I started my day today by heading to the
Hale Reservation in the Dover/Westwood area, although the parts I visited were mostly in Dover. Instead of exploring all the trails, I decided to check out all the peaks and large pond areas instead. I started with Powisett Rock, the path being accessed from Powisett Street close to Walpole Street. Be careful not to head into the
Noanet Woodlands area by mistake like I did today, but they can be distinguished by the green "Trustees" signs at the trailheads. The route I took to get to the top of Powisett Rock is shown below in pink.
From my parking spot, I headed up the trail right to the top of a pile of rocks, from which there is a great view of the surroundings.
I then climbed down the other side to head back to Powisett Street, and took the toad all the way back to my car.
My next destination was Nimrod's Rock, so I drove my car to the trailhead and started my trek, as shown below in pink.
Heading down the trail from Powisett Road on the opposite side from Powisett Rock, I found the gas line, and the trail leading to Nimrod's Rock, atop which there is a nice view as well.
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| View from atop Nimrod's Rock |
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| Gas Line |
From the top, I went down the other way to the Oak Hill Trail, and made my way back to the gas line, from which I followed the gas line back to the start of the trail and back to my car.
The next place I wanted to visit was the Powisett Pond. I had to park at the Camp Grossman entrance as it was gated for the season, and the path I took is shown below in pink. I decided to visit the larger Noanet Pond as well, as the other parking areas closer by would be inaccessible as well, and there were short paths leading to the pond anyway.
Heading up the road from my car, I happened to spot a Downy Woodpecker at work on a tree branch, so I took a few moments to capture a few good pictures of it, shown below.
I then proceeded down to path to Powisett Pond and Grossman Beach.
From here, I headed onwards toward Powisett Beach on the other side of the pond, then took the paved park the other way to get close to Noanet Pond, upon which I hopped onto the red Page and Sadie Trail to commence my walk around the pond. Various pictures of the pond from various vantage points along the trail, including at the peninsula where the power lines cross over (accessible by a side trail), the fishing dock, and at the North Beach.
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| On the peninsula |
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| North Beach |
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| The membership beach from the peninsula |
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| The power lines |
When the trail finally hit the parking lot at the Family Membership area, I decided to head out to Powisett Street instead and use it to get back to my car.
My final place of visit was Cat Rock in the Westwood side of the reservation. I reached this place by driving up Carby Road, past the main entrance, and parking somewhat illegally at the Cat Rock Cabin area before heading out to the road to find the trailhead. The path I took is shown below in pink.
Unfortunately, the views from the top of Cat Rock are obscured by trees, so this was the only disappointment at the Reservation.
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| Cat Rock |
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| Partial views from atop Cat Rock |
Heading down an unmarked path back to my car, I decided to head to Dedham for brunch at
Aquitaine, situated in a shopping mall called
Legacy Place.
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| Legacy Place |
At Aquitaine, they were only serving brunch food today, so I decided to have the tuna Nicoise Salad and the Potato Latkes, both of which were very good. Unfortunately, I do not know why, but it took really long for them to come up with my Potato Latkes dish, and I forgot to bring my book with me. Thankfully, the Patriots game was on today, so I watched us go down 21-0 to the Buffalo Bills, just before they bounced back to win 49-21 at the end.
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| Tuna Nicoise Salad |
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| Potato Latkes |
After lunch, continuing where I left off yesterday in Dedham, I went to visit several interesting places in town, including an indoor archery place,
ArcheryUSA, the
Museum of Bad Art which was really small at the basement of the
Dedham Community Theatre and right outside the restrooms (meaning, don't go!!!), the
Noble and Greenough School, a boarding school which has the historical Nickerson Castle on campus, and Mcgolf, a mini-golf place which still had live koi swimming in the pond in the middle of winter. I hope the fish don't suffocate from a lack of oxygen.
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| The Museum of Bad Art |
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| Pratt Middle School |
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Nickerson Castle on
Noble and Greenough School Campus |
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| Koi in the pond |
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| Minigolf area |
I decided to call it a day here, choosing to forgo hiking at
Wilson Mountain till tomorrow, but as I travelled toward home, I passed by the
St. Sebastian's School in Needham, so I stopped to take a few pictures of the nice campus.
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| St. Sebastian Statue |
I wasn't too hungry tonight, so I headed home instead, pleased with my findings today.
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