big rock on skyline trail

big rock
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Today's Hike: 4 h | 7.5 mi | 1.9 mph

Mileage is approximate.

Something was going on at Blue Hills this morning. The lower parking lot off Rte 138, where the Skyline Trail crosses the road, was jam packed - turns out it was a half-marathon going on through the park.

I avoided the hubbub by driving further up to the parking lot near the Trailside Museum. From there I went up the red dot trail to Eliot Tower. This part of the hike was a little crowded; seems this is a popular hike for kids. At that point I turned onto the Skyline Trail, and from then on things were pretty quiet.

It was my plan to do a slightly longer training hike today. I wasn't feeling great; I woke up with a slight headache. So I decided to wing it and see how far I could go.

As evidence of my foggy state, I accidentally turned off the trail while unfocused, then turned around and backtracked for a short while. I soon realized I was going the wrong way, fortunately!

After about 1.5 hours, I made it to Headquarters Path. This took about 15 minutes longer than it did last week. Not surprising, since I was carrying a couple lbs more in my pack, as part of the training exercise.

At the Path I saw a load of people wearing orange shirts jogging along the road - and there were no cars in the parking lots. At this point I realized the roads must be closed, which explained why most of the trails were less crowded than usual.

After that, I actually started to feel a little better, and began to enjoy the hike immensely. I must have been loaded up with endorphins. I decided to try to hike all the way to Rte 28, and managed to do this without any problems.