June 22, 2020 - Newburyport

Welcome to Susan's Bay Circuit Diary! This blog follows my adventures with my dog Sulu hiking the Bay Circuit Trail.  To get new posts in your inbox, please subscribe (see the little "subscribe" oval above). The rest of the past posts can be found using the little menu on the left.  If you are curious how this all started, go here.

Section of Map 1

One of the fun things about the BCT is because it is so long and covers so much area, it experiences different microclimates along the way.  The heat wave took a day off today but the effects were variable: it was a marine influence, strongest closest to the coast.  It was unexpected, so I didn’t plan a morning departure.  Instead I headed for the very beginning of the BCT on Plum Island, a barrier island in Newburyport, where the temperatures were in the 60s.  I wanted to involve Walter, so I proposed a two mode trip: we would park at the Joppa Flats Audubon place, bikejor with Sulu to the beginning of the trail, then return to the car, park the bikes, and hike the short distance through fields to the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm. 

Joppa Flats was closed and roped off, but we were able to park across the street at the also closed Parker River National Wildlife Refuge visitor center and set out from there.  

Sulu was invigorated by the cool air and ran fast.  It was the opposite of a perfect beach day, but since we were bikejoring on the road, I was happy to have less traffic.  We hit one snag at the bridge when Sulu didn’t follow my cue to get up on the side and ended up on the car deck, where the holes in the grating were much bigger than his little feet.

We made a couple of stops to look for birds, but the tide was high and the low clouds made it hard to see colors.

It didn’t take long to reach the beach and the beginning of the trail.  I was a little surprised to see no acknowledgement - just a blaze.  I guess I was expecting something like Mile 0 on Route 1 in Key West.  The beach had some very welcome portable toilets, and then we turned around and headed back to the car.

Obligatory dog on rock photo.  He got wet at the stop above.

Mile zero of the BCT

We decided to take the car and go for ice cream before doing the walking portion - what the heck.  Then I suggested we park at the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm to not have wasted joyless walking on the long driveway to the visitor center.

The Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm is beautiful - we’d never been there before.  The buildings are closed to visitors but the grounds are open.  The house has so many different facades: clapboard, brick, painted stucco and bare stucco.  

Some of the faces of the farmhouse

I was so confident that these were buckeye blooms, but now I'm not so sure

Closeup of the beautiful chestnut-type flowers on the ground

The farm is in a combination of cultivation and conservation, with some fields fallow for the wildflowers and birds.  It was definitely peak for the wildflowers.  

This is the signature wild rose of Plum Island

Another Queen Anne's Lace impostor

Our top wildlife sighting was a Northern Harrier at the top of a tree - its call confused us because it sounded partly like an osprey and partly like a seagull, but the field marks were clear.

Unfortunately Walter was extremely attractive to the mosquitoes in the field.  Although the walk to the road was short, he had gone less than 100 yards before he retreated with blood spots on his arms and legs.  We then applied insect repellent, but Walter was too tasty to them to deter them.  He waited in the car while Sulu and I did the short walk through the fields.

To the airfield

My first active runway of the trail!

End point of the "hike"

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