September 30, 2020 - Medfield: Noon Hill to practically-but-not-quite Walpole

 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.

Today’s walk picked up at the parking lot where I first stopped at Noon Hill Reservation.  

Crossing the Stop River again on Noon Hill Road

I antiicpated 100% road walking, not my favorite.  I had even considered bringing the bike and doing it by bikejoring, but Sulu has a recent injury.  Last week he tore his pinky toenail and had to have it removed under sedation.  He was on leash walks only for three days while the bandage was on (growing progressively more obnoxious each day) and he’s restricted from agility for two weeks.  He seems to be getting around just fine but I have concerns about the indoor agility turf possibly poking him, and about the rough-surfaced contact zones on the equipment.  

Loose leash walking still a work in progress,
but you can see he's getting around just fine

We had a wind and rain storm last night and it put a lot of leaves on the ground.  Over the past couple of weeks the foliage has been increasingly colorful.

Chorus is virtual too in the pandemic, and I’ve chosen an option where we learn about choral masterworks.  The soundtrack on today’s walk is this week’s assignment: Durufle’s Requiem, a really beautiful piece inspired by Gregorian chants.  

Our route brought us along South Street in Medfield for half a mile, featuring sidewalks where they were really needed.  Then it was curving suburban roads, past conservation land where I was wistful for an alternative to the roads.

I’m starting to see a lot of Halloween decorations.  Should I blame this on Covid and people’s fervent wish to celebrate something, or do people just get excited about Halloween?

We were only on Route 27 for .15 of a mile, but it was a nasty .15, with narrow shoulders and big trucks in both directions.  But then…the surprise of the day, a detour into the woods and some off-leash time for Sulu. Somehow the road distance looked like more than it was on the map. The trail started off in a power right of way and then veered into woods to parallel it.  I decided to turn around on the edge of a school property. According to the trail directions, there’s parking on the weekends, but maybe I can sneak in there during the week (pandemic!).

Where we turned around

How about that foliage?

This trip concluded Map 9 (or at least the directions for Map 9), and next time we will leave Medfield for Walpole.