A few pictures from earlier today with my new iPhone SE.
Alongside the North Reservoir in Stoneham
Reservoir and Skyline Trails near the entrance to Sheepfold
Fungus in Winchester
Looking north toward the Middle Reservoir in Winchester
Tag: Middlesex Fells
Middlesex Fells between the Middle and South Reservoirs at about 3:30 p.m.
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Middlesex Fells earlier today — in Stoneham, if my phone can be believed.
Long Pond in the Middlesex Fells — 6.2-mile hike this afternoon ahead of the storm. 
Middle Reservoir, Middlesex Fells. Looking north.
Fire road in the Middlesex Fells. Photo (cc) 2016 by Dan Kennedy.
We’re living through a historic moment. Following the lead of many others, I’ve decided to start keeping a COVID-19 diary. Don’t expect anything startling — just a few observations from someone stuck at home, lucky to be working and healthy.
In early March, I began running for the first time in many months, starting out at a cautious two miles and gradually working up to five. During the intervening weeks, the world started closing down around us. I settled on main drags where few people tend to walk and where I could head out into the street if necessary. My goal was to give people 15 or 20 feet of separation.
Then, yesterday, a beautiful spring day, I took a chance that I should have known wouldn’t work out. So many parking areas around the Middlesex Fells have been closed that I thought the fire roads around the North Reservoir might be relatively empty. No such luck — it was like a beach in Florida, only with trees. I got maybe a quarter of a mile in before I could see that it was hopeless. I stopped, put on my mask (which I had carried with me) and walked out.
Today: Back to the streets.
I took this shot toward the end of a hike through the Middlesex Fells around Winchester’s North Reservoir. If you’d like to see more, please click here.
Click on image for more photos
I decided to hike the Skyline Trail today rather than go running. We took the Webelos there about 14 years ago, but this was my first time since then. It’s a serious hike — about seven miles of rocky terrain with a lot of steep ups and downs. Not quite New Hampshire, but definitely reminiscent of the Berkshires and the Green Mountains. It’s a pretty amazing resource to have so close to the city.