Today was a weird day. I knew I needed a walk but I didn’t want to go too far and besides this I knew my mother could do with an outing as well. So I grabbed her and we headed out to the Rindge Town Forest. When I got there all I saw was an unmarked dirt road (driveway?) with a lot of no trespassing signs on both sides. She was not in the mood to push this so we went back to Converse Meadow and I used this opportunity to check out the last little bit of this loop that I did not get to see on previous occasions.
As it turns out McGregor Pond is like a 250-foot offshoot trail off the normal loop. It was SHORT but that was perfectly OK! We were happy to find a bench there and we sat and chatted while looking over this pretty little scene. Actually it was just the right amount of walking for her so it all worked out well. As it is Autumn the weather was perfect and the trees were beautiful. I had a really lovely time and if you happen to be in the area doing this loop, make sure to check out the McGregor Pond offshoot!
I’m not going to lie. Mentally I haven’t been doing so great lately and honestly, I am suspicious of anyone who is on top of the world right now. It’s been a rough few weeks and there has been so many people just burned out and screaming into the void as the world burns. I’m right there with them. And I know life is sucking HARD right now for a lot of us which is why I have decided I needed more trees in my life. A LOT MORE TREES. Because trees are good people. They’re quiet, they gives homes to birds, they never say anything mean, and when we’re not watching they make oxygen!
So I struck out on my own. I know for the past couple of years almost all my adventures have been with travel companions and that’s cool, I still enjoy it, but that doesn’t change the fact I still need to submit myself to the solitude of the forest on my own every now and again. So I shall be doing more hiking – as much as my angry body allows.
Today I started driving to an actual hiking destination (which is more planning than I usually put into these things) but then I got completely and utterly distracted when I found the entrance to this trail on my way. Clearly it was calling me so I had to go in. In the rain. Because it was also raining (yes, I’m that desperate to go play in the woods.)
And I must say skulking through some swampy woods in the rain was exactly what I needed. I spent two hours wandering from the route 123 entrance to the other side of the park at the Condy Road entrance. Along the way I took sooo many photos of raindrops on leaves, found a whole swarm of orange newts and said hi to every one of them, and somehow didn’t get lost even though the trail was not marked and diverged at several points. That being said it was for the most part a very flat trail with only a couple mild inclines at the beginning. I could hear cars for most of the trek but also tons of birdsong and a couple bullfrogs to boot. Someone had even brought their horse down here at some point as I found their leavings and some hoof prints. And of course, I had to pick up two dog ticks along the way. BLECK. All and all it was a nice little find and fed my soul. So if you happen to be in the area and needing a little tete a tete with nature I would suggest this happy little trail.
So today I actually did some research before bumbling into the woods in 84 degree weather. I looked up the trailhead I had passed on my way to Sarah’s Hat Boxes the other day and low and behold it actually sounded pretty interesting. The property the trail runs through used to be an old farm in the late 1800’s on and there were a few whispered rumors about there being ruins of the old farm still on the property. What kind of ruins? It didn’t say but I was picturing maybe some old farmhouse foundation or something. I’m all into that.
There was a hitch though. My mother was on her way out and currently I have been sharing her car. Suffice to say both her and her friend ended up coming with me in the dastardly muggy heat but that’s OK because I also read this was an easy .9 mile hike through the shade of many trees. Doable.
The trailhead sits right off route 123 a few miles past the center of Hancock. There’s a little bit of space for parking which is easy to find because of the sign reading Welch’s Family Farm & Forest. The path itself has a gate across it.
My first impression was this place was not frequented by too many people. The path was very wide but grass was growing over most of it. It was forested at first but gave way eventually to a scene of rolling unmanicured pastures framed by the mountains in the background. My mother was thrilled as this reminded her of the paths she rambled down as a youth. Luckily it was an easy trail with gentle slopes and inclines here and there.
We came to a ruin of a sort – an old hay machine. It was hard to date it exactly but it was neither very old nor particularly modern. It was however sitting upright and well rusted. Also on the trail I found evidence of owls (owl pellets were spat on the ground at one point) and what I think was fox or coyote scat. Someone also had taken a turkey feather and poked it into a tree stump. Clearly this place was alive with wildlife. It was said to be a great place to see a bobcat in the winter. Also I fully expected to run into a flooded trail as beavers were said to be constantly washing it out with their activities.
We walked about 3/4ths of a mile before we passed a sign on the opposite side of the trail marking a property boundary. We had gone from being on a completely unmarked trail to the red trail. We then walked to the .9 mile we had been promised. By now we seemed to be walking past a more active looking pasture with what seemed to be an access road in the background. A sign read, “Red trail exit” and gave a two way arrow. We decided to head back rather than go to the end. I didn’t see any ruins, only whispers of wildlife, and no water or beavers. Maybe they were on one or more of the trails that jutted off of this one. Who knows. All and all I wouldn’t really recommend this path unless you’re looking for something easy and happen to live in the area. It was pleasant but pretty boring. There was however more stone walls than I could count so it might be a nice slice of New England scenery for someone who doesn’t live here as well.
