DuVal trail, South Kingstown

Friday, November 20th

My sister celebrated one year of sobriety and asked if I would attend a 5:00 party in her honor. I get out of work at 2:30 so I skipped Karate and picked up some party goods. She lives just over the line in Pawcatuck, CT. Along the way there are a couple South Kingstown Land Trust properties just off of Route 1. I had planned possible visits of these properties back before my Friday schedule was juggled on me.

Somewhere jammed in the back seat of my car I had a trail map for the DuVal Trail, which crosses SKLT and DEM property. 2.4 miles is manageable enough. Neither too long or short for my purpose. I didn't spend much time looking at the map prior to setting off.

There is parking in front of a historic cemetery. I assumed the path to the left was the start of the trail. I wound through the cemetery and passed out the back. Sometimes when hiking my thoughts turn to the macabre. What if I happen upon a crime in progress? At that moment, a giant dog with a kerchief around it's neck appeared running right at me. Quickly behind it was a woman jogging. She called the dog off, who clearly had no bad intent. My heart was beating fast. I asked if this was the DuVal trail. She didn't know but said it was the blue blazed trail that heads towards Gravelly Hill Road. Well, what do you know. Blue Blazes. I thought for a moment. She came from the left. I wonder where that trail lead. As she ran off, I took her picture. I wonder why she isn't in it.

The weather was perfect for a hike, and while the sun was low in the sky, I didn't pay it much mind. The trail was more than clear. I dallied. Made a phone call that could have waited. The path split. Clearly I was to take the left, but I wanted to see where the right lead to. I walked that for a bit when I decided to double back. Taking the left fork, I found that it went around a stand of mountain laurel and followed the exact same path. I continued to walk without incident.

The path crosses Gravelly Hill Road at the 0.7 mile mark, then continues for 1.7 miles to Red House Road. It was about that moment that I realized that I had to double back. This isn't a 2.4 mile trail. It's a 4.8 mile hike. I wasn't carrying a flashlight. My hiking stuff was long been removed from my car. I wasn't concerned, though. The sky was bright and clear, the trail well marked, and the weather was wonderful. Hey, and I had a cell phone with Google Maps on it.

Not long past Gravelly Road is a scenic overlook where you can see the ocean. I wish I took a picture here. The path wound around and from time to time I would see a gorgeous house off in the distance. The sun grew lower in the sky.

There were several places where the trail was diverted. The land trust made it very clear what was expected of you. I did my best to follow their directions. I came across a forest road, wide and flat enough to drive a car. The path follows it briefly.

Occasionally I would pass through a maintain laurel grove. I saw where a horse has passed through. I came to a split where the way to go wasn't clear. I took the right path. I noticed the path had six inch tall plants indicating this was a little used trail. Despite this, I continued.

Eventually I did turn back and take the other path. I thought about the seedlings on the path and thought the information may be useful. The sun was below the trees, but I wasn't going to turn around. Red House Road might be just ahead.

More than several minutes later, I finally come upon the end. It was about a quarter past 4. What time did I start? A quarter past 3? I neglected to check. If it took me an hour to get here, I should make it back in 45 minutes. No exploring side paths, no dalling. I walk quickly towards the setting sun.

The sun has dropped below the horizon but the sky was still bright. 4:30 I realize, man I'm tired and hungry. The sky grows slowly darker. I notice that the sliver of a moon was very sharp. It took a moment for me to realize what that meant. Not uncomfortable now, but the clear sky meant it would grow colder. The almost new moon meant there would be little moonlight.

I increased my pace. I passed by familiar landmarks. Wrong turn, horse poop, mountain laurel grove, forest road, dead raising from the grave to feast on the living. No, wait. That's just a weird stump. Funny how I hadn't noticed it before.

Darker still. I occasionally break out into a light jog. I kick a root or rock and slow my pace again. The blue blazes were all but invisible now, but the leaves, trampled flat by foot traffic, almost glowed. The clearness of the path renewed my confidence. But soon I'd enter a section where the canopy is thicker and the path disappeared. I remember how my son would use his tracfone as a lantern. No chance of that for me. I have a Blackberry. The batteries suck down faster than warm ice cream on a hot day. Oh, the batteries. They're low.

