26th Annual N-S Trail Trek, Leg 1
Posted By auntie on March 10, 2018
12.3 miles; Charlestown and Wood River Junction, RI
So, yeah, decided to give this one another go. I have a free enough calendar that I can attend all 6 legs, and it’d be nice to do the whole thing with Ginny Leslie’s group. This one hurt, though, since I’m not used to mileage like that. Yet. Ouch.
Blue Shutters Beach and Mile 0
For anyone unfamiliar with the Rhode Island North South Trail, it runs approximately 78 miles from Blue Shutters Beach in Charlestown to the Massachusetts state border in Gloucester, RI. It hits some of the best hiking areas in the state including Burlingame State Park (about 1/2 of the Vin Gormley Trail), Arcadia WMA, and the famous Walkabout Trail in George Washington SP. And although I’ve already completed the entire trail with the Providence County Hiking Club, it’s a real treat to walk it again with Ginny Leslie, the driving force behind the creation of the trail. Although she’s not actually hiking with us, she’s the one who organizes the entire endeavor and makes sure we’re all still alive at the several checkpoints along the way. She also provides water and snacks and ibuprofen at each checkpoint (there were 3 on this leg).
Before the Bus Arrived
Approximately 75 people registered for this year’s trek. We parked at Meadowbrook Pond in Wood River Junction and waited for the schoolbus to take us to the beach. We actually didn’t all fit on the bus, and a couple of car shuttles had to be arranged as well.
Signs of Spring
It was a lovely sunny day, but not actually very warm, and there was a bitter wind. Which gave me a second reason to be DELIGHTED to see my car at Meadowbrook Pond after this 5-hour hike.
You can find out more about the North-South trail from this rather old and slightly link-rotty website called HTML Outdoors Planet. Also check out the great map collection available from the AMC Narragansett Chapter. There is also some very good info on “The Trek” website. As always, click the image above for details about this hike and to download the gps track.
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