Monday, December 27, 2021

Adams & Wright Woods Hike - December 23, 2021

 HIKE REPORT


Thursday, 23 December 2021, Adams & Wright Woods Hike

Hike Co-leaders: Marie Keutmann & Richard Vignoni

~5.5 miles, 10:00 am start from Lincoln, MA


Hikers (17):Marie, Richard, Adena Schutzberg, Betty Salzberg, Bill Widnall, Chris & Curt Dudley-Marling, Dmitry Gorenburg, Greg Stathis, Jack Mroczkowski, Janet Miller, Janet Westerhoff, Joel Bauman, Judith McMichael, Susan Sabin, Zach Woods, and first-timer Debby Sabin.


Seventeen hikers and three canines met at Red Rail Farm in Lincoln.  The mention of a bicycle race track in the ride announcement caught the attention of Larry Finison, a bicycle historian, who showed up at the ride start for a brief chat.


The hikers set out through the woods along the many ups and downs of the kettle holes left behind by glacial activity.  At the Velodrome we gave a brief talk about the history of the fairgrounds (see below), before we walked around the perimeter of the track.  We then worked our way over to a route along the Sudbury River and Fairhaven Bay which offered great views of the water, as well as a large stone chimney and stone boathouse.  From there it was back into the woods towards Walden Pond, then back to our cars.


The crisp temps and bright skies made for a great day of hiking, and we set a new WW record for dogs, both in numbers and in decibels.



Additional Information


Information on the racetrack fairgrounds:


The bicycle race track was part of the fairgrounds from the late 1800s. The track is about 500 feet in circumference and has a pronounced bank on one end. In its heyday, the fairground included a dance hall, restaurant, baseball field, a race track, and amusements. On weekends, people flocked by the thousands to “Lake Walden” on the Fitchburg train line to go boating, swimming, and to use the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds were built by the owners of the railroad to encourage ridership. There were several fires over the years, likely due to sparks from the steam locomotives, so in the early 1900s it ceased to exist. Today, the only visible remains are the race track and cleared ground between the trees.

Monday, December 20, 2021

Sixth annual Walden Pond Hike - December 15, 2021

 HIKE REPORT


Wednesday, 15 December 2021, Sixth annual Walden Pond Hike
Hike Co-leaders:  Judith McMichael & Janet Miller
~5 miles, 10:00 am start from Lincoln, MA

Hikers (20):  Judith, Janet, Barbara Jacobs, Bill Widnall, Curt Dudley-Marling, Greg Stathis, Joanne Samuels, Julie Dodd, Kathy Halmi, Marie Keutmann, Marlene Heroux, Richard Fortier, Richard Vignoni, Robin Frain, Rochelle Holman, Susan Broome, Susan Sabin, Ted Nyder, Zach Woods, and first-timer Chris Dudley-Marling.

The sixth annual Walden Pond Hike was well-attended, with twenty hikers.  We had a comfortably cool day with some sun and little wind.  The beaver pond at Heywood’s Meadow didn’t disappoint.  We observed lots of recent beaver activity and two impressive lodges.  When we came out of the woods for our first glimpse of Walden Pond, it was a glimmer-glass, reflecting the tree-lined bank for 360°.  It was beautiful.   We visited Thoreau’s cabin site, and then proceeded to an area where Thoreau farmed beans and where his cabin was moved after he no longer lived in it.  The cellar hole is still visible.     

 

After a brief stop at the Walden Pond Visitor Center, where many of us got a souvenir tree “cookie:, three people decided to take a short cut to their cars.  The rest of us made our way to the top of Pine Hill and admired the distant view of Mt. Wachusett, which was visible through a gap in the trees.  We made it safely back to the parking lot and Janet delighted everyone with her homemade mince pies and Robin gave out German chocolates.  Fueled by those delicious treats, fifteen of us made our way to Verrill Farm for a loverly, long lunch in the greenhouse.


Report by Janet Miller & Judith McMichael.




Monday, December 13, 2021

Hike along Farrar Pond - December 8, 2021

 HIKE REPORT


Wednesday, 8 December 2021, Hike along Farrar Pond
Hike Leader:  Marie Keutmann, assisted by Zoe
~4 miles, 10:30 am start from Lincoln, MA

Hikers (18 humans, 1 dog):  Marie, Zoe, Barbara Jacobs, Betsy Harper, Butch Pemstein, Dan Nelson, David Wean, Gene Ho, Janet Miller, Joanne Samuels, John Nilsson, Marlene Heroux, Patrick Ward, Richard Fortier, Richard Vignoni, Susan Broome, Susan Sabin, Ted Nyder, and first-timer Zach Woods.
Present at end of lunch:  Helen Greitzer.

In a normal year, pre-COVID, we would have had a ride, a hike, and then a Hanukkah Party afterward at our house, with typically fifty people coming to the party.  This year, we decided to forgo the party, have lunch at Verrill Farm after the hike, and not risk having fifty people in close quarters in the house.
   
The hikers and Zoe (labrador retriever) set out from Marie and Richard's house to hike along Farrar Pond.  We had some very nice views of the pond and took the boardwalk, created by beavers, over the marsh at the far end of the pond.  We looped back through a large open field and back into the woods to return to the start.  There was a lot of socializing on the trail, since it is easier to talk on a hike than on bikes.  Lunch after the hike at Verrill Farm was a delight, since we had the tables in the greenhouse to ourselves and there was plenty of room for fourteen of us.  Helen joined us late at Verrill while there were still a handful of us there.

Report by Marie Keutmann. 

Monday, December 6, 2021

Compass Ride - December 1, 2021

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 21 December 2021, Compass Ride
Ride Leader:  Jack Donohue?   Sweep:  Jack Donohue
31 miles, 10:00 am start from Bedford, MA

Riders (6):  Jack, Beth Rosenzweig, Betsy Harper, Frank Aronson, Jim Pearl, and Rudge McKenney.

On Wednesday morning I had six signups, one bailed, and Frank joined later.  At post time, I had one MIA, which is way better than two last week, and five actual riders vs one last week.  So things were improving, but, looking at the group, I could see trouble ahead.  I knew that most, or all, of them were faster than I, and making them ride at my snail's pace wasn't going to work out too well.

So I came up with plan B.  Beth had volunteered to be an advance arrow, so I would sweep instead.  This was, as they say on Survivor, a "game changer."  So I made sure that everyone had the route on their GPS device so that, come what may, no one would get lost.  This turned out to be a good decision, since right out of the gate, going up the hill on South Road, I was off the back.  Caught back up at the traffic light, but was immediately dropped on the next hill.  Everyone played nicely though, waiting for me as required.

So the nominal leader was relegated to sweep, and everyone took care of themselves.  This actually worked pretty well, arrows appeared where needed, Beth doing most of the work in that regard.

As advertised, we passed roads named for all four points of the compass, North, South, East and West.  We even threw in East Riding Road and South Chelmsford Road for good measure.  Towns in Massachusetts aren't very original in naming their roads, so this wasn't hard.  The other favorite is naming the road for the next town over.  So if you're on "Concord Road" you can be pretty sure you're not in Concord, but will be soon.

For me, the ride was a trip down memory lane, since it went on roads I used to ride commuting first in Westford, then down Rte 110 a bit in Littleton.  We went on Robin Hill Road, famous as the former abode of Pamela and John.  "Hill" in the road name is very appropriate for them.

We also rode the Bruce Freeman rail trail for a bit.  We didn't see a single other person on the path, though we weren't on it for long.

So, a good time was had by all, even though we didn't strictly follow the Wednesday Wheeler protocol.

Report by Jack Donohue.