Posted By auntie on May 14, 2012

★★★★½  5.57 miles

long hiatus, between rain and gardening chores and family obligations! i really missed being in the woods, and wouldn’t you know, while i was gone, everything’s leafed out and the blackflies arrived (so aside from that, mrs. lincoln, how did you like the play?). i did this hike from my hairdresser’s house, at his recommendation, and it was a good ‘un. i went through camp yawgoog, around yawgoog and wincheck ponds and back. there’s one fantastic stretch where you’re walking through giant rhododendrons. they must be 25-30 feet tall. can’t wait till they’re in bloom. lotta road-walking, though; maybe half. so, 50:50 hikey:walkey, with a teeny bit of climby.

swamp azalea in bloom

pretty little bridge

creepy, flesh-like shelf fungus

cool well creature on north road

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Posted By auntie on May 2, 2012

★★★  5 miles

came back again, this time with better shoes and a camera. did the 2.5 mile loop twice, once clockwise and once counter clockwise. it was a cool, overcast day, but it was a nice walk. saw, among other things, this adorable goose family. 100% walkey, no climby to speak of.

Adorable Goose Family

Leafing Out

Lily of the Valley

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Posted By auntie on April 30, 2012

★★★★½  4.03 miles

wonderful hike. the gorge is very lovely… deep shade among hemlocks, lots of wildflowers, the river… fantastic. hike was typical narragansett trail—climby and hikey. probably 80:20 in total, with the last mile or so on dirt roads. good day in the woods. (is there any other kind?)

Small White Violet

Cairn Near Sand Hill Rd.

Millrace at the Peg Mill Site

Another CT-RI State Boundary Marker

Black Chokeberry

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Posted By auntie on April 24, 2012

★★★  5.37 miles

blisters basically healed, so did a 5+ mile loop through the pachaug. not my favorite hike, although it had some nice parts. very wet due to yesterday’s heavy rains—the trail was almost a brook in spots. this is gonna be great when the laurels bloom, though. 90:10 hikey:walkey, a bit of climby but nothing arduous.

Dwarf Ginseng in Bloom

Pachaug Trail or Pachaug Brook?

Mountain Laurel Buds

Pine Cathedral

Birds Foot Violets

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Posted By auntie on April 19, 2012

★★★  2.5 miles

this was a total spur-of-the-moment excursion. i was heading home from my mom’s house, and the car just went there. i have spent many hours in this park, as a teenager riding horses on the trails, and later, when i worked nearby, i’d pop over on my lunch hour and walk the loop. not to mention numerous days playing hookey from school, college classes, jobs… what can i tell you? i’ve always liked the place. this was a very pretty day. unfortunately, because of the impromptu nature of the walk, i was wearing hurachis, which are seriously not recommended for use as walking shoes. i wound up with some blisters, but i also did the walk at a blistering 3 mph pace. oh, and i seem to remember that there were some pretty tough climby parts, but this trip through, i never even started breathing hard. and sorry, no pictures. couldn’t get the ipod camera to work, and i didn’t have my real camera with me.

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Posted By auntie on April 18, 2012

★★★★  4.49 miles

this was another 2-hike day. i did a 1.5 mile loop around quaddick pond state park with a friend. then a fabulous lunch. then i felt like i needed to do more, so after i left my friend’s house i went to west thompson lake and attempted the 3.5 mile circumnavigation of the lake… notice i said attempted. apparently i failed to take note of a small sign at the trailhead which pointed out… well, i’ll let the picture, below, tell the rest.

Another Missing Hiking Bridge

sigh—another missing hiking bridge. the sign (which i saw after i got back) promised that work to replace it “is on-going.” riiiight. but the trail was a mile and half at that point, so i still managed 3 more miles that day. this is a pretty cool place. i can’t wait till the bridge actually DOES get replaced. and the woods are full of spring ephemerals now… so beautiful.

Wood Anenome

Bluets

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