Posted By auntie on September 27, 2012

6.82 miles   ★★★★★

beautiful hike. just gorgeous. crosses many streams over pretty bridges, different kinds of forests, from pines to oaks. nothing too strenuous. it was just what i needed today. a nice, long day in the woods.

trail sign

to get to this sign, you have already walked about a mile into arcadia. this is right along the shore of breakheart pond. i have walked this exact trail before, i think one of the first times i went out with “the usual suspects” back in march. i only vaguely remembered parts of it, i guess because i was trying to keep up! back in march, 6-plus miles was a lot for me. it’s still a lot to do in one shot. i find i don’t stop much when i’m by myself, except to take photos.

fungus shot

no idea what these are, in spite of now having taken several mushroom i.d. classes. some sort of puffball thing on rotting wood. i just thought they looked cool. i spent a large portion of this hike looking for edible mushrooms, all to no avail. i saw what i thought were a lot of boletes, but this is a very large family of mushrooms, with some not so edible varieties, so i didn’t collect any. and i saw some “chicken of the woods,” or sulfur shelf, but it was pretty old and not particularly appetizing-looking. no hen-of-the-woods, and no black trumpets, which i’m especially eager to find. i had to actively stop looking at one point because it was beginning to ruin my enjoyment of the woods. i finally decided, about 3 1/2 miles in, to just be in the woods and if i saw something collectible, fine. otherwise, it was still gonna be a good day.

russell whitney bridge, dedicated june 2001

this is a very fine bridge over the flat river. it has a plaque and everything!

hikes with bathrooms, #12: shelter trail campsite

and this is a very fine outhouse at the shelter trail campsite. i did not, however, take advantage of it.

to hike this, park at frosty hollow pond, on frosty hollow road off route 165 in exeter. take the white-blazed shelter trail north to the yellow-blazed east branch of the john b. hudson trail. follow the hudson trail north to breakheart pond and the yellow-blazed fisk trail. head briefly west on newman trail, and pick up the yellow-blazed breakheart trail. follow the breakheart trail until it meets up with the white-blazed shelter trail again. follow the shelter trail back to the parking site.

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