I spent 7.5 hours on my feet on Sunday. How ’bout you?

Sunday a friend and I tackled a hike we hadn’t done in about three years. We hike part of the Midstate Trail that runs, well, through the middle of the state.

The whole trail runs about 92 miles, and clearly that can’t be done in a day. However, we did hoof it from Redemption Rock to the Barre Falls Dam (which is actually located in Barre, Rutland, Hubbardston, and Oakham.) that stretch is about 17, maybe 18 miles.

It was a gray start to the day, punctuated by snow flurries. The starting temp for our hike was in the 40s, then dropped into the 30s before it began to rise again. And, since I don’t have hiking pants and didn’t feel like wearing jeans, I wore my cargo shorts.

(I was smart enough to bring and wear a hat and gloves.)

The hike ended up being longer than we planned. As we paused, 7 miles in, at Wachusett Meadow for some food, one of the guys who works there was just getting in for the day. He asked us if we knew about the reroute.

Reroute?

Apparently, last year, after the DCR acquired some new land, the trail was rerouted through Princeton. It added about 2 miles to the hike, but it moved an enormous amount of that section off of pavement, which was great on the feet. (The previous route spent a lot of time on roads and streets–not fun.)

All in all, a great day for a hike, beautiful colors along the trail, and only feeling a little stiff this morning. Enjoy the pictures!