I pick a direction that proves correct. Shortly I realize I haven't even reached Gravelly Hill Road yet. The sky is darker and I noticed that when I take a picture the flash is needed. I start thinking about the possibility of staying the night. I have a pocket knife. My clothes are somewhat warm. I could improvise a shelter. Nothing to start a fire with, however. I did see several rich people's houses. Would I find one and knock on the door? I doubt it.

I jog, hit a rock, go back to walking fast, and concentrate on keeping sight of the trail. I think back to the lady I came across. I entered the path at a 90 degree angle. Would I be able to find the turn in the dark? I come across the overlook where you can see the ocean. I take a picture, not that it mattered much.

Reaching Gravelly Hill Road was a relief. There is the occasional car, and I saw a man walking his dog. I'm not as far from civilization as it sometimes seems. I follow the road for a couple hundred feet and turn back into the forest.

It's almost 5 now and darker still. I enter another dark spot and lose the trail. I pause, looking around. Again, I choose a direction without knowing why. Again, I chose the right path. I believe that many people who die in the wilderness must at some point think to themselves "I'm such a stupid moron." I come to a point where the trail continues, but I find the turn I am certain goes back to the graveyard. I guess where on the map I must be. There is something labeled ahead called the Polly Matzinger Memorial. Maybe this is for the Playboy bunny/fearless scientist. I'm guessing no because memorials aren't usually made for the living. I wonder if I can find it. I count my paces and head off past my turn. I think to myself "I'm such a stupid moron".

52 steps later, I decide I cannot find it, and turn around. 52 steps later I find my turn. Maybe I've learned something. I expect to arrive at the back of the cemetery. I don't. Instead I am on Old Post Road. I turn left and quickly find my car. It's ten past 5 and completely dark. I guzzle a strange flavored SoBe drink and open a bag of chips. I congratulate my sister at 5:30.

Cub World, Pascoag

Saturday, November 7th

It's been a while. Back in the spring my schedule changed so that I got out of work at 2:30 and had until 5:30 to walk a natural place. Well, my Karate was rescheduled to 6:30 and my son's was moved to 5:30, which meant I had to drive home to Cranston, then back to North Kingstown with my son. This left little or no time for hiking.

This past weekend was our pack's annual sleepover. Cub World, a theme style overnight camp in Burriville, has become a favorite. This year we slept at Pease High Seas, with two pirate ship style cabins. A heated lighthouse provided a place for breakfast. Only eight scouts attended. This year we left for camp the same day as Scouting for Food bag pickup, which meant we got a late start. I was the first to arrive around 2:00 pm.

Part of my agenda is a quick hike. Running short of daylight, five scouts and a sister followed me around the campground. I took no pictures. We spoke of the buddy system, the ten essentials, and the six points of Leave No Trace. Yea, I know, there are seven points, but for cub scouts there are only six.

If the walk was more than a half mile, I'd be surprised. I haven't found a good marked trail that crosses Cub World. If somebody knows of one, I'd like to do a couple miles. Assuming, of course, that I manage to book the site before daylight savings time ends.

North South Trail, Ninigret to Kenyon Hill Road

Saturday, September 5th

This hike was supposed to be the previous Saturday, but weather got in the way. In the meantime I developed a chest cold that I hoped would clear up in time. It did not. I hiked anyhow.

We drove down before 7 in the morning and put my wife's van on Kenyon Hill Road, about 17 miles from our starting point. Piling into the other van, Scoutmaster Kelley, my son Peter, two other scouts, and I drove down to Ninigret. We parked on East Beach Road. It was about 8:30 before we started walking. The trail markings were exceptionally clear.

We followed East Beach, crossed route 1, then entered Burlingame State Park. The bugs were ferocious. As usual, I resisted putting repellent on. While in Burlingame we saw a strange ant. Very large (about an inch), and orange and black. I'd never seen anything like it. I let it crawl on my hands to get a better look, and maybe a picture, but it moved too fast and quickly dropped off the other side. Eventually I got it to cross the back of my map and got a shot of it. The picture wasn't much, but the following Tuesday at work I googled it to find out more.

