BCT - "You boys going to get somewhere, or just going?"

Saturday December 7, 2013

From where the power lines cross River Road in Andover to downtown Lowell

Started hiking around 12:30 PM finished around 3PM.

Miles hiked today 6 total,  .2 on the side trail and 5.8 on the BCT

After todays hike total BCT miles completed: 25.1 out of a total of maybe 180.

Weather sunny and 30's

Hikers Ted and Larry

Map of todays hike from the "P" on the right to the "P" on the left

We dropped the downstream car in a parking garage in Lowell and drove the other car to where the power lines crossed River Road in Andover. There was supposed to be a side trail leading .2 miles down to the BCT but we never found it. According to the map the BCT ran along the river so we just bushwhacked our way downhill under the power lines till we found the BCT.

Trail along the river

Trail Bridge

Trail crossing land owned by the Andover Village Improvement Society

After a couple of miles hiking through the woods we came to a golf course which runs from River street all the way down to the Merrimack.  It would seem the trail could cross the golf course alongside the river but I guess it can't.  The trails climbs up and back to River road. The trail then followed the road. Once clear of the golfers the trail then cut through a cemetery and back to the river.

RT 38 bridge where the trail leaves the river

Much of the rest of the todays hike runs along the river on top of a underground sewer route. The ground is paved with large not quite flat stones making for tricky walking.   The guide makes this note about this section: 

"This stretch has not 

been uniformly maintained and some abutters 

have encroached on the right of way with 

gardens, patios, and building debris. It is, 

however, passable and public" - Bay Circuit Trail Guide

Rough walking surface and sign of Beaver activity

When we got to Lowell we followed the road to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium.

Lowell Memorial Auditorium

In Lowell we crossed this bridge noting that today was 7 December 2013

Following the canal walk along the Pawtucket Canal back to the parking garage where the car was parked. 

One end of a restored set of locks

Old Machinery Picture of the Day:  We were almost done and had not spotted anything. I took a picture of this discarded V8 engine just in case we didn't find anything better. I'm not really sure it qualifies as old.

V8

But right at the end of our hike we were saved by this piece of field artillery outside the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. This picture is our "Old Machinery Picture of the Day". 

Old Machinery Picture of the Day

Lowell was the home of Jack Kerouac. This quote from "On The Road" seems to fit.
“You boys going to get somewhere, or just going?”― Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Chapter 3

BCT - Strawberry Hill Road forever

Sunday November 24, 2013

Wheeler lane Acton to Old North Bridge, Concord, 8.5 miles

Started hiking around 10AM finished around 2PM.  Too cold to stop for more than a minute.

Hikers Ted and Larry

Most of this segments photos are from Larry.

Weather was sunny in the low to mid 20's, 20 MPH winds with gusts to 40 MPH

After todays hike total BCT miles completed: 19.3 out of a total of 180. ( I know I was saying it was 250 miles total but if you skip the proposed sections and the alternate sections then 180 miles total seems to be the a better estimate of the real distance. Anyway this way we are more than 10% done. )

We hiked from the upper left corner to the lower right

We started with breakfast at the Trails End Restaurant in Concord with Reges and Sheila. We then left the downstream car at the Old North Bridge. Reges and Sheila drove Larry and I to the start of todays segment on Wheeler Lane, Acton.  On the way to the start we passed one end of Strawberry Hill road.

This segment starts next to this old cellar hole.

The trail runs South West along one side of Nashoba Brook before crossing and then going back the other direction.

We passed by this tunnel in the side of the hill which led back to a small room, there was a sign with info.

Here is todays old machinery photo: a turbine and perhaps a millstone from an old mill site along the trail.

Old Machinery Picture of the Day

After 3.5 miles in the woods we came out on Strawberry Hill Road again.

After a mile and a half on the road we got to walk in the woods some more as the trail went through the Stoneymeade Conservation land.

Coming out of the woods we were back on Strawberry Hill road.  Then it was down College road, to Barretts Mill road. After a while we passed by the other end of Strawberry Hill Road.  A few more miles of road walking past farmland, beautiful old houses and impressive barns.

Along College road Larry spotted some fungus which we had fun stepping on.

Much of the road walking was along the route the Acton Minutemen took on their way to the Old North Bridge where we finished todays segment.

BCT - Old North Bridge to Walden Pond, Concord

Saturday November 9, 2013

Distance from the bridge to Thoreau's Walden Pond house site was about 4 miles then maybe another mile around the pond and back to the car.

Started hiking around 9:30, finished around noon.

Hikers Ted and Larry

Weather started sunny and got cloudy and colder, temp in the high 30's low 40's

Total BCT miles completed: 10.8 out of 250

We hiked from the upper left to the lower right

After a breakfast of homemade Apple Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal we drove to Concord where we dropped the downstream car at the Walden Pond and then headed to Old North Bridge where we parked the upstream car.   The trail then ran across the Old North Bridge.  On the other side we stopped and chatted with a redcoat british soldier re-enactor type about the accuracy of his rifle, "Can't hit anything past 35 yards." was his opinion.

the old north bridge near where we started

After a bit on old railroad bed 'Reformatory Branch Rail Trail" The BCT came out on the road and ran through Concord center.  We just avoided getting hit by a car while jaywalking and continued without stopping for coffee. The trail soon joined the Emerson - Thoreau Amble at the Heywood Meadow.

At one point the trail ran down the driveway of the Concord Ice Company.  This piece of equipment looks like it could have been set up to score pond ice into different sizes.  It now sits on the side of the trail.

