Duval & Mystery Trails
Posted By auntie on April 16, 2019
4.4 miles; South Kingstown, RI
[Editors Note: Once again I’ve broken my solemn vow to not let unposted hikes accumulate. I wound up almost a full month and 8 hikes behind. Mea culpa. Won’t happen again. I hope.]
Instead of doing my usual loop at the end of Duval, I succumbed to “I Wonder Where That Trail Goes? Syndrome.” The answer? An old landfill, so it was particularly unrewarding. Maybe next time.
Trailing Arbutus in Bloom
Always a welcome sight, and in large enough numbers, scent, in early spring, the trailing arbutus was in bloom today.
Block Island
I know this photo is a staple of Duval Trail hikes, but today honestly, it was so clear and dry you could see the bluffs and the wind farm. Even in my crappy iPhone shot you can make out the bluffs.
Good Ol’ Butt Rock
Um, yeah, butt rock. I’m going to go out on a limb here and posit that it looks like a big heart from this angle. I <3 butt rock. (That’s a primitive heart emoji, or “emoticon,” for you kids in the audience.)
Trash Heap
So anyway, the “mystery” portion of the program came in after I took the right turn where the trail crosses an unnamed woods road. Not far down that track there’s a very obvious right turn with big wooden posts at the side which maybe once held a gate, and perhaps more significantly, big boulders blocking the way. “Hm,” I thought to myself. “I wonder where that road goes?” This is the bane of every curious hiker. On the one hand, it wasn’t posted. But on the other hand, there were those boulders. I succumbed. Apparently it is the road to an old landfill. Rats. Oh, not that there were any actual rats, I was just disappointed.
Sunlit Daffodils and a Cat Gravestone
The rest of the hike, once I bushwhacked back to the trail, was uneventful. I did take a small detour while crossing the Quaker cemetery to get a closer look at this fairly recent (1997) headstone. It had a cat carved into it, and the daffodils looked electric, backlit by the sun.
You can find out more about the Duval Trail from this South Kingstown Land Trust website. As always, click the image above for details about this hike and to download the gps track.
Very nice. Thanks for the link to the land trust.