September 10th 2011: A Day for Hiking

I decided to get up bright and early today for a day of hiking. My first destination was Mount Pisgah in Northborough. The entrance can be found along Smith Road before it becomes Ball Hill Road. The route I took is highlighted below in pink.

From the parking area, I took the Metzer Trail all the way to the Northern View area, which has a great view of the surrounding area as expected.

Grasshopper

I walked back and carried onto the Tyler Trail to the South Peak, with another great view.

 

From here, my intention was to head back on the Squirrel Trail, but I ended up going the long way, taking the Berlin Road Trail by mistake. By the time I realized this, I was already too far along, and I decided to continue on, and finally turned left onto the Squirrel Trail to get back to my car.
My next destination was the Lester Ross Flood Control Project in Berlin. This dam is located on Linden Street near its intersection with Lyman Street. The parking area is right next to the railway line. The route I took here is highlighted in purple below.

I was unable to find the trail across the stream for a bit, and ended up walking along the railway line for a bit. The path was actually a little hidden between concrete barriers, and the stream was a little high in water level as well, while the path on the other side of the stream was also a little overgrown, but I eventually managed to find it

The Water Hole from the road

The Railway line

I had to cross this stream

After crossing the stream

Climbing up the dam

Views from the top of the dam

Reservoir behind the dam

The railway line from atop the dam

I decided no to follow the trails after being on top of the dam because I did not think there would be any more good views, and went to my next destination in the town of Bolton. After visiting the town beach on Little Pond along Hudson Road between Mill Road and Main Street,

I decided to hike up Powderhouse Hill, which is behind the town hall at 663 Main Street. It was a pretty rough hike, and I could hardly find the trail, but I just concentrated on heading up the hill to get to my destination. The rough route I took is highlighted below.

Powderhouse Hill

The Powderhouse

Overall, I did not think Powderhouse Hill was worth the effort, and there weren't any nice views from the top. My next trail was the Vaughn Hills Conservation Area. The entrance can be found on Green Road close to its intersection with Bare Hill Road. There was hardly any parking space along that road, however, and I had to park in the grass opposite the entrance. Anyway, the route I took is highlighted below in pink.

The trails were not very well marked and there were a few fallen trees from Irene, and I got lost once near the swamp area. Soon after this, I realized that there were many trails that were not marked on the map itself when I found myself emerging onto a residential area near Vaughn Hill Road. After I had gotten bac my bearings, I decided to go along Vaughn Hill Road to Woodside Drive where I was able to find another entrance into the trails. From here, I managed to find my way to the top of Vaughn Hill, but there was nothing to see here but trees all around. Apparently the views only come during winter, according to a man walking his dog who happened to pass by at that moment. With that, I went back down the hill to the swamp area to get back to my car.

While walking along the side of the swamp,

with every step I took, a few frogs would croak and jump into the marshy water. After a while of non-movement on my part, some would cautiously poke their eyes out of the water. Luckily, I was able to capture a whole frog sitting on a log that wasn't too afraid of my presence.

With that, I decided to head to Hudson for lunch at a Japanese fusion place called Feng Sushi and Grill. I had the Dragon Bomb Roll

and Shrimp Mango Roll (Lobster salad, romaine lettuce, cucumber, and tarragon wrapped in soybean paper topped with shrimp, mango and caviar served with special sauce) which were both pretty good. I think the rolls were pretty original as well, so I recommend this restaurant if you happen to be in the area.

I had a dinner appointment after this, so I decided to call it a day and head home after lunch. Today had been a pretty fruitful day for hiking, and tomorrow there will be more to come.