Overview of water and mountains from rocky outcrop on New England Trail near Long Bottom RoadHeading to Long Bottom Road today. It was another beautiful day on the trail, with temps in the low 70s and sunny skies.

We drove to the day’s starting point, a parking lot across the highway from a reservoir. It was packed, as the trails here are popular for hiking, mountain biking, dog-walking, etc. But we found a space.

The morning passed uneventfully, with lots of beautiful scenery, reasonably good markings and footing that was relatively easy (not too many rocks or hills). The one funny (or interesting or maddening!) part came when the trail led us to this small patch of scrub. It was probably only 10 or 20 yards long, but the scrub/shrubs were so thick that you could not see any path at all – just a blaze at the far end.

I initially tried bashing my way through with my trekking poles, but to no avail. The bushes were thick and rubbery, and you couldn’t bash through them. Then I tried powering my way through, but with no luck either. So I told Ed we needed to make a train of sorts, with him in the lead. I’d say, “Go!” and then we’d power through the scrub.

It worked, but it really made me wonder what would have happened if I’d been alone. Could I have gotten through? HOW would I have gotten through? I realize trails are maintained by volunteers, so this is no dis against them. Just something you always need to keep in the back of your mind when you hike.

En Route to Long Bottom Road

We had lunch around a really cool grouping of rocks just before the poetically named Will Warren’s Den. Not too long after that, we ran into Parks again, and warned him about the scrub.

The afternoon was pleasant, and the best part was reaching our car at 4:30, an hour earlier than we thought. We only covered about 18 miles today, which seemed positively lazy of us. Ha!

Sadly, this is our final night at the Holiday Inn Express in Meriden. Can’t believe we were able to stay at the same place for nearly a week!

Snowshoe and Stubs

Map Miles: 17.4
Map Miles to Date: 115.6
iPhone Miles: 17.3
iPhone Miles to Date: 113.5
Steps: 42,310
Steps to Date: 289,694
Flights Walked: 134
Flights to Date: 1,045

 

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©2018 Melanie McManus – All Rights Reserved

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