Mount Pisgah – November 25, 2017

Heading out

I was hoping to paddle, but one of Papa Joe’s hikes fit better into my schedule, so I hooked up with Bill for the Mount Pisgah hike.

Mount Pisgah is an 83-acre conservation area in the towns of Berlin and Northborough. The property includes four pieces of conservation land. The two central properties are managed by the Conservation Commissions in Berlin and Northborough. To the south is a Mass Dept. of Fish & Game property, and to the north is privately owned land (formerly the Devine farm) under a conservation easement.

Checking the map

We entered at the (31) Smith Road parking lot in Northborough (although there is also a parking lot on Linden Street in Berlin) for a 5.5-mile loop. The loop took us south to the South Terrace Overlook, then north over Mount Pisgah to the North Terrace Overlook before returning. While there are no views from the summit of Mount Pisgah itself, there are great easterly views from two overlooks at the North and South Terraces along the ridge.

Another good hike, and we were home by noon.  I do like the early morning start.

The crew  Erik, Brian, Darren, Bill and Conrad

Links:

My Pictures

Trail Map from the Sudbury Valley Trustees

Bearsden Conservation Area – November 19, 2017

Climbing Round Top

Yesterday I was paddling, today I was hiking, with many of the same people. Bill met me at my house at 6:30 for the drive to the Bearsden Conservation Area in Athol.  The Bearsden Conservation Area has 10 miles of trails in over 1,000 acres with great views of the Millers River and nearby hills. 

The rain was just ending as we met at the parking lot at the end of Bearsden Road.  I was glad to see Mena, Tommy and Jonathan who I had paddled with yesterday.  We took the trail up to Round Top and the Warren Vista.  From there we took the trail down to the Oxbow on the Millers River and to the Duck Pond. Good time had by all.  The shelters look like a great place for camping.

Jonathan and Joe working the map

Links:

My Pictures

Bearsden Conservation Area

Reserving a cabin or shelter

Assabet – Acton to Concord – November 18, 2017

Had a nice trip today on the Assabet River with Mena, Tommy, Marshall and Jonathan.  We paddled from Acton to the Old North Bridge in Concord.  The level was 2 feet, 100 cfs – great for poling, not bad for padding.  Stopped for a beer and burger after at the Battle Road Brew House.

At the Old North Bridge on the Concord River

Links

My Pictures

Maynard Gage

Noanet Woods – November 11. 2017

Heading out from Powissett Street

I made the last-minute decision to join Papa Joe on his hike at Noanet Woods in Dover.  

Over the years, Noanet Woods has seen many uses from a Native American hunting ground to the Dover Union Iron Mill that manufactured barrel hoops and nails in the early 1800’s.  In 1923, Amelia Peabody purchased the nearby Powissett Farm, and over the next six decades acquired hundreds of acres of open space, including the Noanet Woods. 

View of Boston from Noanet Peak

Noanet Woods has 17 miles of trails adjacent to the Hale Reserve.  We started our hike at the Powissett Street entrance, and hiked into the Hale Reserve and the Noanet Pond.  From there, we hiked over to the Mill Ponds to check out the old mill site and dam.  Then, we hiked up to the Noanet Peak to check out the view of Boston before heading back to the cars.

We were on the trail by 8:00 and done by 11:00.  Great day.

The crew at the Mill Pond

My Pictures

Noanet Woods – Trustees of Reservations Website

Upper Millers - November 2, 2017

I played hooky yesterday and went paddling. With the storm earlier this week a bunch of local rivers came up, and I knew that I couldn’t paddle this weekend, so it was now or never.

The canoes outnumbered the kayaks on this trip (6 canoes to 3 kayaks), and my old Encore was feeling a little long-in-the-tooth with all the nice Millbrook boats (1 Blink, 1 Outrage, and 2 Shachos). 

We paddled the Upper Millers from Royalston to Athol in MA.  It’s usually an easy class III.  Yesterday the level was a little higher (estimated at 1,650, but the gage is offline), so it seemed like a solid class III to me. 

I spent most of my time dodging rocks and dumping my boat.  Not sure if it is me or the boat (probably both), but the guys in the Millbrooks were hitting the biggest waves, and bailing out their boats with sponges.

Kaz in the Blink from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

Links:

My Pictures

River Description from American Whitewater