Forest walks begin

Last Tuesday was our first walk in the Town Forest for the season.  We'll be leading nature walks on the 25 miles of trails through September.  Mainly, the same people come every week, but every now and then a new person or two joins us.  I also try to attend the every-other-Sunday walks with my friend, a former science teacher and photography buff.


There are Sundays when I have other things to do, but I always feel better walking these trails which change every week.  Right now, there is new growth everywhere and not as many flowers in the understory.  Yet the birds are very active.  We saw a downy woodpecker and heard a warbler, among others.

It has been beautiful weather this week, and yesterday's outing was very nice, with two couples and a sweet dog joining us.  One couple had retired to our area after living in Boston for 30 years - quite a change, but they are enjoying the peace and quiet.  And I enjoyed meeting them.  That's one of the benefits of leading these walks.

We took a fairly easy route, stopping by the #6 Quarry and then going up to Lawson's Lookout, which, like so many of the lookouts, is a former grout (Scottish for "waste") pile that has overgrown.  One hundred years ago, what is now forest was once a tree-less quarry works owned by various companies.  The trails were made by workers and then, as the quarries were abandoned, kept up by walkers, hunters, and wildlife.  Here is what the group found atop Lawson's Lookout.  She stayed up there a long time, trying to figure out how to get down.  My friend walked up to check and snapped this photo before we continued on our way.

Hope you had a lovely Sunday, too.