I learned some good gardening lessons during my first growing season. Top of the list: Don’t plant your garden (almost) directly underneath the dryer vent. Duh.

I was able to enjoy a few handfuls of green beans and sweet peas over the course of the summer. And I got a couple bunches of cosmos that bloomed beautifully. The green peppers and spinach were totally strangled by the cosmos and the pumpkins and squash were nuked by the dryer exhaust.

The carrots didn’t do too badly. Since I’m an optimist I’ll say that we got a great harvest of “baby carrots”. Those are practically a delicacy, right? They are almost too cute to eat!

All in all, not too bad. Due to our travels the garden didn’t get planted until late in the season and I probably didn’t water and weed it as much as I should have. We’ll give it another try next year!

[edit] I cleaned up the carrots, steamed them, and we ate them whole with dinner. YUM!

Week Five is a short week!

Day 29: Appleton Farms Grass Rides, Hamilton, Ma
There are several old carriage paths that lead through the woods here. they are wide and green and quiet. Catherine and I had a nice hike passing by a stone pinnacle that once sat on Gore Hall (once the library at Harvard). Even though we spent just over an hour there we left plenty of trails unexplored for some other day.

Day 30: Warren-Weld Reservation, Essex, Ma
This was a cute little property tucked away down a quiet road. Catherine was particularly fascinated with the leaves today. She loved the way they crunched beneath her feet and she went shuffling through them at the trail head. Once up on my back she kept leaning out to grab leave off the branches of nearby trees.

Day 31: Halloween Surprise Reservation, Middleton, Ma
After trying on two occasions to find this trail (and failing) we decided to take our last hike of the month on a trail I spotted on the same road. There was only a sign with the usual message: carry in, carry out- watch for hunters- be respectful. With out a map we went in blind and quickly came upon a rude bridge and a wooden staircase going up the bank on the other side. We walked for a while through the woods and with no sign of a loop trail, we turned back towards the car. A pleasant hike, indeed.

I feel as if there should be some sort of wrap up now that the month is finished. I had a great time hiking my way through October. I was thrilled that I was able to find a distinct hike for each day of the month all so close to home. I now have an arsenal of great places to go for hiking, picnics and romps in the woods. I feel as if I had become jaded by the abundance of commercialism in this area, and this month I was reminded that there is more to the North Shore than malls and movie theaters. I spent some quiet time with my daughter showing her God’s handiwork and I had time to myself to ponder His plan for me.

Leanne suggested creating a GoogleMap of the locations that we hiked in. Thank you, Leanne, here it is!

View Larger Map

Hiketober: Week 4

An iffy week for hiking. We had some great days, some not so great.

Day 22: Ravenswood Park, Gloucester, MA
When we got to the park this morning the entire parking lot was full. Ravenswood is obviously a popular place to get some fresh air. I found a spot on the street, popped Catherine in the backpack and we were off. There were several trails to choose from, but we decided to take the “Magnolia Swamp Trail”. Although I hate to admit it, all I thought of along the trail was Shrek! I think the word swamp will forever equal Shrek for me. The trail was nice, it went down steeply into the swamp and then wove its way through the woods before hiking back up the steep grade. Catherine was non-plussed, I think, as she slept through most of the hike.

Day 23: Life sometimes just gets in the way.
No hike today for various reasons. I’ll try to make up for it later.

Day 24: Urban Hike, Freedom Trail, Boston, MA
Peter and Catherine and I spent the day showing Sara, Matt and Bella around Boston. We walked much of the Freedom Trail from the North End to the Public Garden. It was a long day on our feet, but fun to play tour guide again!

Day 25: Sally Milligan Park, Beverly, MA
Another hidden gem here in Beverly. We were able to carve out a good half an hour hike out of this woodsy enclave.

Day 26: Pingree Reservation, Hamilton, Ma
It was sunny this morning but dark in the forest in Hamilton. I love the way that the sun filters through the trees so that it is dark in one spot, but very bright in others. The darkness and the quietness made for a very peaceful hike. We moved slowly along the trails stopping often to consider a twig or leaf. Catherine has been taking charge of the map holding duties so I occasionally have to stop to wrangle the trail map from her. Across the street there were several dog owners heading down the trails of the Appleton Grass Rides. We’ll have to try the trails there soon.

