July 19, 2023. The last stop on my western MA journey was Bartholomew’s Cobble, an area bordering CT full of a diverse range of flora (especially fern species and woodland flowers) and maintained and protected by The Trustees.
I headed out from my AirBnB at 6:30am so I could hike all the trails before most of the bugs came out and before the heat and humidity set in.
I began with a field hike and continued up HurlBurt’s Hill, then ducked into the woods and did all the trails. This included a loop hike by the river…the lower section of that loop was flooded, and it initially seemed like a good idea to slosh through since I figured the flooded section wouldn’t be too long. I was wrong. I’m glad I have a lot of experience navigating flooded trails courtesy of the industrious beavers in the White Mountains, BUT, the flooded bits went on longer and deeper here than I expected. Parts that were right by the river were not flooded while other parts that were further in yet close to a marsh area were. Anyway, all turned out fine, but I don’t recommend sloshing through like I did here at the Cobble. Just turn back if the water starts to go over your ankles.
I ended by hiking up the little knoll right by the Visitor Center, and when I finished everything there was a large group of young kids heading into the woods with their camp counselors.
I have now hiked all the trails in all of Massachusetts’ National Park sites and National Wildlife Refuges (that are open to the public), and I’ve hiked where I could to visit all of MA’s National Natural Landmarks. I have also walked/hiked all of MA’s hikeable National Recreation Trails. MA LifeQuest is complete.
