Late to the Party

Pout Pond, Uxbridge

I’ve been steadily working away at updating my first trails book, Easy Walks in Massachusetts. My first attempt at this sort of publication, Easy Walks, the first edition, lacked maps to trail heads, left out a number of area towns in the Blackstone River Valley, and omitted several really nice trails in the area the book covered. I’ve learned of some new trail systems, some quite nice, that I wanted my readers to know about. Thus I’m in the process of adding several more towns and a number of additional trails, plus maps to trailheads, to create Easy Walks; the second edition.

I thought I was finally done with choosing all the trails destined for inclusion in the book. I’ve been poring over USGS maps, contrasting the maps with Google Earth views, measuring distances, jogging my memory for how to manage the software that aids in drawing maps on my computer screen. And then, there it was, one more spot on the map I knew nothing about. Were there trails there? I found no information in my Google searches about trails in the area.  But in my memory, I vaguely recalled conversations, mentions of dog-walking in the area. It was worth a look.

Over the (small) bridge and into the woods, on the edge of Pout pond

Dale and I headed over this morning to Pout Pond in Uxbridge on an exploratory outing. I wasn’t even sure if the gate to the area would be open. When we arrived, we found that indeed, the gate was open, and after just a little poking around found there were, in fact, a number of trails.

Swampy area just on the edge of the pond

We followed a trail that followed the edge of the pond, but found our way blocked, preventing us from completely circling the pond.

Easy Walking trails throughout the woodland surrounding Pout Pond

Heading back, we explored a few additional woodland trails, one of which ended up at the athletic field that is quite near the pond. Walking along the edge of the field, we found our way back in the parking area where we started.

Oak leaves holding on through the winter

Thus we enjoyed an hour’s walk in slushy snow with next to no ice, in the middle of January. Who would have thought?

View of Pout Pond from the woodland trail

The bottom line is, yes, I’ll be adding Pout Pond in Uxbridge to the 2nd edition of Easy Walks. What’s one more map when I’m already drawing fifty?

Marjorie Turner Hollman

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors, and is the author of Easy Walks in Massachusetts, 2nd edition, More Easy Walks in Massachusetts, 2nd edition, Easy Walks and Paddles in the Ten Mile River Watershed, and Finding Easy Walks Wherever You Are. Her memoir, the backstory of Easy Walks, is My Liturgy of Easy Walks: Reclaiming hope in a world turned upside down.