I had no meetup event today, so I decided to start my sightseeing today in the Western 5th Circle, namely the towns of Hardwick and Petersham.
The first place I went to was the town common area on Petersham Road and Barre Road in Hardwick, which had a few interesting monuments and buildings, most of which I cannot even find the addresses for.
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| Old Town Hall, Common Street |
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War Memorial,
Hardwick Town Green |
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First Universalist Church,
9 Ruggle Hills Road |
From here, I drove around a little before heading to the town center in Gilbertville.
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Hardwick Elementary School,
531 Lower Road |
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St. Aloysius Church,
58 Church Street |
There were occasional great views of the surroundings as I drove, shown below.
At the intersection of North Street Main Street in Gilbertville, I came upon an interesting old building that seemed to be falling apart, being the old mill for the now-defunct company Hardwick Knitted Fabrics. There is also a war memorial, and a scenic canoe launch area into the
Ware River. Pictures follow.
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Old Mill,
94 Main Street |
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War Memorial,
Main Street and North Street |
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Ware River Canoe Launch Area,
Main Street and North Street |
The town center in Gilbertville had a few nice buildings, especially the
Trinitarian Congregational Church.
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| Trinitarian Congregational Church |
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Hardwick Town Hall,
307 Main Street |
With that, I was finished with the town of Hardwick. My colleague had mentioned the
Hardwick Vineyard and Winery in Ware, so I decided to head there. I arrived there just as it opened, so I decided to dally around outside a little, taking pictures of the surroundings, and a donkey tethered to a tree in the children's play area.
With that I headed in. Not seeing anyone around, I was uneasy for a bit, but decided to head upstairs after a while. Here, wine tastings of the 6 wines made here can be done for $5, with a free wine glass to boot. I must say that I liked the Quabbin Native Rose Wine after all, and bought a bottle for $12.
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| My new wine glass |
I was then off to my next town, Petersham. The first place I went to was the
Swift River Reservation area. There were three different tracts I visited here, the first being the Davis Tract, the trailhead being found along Glen Valley Road close to Barre Road. The trail I took here is highlighted below in pink.
From the parking area, I walked to checkpoint 98, where I could turn right, although I could not see the checkpoint itself. From here, it was simply following the trail all the way past the supposed viewpoint, which only had partial views from between the trees, to checkpoint 97, then all the way back to checkpoint 98 in a loop back to my car.
The next area I went to was the Slab City Tract, the trailhead being found near the junction of Pat Conner Road and Barre Road, opposite the
Rutland Brook Wildlife Sanctuary which I was to visit soon after. Here, there are good views of Swift River from the bridge and of Conner's Pond.
However, I could not same the same for the hike here. Before I could go far, I was stopped by a large water body that was not at all indicated on the map, and no matter how I tried, I could not find a way around it. The short route I took is shown below in pink.
The other end of the Slab City Tract is supposed to extend into South Street, but when I reached the area, there were a few routes that simply went nowhere, although it showed me that the area was still covered in snow from the last snowfall yesterday. There was a nice pond in this area though, with hooded mergansers swimming in it.
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| Hooded mergansers in the distance |
The Nichewaug Tract was next, found along Nichewaug Road. the path I took is shown below in pink.
From the parking area, I took the right trail to checkpoint 87, where I took the left path and came upon a beautiful sight of the surroundings from the viewpoint.
From here, I continued to checkpoint 90. My original plan had been to head back to checkpoint 91 from here to get back to my car, but as I continued down the steep incline, I realized that I was headed toward checkpoint 92 instead, confirmed when I actually saw the number for the first time at the junction. From here, I turned left to head back to my car, turning left at checkpoint 85 to get back to the car.
The last hike of the day was at the Rutland Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, the parking area being found at the end of Allen Pond Road. The route I took is highlighted in pink below.
From the parking area, I headed up the John Woosley Trail. In this area, there is a great view of Conner's Pond.
At the fork, I headed up the left fork of the Rutland Brook Loop Trail, and here were several nice views of Rutland Brook itself, with the tranquil sound of the water flowing down the rocks.
Crossing into the Ridge Trail, there was one last view of the pond upstream.
From here, I headed further uphill on to the left side of the Sherman Hill Loop, and the same side of the Porcupine Ledge Loop, with nothing much to see except the high stone wall that is Porcupine Ledge.
With that, I headed back to my car by going down the other side of the Porcupine Ledge Loop, Sherman Hill Loop, House Pond Trail, Rutland BrookLoop Trail, and back to the John Woosley Trail to the parking area.
Although the sun was setting at this point, there was still a little time, so I decided to head to the town common area on West Street and Common Street.
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| Memorial, Town Common |
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Petersham Town Hall,
3 South Main Street |
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| Town Common Christmas Decor |
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Orthodox Congregational Church,
21 North Main Street |
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St. Peter's Church,
18 North Street |
I decided to end my sightseeing at this point because the
Fisher Museum was closed by this time, and headed for home, trying to find a nice place for dinner. However, my phone had no signal until it reached the Paxton area, and I finally decided on
Eller's Restaurant in Leicester. This place is a diner-like restaurant, with diner-like food, so I got myself a cup of clam chowder and the special, the Triple Sec Ravioli, which comes with garlic bread. The clam chowder was pretty good, and I was sad when it was done so soon. The ravioli was okay, and the sauce was a little on the sweet side, so I had to add a little salt to make it taste better.
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| Clam Chowder |
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| Triple Sex Ravioli |
With that, I was done for the day.
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