Great Blue to Hancock Hills; Border & Wolcott Paths (Blue Hills Reservation)
Hike Type: Loop
Distance: 4.17 miles
Elevation: 794 feet
Time: 1 hour, 53 minutes
Hiking Challenges: Great Blue Hill Summits; Trail Trace the Blue Hills
Hiking Challenges: Great Blue Hill Summits; Trail Trace the Blue Hills
The Hike
It's Tuesday and I was hiking with Sarah again! We met after school and did our usual zoom up Eliot Path. It was 78 degrees out, which felt HOT hot. The sun was shining strong and there was a nice breeze. There was also the classic yellow hue of springtime pollen in the air which was... fine. Sarah was feeling a bit gassed, so we decided we'd make our way over to Hancock Hill via the Skyline Trail and then assess if we wanted to continue on Skyline or pivot to something else!
Great Blue to Hancok was nice. Sarah and I yapped about skiing and weddings, and we were soon greeted with a wonderful breeze to dry off our sweat-soaked shirts on Hancock Hill. We decided to skip the second half of Skyline and head down Hancock Trail, which has my favorite views in the reservation. Someone had recently gone in and spray-painted new yellow blazes to mark the correct footpath, which was appreciated. There were some tent catepillars around and just wonderful views to Boston, the ocean, the islands, and other Blue Hills. We descended down, making our way to Base Path Connector (I told her if we're ditching the Skyline Trail we gotta get a few trail segments I needed for my map), where Sarah tragically stepped in dog poop! She washed it off in a brook with a stick, and then we continued on.
The return trip was along Border and Wolcott Paths, keeping it nice and easy. Only hinderance was the bugs! They were officially back out with a vengeance - mostly zooming into our ears, noses, and eyes. Brutal. We picked up the pace and soon made it back to the car! We ended the hike as any good friends would, with a limp-wrist handshake, since we were both wet with sweat, but a firm handshake was too formal.
Step-by-Step
- Start hike from Trailside Museum parking on Eliot Path (red dots).
- At terminus, turn right onto Eliot Circle.
- At next jct., turn left onto Summit Road.
- At next jct., turn right onto spur trail to Summit.
- Descend summit towards Skyline Trail South.
- Turn left onto Skyline Trail, and then right onto Skyline Trail North.
- At Hancock Hill, continue left onto Hancock Trail.
- At terminus, turn left onto Hancock Hill Path.
- At terminus, turn left onto Base Path.
- At 1183, turn left onto Base Path Connector.
- At 1165, turn left onto Border Path.
- At 1100, turn right onto Wolcott Path.
- Follow Wolcott Path to north parking area.
- Follow sidewalk on left back to car.
No comments:
Post a Comment