I set out to the lovely town of Ipswich MA to tackle the Willowdale State Forest portion of the BCT. Actually, I don't know if Ipswich is lovely or not. I know next to nothing about the town except that it's NOT Gloucester and there are Wolves there. And the "Forest" which I might clarify more as "woods", like most of the State Forests in Eastern Mass. I parked off of Line Brook Road and set off with my new Deuter ACT Trail 32 pack, which I like very much. The bag is definitely large enough to carry a LOT of stuff, including a can of bug spray. Sadly, I didn't put one in and soon was getting eaten alive by a bazillion mosquitos and other similar insects. I turned back. I made it about two or three miles total. It didn't feel like I went very far. I bought bug spray.
I returned the next day and took to the trail, slathered in DEET. I made it past the point where I had to turn back the day before and quite quick thereafter ran out of Forest. The path of the Bay Circuit Trail seems to consistently take a very wide and direct route through wherever it goes. This was no exception. Basically a dirt road running down the middle of the forest. I passed a couple of quaint ponds and had to find my way around a few muddy puddles and a lot of piles of horse poop! I crossed the road at the end and poked around the northern part of Bradley Palmer where the foot bridge over the Ipswich River is. Turning back, I thought that I would try to go a different, more interesting way. There is a fairly large pond running right down the middle of Willowdale. The BCT runs down the western side of the pond. I took the first trail heading east that I could find after getting back into the forest. It would up and around a pretty god hill. The forest was much thicker here and more interesting to look at with old stone walls, fern-covered glades and babbling brooks. I ran into two girls riding their horses out here. I tried to find a Geocache out there but it was too well hidden. Apparently NOT having people find your cache and getting frustrated and pissed of is WAY better than having them find it and having a fun outing. Whatever. Nerds. It took a lOT longer than I though it would. The BCT portion was only about three miles (I made it a LOT further under bug-attack the I thought on day-1). Coming back up the east side of the pond made the hike about 7 miles long and the east side is definitely more challenging, although it's "nothing" compared to a mountain hike! As straight as the west trail is, the east trail is winding and has many branches to explore. I would like to get back in there and go through the rest of the forest, or at least the "interesting" side!
I returned the next day and took to the trail, slathered in DEET. I made it past the point where I had to turn back the day before and quite quick thereafter ran out of Forest. The path of the Bay Circuit Trail seems to consistently take a very wide and direct route through wherever it goes. This was no exception. Basically a dirt road running down the middle of the forest. I passed a couple of quaint ponds and had to find my way around a few muddy puddles and a lot of piles of horse poop! I crossed the road at the end and poked around the northern part of Bradley Palmer where the foot bridge over the Ipswich River is. Turning back, I thought that I would try to go a different, more interesting way. There is a fairly large pond running right down the middle of Willowdale. The BCT runs down the western side of the pond. I took the first trail heading east that I could find after getting back into the forest. It would up and around a pretty god hill. The forest was much thicker here and more interesting to look at with old stone walls, fern-covered glades and babbling brooks. I ran into two girls riding their horses out here. I tried to find a Geocache out there but it was too well hidden. Apparently NOT having people find your cache and getting frustrated and pissed of is WAY better than having them find it and having a fun outing. Whatever. Nerds. It took a lOT longer than I though it would. The BCT portion was only about three miles (I made it a LOT further under bug-attack the I thought on day-1). Coming back up the east side of the pond made the hike about 7 miles long and the east side is definitely more challenging, although it's "nothing" compared to a mountain hike! As straight as the west trail is, the east trail is winding and has many branches to explore. I would like to get back in there and go through the rest of the forest, or at least the "interesting" side!
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