What I learned was that what I let crawl on my hand was a Velvet Ant, which is actually a female wasp. It also goes by the name Cow Killer Ant because the sting is so painful, it is said to kill a cow. And I let it crawl on my hand. It won't actually kill you, but if it's a painful as I'm told, it would have ended the hike real fast. I stole this picture because it matches the bug we saw.

We continued through Burlingame. We spotted a couple deer. Somewhere near the half way point, we stopped for lunch. I ate too much, but the mosquitoes seemed to eat more. After Burlingame we were walking on roads for what seemed forever. A jeep stopped and asked us directions to the campground. I was tempted to say continue driving, then turn right into the woods, but that wouldn't have been very helpful. I did the best I could. Later a man stopped to ask us if we were hiking the North South Trail. I said yes, up to Arcadia. He eagerly told us how great the trail was. The man who stopped behind him was less enthusiastic.

After walking through Wood River Junction, we finally reentered the woods near the Carolina Management Area. Here there are corn fields, high as an elephant's eye. This is where the trail markings finally let us down. We continued following a farm road when I noticed three things: the grass on the trail was very tall, we hadn't seen a trail marker in a while, and the sun was now in our face. We were off the trail. We came to a point where we could see landmarks we passed earlier that clearly indicated our location, so we turned around. There is a jog in the trail that is perfectly obscured. This is described in the book, but I don't hike with a book in my hand. They could have prefaced the paragraph describing the turn with CAREFUL: or some other words of warning. Two woman on horseback happened to be coming out of the wood on the trail we needed to follow.

Back in the woods, we continued through Carolina. Evidence of horse traffic was in great quantity, if you catch my meaning. We watched our step. We banged a left on Pine Hill Road and passed a hunter check station. We crossed the road for the final mile and a half of the hike. The trail turned into a forest road, then a dirt road, then a paved one. We walked by some very interesting houses. Soon after that, we came upon my van. I have never been so happy to see it. It was about 4. We hiked for about seven and a half hours, including lunch.

I expect to do another leg of the trail, maybe in the 12 to 14 mile range, but I have no plan to do it soon. With the additional off trail walking, I estimate we hiked around 18 miles, much further than I ever have before. I've done more strenuous hikes that took longer (Katahdin back in '07 took twelve hours), but this was different. My hips hurt, my feet hurt, my shins hurt, my thighs. A couple advil later and some extra rest, and I am fine, but boy oh boy was I sore on Sunday. And I've been dreaming about expensive hiking boots.

Thewlis Woods, South Kingstown

Friday, August 21

Off of Route 1 in South Kingstown is Thewlis Woods, a South Kingstown Land Trust property. I drove down after work on Friday.

The trail is called The DAR Friendship trail or DAR Freedom trail, not sure which. The trail map available online says Freedom, but the sign says friendship. DAR refers to the Daughters of the American Revolution. The trail was created and maintained by Troop 1 Kingston. There is a .1 mile walk to a .7 mile loop. Not much of a trail, but I had other things I wanted to do before karate, so I didn't mind a short stroll.

I found the trail head fine. There wasn't much room to park. I walked the 500 or so feet to the main loop. When faced with a loop without a reason to go in a particular direction, I always go counter-clockwise. I don't know why. I turned right.

Straight away I was taken uncomfortably close to private houses. The blue blazes were few and somewhat indistinct. Having been created by Scouts as part of an Eagle project, the blazes were very nonstandard. They appeared to have been made using spray paint without any template. Also, they were a bit lower than you normally find. but the trail itself was clear and I trudged on fearlessly.

At some point I realized I hadn't seen a blaze in a while. There are a lot of paths that seem to have been made for cutting timber and I may have stepped onto one. The main path became occasionally overgrown. I checked my Blackberry for my location and headed the way I thought I should have. I got back onto the trail, this time going clockwise. That's when I discovered that the blazes were far more numerous and distinct in that direction. I passed by the access path back to my car, but continued on to see where I got off the trail. I found it in short order. Instead if turning back, I decided to continue and do the loop again, clockwise.

