I really wanted to get in a hike for Thanksgiving weekend, but it snowed up in New Hampshire, and today was going to be pretty cold. I decided I don't always have to go on a long drive for my long hike, and went to the Middlesex Fells with the goal of completing the Skyline Trail. Which is what I did.
I often start out to hike the Skyline trail, but the once I get going I decide to make it a little shorter, or to take the reservoir trail back or cut off the pine hill overlook bit. So, I decided to park in the Shepfold (amazingly got parking with no issues!) and go clockwise to the view first, then around the reservoir where it's not really possible to turn back. I also thought I remembered that this direction got the harder part finished first. It was a good call, because by the end I kind of wanted to bail, but there isn't any way to, so I stuck it out and finished the loop.
It was about 37 degrees out, but with the wind felt a little colder. I wore my purple ninja hoodie, a t-shirt and little puff, and then some athleta tights and gloves. The skyline trail basically goes over every single little bit of elevation in the park, trying to get as much gain as possible. So, I warmed up quickly and took off my gloves, and then jacket. It was a beautiful day out and there were a bunch of other hikers, trail runners and dogs enjoying the trails, and the first bit went quickly. I got to the one viewpoint on the hike, and there was this woman who I think was blessing a guy - it was hard to tell exactly what was going on because she was talking in Portuguese (I think) and I felt a little bit like I was intruding, so I just took a quick look at the view and continued. From there you kind of circle back to get to the bottom of the reservoir, and then head up the other side.
I looked at all trails before I left, and it said the hike was 7.7 miles, with about 950 feet of elevation gain, and looking at my watch at that point it said that I had already gotten over 500 feet of elevation gain, which I was kind of excited about because that's a big part of the work. After a bit, though, I started to question my watch, and I looked at all trails, which said I'd done half the elevation gain. Weird - I have to figure out what's up with that. In the end my watch said I went 8.19 miles with 1651 feet of elevation gain. I'm going to have to do some googling on this.
The other side of the reservoir has trails that get pretty close to the road, and then go by a dam and feel like they are in someone's back yard. This is an area where I used to get lost a lot, but now with all trails and better trail markers, is much easier to navigate. In the end I got back to my car in 3 hours and 40 minutes and felt pretty good about it!
My plan had been to go for a swim after, and do a practice for the 200 meters. But, I was kind of cold from all the time outside and decided that I would just go jump in and bop around for 5 minutes instead. Which is what I did.
When I got to the docks, I ran into Santa in the parking lot! He has a regular gig at one of the boat clubs, and they take pick him up from the docks with a pontoon boat, bring him across the water, and then bring him back to his truck at the end. Which I know because I ran into him there once before. I have good Santa luck. He was very gracious and took a picture with me, even though he had already taken off his belt, and must have been ready to head home.
After, I questioned my decisions about going into the water. It was freezing! I think my watch said 44, but I can't be sure because I couldn't get it to stop, and so it averaged in time in the car with the heat blasting. I think it didn't recognize my fingers because they were so cold - I finally remembered that I have siri, and asked her to stop the activity. I will have to remember that for the future. I had my first real after drop of the season, and shivered in the car the whole drive home!
All and all a good day of exercise, and it was really nice to finish and be so close to home.
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