With a busy Easter Weekend planned, I knew I was going to have to wake up early Saturday morning if I was going to get some hiking time in. I managed to drag my butt out of bed a little after 7am. I am not an early morning person, so for me this is quite the accomplishment. Wesley reconsidered his prior nights commitment to join me and chose to sleep in despite the enticement of a Dunkin’ run. So it was a solo hike for me today. I think this actually helped though. Without a junior hiker slowing me down, I was able to get almost 5 miles of hiking in. I was much more successful this weekend in my quest to selfie with all the trail markers. Managed to find four of them (#4220, #4223, #4234, #4235). I brought along notecards and a Sharpie and rather than accept defeat, I just DIY’d my own signage at intersections with missing tags.
The hike itself was great. I’m really enjoying exploring the new trails. The kids had always enjoyed climbing around the rocks at the Quarry, but there are a whole bunch of other interesting rock walls, piles, and stairs worth exploring South of Ricciuti Drive that we never saw before. Early in the hike I came upon a pretty steep rock wall. I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t take the time to scramble up there to check the view so of course I took the quick detour. As I neared the top I heard the whoosh of a large pair of wings taking flight and saw an eagle or hawk (not an ornithologist) flying out over the new expansive view. Soon, one eagle became two, then three, then six. After marveling at them and the view for a bit I gingerly moved on as I suspected I was near a nest and didn’t feel like getting swooped upon by the flock.
Eventually I bumped into Furnace Brook Parkway and followed the road until I could pickup the trail again near St. Moritz Ponds. Then I spent about an hour zig-zagging up and down and back and forth to make sure I covered all the marked trails. Some of these were huge road sized paths and others were barely there footpaths that I would have walked right past if they weren’t marked on the map. Ran into several floofs in this area (most off-leash, but I try not to judge). Bumped into a DCR crew clearing out some over grown brush near the Shea Memorial Rink entrance and signage. While standing there looking slightly clueless and scanning for marker #4234, one of the crew asked if I needed help. I was all set, but I politely asked if they knew if there was anyone who I could let know about the missing trail markers. He said I should reach out to Tom Bender at their headquarters near the State Troopers barracks. These trails were mostly flat and easy walking with one exception of a cross trail with a very steep incline but otherwise nothing really taxing. I had to be back home by 11am to shower and head out to a movie with family and friends so I headed North following the path along the west side of the pond. Just above a firepit area someone had made a very sweet memorial for a loved one complete with solar light to keep it lit at night. Don’t know who you are WRB, but clearly CAB loved you very much and misses you. I kept going until I hit Furnace Brook Parkway and followed it farther up to Bunker Hill Lane which dead-ended right into #4235. On the road I bumped into a wonderful man whose name I did not catch walking his dog Bella. He told me how Bella had come to him from his brother who had to move into a senior home which didn’t allow the pets so he took him on. He said he planned on walking Bella in the woods as long as he could handle the stairs. I didn’t quite know what he was talking about, but I let it go. Sure enough, a little farther up the trail is a granite staircase laid into the hill amongst the stones. Time was running short but I wanted to wrap up this section of the map so I chose to chase down what was on the map as a dead end trail that ran West from #4236 figuring I’d just double-back. The trail ran right through some wide open fields surrounded by a lot of rock walls and piles. Once I hit the end, I spied a part of the rocky hill that didn’t look too bad so it was easy enough to just cut through to the main trail that runs parallel to Ricciuti Drive. Made it back to my car while noting the now full parking lot and enjoyed the rest of my Dunks iced coffee on the way home.
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