May 10, 2021 - Rowley to Ipswich

 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 A to B

Despite having been at the parking area for Prospect Hill a week ago, getting to it from home took a bit of navigation as it’s not on Google Maps.  However we triangulated from all available resources and made it to the trailhead. 

I felt a sense of relief to be on a real woods trail for the first time in what seemed like months and to be able to let the dog off leash.  Once more, the BCT brought us to an obscure, lightly trafficked trail.  Although the area is posted for on-leash, there were no cars in the parking area, so I took the chance of letting Sulu off leash.

The weather was delightful, around 60 degrees, with bird songs and the young plants everywhere, though few flowers.

The trail was muddy, especially in low areas, but thank heavens for Gore-Tex!

We had some rewarding bird sightings today (possibly due to the overcast conditions?), including a rose-breasted grosbeak and an ovenbird. Sulu, “Mr. Maturity” at nearly six years old, was very patient with our many birding stops.

The trail was well blazed, perhaps as an apology for the many boring miles of road walking.
As we approached the easment in Country Club Estates (actually called Ipswich Club Homes Association), I snapped on the leash.  I turned him loose again when we got to Linebrook Woods. 

We exited the woods facing down a gentle slope toward Linebrook Road and Willowdale State Forest.  There was a picturesque farm silhouetted on the rise to our left and rather down-to-earth manure piles below.

Unfortunately halfway down the hill Sulu saw the cars speeding by and it activated his strong chase instinct.  I ran after him screaming and got him to turn well before he got to the road.  The leash went on at that point and it took a while for my heart rate to return to normal.  

We turned around after 2.7 miles (a little longer than trail directions said for some reason) at the parking lot for Willowdale State Forest, which will be the jumping off point for our next adventure.  By good fortune the parking lot featured Porta Potties and even a trash can!

Sulu stayed on leash until we were into the woods on the way back. We did see a painted turtle on our return walk, and Sulu had a model dog encounter (both off leash, a little sniffing, then going about their business).

Previous Post                                                                                                     Next Post