Borderland - October 22, 2026

Pond Walk Trail

The "Old Guy's Thursday Hiking Society" was back together today for a hike at Borderland State Park.

Borderland was established in 1906 when Oakes Ames, a Harvard botanist and his wife Blanche purchased land on the border of Sharon and Easton. They built a mansion and created a nature preserve with woodland paths, roadways and man-made ponds.

Shelter on Leach Pond

The estate remained in the family for 65 years until it was acquired by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1971 and opened as the Borderland State Park. Today the park includes 1,843-acres with more than 20-miles of trails including a section of the Bay Circuit Trail.

We started at the main entrance and hiked 5.1-miles on the Pond Walk Trail, on Mountain St. to the Granite Hills Loop, and back on the Pond Walk Trail. The fall foliage was beautiful. Brunch was at the Wagon Wheel Diner.

The crew at Upper Leach Pond

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Friends of Borderland

Fife Brook - October 18, 2026

This weekend was the last scheduled release of the year at Fife Brook, so when Aaron texted me looking to go, I was in. We talked about paddling solo, but decided to do our third tandem run.

It was a balmy 28 degrees when I left my house – definitely dry suit weather. High temperature for the day reached 59 degrees, so we were comfortable as long as we stayed in the sun and kept out of the wind.

The release was scheduled for 800 cfs from 12:00 to 5:00, and it actually did a little better reaching 900 cfs on the Charlemont gage. We were the only canoe with a bunch of kayaks – what else is new.

We did a lot of playing at the top, drifted a little too far right and had a wet run through Zoar Gap, and then continued down to Shunpike – 4 hours on the river, and my knee felt great. Here is the 1:22 cut from Aaron's video.

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My Cut of Aaron's Video

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Fife Brook Release Schedule

Charlemont Gage
River Description from American Whitewater

Manville Dam - October 16, 2026

Last December I was walking to work and felt a sharp pain in my knee stepping off the curb to cross the street at South Station. Turns out I tore the meniscus in my left knee. It has kept me out of my whitewater solo boats ever since. I tried NSAIDS and cortisone shots, but they didn’t help. The doctor didn't recommend surgery, and told me to be patient and focus on physical therapy. That is what I did, and finally feels like it is paying off.

I took my Millbrook Outrage out today down at the Manville Dam. I was able to kneel on the pedestal with no knee pain. My ankles and quad’s were a little sore - it's going to take a little while to get them stretched out again. I’m hoping to do a Fife run on Sunday with Aaron, and maybe I’ll take my solo boat. Or maybe not – I do love paddling tandem.

Mercy Woods - October 8, 2026

Heading out on the Mercy Trail

This week’s hike with the "Old Guy's Thursday Hiking Society" was at Mercy Woods. In a post on Facebook, Kaz suggested that we change the name to the "Fun Old Guys Hiking all Thursdays" so we would have the acronym "FOGHAT" - have to think about that.

The Mercy Woods is a Cumberland Land Trust property that has 5.7-miles of trails including the Mercy Loop (2.3-miles), the Ridge Trail (2.1-miles) and the Stone Wall, Fisher, Fern, Fiske, Deer and Grape connecting trails. A short section of the Ridge Trail north of the Fern connecting trail is also part of the Warner Trail.

Cairn where the Mercy Trail
meets the Ridge Trail

We met at 9:00 at the trailhead on Sumner Brown Road and headed south on the Mercy Trail and the Ridge Trail. At the southern end, we cut down to the Diamond Hill Reservoir along a section of the Warner Trail before looping back to the cars on the Ridge Trail and the Mercy Trail. Overall we did a little less than 5-miles.

After the hike we went out for breakfast at the Village Griddle in Plainville.

The crew - Al, Erik, Steve, Bill, Danny, Doug and Mike

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Mercy Woods Trail Map

Connecticut River Camping - Woodsville to North Thetford - October 2-6, 2026

Getting ready to launch at Woodsville

The upper Connecticut River isn’t a real wilderness river. It flows past more cow farms and corn fields than wilderness. The campsites are often tucked into a narrow stretch of woods between the river and the farms, but they are usually well maintained with a picnic table, fire ring and privy, and are well-spaced for multi-night trips.

I wanted to get in one more multi-night trip before winter, so I reached out to Jonathan to see if he was interested. His only availability happened to be the same weekend that Aaron and his friend Cory were planning a trip on the Connecticut River, so we decided to join in.

Heading out from Woodsville

The Connecticut River is the longest river in New England flowing south for approximately 400 miles from the Canadian border through four states before emptying into Long Island Sound. Back when I was working it was tough for me to get away to do long camping trips, so we did a lot of three-day weekends on the Connecticut River. We did the sections from Canaan to Bloomfield; Bloomfield to Lunenburg; Woodsville to Orford and Orford to White River Junction and day trips on the reservoirs.

This time we would be doing a four-day/three-night trip. We looked at lots of options, but decided to do the section from Woodsville to North Thetford. The scenery is nice, there are lots of well-spaced campsites and there should be plenty of water.

Running the small rapids

I was up early Saturday morning for the ride up to the put-in. I was running a little early, so I was able to meet Jonathan for a coffee and muffin at the Sunnyside Coffee Company before dropping his truck off at the take-out at the North Thetford Landing. Aaron drove in while we were there, and we all headed off to the put-in at Woodsville.

Cory was waiting at the put-in when we arrived, so we unpacked our gear, loaded our boats and headed out. The river started off shallow but there were some small rapids to run if you picked the right line. If you picked the wrong line you would be dragging your boat over the rocks. We did a little of both.

Small plane flying low over the river

After that, the river opened up. We paddled past the Howard Island and Horse Meadow campsites. Both were empty, which we thought was a good sign. Unfortunately, when we reached our planned campsite for the evening – Harkdale Farm – it was occupied. We decided to continue downstream to the Vaughan Meadow Campsite.

