Two-Fer - Quinebaug Woods & Tantiusquis

It's another winter holiday, which means I can't (and won't) go the mountain to ski, but I will not stay couped-up either.  Time to knock some more Trustees properties off the list.

It is a gray day, but the temps are right around freezing and it is raining intermittently.  I still want to avoid people if possible, but I will turn south to see what I can find.

I start by vising Quinebaug Woods in Holland, MA.  On the way there, I pass some parts of the Quinebaug river where I have paddled in the past (see April 21, 2019)

As I'm walking down the trail, I see this bright purple.  It's too early to be flowers, for sure 
It turns out to be some garland, clearly added to make this a trail-side Christmas Tree.

The trail is wide and accommodates not only hikers, but evidently cross-country skiers as well,

The trail winds down to a river.  I'm thinking this actually is the Quinebaug River.  Seeing it now, it's obvious why we only paddle it in the spring.

I got back to my car and realized I had missed one of the landmarks of this property.  The remnants of an old chimney on the hilltop.  The house that was previously here must have had quite a view.

On the map, you can see how I went back out to see the chimney, then came back an alternate way.  Total mileage was only 1.25 miles gaining a total of 238 feet of elevation.  This was not nearly as exhausting as my outing a couple weeks ago in 13°F weather.

My second stop today was at Tantiuques, which is either pronounced "tan-te-us-quays" (per the book) or "tant-E-ooo-kwiss" (per the sign on property).  In the Nipmuc language, it means “to a black deposit between two hills”.  It was the site of one of New England’s first mines.  A lead mine, as it happens.  

In any event, using Google to navigate here from Quinebaug Woods was difficult at best.  Taking the "shortest" way, it should only have been a 4 minute ride; however, the map software didn't take into account local road closures.  Or worse, dirt/private roads.  I had to go back into Sturbridge and get onto I-84 down to Exit 1.  It was easy after that.

Just off the trail, one can see where some of the mining happened amid these large rock faces.

This is my "Yes, it's me" photo to prove I was actually here.

The way back took me to the top of a small ridge. 
There wasn't much a a view, but for 360° you can see Rhododendrons.

I missed this on the way in (because I was chatting up another family of hikers). 
But this is an old mine shaft that they have gated for, presumably amid safety concerns.

This track was only 0.82 miles of hiking with elevation gain of 105 feet.  An easy one.

When I was done with stop #2, I briefly thought about making it a "three-fer" and hit Peaked Mountain in Monson, MA, a couple towns to the west.  Ultimately, I decided that might be taking on too much.  When I got home, I discovered that even though it's not in the blog, we visited that property back in October 2015.  So it's already checked off my list :)