Warm day, icy swamp

I hiked nearly six miles in Willowdale State Forest this afternoon — the first time I’ve been there since last May. Even though we had just one day of frigid weather followed by a week of unseasonably warm days, the swamps were still frozen over.

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A snowy walk through Medford

A four-mile-plus stroll through Medford in the first measurable snow of the year.

Brooks Estate in West Medford, near the Winchester line
Brooks Pond
Victory Park off Winthrop Street, near Temple Shalom
Evangelical Haitian Church of Somerville (in West Medford), a massive structure that once housed a Congregational church

The sun sets on 2022

We’ve had quite the sunsets this week. I just got back from a hike in the Middlesex Fells and took this at the South Reservoir.

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your day be spent with family, friends and appreciation for all the good things in our lives.

North Reservoir, Middlesex Fells

Bird is the word

At the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield earlier today.

Drumlin Farm

We visited Drumlin Farm in Lincoln for the first time earlier today. The weather was warm and clear — so clear that we could easily see Mount Monadnock from the top of the drumlin from which the farm takes its name.

Summer in November

A walk around the Middle and South Reservoirs in the Middlesex Fells on a summer-like afternoon.

Biking with the AMC

Twenty-three-mile ride along the Charles out to Waltham and back. On the way home, I ran into about two dozen bikers from the Appalachian Mountain Club. I’m a member, so I’m going to have to check out their events. Anyway, I rode with them  to Alewife Station before splitting off to head back. Great people, plus they showed me the best connection between the Watertown-Cambridge Greenway and the river.

AMC riders near Fresh Pond

Dry season

We parked the car behind the Northshore Unitarian Universalist Church in Danvers earlier today and took a stroll along the Rail Trail and the Swamp Walk. Even after the recent rain, I have never seen it as dry.

Behind the NSUU Church
NSUU peace pole just before the Danvers Rail Trail

You can see that this is normally a shallow pond

A bit of water

Keep out, sort of

Strategic ambiguity at its finest: Keep out, but if you’re here anyway, don’t let your dog go swimming. Seen on a 5.9-mile walk on the roads around the Middlesex Fells this afternoon, including the semi-forbidden Middle and South Reservoirs.