Day 27: Rain

Day 28: Extreme Laziness brought on by other plans and late night baseball.
Sometimes it is nice to play a game where you make up the rules. It’s nice to follow them, but sometimes it is even nicer to change them. We got up, went to church, had lunch, went to a Marines Band concert, had dinner and watched the Red Sox. That’s a pretty full day!

Y’know, I love hiking so much that I have declared this month Hiketober

The Goal: To go on a hike every day in the month of October.
The Method: Tie on sneakers, grab your water proof backpack from https://thepnw.co/ and water and GO!
The Gear: Saucony Sneakers, Nalgene water bottle, Snugli Cross Country Baby Backpack
Intended Outcomes: Happiness, Good Health, Exploring local open spaces, Family Bonding

The First 7 Days:

Day 1: Monday: JC Phillips Reservation, Beverly, Ma
Peter and I had explored these woods once before (while geocaching in 2001) and I thought it would be a nice place to start our hiking journey. The trail is not too long but it goes from a stroll along the edge of Wenham Lake to an uphill climb in the forest and back down again.

Day 2: Tuesday: Proctor Farm, Danvers, Ma
Proctor Farm is a small tract of land just North of 128 on Conant Street. There are two or three trails through the property that appear to have been cleared as a Boy Scout Eagle Scout service project. The hiking was easy, and the scenery not all that exciting, but still a good place to get out and get some fresh air.

Day 3: Wednesday: Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, Ma
Catherine and I were out visiting in Townsend. While Nonni was at an appointment in the afternoon we strapped on our sneakers and headed to Pearl Hill. I’ve spent a ton of time over the years hiking, skiing, sledding and goKarting at Pearl Hill but this was Catherine’s first visit. We followed quite a bit of the “Friend’s Trail” and then took an unnamed trail or two that doubled us back through the campground. Then we walked down the sledding hill road and back to the car. The hike took us a little over an hour and Catherine slept for the whole second half!

Day 4: Thursday: Endicott Park, Danvers, Ma
Along with the Children’s Barn, the horses, the playground and the large open fields that are great for running in, Endicott Park boasts a “Fitness Trail”. You know, the kind of trail with stations along the way with signs that direct you to stretch, do sit ups or hop over logs…This trail was our hike for day four. Unfortunately, the hike took all of ten minutes, and most of the stations were in sad disrepair. Since ten minutes was a little short we continued walking around the perimeter of the park, past the community garden, around Glen Magna Farm and past the fishing pond. We finished up with a long chat with the horses and some play time at the playground before heading home.

Day 5: Friday: Manchester-Essex Wilderness Conservation Area, Manchester, Ma
We found this location a bit by accident because I was a bit anxious while looking for our intended destination. I got antsy and jumped at the first pull off with a trail map! We took a nice long hike in the woods here north of 128 and east of Chewbacco Lake. We meandered the trails, changing course at each trail intersection. The property has a scenic wooden bridge/walkway that makes its way across a large swamp and we also came across some early 1900’s, stone town line markers. Part of our hike ran parallel to 128 and as we hiked along we watched the cars zip along! Again, Catherine conked out about 20 minutes in. These longer hikes seem to wear her out!

Under Little Agassiz Rock

Day 6: Saturday: Agassiz Rock, Manchester, Ma
This is where we meant to go yesterday, so we made a second go at it with Peter along. It is also the first time we had a camera with us, as mine has been out of commission lately. The trail was a 1 mile loop and an easy hike. It is a satisfying hike up to Little Agassiz where the view opens up over the Manchester area and you can scramble around on the open rocks. Hiking down the back side of the hill brings you to Big Agassiz, who’s size (30 feet tall!) is somewhat obscured by the flora around it. We met another family with young’uns up at Little Agassiz but our two families had the trail to ourselves.

Day 7: Sunday: Gordon Woods, Wenham, Ma
We missed out on Homecoming yesterday at our Alma Mater but we hit the trails there today instead! The trails seemed to be in much better condition than when I was an undergrad, and they were marked with colored blazes as well. We made a long loop up around Round Pond, past the ropes course and back down to Coy. The weather was deliciously fallish and the two mile or so hike was just what we wanted for a quiet Sunday afternoon.