I walked back past many nice South Kingstown homes, noticing more and more "service" paths, for lack of a better term. Once again, despite my best effort, I was off the trail. I came to a familiar intersection, turned around, and hunted for the access path yet again. In doing so I walked by a rock on the trail with scat on it I had passed maybe three times. I again found the access path and headed back to my car. I had spent 50 minutes in the woods.

There was a pure stand of mature white pine, with the tell-tale denuded understory. Little other than greenbrier will grow. But much of the rest was oak, beech, and maple, will some pine. Greenbrier, fern, and a holly tree made up the understory. There was also a fair amount of poison ivy on the trail.

It's a nice walk but clearly needs a lot of maintenance. When checking my facts for this entry, I noticed these red letters:

NOTE: Thewlis Trail is temporarily unavailable for public access due to trail maintenance work underway at this site.

Was that new or had I simply missed it before? Astounding. I'll see about visiting again once it's done.

Mount Monadnock, Jaffrey, NH

Sunday, August 9, 2009

I took a long weekend and brought the family camping. In addition to my wife and 7, 9, and 13 year old boys, I brought my 15 year old niece. My boys adore her. Since a trip with her grandparents to Utah, she had been itching for a real nature hike.

We camped, for maybe the forth time, at Greenfield State Park, in Greenfield, NH. Despite the large number of campsites, each one is clean, spacious, and distant from each other. It's my favorite campground, anywhere.

I chose to climb Sunday so that we can participate in camp lead nature activities on Saturday. Phil gave a fairly short lecture on Black Bears that I think the kids enjoyed. There also was a nature hike and ponding event, but we didn't attend them. After 8 pm we did a night hike, which was fun. I got some ideas for our cub scout pack sleepover in October.

I had climbed on Monadnock three times prior and been to the summit twice, and each time using the White Cross trail from Monadnock State Park. I toyed with the idea of doing a different trail, but I was overruled by the wife. Play it safe, we have a new hiker with us.

Monadnock State Park is about 25 minutes away from Greenfield and we got a late start. Parking at Monadnock cost us $18, which was a bit of a surprise. They charge per person and 15 years old is an adult, apparently. We used the bathrooms at the trail head and started up.

The climb was mostly uneventful and we were going rather slow. It was overcast but the rain wasn't predicted until much later. My 7 year old, despite having done this hike two years ago, was certain he couldn't make it. I spent some time trying to boost his morale.

There is no water on this trail, which is too bad. The water on Moosilauke and Little Haystack make those hikes memorable. There was mud, and we will likely remember it, but it's not the same. I wonder if other trails do.

At some point above the treeline we entered the clouds. Goodbye scenic views. Here we went VERY slow. I wore my work sneakers again. Everyone got to the top and we could barely see past our outstretched hands. It was cold and the wind was whipping. Some of the other climbers were not prepared for that, but having been on top of Washington and Katahdin, I've seen wind 30 mph faster in weather 20 degrees colder. We didn't linger long.

The summit is bald, not because it's above the tree line, but because fires lit by farmers in 1800 to clear land for pasture got out of control and burned the mountain. Maybe someday the forest will retake the summit. Monadnock is 3165 feet above sea level, but chiseled into the top is the number 3166. Let's dismiss survey error or erosion. Back in 1959 the size of the inch was shortened a tiny bit to make metric conversion easier. I'll refer the units nerds to this article for a better explanation than I can muster.

The hike down was also fairly uneventful. We continued to move slowly. It would sprinkle from time to time, but nothing too concerning. My 9 year old took the lead and complained constantly how slow we were going. He was completely done with the mountain and wanted out.

Back at the trail head I noticed that I had drank very little from my hydration pack. My youngest drank his dry and as such had to stop for frequent pee breaks. We used the bathrooms again and headed back to camp for dinner.

I had to remind the boys to be smart about what path they chose and where they put their feet, but all in all I'd have to say they climbed like champs. I don't know if I'd plan a harder trail for my younger two (or my niece) but this hike was well within their abilities. Maybe we'll do it again next year and choose another trail. There are rumors of caves and abandoned structures. I'll have to read the book to find out more.