August 25th 2012: Hiking the Skyline Trail at Middlesex Fells Reservation

Today, I decided to hike the west side of the Middlesex Fells Reservation with my friend, walking the 7-mile long Skyline Trail. We started off after parking my car in the parking lot at ~90 South Border Road in Medford, right next to Bellevue Pond. 

The path we took here, which is pretty much the entire Skyline Trail anticlockwise except for a little detour at Bear Hill Tower and getting lost near North Reservoir. 

After entering the Skyline Trail close to Bellevue Pond, we immediately came upon Wright's Tower at the top of Pine Hill, where there are awesome views all around, especially of Boston skyline, not only from the ground below but at the top as well.

Wright's Tower

Along the way, my friend got frightened by a garter snake which immediately slid away into the undergrowth, but not away from my camera. A kid passing by soon after caught the snake and held it up for everyone to see.

Nearby, I also spotted a hug spider with very long thin legs walking over the ground.

Further along, we passed by an open field at the Sheepfold area in Stoneham, where people were playing with their dogs, and there were okay views from the top of Winthrop Hill further on.

Sheepfold

View from Winthrop Hill

Moving onward, we soon took a detour eastwards to head up Bear Hill, where there is another observation tower there. Views from the top follow.

Bear Hill Tower

From here, we headed to the western side of the North Reservoir in Winchester, where we were able to get close to the shoreline.

It was at this point that we got a little lost, heading backwards for a bit before realizing our mistake. After backtracking a little though, we managed to resume our journey, although by now we were already getting really tired and just wanted the day to be over. We met up with more wildlife along the way though.













We were really relieved when we finally emerged back into civilization at my car, and starving as well. We then decided to head to Habanero's Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Bar in Waltham for an early dinner. Having a $30 Livingsocial deal to spend, we decided to get the Higaditos Mexicanos, namely pan cooked chicken livers in spicy tomato jalapeno sauce for the appetizer, while I got the Don Juan Chihuahua Style Burrito, which is vegetarian with zucchini, spinach, roasted corn and habanero con queso, and my friend go the Carnitas de Uruapan, consisting of crispy slow cooked pork served with red and green sauces, guacamole, pico de gallo and warm tortillas.

While waiting for our food to come, we were so hungry that we kept gorging ourselves on the chips and spicy salsa.

Chips and Salsa

The chicken livers were excellent, while my burrito was pretty good too, this being the first vegetarian burrito I have had ever.  My friend felt her meat was a little dry, although i thought it was pretty tasty with a smoky flavor as well.

Don Juan Chihuahua Style Burrito

Higaditos Mexicano

With that , I took my friend home, then went home myself to take a shower and then a nap, being tired out by the hike.