Went for my longest hike so far and covered almost 8 miles (or 7.5 depending on which app you trust). Started out at the Burma Trail Parking lot with Patricia and Wesley. No chance of getting lost on this one, straight as an arrow path from there until you bump into I-93 as it goes through Canton. Today was a great day for Intersection Markers. Not only did we find all the ones listed on the map, we found a bonus marker that is NOT on the printed map. We turned around when we hit the highway and veered West and followed the trail along the Neponset River.
The weather was very cooperative for the day. We were very thankful that there hadn’t been much rain the past few days as I expected severe amounts of muddy trails given the path goes right through a marsh, but everything was dry and easily passable. Some signs of wildlife throughout this part of the trail. Came acorss one part where it looked like a coyote shedded their entire winter coat in one spot. Saw a few ducks, heard tons of different bird songs (might have to start throwing my bird book and some binoculars in my pack), and signs of spring were everywhere. Found some seedlings taking root in a hollow of a still living tree. After following the Neponset River, we turned right at the Fowl Meadow Path and that when we came across #6009 with is NOT on the map. There was a stub of a trail that headed South from that marker on the map, but it went much farther into the woods than that. We turned around and double-backed after hitting a clearing with the remants of a shelter. When we got back to the #6005 marker, Wesley was getting tired and felt a little off, so Patricia offered to head back to the car with him and drive him home while I finished off my planned hike into the swamp and the rest of the trails in this area.
With Wesley and Patricia headed North on Burma Road, I continued on my own and quickly discovered that the Swamp Trail was aptly named. The path ran through the middle of the swamp and is mere inches above the water level and in some spots, below it. However, once I made it through, I was rewarded with some beautiful hiking paths through some pine groves. Also enjoyed a continued bounty of Intersection Markers; #6106, #6105, #6104, #6103, #6102, and #6101 were all right were they belonged and were easy to spot. Lets hear it for small victories. Came across some truly amazing sights. Saw a huge pine tree that had fallen over but took a huge chunk of it’s root structure and entangled earth with it. The creek near the toppled tree marked the end of the offical BH trail according to the map. Rather than double-back and re-trace some steps, I chose to beat a path through some unblazed woods to cut through the back of one tributary to pickup the trail at the terminus of another nearby tributary. Continued South along the Green Hill Path, veered left to the Orchard Trail, and kept going until I came to the trail head at #6101. Did a U-turn to head North with the intent of picking up the Field Path, looping it, and then re-tracing back to complete the trail and this is where things got a little weird. The path on the official BH map does NOT match up with the AllTrails paths and for good reason. After checking Maprika, and Google Maps to make sure I was in the right spot, there was absolutely no path where the BH map said their should be one. I ventured in a bit thinking I’d run into it, but that proved quite pointless as the brush soon blocked me completely. So I waded out of the underbrush, continued North and when I got to marker #6103 I did find the Northern start of the Field Path. So I followed it and sure enough, it tracked along where the All Trails map showed a path and reconnected at marker #6101. With all markers hit, I started my way back to the parking lot. Along the way I saw this amazing natural bowl in the middle of a pine grove that 8-year-old me would have loved as their own personal hideaway from the world. At one point I noticed the trail became very soft and quiet and looked down to see the whole trail was covered in ant hills, but oddly, did not see any actual ants. Also saw a huge field of thorns which was probably the savior of all local bunnies who were high-tailing it away from a hungry coyote. Finally made it back to the parking lot where my sweet wife promptly picked my tired ass up and drove me home.
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