Tank eighty-four

Total miles: 30025. Trip miles: 273.7. Gallons: 5.290. Price per gallon: $2.679.

Screen mileage: 55.9 mpg. Tank mileage: 51.7 mpg.

Mix of short and long drives.

eye graffiti

eye graffiti
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Today's hike: 1 h 45 min | 4.5 mi | 2.6 mph

I did the yellow arrow loop at Blue Hills Reservation today. Nice pace, faster than I've been doing lately, but the trail is actually pretty easy.

homemade buttermilk biscuits

homemade buttermilk biscuits
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

On the way home from my hike, I developed a craving for buttermilk biscuits. So I made some, and now I'm enjoying a couple with butter and honey. The rest will go in the freezer.

top of wachusett

top of wachusett
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Today's hike: 3 h 50 min | 7.3 mi | 1.9 mph

I went for a hike along the Midstate Trail today. I parked at the ski area to the north of Wachusett, climbed over the mountain, and hiked on over to Westminster Rd before returning. It's about a 900 foot climb up Wachusett.

This is a view from the very top, looking down the ski lift.

The trails were surprisingly crowded today, despite the threat of rain. They were also incredibly muddy. It has rained a lot this week, and there's more to come. I bet we'll get a bumper crop of mosquitoes this year.

Tank eighty-three

Total miles: 29751. Trip miles: 386.3. Gallons: 7.011. Price per gallon: $2.639.

Screen mileage: 53.0 mpg. Tank mileage: 55.1 mpg.

Mix of local, 10-minute commutes with longer drives of about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

midstate trail winter damage

midstate trail winter damage
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I went for a hike on the Midstate trail today, my first hike on the trail since last fall.

It looks like the harsh winter did quite a lot damage. Lots of trees were down, or busted up. This photo was taken in the vicinity of Crow Hill Ledges.

I was feeling extremely tired, for some unknown reason. For a large part of the hike, I felt as if I could easily lie down and quickly fall asleep. I had been planning to hike for at least four hours, but wound up doing about three instead. I hope I'll have more energy tomorrow!

milk snake

milk snake
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Today's hike: 3 h 40 min | 7 mi | 1.9 mph

I went hiking at Blue Hills Reservation, again. I took the Skyline Trail from the Headquarters Path parking lot to somewhere around Nahanton Hill at intersection marker 3103, and then turned back. On the return trip, instead of returning to the parking lot, I continued on almost to intersection marker 1094 before heading back to the car.

At Nahanton Hill, I was startled by this snake, which was coiled up at one side of the trail. As I fumbled for my camera, it began to slither off away from the trail. But then it nicely decided to head back and cross the trail, giving me a good photo op. It seemed to consider me a nuisance more than anything else. I think it was a milk snake (PDF). The only thing that makes me doubt that is that milk snakes are supposed to be mainly nocturnal. Maybe this one had insomnia.

lincoln woods

lincoln woods
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I went for a short hike late this afternoon, behind the DeCordova Museum. This photo makes it look darker than it actually was. The weather was great, nice and cool.