As we were paddling downstream we heard what sounded like a large boat heading for us. It turned out to be a small plane flying low over the river. It did a fly-by and was gone.

Vaughan Meadow Campsite

We arrived at Vaughan Meadow and quickly set up camp. The site is located in the woods between the river and a large hay field. There was lots of wood laying around the site, so we cut it up and had enough for our evening and morning fires.

Dinner was Jonathan’s haddock with Maine-guide potatoes. The stars were amazing with a clear view of the Milky Way across the horizon. We sat around the fire until around 10:00, and then called it a night. Total miles for the day – 15.

Boat is loaded and ready to go

I crawled out of the tent around 6:30 the next morning. Cory was already up, so we lit the fire and started the coffee. Jonathan cooked eggs-in-a-hole for breakfast, and then we packed up and headed out.

This would be a relatively short paddling day, so we took our time. As we paddled along we heard what sounded like lawn mowers getting closer. It turned out to be a pair of parasails flying overhead. A littler further downstream we had another small plane zip by us at a low altitude following the river.

Cory cooking dinner

We arrived at our next campsite – Underhill – by midafternoon. We set up camp and enjoyed a leisurely afternoon. Since firewood was scare on land, Aaron and I paddled out to gather some of the abundant driftwood along the river. Dinner was T-bone steaks cooked on the fire by Cory – delicious. We sat around the fire until around 9:30 before calling it a night. Total miles for the day 7.

There was a chance of showers between 7:00 and 8:00 the next morning, so we got up early and took down our tents. We had a nice breakfast of French toast and bacon cooked by Cory. Then we headed out to paddle one of the prettier sections of the river passing Mount Sawyer and the Fairlee Palisades. We took a break for lunch at Orford Landing.

Fairlee Palisades

The wind picked up in the afternoon, and the paddling became a bit of a slog. We paddled by the Birch Meadow Campsite and down to Clay Brook. As we were checking out the Edgell Covered Bridge, the skies opened up in a torrential downpour. It stopped by the time we reached our campsite for the night – Roaring Brook.

We were able to get our tents up before the skies opened up again. A couple of bands of rain and some hail came through before the skies finally cleared and we had an amazing rainbow over the river. Dinner was Aaron’s chili – also delicious. It was a chilly night, so I was toasty and warm in my sleeping bag a little after 9:00. Total miles for the day – 10.

Roaring Brook Campsite

It was downright cold when we woke up the next morning. We didn’t have a frost, but I’ll bet it came close. Cory and I were up around 6:30 and got the fire and the coffee started. Aaron and Jonathan were up shortly after, and Jonathan cooked eggs-in-a-hole for breakfast.

We packed up camp and headed out for the short paddle down to the take-out at North Thetford Landing. It took a little while to get everyone back to their cars, but we were soon on our way after another great trip. Total miles for the day – 2. Total miles for the trip - 34.



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Aaron's Video
Connecticut River Paddlers Trail

Charles River/Boston Harbor - October 1, 2026

View of Back Bay

I made my first trip into Boston since my retirement yesterday to paddle the Charles River and Boston Harbor. I have been wanting to do this trip for years, but didn’t know the put-in or how to get through the locks. When Steve posted the trip on the RICKA Flatwater Message Board, I was in.

We put in at Magazine Beach and paddled down the Charles River into the Back Bay. This area was originally a large tidal marsh that was filled from 1857 through the 1880s, transforming it into the grid-patterned Victorian-era brownstone and high-rise neighborhood that we know today.

Into the Gridley Locks

We continued under the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge and Longfellow Bridge up to the Museum of Science, which sits directly on top of the 1910 Charles River Dam. The dam was built to turn the Charles River from a tidal estuary into a fresh-water basin. It included locks to let river traffic pass to and from the harbor. We passed through the channel of a now unused lock next to the Museum of Science.

In 1978, the Army Corps of Engineers replaced the old Charles River Dam with a new dam under what is now the Zakim Bridge. We passed through the new Colonel Richard Gridley Locks on our way to Boston Harbor. Richard Gridley was General George Washington's first army engineer.

Bunker Hill and Old Ironsides

Once in the harbor we headed for the Charlestown Navy Yard - one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States. It was established in 1800 and operated until 1974. Today it is part of the Boston National Historical Park, and is home for the USS Constitution – “Old Ironsides”.

We crossed over to the Boston side of the harbor and continued down to the Tea Party Ship at Fort Point Channel. Conditions were perfect, and it was great to paddle past buildings where I had worked for 45-years. The trip back was uneventful until we hit an afternoon headwind on the Charles River. Total milage for the day – 10.4-miles.

This is what my workdays in Boston look like now!

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Purgatory Chasm - September 24, 2026

Climbing the rocks at Little Purgatory

This week’s hike with the "Old Guy's Thursday Hiking Society" was at Purgatory Chasm State Reservation.

Purgatory Chasm became a state park in 1919 and is known for the .25-mile-long, 70-foot-deep chasm near the entrance. Various theories have been proposed to account for the creation of the chasm, but the most common is that glacial meltwater ripped out the gorge at the end of the last ice age.

Looking down into the chasm

We started on at the trailhead off Mendon Road on the Forest Road Trail. We took the trail along Purgatory Brook down to Little Purgatory. We then looped back to the Forest Road Trail and followed the Old Purgatory Trail to the main entrance. From there, we took the Charlie Loop Trail and the Chasm Loop Trail to explore Purgatory Chasm before returning to the cars. 

Total distance was around 3-miles - just enough to justify lunch at Schultzy's Place in Sutton.

Exploring the bottom of Purgatory Chasm

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