Boulder Brook Reservation

Living on the Wellesley/Natick line, I ventured 5 minutes up the road to Boulder Brook Reservation in Wellesley.  Boulder Brook get its name from: A, there's a brook that runs through the property and B, the reservation is peppered with abnormally large glacial boulders.

I've hiked here a few times now, and love the property's differing terrain.  There's a large meadow, stream crossings, forest, elevation gains, and vista points, all in a fairly short loop hike(under 2 miles)!

I parked on Elmwood rd. at Kelly Memorial park.  The trail starts just past the parking area and is blazed with purple arrows.  The trail passes alongside a brook and about 100 yards in you come across the first massive boulder thats just begging to be climbed! Eventually the trail comes out to a school/ballfield and staying left to the field, the trail picks up again down a paved way leading to the entrance of Boulder Brook Reservation.  Still following the purple arrows, I came out to a huge meadow. 

The day was hot, about 90 degrees, and the sun was baking the grass.  The sweet smell reminded me of when I was a boy in the cornfields! Now I'm a born and bred massachusettsian with no ties to Iowa, however I spent many summers at Drumlin Farm camp, and we picked weeds in the cornfields.  Now for all you left-wing yahoos out there, thinking child slave labor, well..... come to think of it, maybe it was!!  However I do credit Drumlin Farm with much of my knowledge and appreciation of agriculture and nature! (Not to mention my large catalog of camp songs)!

Anyways, after crossing the meadow, I entered a forest and crossed a wooden planked brook.  From here, the trail starts a very gradual incline and after a few hundred yards starts to rise sharply up a hill and over some glacial boulders.  From the top of the hill/boulders, the trail took me to a small rock outcrop overlooking Wellesley and Natick.

From the overlook, the trail snaked down the hill, through the woods passing a few more boulders, and finally back to the meadow. 

All in all, for a short hike, this place really crams it in and delivers an awesome quickie!!

Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary

Today I took the family to Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary in Natick MA (rt 16).  Broadmoor has 9 miles of trails that take you through forests, wetlands, old orchards, and various boardwalk crossings.    For the most part, the trails are fairly wide with very little elevation gain, and are the perfect little getaway for all levels.

After loading my youngest into my Kelty child carrier backpack, the four of us began our adventure.  From the nature center we followed the yellow trail along the banks of a wetland, and before long came across a boardwalk crossing where we stopped to look for wildlife.

Unfortunately there was nothing swimming in the waters at this stop, so we carried on and entered a small pine forest on the other side of the boardwalk.  The soft pine needle floor, and cool whispering breeze must have been too much for "bear bait" because she was out as soon as we crossed the bridge. Luckily I was able to grab a quick shot of her right before.

Through the forest and over a wooden bridge, we came to the highlight of the trip. Well hold on, let's back up a second! Of course the highlight of the trip is spending it with my family and getting to experience the new sights and sounds with my little girls, as well as having a nice peaceful stroll with my lovely wife!! (I'm no fool)!!  So now on to the second best part of the trip.  We've had heavy rains over the past few weeks and because of it, a usually slow waterfall was turned into a beautiful cascade of pounding water. 

 

Now not to get all sappy on you, but one of my favorite smells in the world is fresh water!  You know the kind of smell you get when you're sitting by a lake on a warm summer afternoon, and there's that gentle breeze that just ever so lightly scrapes along the waters surface and releases the essence of the lake into the air. Well that smell!! Anyways this waterfall was just perfuming the entire area with that sweet fresh water and we stopped to take it in for a while. 

After the falls we pushed forward a little longer until the skeeters started to get the best if us.  We decided to turn around and retrace our steps.  As we neared the nature center, we stopped at the main boardwalk that overlooks a large marsh.  It was here where a turtle popped its head up to say hello to "Lil Bug".

So there it is, Broadmoor! Probably one of the best places in the metrowest to introduce children (or anyone for that matter) to the great outdoors! 

Things to know: Broadmoor is a Ma Audubon property and charges an entrance fee to non- members. No dogs allowed. As with any wild area use insect protection! And carry in carry out!

