Carberry, Hemenway, Eustis, Great Blue Hill (Blue Hills Reservation)
Hike Type: Spaghetti Loop
Distance: 6.21 miles
Elevation: 876 feet
Time: 2 hours, 18 minutes
Hiking Challenges: Blue Hills Winter Trace; Great Blue Hill Summits
Hiking Challenges: Blue Hills Winter Trace; Great Blue Hill Summits
The Hike
Spring spring spring! The weather has gotten absolutely beautiful, trees are starting to bloom, and the frogs are chiping in the Blue Hills! I wanted to take it easier for this hike after my bonked afternoon last week. I parked at the Ski Area (the ski season is over!) and started my hike on the Eliot Path, following the red dots. I first hit the spur trail that leads on the right to the bottom of the ski area and back... I'm not sure why this is a listed trail, it's eroded so you can see the path, but everything else shows no sign of use. From there, I worked my way around the backside of the Trailside Museum to hit the spur that connects the Summit Road with Canton Ave., which is a fine path but truly leads to nowhere. Once those initial "chores" were complete I hiked up to the Wolcott Path and really got going.
I found a herd path/abandoned trail/something else that connected the Wolcott Path to the middle of the Carberry Trail (just past the overgrown section), so I happily took that to complete the Carberry Trail. I'd love to see some old photos of this area - the old gate at the terminus fascinates me. There were lots of little birds and critters scurrying about in the meadow too. I'm glad I got this trail completed, because I do not want to have to whack my way in when the plants have grown in more.
Next stop was the Rotch Path where I heard the beautiful found of the peepers, and then over to the Hemenway Hill Path. I was delighted to barely run into anybody in this part of my hike, except for the one guy who kept asking about my camera on the Summit Road... At least he was nice! The woods up on Hemenway are always so quiet and peaceful, especially off of the Skyline Trail. From Hemenway, I descended via Jeffires Trail, which is a favorite of mine. It meanders through a lot of interesting forest that has varying degrees of damage and regrowth. I waved to the caged well and successfully made it across the Chestnut Run before continuing along the Base Path, and then the entirety of the Eustis Trail, which could really use a nice raking (I don't even know if that's the correct thing to do on trails?).
Afterwards I took the Wolcott Path over to Wildcat Notch to make my way up Big Blue, and this is where I starting running into plenty of people, specifically teenagers. Nothing wrong with that, but I've just been used to my winter crowds. I also noticed that people with hiking backpacks on ate 400% nicer and friendlier than those who are in jeans holding a Dasani. I did make one wrong turn onto the Puddle Path where a couple asked where the towers were. I told them to find the blue trail, but didn't have the heart to tell them how steep it is.
I eventually made my way up to the top via Raccoon Hollow, saw a nice view from the tower, and then got the random spur trails off of the true summit before dipping down to the top of the ski area, where I admired the incoming rain cloud and the melting snow. I love the juxtaposition of the past two days - cold and skiing at Wachusett yesterday and warm hiking today.
My trip down was via Raccoon Hollow then Cliff Path, and there was a mysterious helicopter following me the whole time? It was directly overhead for a while... definitely eerie. Maybe they saw me pee in the woods?? Unscathed, I made my way down via the rest of the red-dot loop, and ended taking the spur right before the terminus to the entrance to the Trailside Museum, which I had apparently missed before!
Step-By-Step
- Park at ski area parking area.
- Start hike by following Eliot Path, and then follow trail behind Trailside Museum.
- Continue onto Wolcott Path, and then veer left onto unnamed trail to Summit Road.
- Turn right onto Summit Road.
- Turn left to hike trail to Canton Ave, turn around.
- Turn left onto Summit Road.
- At 1046, turn left onto Wolcott Path (green dots).
- Near 1085, follow herd path on left to the middle of Carberry Path.
- Turn left onto Carberry Path, turn around at terminus.
- Hike all of Carberry Path.
- At 1100, turn left onto Border Path.
- At 1114, turn right onto Rotch Path.
- Turn around at terminus.
- At 1121, turn right onto trail.
- At 1140, veer right onto Hemenway Hill Path.
- At 1154, turn right onto Jeffries Trail.
- At 1150, turn around to hike all of Jeffries Trail.
- At 1182, turn left onto Base Path.
- At terminus, turn left onto Eustis Trail.
- At 1140, turn left onto Five Corners Path.
- At 1141, turn sharply right onto Wolcott Path.
- Hike large triangle at 1115, then turn right onto Wildcat Notch Path.
- At 1092, turn right onto Raccoon Hollow Path.
- At terminus, turn right to follow Eliot Circle clockwise and climb tower.
- After 1066, turn right to summit Great Blue Hill.
- Hike spur East to road and back.
- Follow trail down to top of ski area, turn around.
- Turn left onto Eliot Circle.
- Turn left back onto Raccoon Hollow Path.
- At 1082, turn left onto Cliff Trail.
- At Summit Road, continue across to Trailside Path.
- Merge onto Eliot Path.
- Take spur on left to ski area, turn around.
- Just before terminus, take spur on right to Trailside Museum Entrance.
- Follow driveway back to car.
No comments:
Post a Comment