March 17 - Newbury

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 the circled P to the purple asterisk

Gotta keep the riff raff out, because they're drawn to historic
New England properties like flies to honey
(this is the driveway to the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm).

Walter and I were last here back in June, when on an unseasonably cool day we took Sulu bikejoring to Plum Island. We ended our trip at the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm, with Walter being turned into a raisin by relentless mosquitoes. This time I parked at the historic house, which is mostly shut down but still seems to be hosting school groups. Coming out the front entrance onto Route 1, I was immediately struck by the neighborhood of old and historic houses. 

Widows' walks and cupolas on 1A (AKA High Road, a State Scenic Byway)

Planning for the trip, I was apprehensive about walking on Route 1A, which I know as the route from Logan Airport under the harbor, but it was a country road with a double yellow line up here in Newbury. It also featured a sidewalk, which is a cherished amenity. 

Route 1A in Newbury

After a little less than a mile on 1A we turned onto Heath Street. I’ve been enjoying buying eggs and honey from places I pass on my walks, ans it looks like I’ll have a lot of choices for BCT eggs on this trip. 

Tendercrop Farm is an 800-lb gorilla in the farm stand arena.
Egg pricing: $1.99 for the first dozen and increasing with each successive dozen.

True spring weather led me to wear two fleeces today instead of a coat and I was quite comfortable. The trail was also well marked today. 

The inscription on the wooden cross says "Jed/May 9, 2011"
and the stone says "Never Alone"

On my way to the Old Town Hill conservation area I passed a sad roadside memorial to Jed who died on May 9, 2011. The specifics made me curious and I looked him up online. Sadly, he was a 22 year old man who lost his life in a single vehicle accident at that spot, close to the place his family had lived for six generations. 

Trail directions promised a dome house (the link goes to the 2015 real estate listing for the property) on Boston Road and my eyes are peeled. Yes! I spotted it! It’s a pretty suburban looking dome home with a rectangular extension. What I really noticed is that they have all the toys: motorboat, kayak, paddle board, mini bulldozer and more. 

I heard lots of birds calling today. I’m still looking for signs of spring in the woods. The trails are little muddy under the leaves, so I guess that’s one. 

This end of Old Town Hill Reservation is an unmanicured Trustees of Reservations property that is dog friendly and more so off-season. Dogs are allowed off leash (under voice control) from August 16 until April 1. I believe this part of the reservation is a newer gift, so the trail we took was the only trail through. 

After less than an hour on the trail, one of the fleeces was tied around my waist. I appreciated the really solid board bridge over the muddy brook that’s part of a formation called “The Mire"(#49 on this map of historic Newbury).

Sulu crosses The Mire without becoming enmired

Coming around the corner onto Hay Street I was struck by the breathtaking vista of the expanse of the salt marsh. Maybe it’s growing up on the shore of Connecticut, or being involved in the environmental effort in my formative years, but I do love a salt marsh. The marsh is dormant now and there are acres of salt hay with the winding streams clearly visible. 

Note the St. Patrick's Day kerchief

I missed the turn onto Newman Road because there’s really no place to put a sign up on the walker’s side of the road. On my way back I noticed that there were signs in two places across the street, so I must have missed them because I was distracted by the scenery. 

This is the breathtaking vista, although of course the poodle is admirable too

Due to time constraints, we turned around at the second bridge over the marsh, shortly before the main parking area for the Old Town Hill reservation. I look forward to coming back here soon, hopefully with Walter, and to enjoy more off leash time with Sulu in the other half of the reservation. 

On the way back to the car I noted that there is much less trash on the road here than there was in Duxbury. When road walking in Duxbury there would be a can, a bottle, a cup, or a wrapper every 10 feet or so, or so it seemed. 

Even though I’m time constrained, I took the trail back instead of road walking because Sulu enjoys being off leash so much (and there was not much advantage to be gained). The trail was muckier on the way back, so guess the underlying ground is thawing, a definite sign of spring. Unlike much of my time on the southern arm of the trail there’s virtually no road noise today, which was pleasant. Another sign of spring: along with the songbirds, the turkey vultures are returning.

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