Lookout Rock (January) and Rice City (August) Uxbridge, MA

We just felt that we needed to get out of the house. It snowed about six or eight inches. This morning, we had gone to the gym and did our usual cardio mixed with weights workout. Today was squats and triceps. Not satisfied with that, we cleaned the house, then headed north to Uxbridge. We were going to go to Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park, but upon picking up a park map, we decided to head to Lookout Rock instead. We have been here before, so I will include some photos of that day as well.

It was low-mid thirties out and the sun was shining. We layered our clothes and packed up some beer bread, apple slices, and pepperoni slices. Mmmmm. Eric also got to try out his new ear warmers he picked up at Dick's last week during a sale of all hunting apparel. Yes, it is camouflaged. He also bought some sort of balaclava/scarf-thing/hood that is also camouflaged. Anyway, here is the entrance to the path to Lookout Rock.

We only needed to walk a short distance before we came to Lookout Rock. It is covered in snow here, but I'll include pictures of the same area in the fall.


We stood on this rock, which is under all the snow, and ate some pepperoni while taking in the view.




Since the rock was so close to where we parked, we decided to head down a different path. It looked like someone else was here and they brought their dog. This was evidenced by the little yellow piddles by every other tree. Eventually, Tracy noticed some little black things. On closer inspection, they appeared to be fleas. And they were alive! Yuck. (Clicking on the picture should zoom it enough to see the little buggers.) Update: A Google search on "snow fleas" revealed this little wiki: snow fleas.

We continued on for maybe another fifteen minutes, but trying to step over,or jump over piles of writhing and jumping fleas got old fast.


We also saw a spider.

As promised, here are some of the older pics. We had gone in August of 2008 and the bugs were biting. Just to embarrass Tracy a bit, I will include some nice close-ups of some of her bug bites. I don't exactly remember how challenging the trail was back then, but it was somewhat hilly. Also, the scenery was pretty cool. That day, we actually parked at the entrance to Rice City. It just so happens that the trails connect. Here they are.

This tree looks like a person stuck into the ground head first.

For some reason, there was a bar embedded in between two trees. Tracy showed off her gymnastic skills. Eric could only climb up and sit on the bar.







If you look closely, you can see the frog.

It was a beautiful day, and this area is very green.



Some more pics.




And here are the photos that you can compare to our winter outing. These are the rocks under all of that snow. They view to the river is just as splendid.




Here is a murky pond.

And finally, the pictures of Tracy's bug bites that I promised.

George Washington Memorial Park: Eric

Eric: So, being unemployed for a almost a year now with a useless doctorate certainly has its drawbacks and its perks. Drawbacks: No money, reliance on wife for everything, and you can only look at Jeeps on Craiglist for so long or play DDO so much. Pros: Get to look at Jeeps and play DDO; also, I can go hiking when I get stir crazy.

The temperature on the Suzuki's display read a chilly 22 degrees. I decided to forgo the blue ski jacket for a layer of thermals under my jeans, and three layers of good, solid, warm clothes under my trusty burnt orange jacket I got for clearance at a discount store: Gordman's I think. I do remember it was nine bucks. Also, I had to put on the orange vest so no hunter with a lack of fire control mistakes me for a goblin or an aardvark.

George Washington Park is my standby place to go if I am bored and need to just get outside. The trails are well marked and there is very little chance at getting lost. There are three trails: a 2 mile blue, 6 mile orange, and 8 mile red. I could be off a bit since they removed the sign that I normally look at before I go hiking.

I decided to bring one of the cameras that we left on the table for our wedding. Unfortunately, it was all messed up. Although it said I had only fifteen photos left, none of the wedding photos showed up and a couple shots that I took today did not appear either. Anyway, here they are.

Above: My trusty Grand Vitara that lost half of its value in the first year. I swear, unless I win the lottery I am never buying new again.
Below: Rocks sticking out of the frozen lake.


Below: This is an area of the woods that had a hole in the canopy so the sun could melt the snow on the ground.


This is the end of the trail towards the icy parking area.


Above: Some sort of latch mechanism for a dam.
Below: Oops, I fell down on the ice.

Long and Ell Ponds Natural Area: January 4, 2009

It's the fourth of January and our first hike of the year. It was a balmy 35 degrees Fahrenheit, just a little breezy and the snow is still on the ground. From Woonsocket, we took I295S to I95S, exit 3B to Route 3S. This is by way of the directions Tracy found online from thebackpacker.com. Of course, this wasn't the most efficient way taking us through whatever town it was we passed through. Exit 2 would have sufficed as we found out as we passed the big signs to I95 after about 10 or 15 minutes on Route 3.

So, we took a right on Canonchet Road, took a left at the T-intersection about 3 miles later and followed it until it turned into dirt (well actually it was covered in snow but we could still tell it turned into dirt).

Here is the entrance:


Tracy doing "The Robot."





We got out of the Suzuki and geared up. Both Tracy and I wore our EMS thermal, water-whisking away undergarments. Tracy just picked up a new coat from Target for 27 bucks on the clearance rack, and I wore my old ski coat. I debated wearing my trusty ole' burnt orange jacket, but thought it would be too cold; a decision I regretted later. I was not sure what the layout of the trail was, but it turned out to be several steep ascents and descents. Our kind of trail. Here are a couple pictures of the first one-hundred or so meters.




Then we ran in to this sign:

It was hard to tell if this sign was warning us to put on orange gear, or that we did not need orange gear if we stuck to the Audubon trail. Since we were not really sure if we would be accidentally be on trails that wild eyed hunters would be using, and not wanting to be mistaken for deer or orcs, we went back to the car to put on our orange vests.

So, we continued on our way. Here we encounter one of the famous bridges that Tracy so loves.

Here are some stairs. I think that the stairs are funny because the rest of the trail has a lot of ups and downs. With that in mind, make sure you are in decent physical condition and have good footing for when it is snowy like it was today.


Here is the sign where you can chose which way to go.

We chose to head towards Ell Pond first. The trail doesn't lead directly to the pond, but it does lead to a nice view of it from the top of the hill and a big rock.




The ski coat got too hot.

End of the line.

Actually, just the end of the trail to Ell pond. Here we tackled the deep descent down to Hemlock Forest.

Unfortunately, the Kodak has been acting up lately. Tracy just bought new Kodak rechargeable batteries for the camera, but they just are not doing the trick. WE are going to have to get energized on our search for a new non-Kodak camera. Running out of juice after fifteen or so pics is just unsatisfactory.

The rest of the hike was a series of hills, rocky, and awesome. We can't wait to get back there in the spring, summer, and fall. This is a place that we would like to see in all four seasons. Plus, there are streams in the area to kayak on. The ponds might be fun for a paddle.