Final Blue Hills Reservation Trails (Blue Hills Reservation)

Final Blue Hills Reservation Trails (Blue Hills Reservation)

Hike Type: Multiple Hikes
Distance: 4.09 miles
Elevation: 686 feet
Time: 1 hours, 38 minutes
Hiking Challenges: Blue Hills 125-Mile Challenge; 52 Hike Challenge

*NOTE: These stats are the total of the three seperate hikes I did to complete this challenge.*

*NOTE2.0: There will be a seperate post to summarize and reflect upon this challenge.*

Hike #1: 6900 to 6896 Loop

The shortest hike of the afternoon. I needed the small spur trail from 6896 near Little Blue Hill, which I had missed a long time ago during the beginning of my Blue Hills hiking. I parked at the Park and Ride which was a very interesting subculture on it's own. Some people working on their cars, others chit chatting, some large vans, and random people seemingly aimlessly wandering the unmarked trails... definitely interesting. I walked into the woods at 6900 and turned left to meet up with the Skyline Trail, which climbed to the intersection I needed. I had to do a bit of wandering since this trail was very difficult to find - but it seems that someone marked the path with orange tape tied to a few trees which was helpful. The path led to the meadow/pond marked in the map, and there is a whole network of unmapped trails back there that allowed me to turn this into a loop. Hike #1 done!

Hike #2: Houghton's Hill & Raccoon Hollow

This was going to be the biggest hike of the day. I needed to hike the lower half of the Raccoon Hollow Path and the two trails that intersect at 1151. I parked at Houghton's Pond and followed the HQ Path, crossed the road, and starting to hike up Houghton's Hill on the south Skyline Trail. This stretch has become more or less of a physical fittness test for me. I've been up it dozens of times, all at different levels of "hiking fittness." I am always winded, but sometimes I have been on death's porch and other times I have made it up without stopping. Since I only stopped twice for muscles (I'm still a bit sore from all my hiking last weekend), I'll take it as a win!

At the top of Houghton's Hill, I turned left and left again at the almost hidden intersection at 1156. I hiked 1156 to 1151, turned left, turned right onto the road, turned right onto the other end of the trail, and back at 1151 turned left again to complete this "loop." I cut through Houghton Path to get to Raccoon Hollow Path, hiked it to Five Corners, took Five Corners to Wolcott Path, and took Wolcott Path down to park headquarters. This stretch was gentle and cathartic, and I saw a massive deer that was just checking me out. I crossed the road, followed Bugbee Path, turned right onto the paved path, and made my way back to the parking lot. Only one trail left - the infamous Quarries Footpath!

Hike #3: Quarries Footpath from 4223

"The Final Countdown" plays in my head as I park my car right at 4223 (which was hidden by trees, naturally). Poetically speaking, one of my first hikes in the Blue Hills involved me getting lose in the Quarries section. I was aimlessly exploring, made it to the scenic, littered area, and then proceeded to have no clue where I was for quite some time. When I hiked the quarries with the intent of hitting all the trails, the same thing quite literally happened to me. I never found the bottom half of the Quarries Footpath in my previous hikes, so that's what landed me here today for my final hike!

The hike opens up to a network of trails that don't exist on current maps. I did my best to follow the contour of the map and the gps tract on AllTrails, which brought me to a grassy, mostly overgrown section with a couple of blowdowns. I quickly landed at the base of a stack of rocks/the quarry/slabs/whatever the granite mass is. At this point I zoomed all the way in on AllTrails and did my best. I ended up climbing up the rocks which led to a suprisingly beautiful rocky area that was reminiscent of a mountain summit. This area looked vaugely familiar, just like the spot I kept getting lost at. I continued to follow the track, and landed in a very familiar area (I think)! I accepted this as officially connecting the dots, and then I got lost again. Very grateful for GPS tracking. I made my way back down, had some peanut butter crackers to celebrate and made my way home!

Blue Hills Reservation Map

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