Chickatawbut East (Blue Hills Reservation)
Hike Type: Spaghetti
Distance: 9.5 miles
Elevation: 1549 feet
Time: 3 hours, 10 minutes
Hiking Challenges: Blue Hills 125-Mile Challenge; 52 Hike Challenge
The Hike
This hike may have been a result of me not wanting to do an afternoon meeting and maybe driving to the Blue Hills instead. This hike was a beautiful Blue Hills spaghetti mess of a hike, with a bit of snow and ice in patches, mud in others, and a highway in others. I started the hike at the Blue Hills Reservoir and did the loop around there before heading into the woods towards 3131. I wiggled my way over to the Wampatuck Path, and completed that section to its terminus at Chicktawbut Road.
Working my way back, I then headed over to Wood Path and 3174, which was a very unique area of the reservation, with lots of bogs and prickers. I equally felt very secluded and near two major highways. The trail terminates at some industrial buildings, so then I followed the trail toward 3163, then 3143, 3130, and 3152. At this point, I had started to connect some of the dots from previous hikes and have those "oh yeah" moments where I reconized the areas.
It was finally time for the main event, the Great Cedar Swamp. This was a really beautiful area of the reservation, except for one part. The part of the trail closest to I-93 is completely flooded out, so someone cut a hole in the fence and a herd path has appeared uncomfortably close to the highway. I felt very brave doing this, and it definitely fell into the "rite of passage" areas of the reservation (same category as the Ponkapoag Bog).
Now that I became a survivor, I continued my hike on the Laurel Path, hitting the Barberry Bush Spring Trail, which was frozen/flooded at the top. There is a small spur at the junction of Lauren/Barberry that dives closer to the swamp, and it was a short, but mystical area. There was even an orange blaze, which I guess is left over from the Great Dome Trail? There was an unmapped trail near this area too, which I believe is an old connector to the Hawk Hill area.
My hike concluded with a final climb up Slide Notch Path, hitting the Sassman Notch Path, and ultimately returning to the car. It was a great day in the Blue Hills!
Originally written December 13th, 2022.
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