May 28, 2021 - Ipswich to Rowley: Willowdale State Forest and beyond
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.
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From D to the purple asterisk |
Our trip started at Route 1 in Ipswich, where there was a convenient roadside parking spot. We survived the very scary road crossing. The weather was unseasonably cold today (about 60).
The trip divided itself into four sections in my mind. First we traveled a woodland trail through mixed trees featuring wild lily of the valley on the forest floor. I enjoyed seeing my favorite, princess pine. Although the directions in the trail guide are intimidating, the trail was well blazed. Spring comes late to the wood, and the main sign was lots of tiny woodland wildflowers (shout-out to the app Picture This for plant IDs).
Starflower (Lysimachia borealis) |
Now that I know what to look for, we saw lots of eskers on our trip.
Pink Lady Slipper (Cypripedium acaule) |
Sulu found multiple muddy streams to wade in and drink from.
The only traffic we saw was a few mountain bikes.
After a while we came to a wider woods road (I think this is after we crossed into Georgetown-Rowley State Forest) flanked with ferns.
Then there was a section which was in the woods, but ran along the road for a while, so Sulu had to be on leash. This section featured a boardwalk and buttercups.
Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens) |
At some point after Hood Pond, we crossed into Boxford.
The fourth section the longest and the most challenging, featuring the most eskers. Fortunately the trail was not flooded, as the guide and map warn it can be.
We turned around at Boxford Road (not the Boxford Road in Ipswich by Hood Pond, but the second one in Rowley) , not a labeled point on the map.
Crossing Route 1 on the way back was even scarier as it was during drive time and we had to wait longer for an opening in the traffic.
Mapleleaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium) |
Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) |
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