Nobscot Scout Reservation

So here it is, the hike that started it all!! On June 15th, I decided to get out and hike one of my favorite places - Nobscot Scout Reservation in Sudbury MA.  You see I used to be a Boy Scout and along with my father, I pretty much have them to thank for my love and appreciation of the outdoors.

From the parking area on Nobscot/Edgell rd, there are many trails to choose from.  There is a big board with information and trail maps, and if you need any further info, there is the rangers cabin which is in clear view of the parking area.  Now being a Boy Scout reservation, they keep this place CLEAN!!! This is one of the cleanest places I've hiked in the metrowest!

Now maybe it's the nostalgia of the place, but I find that nobscot is the perfect quick getaway.  It has multiple trails throughout the reservation ( though I've heard some say too many),  as well as a bunch of interesting sites.  My loop hike takes me through some of thehighlights of the reservation.

From the parking area I took the Ellis trail to a right turn onto Jethro trail. Now these trails are easily found on the trail map and are actually pretty wide trails (good for children).  Jethro trail is going to turn right when it meets up with the tower trail.  Now right before this intersection is where the "event" took place that inspired this blog and for those concerned, my face didn't sustain any real injuries and I'm still as handsome as ever!  Moving forward, I proceeded up the Tower trail and my ascent of Mt Nobscot.

Now I was told when I was younger that Mt Nobscot actually qualifies as a mountain by one foot.  So not to fret, it is only a brief hike to the top.  Unfortunately when you get to the summit there is not a good vista point.  There is a fire tower that overlooks the reservation but again unfortunately there is no public access.


Now from the top of Mt Nobscot, I took a right on to the Bay Circuit trail (more on the Bay Circuit trail to come in the future), and followed that approx a mile to "Tippling Rock".  Tippling Rock is an elevated rock outcrop that looks over the reservation. This is where I decided to stop for a lunch break.

From the top of Tippling Rock, it's hard to believe that you're still in the "burbs".  On a clear day you can see the Hancock and Prudential in Boston!  After eating my peanut butter sandwich I retraced steps back down the rocks and hopped on Thirty Rod trail which took me to Pond trail to Belden trail and back to the parking lot.  On the return to the parking lot, I passed Nup'see pond and an old smallpox burial ground.   I'm guessing the overall loop was approx 2.5-3 miles.

So there you have it!! The first of hopefully many hikes to come!  Hopefully if this rain ever lets up ill be out checking out another great location in the Wild Wild Metrowest!!

In the beginning....

On the Wild Wild Metrowest

The other day, I was out hiking one of my favorite nearby destinations.  Weather wise, it was a top ten Saturday afternoon and it felt like I had the woods to myself!  So I'm hiking along one of my favorite routes, admiring a hawk circling above and SMACK!!!! I had walked face first into a very large fallen tree branch.  After dropping a steady stream of f-bombs, I immediately looked around to see if anyone had noticed.  "Of course not. I hadn't seen anyone since I left the parking lot". Now maybe it was the trauma from using my face as an axe, but I actually felt a sadness that there WASN'T someone there in the distance laughing at my expense!!

With todays hustle and bustle mentality towards life, fewer and fewer people are experiencing the outdoors.  To pause for a second, I GET IT!! Trust me I get it! I am the father of two beautiful little girls, married to an awesome wife who is the hardest working person I have ever met, and for myself, my job is probably the furthest away you can get from 9-5! So I get it.  The house is always a mess, poopy diapers always need changing, and the lawn!, my poor neighbors have to look at MY LAWN!!! I GET IT!!!!

But I digress

I have found that with all the things going on in my life, it is indeed hard to get out and enjoy the outdoors like I used to. Luckily living just west of Boston, there are an abundance of "wild" properties.  This blog will take me hiking through some of the local area properties where the "hustle and bustle" can be (at least temporarily) left behind and will hopefully show others just how close "The outdoors" can be!

Some hikes will be short 1-milers, others will be longer.  Hopefully along the way, the girls will be joining me (My youngest, is still pretty much bear bait, so we'll have to wait and see!).  So off we go to the Wild Wild Metrowest!!