Posted By auntie on August 20, 2012

5.51 miles   ★★★★½

back to arcadia. this time i took the alternate loop from the last time i was here in the southern part of arcadia. if you overlook a bit of road walking, this was a great loop.

under 95

the first part of this trail goes right under route 95. it kind of tickles me to walk underneath the major north-south highway on the east coast. i like to think of all those busy travelers zooming over my head to boston or new york or maine or florida, all unaware of the little hiker schlepping along the trail underneath.

trails with bathrooms!

i took a slight wrong turn at the beginning (well, techically i missed a turn… no big deal) and found another in my continuing series: “Trails With Bathrooms.” weirdly, though, this one has a screen door and you can see right through to the throne. not the best privacy situation, but any port in a storm, i guess. and this wasn’t the only facility on this trip. my route took me to the browning mill pond trail via the roaring brook trail, which is handicapped-accessible and also includes several rest stops.

beautiful old snag

this gorgeous old snag was on the shore of browning mill pond. the trail through here meandered through several pretty picnic spots…

picnic spot

…like this one.

turkey tail fungus on a stick

and because i know you’re all wondering by now, “but auntie! where is the fungus shot?” here ya go: some turkey tail on a stick. actually, i saw quite a few different kinds of ’shrooms on this hike, including some more black trumpet chanterelles. and no, i’m not telling you where, exactly, so don’t even ask.

ripe choke cherries

finally, the choke cherries are starting to ripen up. i liked this shot. maybe i’ll switch from fungus shots to berry shots as the season progresses. stay tuned.

you can access this trail from the same place as this hike, and this time i walked the pink-dotted trail on the trail map.

Categories: Rhode Island, Walks and Hikes
Tags: 5–7 miles, Exeter RI, RI