On Monday, Annie and I walked one of the sections of the Midstate Trail I had not done yet. We started at Wachusett Meadows in Princeton (the panorama, above) and walked to Barre Falls Dam.
See the road in the right-hand side of the above photo? We were parked beyond the barn and headed further down the road, where it really becomes an untravelled road, except by person or wagon or the many creatures of this world. I did remark once along our hike that there sure was a lot of forest for the animals. Made me happy thinking of them living unbothered by us humans.
One of the first things we saw was that we weren’t the only ones who had walked the trail. Our feet are beside their tracks. Turkey? Or Pterodactyl!
This is Four Corners in Princeton. This land has been designated conservation area and connects two wildlife corridors. We entered on the far right side of this picture and continued on to the left, beyond Annie.
The trail goes in the woods and comes out by Old Colony Road. I sometimes walk this part with my friend Vivian and our two dogs (I leave Columbus at home, he can’t be trusted to come back if I let him run free).
The winter woods have a beauty all their own.
Here is the bridge on Old Colony Road.
Loved our silhouettes! (Also loved that I just spelled silhouettes right on the first try!)
Here’s a video of the waterfall on the bottom of the photo.
Beyond the bridge, we crossed railroad tracks.
We walked on Old Colony Road Extension….
And into a beautiful area called Savage Hill. In all the years I’ve lived in Princeton, I’d never known of this area.
At some point we entered Rutland, and passed by a friend’s house.
But we were never on the road for too long. Lots of woods!
This is my silly hunters-are-in-the-woods attire. I’m going to get an orange vest. This is all I had to work with at my house. But it was functional.
We wound up walking 12 miles this day. Both of us were very tired. At just about this point, we weren’t sure which way to go, because the parking area is beyond the trail. But we wound up following the midstate markers and came back to a spot where we could see the parking lot. We will start from there on our next leg! (And at that point I’ll take a picture of the dam.)
PS if you are a local, Barre Falls is a wonderful place to cross country ski or snowshoe!