Old Machinery Picture of the Day

"To speak literally, a hundred Irishmen, with Yankee overseers ,came from Cambridge every day to get out the ice. They divided it into cakes by methods too well known to require description, and these,being sledded to the shore, were rapidly hauled off on to an ice platform, and raised by grappling irons and block and tackle, worked by horses, on to a stack, as surely as so many barrels of flour, and there placed evenly side by side, and row upon row, as if they formed the solid base of an obelisk designed to pierce the clouds. They told me that in a good day they could get out a thousand tons,which was the yield of about one acre." 

Henry David Thoreau - Walden - Ch 16 - The pond in winter

The trail passes through the Hapgood-Wright town forest where we passed Fairyland Pond.

The Amble was very well marked. No unplanned trail detours for us today.

Here is the Thoreau House site where we connected up with the part of the BCT we hiked several weeks ago.  That flat slab on the ground behind the marker alleges to be where he built his chimney.

"When I came to build my chimney I studied masonry. My bricks, being second-hand ones, required to be cleaned with a trowel, so that I learned more than usual of the qualities of bricks and trowels. The mortar on them was fifty years old, and was said to be still growing harder; but this is one of those sayings which men love to repeat whether they are true or not. Such sayings themselves grow harder and adhere more firmly with age, and it would take many blows with a trowel to clean an old wiseacre of them."

Henry David Thoreau - Walden - Ch 13 - House Warming

 View of Walden pond from the house site.

BCT - Walden Pond, Concord to Sedge Meadow, Wayland

Bay Circuit Trail - Walden Pond, Concord to Sedge Meadow, Wayland
Saturday October 26, 2013

Distance according to the trail guide 6.8 miles, actual distance due to detours another mile or two.

Walkers in attendance 2 - Ted, Larry

Weather in low 40's starting our finished in the mid 50's, sunny

Started hiking 11:00 AM finished 3:30 PM

We hiked from the parking lot at Walden pond near the top right to
the parking area at Sedge Meadow near the bottom left

We dropped the downstream car at Sedge Meadow and parked the upstream car in the lot at Walden pond. We then hiked counter clockwise around the pond picking up the Bay Circuit trail near the Thoreau house site.

This trail section actually starts at the junction of Rt 2 and Rt 126. We skipped that bit. Will come back and do that bit sometime.

From the house site the trail runs around Walden pond, along the MBTA tracks, then out to and crosses Rt 126.  We were surprised that you are allowed to cross the tracks to access the trails in the Wright woods but those look interesting for day hikes in the future.  

Trail runs parallel to rt 126 through woods and along farm fields crossing over the same MBTA tracks on the Rt 126 bridge.

Crossing back over to the west side of Rt 126 the BCT makes use of the trails in the Mount Misery conservation area of Concord to get over to rt 117. These trails look great for shorts walks or biking. We saw a couple of guys on CX style bikes in full kit at one point. Plan to return here and explore more some day.  The BCT runs through some farm property where we saw a collection of older tractors, Here is picture of a Farmall Cub which I liked,

Old Machinery Picture of the Day

The BCT then comes out of the woods and crosses Rt 117 before going down a driveway and around the end of scenic Farrar pond.   Plan to come back with a canoe some time and explore the pond. Guide mentions a canoe launch on Rt 117.  Sat on the spillway of the dam and ate lunch.

Farrar Pond

After the pond the trail comes out near an old nike missile site where it switchbacks several times. These switch backs, about a 1/4 mile in length, are so close to each other that we could look through the woods and see where we had hiked just minutes ago.

Coming out on the road we lost the trail for the first time. There were no markers for the left turn onto Campbell. Perhaps it was behind one of the many lost cat posters stapled to the telephone poles or perhaps the trail maintainers just felt the street sign which we saw but ignored was plenty of information.

We probably walked 1/3 mile in in the wrong direction, finally checked the trail guide for the name of the road we were looking for, asked for directions and got turned around.

Back into the woods we hiked along the ridge between some kettle holes.  The ground dropped off quickly an impressive distance on each side of the trail.

We came back out of the woods.  The guide mentioned that the next part of the BCT which runs through Castle Hill conservation area is often underwater due to beaver activity. Ignoring this warning and the fact that the white blazes were missing we continued on.  

The map showed the trail running along the west side of a pond and described the trail as being an colonial era road. We found the road and saw the pond so we were sure the we were on the right trail. We did continue to notice the lack of white blazes. 

Bumping into private property signs, tree limbs on the trail, and a chain stretched across the trail we began to get the idea that the trail we on did not go through.

Retracing our steps we tried a trail to the east. At one point this trail crossed a natural gas pipeline before bumping into someones back yard.  Looking along the natural gas pipeline where it crossed the shallow end of the pond there was a line of rushes growing out of the water as though that part of the pond might not be as deep.

At this point we could here traffic on Rt 126 and we were pretty sure if we could just cross one of these yards we could be back on the trail.  I spotted a man working in his backyard and we yelled from the woods that we were lost and could use some directions. Turned out he was familiar with the trail and said the bog bridge mentioned in the trail description once crossed the pond where we had seen the rushes. He said it had been underwater for the past 15 years.  He knew quite a bit about the history of the BCT and the attempts to reroute it around this area.  He gave us directions for the rest of our hike, let us cross his property and offered to refill our water bottles. Soon we were again walking along Rt 126 and following the white blazes.

The rest of our hike was along route 126 and then a right onto Moore road to the Sedge Meadow parking area where we had left the car.

Once home I zoomed in on the trail map. It shows a proposed route for the Castle Hill trail which goes the other direction on the natural gas pipeline, avoids Rt 126, and gets you over to Sedge Meadow. Until that's open hikers should skip this part and use the route on the roads suggested in the guide.