Freetown State Forest

   

   In an attempt to conserve funds, I haven't done much of anything that involves long drives. I did work the last two weeks at the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals putting in over forty hours each week. Glad to have made some money. While you may not want to read much about my health, this post begins that way...

   Over the last few months my sugar levels have been pretty much perfect. Because I was so active, whenever I took my blood sugar levels it was always within the healthy range. With exercise and my medication, it really didn't seem to matter what I ate, my sugar levels were great. It was to the point that if asked how I was doing, I'd say that with my meds, I was pretty much cured. Yes, I know that you always have diabetes once you have it. Still, my numbers have been great. I am very fortunate that I can control my blood sugar levels with exercise. However, there is a Ying to every yang. This also means that if I am not active my blood sugar levels go up.

   I realized this a couple of nights ago. Over the past week my blood sugar levels were high. Of course I made some changes to my diet. I don't eat French fries every night anyway, but over the past few days I have been VERY mindful of carbs. Yet, my blood sugar levels, while not off the charts were higher than I'd like. Certainly higher than they should be eating very cautiously. Then it hit me, I haven't been nearly as active over the last month (other than working the festivals) as I had the previous six months. So with that in mind I decided to go for an extended bike ride today.

   I understand that reading two paragraphs on my diabetes is not why you came to my blog. But there may be people reading my blog that do have "Tracy Morgan Disease". It is quite possible one of them can't get their numbers down with meds and diet alone. Hopefully this post inspires them. 

 

Miles of dirt roads

 Today I decided to explore the Freetown State Forest. The forest is in the towns of Freetown and Fall River. It is a couple miles off of the section of Rt 24 between I-195 and I-495. Freetown State Forest (FSF from now on) is part of a large protected area called the Southeastern MA Bioreserve. This huge 16,000 acre greenspace is managed by many agencies from Mass Wildlife, City of Fall River, The Trusties of the Reservation and others. I only explored a small section of the bioreserve today. The FSF is large enough. There are many types of trails ranging from hiking, bridal, and even motorcycle. I stayed on dirt roads today. There were more than enough miles of dirt roads to tire my legs out.

   When I first pulled into the parking lot ( the forest is free) at headquarters I got a map of the forest. I then sat at a picnic table and studied it for a few minutes. I decided on a route. There are numerous trails and it would have been very easy to get lost. To counter this, I planned on stopping at every intersection so I knew exactly where I was. 

 

There are over 30 manmade watering
holes for wildlife throughout the forest.

 There was a lot of different habitat. For sure the rangers use fire in the form of prescribed burns to manage the forest. I saw multiple places where it was obvious that fire was used. In most of these places the underbrush was a lush green. Some of the larger trees were not affected by fire at all while the bushes below were charred and dead. I think the burned areas will make a nice home for a multitude of species including Eastern Box Turtles.

   I went in the afternoon and didn't see too much wildlife. By far, the most common animal was a butterfly with blue on the wings. I didn't stop to see if it was a Red Spotted Purple or one of its cousins. They were at every puddle or muddy area on the road. For bird life, the highlight was a singing Hermit Thrush. They are a common species, but I rarely hear them sing. 

  Though I would expect it much busier on weekends, I only saw two other people on the dirt roads. The main parking lot was pretty full of cars. There is a splash pool for kids to play in that looked to be very popular. There are at least fifteen picnic tables however I didn't see anyone using them today. I'm sure that is a different story on weekends. Once I got away from the main parking lot, I had the forest to myself except for one person per hour.

 

Monument dedicated
to the CCC

    I rode my bike extremely slowly (looking for wildlife) for a couple of hours. I really don't know how many miles I did. Maybe 6-8? Other than the very few hills, I didn't get any real cardio in. However, my legs tell another story. They are a little sore. Most of the roads were rough and I had many potholes and protruding (and loose) stones to negotiate. I'm sure I would have seen more wildlife if I walked with binoculars instead of rode my bike without them. However, my goal was exercise and see as much scenery as I could. Next time I go back I'll check out other parts of the SE MA Bioreserve. Such a cool area within a thirty five minute drive and I've never explored it.

    

Underbrush recovering nicely after a
prescribed burn.