Walks this week

Cedars line this trail on the way to
Rome Point

When I did my post yesterday I realized I hadn't done a post in a week. That doesn't mean I didn't do
anything all week. To the contrary, I have been very active. I did get down to the West Wall and caught my first stripers of the year. I also tried the fly pond earlier in the week.

However, what I have been doing is walking trails a lot. Some places are old stand bys. I hiked at Trustom Pond the day after I went to the West Wall. As I posted yesterday, I went to Daniel Webster after trout fishing. I won't bore you with those hikes again. I did go to a couple other places also.

If there is one thing I've realized, although the number of places to explore may not be infinite, there are more places than time to explore them. I'd say in 2016 alone, I've probably explored over five places I had previously never been too.. Besides state parks, Audubon sanctuaries, and wild life refuges there are many other town owned or public welcome properties. Many towns have land trusts that preserve large tracts of land (such as Pardon Gray in Tiverton). The Trustees of the Reservation and The Nature Conservancy also have a lot of public accessible public land. Many of these places only need to be visited once. There are plenty of hikes that I'm glad I did, but never need to do do again. That's okay, as I was walking these properties, it was all new at the time.

Why write about places I hiked? First off, many people use the woods for many purposes. Some people enjoy hiking and getting fresh air. I obviously like to go birding. Some people need a place to walk their dog. Fisherman might be looking for a hidden pond or creek off the beaten path. So I write about places I've visited in case you live near them and didn't know of their existence. Maybe you will read about a spot and it perks your interest-

Cumberland Monastery-

 On Thursday I picked up my buddy Amber. We went for a walk at the Cumberland Monastery easily reached off of I-295 on Route 114. This place is huge. There are many criss-crossing unmarked trails. I knew we had a lot of time so I told Amber we had a pretty good chance of getting lost. We set off on a trail I knew, but started taking other unmarked trails to the point we could not retrace our steps. No worries, as I said, I expected this. I have been to the Monastery four or five times, and I still managed to get on trails I had never been on. We were lost in the woods for close to an hour. When I say "lost" I mean, I didn't know what trail would get me back to the parking lot. I do not mean, make shelter and pray you are found. After a while, we came to a trail I recognized. All in all we walked at least five miles. If you want a huge place to hike and don't mind unmarked trails and consider getting lost an adventure this might be the place for you

Ballard Park, Newport, RI

Vernal Pool in front, grove of aspen
on left, cliff in back

This morning I went chasing a rare bird in Newport. I didn't find it but did come across this place. Its only a few acres. The trails are not well marked. There is a map at the trailheads unlike the Monastery. The place is so small that, you can't get lost. It is bordered on two sides by road, one by a marsh. The forth side is residential. However for being so small it was really cool. There are a couple of fifty foot cliffs. I climbed one of them. It was steep enough to need my hands to pull myself up.There is also a small grove of Quaking Aspen. Some points on the trail are muddy but not awful. This park is near Breton Point and the Cliff Walk. I would not make a special trip to go there because of its small size. If you're in the area, it is well worth forty five minutes of your time.

Rome Point, Wickford, RI

Rome Point is locally famous. It is the best place in Rhode Island to see seals in the winter from shore. At low tide about 200 yards from shore seals haul out on rocks. Even on a ten degree day, the parking lot can be half full of brave souls. Rome Point is officially called John Chafee Nature Preserve. Like the other two places above the trails are not marked. There is a map at the trailhead.  The area is a giant peninsular. Heading away from the car you are going east. Back towards the car is west. Most any trail north or south, or east will end up at the water. It is a fairly long walk to the point. There are many interconnecting trails, so you can take a different one on the way back. Today,

The sprawl of Quonset Point past Bissel Cove
at Rome Point

I was surprised to not see any seals. Maybe the water is warm enough for them to head north. Usually they stick around past April vacation. It was extremely windy so I could not really enjoy the warmish temperature. This is still a nice place to visit, but of the
places I went,  the most crowded.

Gilbert Stuart Birthplace-

This is one of the more famous places to see river herring in Rhode Island. It is not really a walk but I stopped there today. Based on how many people enjoy seeing the herring run in the Cape Cod Canal, I thought I'd share this. Right at the parking area for the Gilbert Stuart Birthplace is a river. Thirty feet from my car the river was full of herring. In places the river is only eight inches deep so it is easy to watch the herring make their way up river.

Herring in the river

So there you have it. Throw in my hikes at Daniel Webster and Trustom and I had a very active week. I will tell you freely that Daniel Webster and Trustom are places I love. The above places are not as fun for me. However, the monastery is only ten minutes from my house. Rome Point is a good place to see seals and birds. If your inclined, the fishing can be pretty good at Bissel Cove.  So I'm glad I explored these spots. None of them standing alone is probably worth a blog post, but hopefully someone reading this will want to take a walk sometime.

I may have gotten a little excited about seeing herring and left
my trunk and door open in my rush