking bridges and picnic tables.

Into the woods we went following the yellow trail markers. Initially this led to a serious of probable fishing spots, would it go farther? Yes, yes, it did. The trail was well travelled and didn’t seem to have any other trails jutting from it so luckily there was no real issue getting lost. The pond was visible for most of the hike to some degree and was picturesque. There was even a Canadian goose and a cormorant on a rock… which is odd considering they’re ocean birds but whatever. Maybe it got sick of the rest of the flock and decided fresh water was where it’s at.

There was indeed one ruin on the trail, not the one I’d seen photos of. I do not know what it was back in the day but it was fairly impressive. Not far from there was a lovely dam. By this time my feet were swollen and on fire so I ambled to the water’s edge, ripped off my shoes and socks, and dunked them into the sweet cold water. BLISS. I stayed in that spot for a few minutes just cooling down before returning to our adventure, still not knowing if this was a loop trail. Turns out it was. We were maybe 2/3rds of the way around when we were at the dam. All Trails seems to think this loop was one and a half miles and should take 30 minutes to walk around. Admittedly it was easy with very few inclines but 30 minutes?! What are you, jogging?! Slow down! Smell the roses! Or in this case blueberries which were starting to come out already! Nature’s a bit mixed up this year. I also keep seeing fall foliage mixed with spring foliage on the same trees. It’s…. distressing.

In any event this place is probably hopping in the summer. It seemed a nice family friendly kind of place. I would suggest it for anyone looking for a nice easy pond hike. Just beware the maps are absolutely useless. Luckily, it’s a loop trail so that didn’t matter!

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Ninigret Trolls – Ninigret Park Charleston Rhode Island

I’ve been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the trolls for a long time now- probably since the middle of last winter when there began the murmurings of such creatures coming to our forests. I know, the artist Thomas Dambos, has other trolls in New England – specifically some in Maine I have yet to visit – but if I remember right those were in a botanical garden and required tickets so I never managed to get out there. This was much closer and much cheaper!

I’ve never been to Ninigret and I must say it was an impressive park! There was SO MUCH space for parking and beyond that there were numerous sports fields of all kinds including disc golf?!?! Seriously have never heard of such a thing and was having a real hard time getting my mind around it. There was also a lovely little dog park with two enclosures, I’m guessing one for large dogs and one for small. And on top of all that there were hiking trails through the woods! All this alone was enough to get me going but we came for trolls.

We were not disappointed! Since it’s technically off season no one was really parked in the parking lots, instead there was a string of cars parked aside the road which we took to mean there were trolls there. I managed to parallel park for once and we were on our way. The trolls had only been there a few days at this point and the crowds they were drawing were impressive! We followed said crowd only a few hundred feet until we found the first troll – whose apparently named Erik Rock. People were lining up for selfies. I was shocked to see how big he was! He dwarfs humans! And the very normal size bird house dangling on a necklace around his neck looked TINY.

Erik was beautiful and clearly already well-loved but there was supposed to be two trolls in this park. We were told Erik would give us a clue as to where his lovely wife(?) Greta Granite was but we didn’t really know what that meant. Did the birdhouse mean something? No idea. After playing with him we left and followed the crowd down the path until we hit a road and weren’t quite sure where to go from there. Eventually we’d figure out if we took a left onto the road and wandered down it not too far there was a little path and a little half hazard stick reading “troll” in front of it. So, we crawled into this underbrush and not very far down Greta came into sight. Honestly, I think she delighted me even more than her mate. Her hair was made of local bamboo, she wore lots of jewelry made of seashells, and had the most darling button nose.

People gathered all around her and were taking photos. A woman came by with a baby strapped to her back who babbled, “dada!” when they saw my travel companion. I joked, “Acquiring more children, are you?” “NO, I AM NOT!” You can tell from the lack of contractions in that sentence he was offended but goddamn I found that whole scene hilarious.

But back to the troll – people were being super polite and letting everyone get their chance to check her out. We decided to continue on the trail, which was a short loop, and in doing so found her enormous yet somehow still adorable feet with which she was kneeling on. I was impressed! This was such a lovely sculpture! And it’s made almost completely from reused and recycled materials. Even better these are only the first two of what should eventually be five on The Troll Trail, which will include other parks, all within an easy day’s travel in Rhode Island. I can’t wait. I will absolutely be trying the Troll Trail altogether when they arrive!

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Cranberry Bog Trail behind the Bass Pro Shop – Boston MA

Right behind the Bass Pro Shop there was another tiny parking lot attached to a cute little half mile trail. We decided to go see what it was and I must say – for being in Boston, a Metropolitain city, I was impressed! Yes, it was short, but it did amble over a little pond guarded by a 40-pound murder duck, er, swan, and then wound us around a sweet little cranberry bog. They’d only planted it a few weeks ago so these were early days. I’d never been to a cranberry bog in spring so this was fun for me.

I took photos with my camera but summarily lost them so these are all cell phone photos. It’s been that kind of a week for me. But anyway… the trail was short, sweet, and had a bunch of informative plaques around it talking about cranberries, their history and harvest. I actually learned quite a bit reading them!

So yeah, if you happen to have kids as your spouse is wandering the shop looking for something shooty or stabby this is definitely a good way to keep everyone entertained! More shops should have random educational trails behind them.

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