It had been a while since we visited the Cape Cod Canal bikeway. Easy to get to, no need to cross either canal bridge if you stay on the north side, and so scenic. A place that is easy to access can be taken for granted. However, like other places we may feel tempted to dismiss as “boring,” the canal offers great variety when you look a little closer for what can change between visits.
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The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical park (C&O Canal) runs alongside the Potomac River valley from the tidal basin in Washington, D.C. to Western Maryland. What was once the tow path for the canal is now a broad, level footpath that is great for walking or bicycling. The Potomac River is within view for much of the section north of Williamsport, Maryland, where we traveled. The trail surface is in good shape, covered with packed stone dust for most of the section we traveled, with a few muddy spots along the way.
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Spring is a great time to get outside, but like the fall, visible signs of spring and the changes that happen in this season are compressed into a few short weeks. Summer and winter last for months on end. If you miss the window of opportunity to catch these quick changes, you will have to wait till next year to witness, and possibly capture in photos the wonders of new life springing forth all around us. At least, this is what I reasoned after realizing I have very few good photos of spring in my files.
Thus I welcomed the opportunity to get outside on a windy spring afternoon in April at Choate Park in Medway, MA. I met up with Marilyn and Dave Doré, collaborators with me for our upcoming book, tentatively titled Easy Walks in Massachusetts South of Boston. We are excited to get started on this trail guide, a companion to the other Easy Walks in Massachusetts books already available. We hope to publish by this fall or next spring. If you want to be the first to hear when the book is out, sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of this post.
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We visited the Marginal Way in Ogunquit on an overcast spring weekend. It was given this name because it brings visitors to the “margin” between land and sea.
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Warmer days offer a great excuse to get outdoors (as though we need an excuse). Grass is poking up through the soil. Maple trees are setting out buds that trim the woods’ edges with a reddish hue. My spring favorite, skunk cabbage, unfurls its shiny, rubbery looking shoots on the edge of, and sometimes in the middle of woodland streams and wetlands.
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You probably know what someone means when they say they are headed over to the local rail trail. These paved or stone dust developed paths, rail trails, have become a generally recognized part of modern life. The transformation of abandoned rail beds into walkable or bikeable paths has created a growing network of trails intended for recreational walking, bicycling, and other non-motorized uses.
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This was our first visit to the eastern shore of Newfoundland. No matter how much research we do, we always find more that surprises us. This is the joy and challenge of traveling to new places.
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A highlight of our trip to Newfoundland was returning to Gros Morne National Park on Newfoundland’s western coast. When visiting a place for the first time we often say, “We need to come back.” Much less often are we able to say, “It’s so good to be back,” especially when referring to more far-flung destinations. At the bottom of this article are links to previous posts on our earlier visit to
Gros Morne.
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A mild winter’s day seemed just the time to take a day trip to East Haddam, Connecticut to visit Gillette Castle State Park, overlooking the Connecticut River. We had been to this area in the past for a winter boat ride along the river (February and March) in hopes of seeing bald eagles that winter in the area. The river stays open through winter and thus provides ideal hunting for eagles through the winter months. Our first trip favored us with multiple eagle sightings, but on this more recent visit we were not as successful. We caught a glimpse of what looked like an eagle soaring into the clouds overhead, but we’re not bird experts, and the glimpse we got was brief.
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Often outdoor walking locations are “hiding in plain sight.” Locals know about what makes a specific place special. There may be a pull off for a good place to explore, but no sign is posted to assure visitors they have found the right location. The Keystone Arch Bridges trail starts in Chester MA and heads into Middlefield and Becket.
Clear signage has now been posted directing would be visitors where to find parking and get views of the dry laid stone railroad bridges that were built in the early 1840s to carry trains over the Westfield River. For background on the history of these bridges, learn more here. Information signs have been recently placed on Middlefield Road, next to Hebert Cross Road in Chester. Parking for about nine cars is available off road just past the sign.
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Marjorie Turner Hollman 