Hike 16 - Section #17

December 8, 2012 - The Finale

It is finally here!  The last hike of my Mid-State hiking goal!  I had originally planned to go last week, thinking that by December 8th, it might be snowing.  The irony is that it snowed last weekend, not this one.  Through a number of circumstances, this week just turned out to be better.  I was able to enlist a several hiking partners which made the walk all the more enjoyable.

This last section entirely in Douglas State Forest.  The trail was very nice for this entire section.  While it was raining when I woke up (in North County), it was all but gone in South County (yes, we are still in Worcester county).

We celebrated with a few extra photos, so enjoy!

In our classic "starting off" photo we have: Alex, Dominic, Cassandra, Tom, Betsy, Steve.

The terrain was pretty cool.  The trail wound between a "forest of boulders".

Alex has the baby.  Tom has Baby Girl.

Lots of interesting things to see on this hike.  Here's an old abandoned well in the middle of the forest.

         

This is an old railroad bed that is now a rail trail: the Southern New England Trunkline Trail.

Just off the trail and over a berm, we found this colorful swamp and pond.

At the 3.85 mile mark, Betsy & Brian hike .75 miles to join us from the parking area.

          

Betsy shows Cassandra and sleeping baby how to find her way back to the car.

Behind us is the foundation of a old center-chimney house.  We could see the base of the chimney, as well.

Yay!  We made it to the end!  Let's celebrate!

  

Here's the last yellow triangle I have to look for.

The stone marker proves I made it to the terminus.

The Mid-State continues into Rhode Island as the North-South Trail.  If we start here, it's only 78 miles to the ocean.

Backtracking, we take this trail back to the parking lot.  But we saw this same sign with the same mileage at several locations on the Coffee House Loop.  I guess if you're looping, you never really get to the end, eh?

This moss makes for an "artsy" picture like my friend Peter takes.  Now all we need is that cool Spyro Gyra "Morning Dance" music you get with Smilebox.

Beautiful Walulm Lake is beside a large picnic area back near the parking lot.  I think I can paddle into Rhode Island from here.

Wow!  It's a hike where we actually gained  people instead of losing them.
The most partners ever for one of my hikes.  Thanks for coming!
(My photo composition leaves a little to be desired.  Who put the shortest person at the lowest point?)

I planned this hike with three options:

• Option #1 - from Rt 16 to end then back to car = 7.6 miles (Steve, Tom, Alex)
• Option #2 - from Rt 16 to lower Coffee House Loop back to car = 4.6 miles (Cassandra, Dominic)
• Option #3 - from car to state line via Coffee House Loop and back = 4.5 miles (Betsy, Brian)

 We started at 10:07am and finished at 1:18pm, with lots of stops along the way.

The total hiking mileage including the turn-arounds at both ends was:

92.08 (book) +  2.44 (Watatic) + 1.25 (Wallum) = 95.77 MILES.

Thanks to everyone who accompanied me, or cheered me on, or just enjoyed reading about this adventure.  Feel free to post comments.

Next blog entry will be hiking statistics (with charts!).  Stay tuned.