Bay Circuit Diary

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 the somewhat oversized arrow. Today I spotted the sign for the Sharon/Easton boundary within 500 feet of the entrance to Borderland State Park . It was our first sub freezing walk, and my iPhone really felt the cold. My battery life plummeted to 2% and I was unable to make many notes or take many pictures.  View from the carriage road leading from the mansion We walked around the Ames mansion ( as seen in the 2019 film Knives Out ) to the Rockland Street Trail. The Easton side of the park is much flatter than the Sharon side. There were a few people on the carriage road leading from the mansion, but the Rockland St...

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 surp...

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 K to the asterisk on the border of Borderland We’re back in Sharon two days in a row. I cut my walk a little short yesterday to give me time to bake a pie (it *is* Thanksgiving week, the pie was cherry). Today we parked at the same park as yesterday,  Deborah  Sampson Park , but are headed southbound. There is a parcourse trail like the one in Bedford which keeps us off the road, which I appreciate. Good job Scout kid, but did you have no access to graphics at all? Sharon has a big beautiful lake in town, Lake Massapaug , which is open for swimming in season and has a walking path as well.  It appears to have strict dog rule...

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 K to the crude arrow above the "y" and back again We parked at our destination: Deborah Sampson Park , a recreational park in Sharon. I believe the park is named after the Revolutionary War hero , who settled in Sharon after the war.  We normally would have been at agility class today but we have been banned from New Hampshire. I just say that because it sounds dramatic, but the Governor has required a COVID test within 72 hours of returning to Massachusetts from New Hampshire due to an increase in cases there.   It took me a little while to find this blaze It can be difficult to find the trail in wide open spaces li...

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 F to G Today’s walk started with a car wash.  The map showed no legal parking for miles, so I paid for a platinum car wash at Rojo Car Wash (triple foam! vision clear!) and got the attendant’s permission to park it in the vacuum area (free with wash!).  Triple foam! Pine Street was narrow and a bit stressful to walk on.  We crossed a mysterious body of water (turns out to flow from School Meadow Brook, another tributary of the Neponset River). It might be a former cranberry bog because as I walk I see some other vestiges of cranberry cultivation (Internet says yes, there are cranberry bogs in Sharon ). No sidewalks here, alas....

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 E to F, basically After almost three weeks since Sulu and I were last in Walpole, we were back on the BCT. We were fortunate to have a sunny day for our walk. We parked at a Town Forest lot and found the BCT pretty easily. Walpole has earned high marks from me for abundant accessible open space and a strong commitment to sidewalks. It's surprising how rare that is. My plan was to backtrack to the high school where we left off, return on the same trail to the car, and continue south.  The forest road provided a beautiful path, but shame about the leash law (it’s well signed, so I can’t pretend ignorance either). Furthermore, the ...