December 2, 2020 - Sharon: Borderland State Park

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.

From C to almost B

I arrived at Borderland State Park after a late start to find that they close the gates at 4 o’clock - that’s about half an hour before sunset. That didn't give me much time but I was determined to do my best. 

A friendly welcome

The Visitors Center is closed of course, and there are no facilities because of Covid, but they are still collecting parking fees. I was able to make use of Walter’s Senior Pass for the state parks.  Massachusetts residents 62 or older, this pass is only $10 and is good for life. And, there is no name on it, so we just leave it in the glove compartment for when it’s needed.

This park is surprisingly busy for a Wednesday. Lots of masks: hooray! I found the trail easily from the parking lot and headed towards the lake where there’s a charming stone lodge.

Maybe for warming up after ice skating?

I had downloaded and printed the map from the Borderland website but unfortunately left it in the car so I was not completely confident if I was going in the right direction. I was following the trail but whether heading north or south I wasn't not really sure. The compass is no help because the trail winds around. I will be taking both routes at some point but I was just really hoping to go North. Fortunately, I was heading in the desired direction after all.

There is a complex web of trails here and I am appreciative that the BCT is well blazed. Just to give you an idea, these were the trails I traversed: the Pond Walk to the West Side Trail, to the French Trail, to the Northwest Trail, to the Ridge Trail, to the Morse Loop Trail.

There are lot of leaves down which, in open areas, can make it challenging to pick out the trail. Sulu’s nose led the way on many occasions. I wonder what it is that he’s scenting. As we get further from the visitor’s center the trails are less traveled, so the last hiker’s scent must be quite old.

Most of the trees here are deciduous so there’s very little green except for a few baby pine trees, wintergreen and mosses. The trails are wide but rocky and rooty in places.

New plant to me.  Anything green is more noticeable now.

Once we were deep into the park and hadn’t seen anyone for a while, I let Sulu off lead, which of course he really enjoyed.

My impression of Borderland was formed from its being the Poodle Club of Massachusetts’ annual show site for many years.  We would set up the rings against the backdrop of the grand house. 

Back in the day

I pictured the trails would be more like carriage roads, but this side of the park is more like the Middlesex Fells, with ups and downs and lots of rocks. 

There’s also lots of ponds and lots of running water.

I admit I had some anxiety about making time and having my car locked in.  I had a backup plan where if I got to the turnaround point and there wasn’t enough time, I could call an Uber (suburban hiking!) and have it take me there by road.

We were surprised by a pileated woodpecker flying close to the trail and landing on a tree.  They are really impressive birds.  

After about an hour and a half of hiking, we reached the turnaround point. No Uber needed!

On our way back to the car, there was a little unscheduled sun shower, with micro hail stones. 

Evidence!

For most of the hike there was no road noise, a rarity in the populated areas I hike in. But alas, there was landscaping noise, whether it was a chainsaw or a leaf blower, I could not discern.

We made it back to the car with half an hour to spare, although I was a bit footsore from anxious trudging on the rocky trails.

The mansion on this day

Admiring the view

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