A Long Walk

Maura’s school year came to an end with a half day on Monday. We have no ambitious plans for her first week of freedom but we took the first full day of her vacation to take a hike in the nearby towns of Hingham and Cohasset. The weather was perfect. It was overcast but not rainy and warm without being hot.

After a few morning errands, including a stop at our local library, we drove to Wompatuck State Park in Hingham were we planned to hike. We parked at Mount Blue Spring, which is near the center of the park. From there we set out on what proved to be a four hour hike that took us out of Hingham and out of Wompatuck. At first we hiked on old roads through the park. We passed through quiet woodlands and damp swamps. Our route took us past ponds where frogs croaked and by the graffiti covered ruins of old military buildings.

Eventually we shifted to unpaved trails and headed over the park boundary into the Whitney and Thayer Woods Reservation, owned by the Trustees of Reservations. We struck a trail along an old rail line and followed that to the Cohasset train station. From there we walked along the shoulder of Route 3A until we came to the main entrance of the Whitney and Thayer Woods Reservation and from there back to Wompatuck State Park and eventually to our car. We made one stop along 3A, at JJ’s Dairy Hut where we took our only extended break of the day and enjoyed some ice cream. Maura had a big cone of Maine Black Bear ice cream and I had a root beer float. The rest of that leg of the trip was a bit nerve wracking. Route 3A is not a good road for pedestrians to follow. The shoulders are narrow and there are no sidewalks. Many of the drivers seemed not to be paying attention and sometimes Maura didn’t seem to be paying much either. I would not take that route again. The woods were certainly safer and more pleasant.

We didn’t have many wildlife sightings during the day. We heard frogs but didn’t see them and mammals were only in evidence from their scat. We did see two turtles sunning themselves on a log in one of the many ponds we passed. When I pointed them out to Maura she moved quickly and then they slipped into the water with a startled splash as they dove from sight.

Maura was exhausted by the time we made it back to our car but she had done a great job. I’m not sure how far we had walked but it was certainly more than a couple of miles. We walked for nearly four hours with few breaks and most of the time we kept a good pace. Maura did complain at the end of the hike but she had walked far enough without any whining that a little at the end of a long day on the trail didn’t upset me. I was glad to get back to the car myself.