By Kelly Guarino
Walking the Bay Circuit Trail end to end was far more enjoyable than I ever expected it would be. The trail is not about one trek to a singularly spectacular destination. It is more about the line itself, creating a journey between a beginning and an end. A connection between the present and the past, between my own back yard and back yards far away. Natural areas and industrial parks, wooded trails and neighborhood roads. A whole lot of ordinary that collectively became extraordinary. A chance to experience everyday life at a pace slow enough to let it unfold, often in an unexpected way. “Serendipity” seems overwrought, but that is what the experience was – the desirable discovery of things that we were not in quest of.
There also were moments of spectacular. And they began at the very beginning. We had taken not more than four steps on the trail when we saw it – a snowy owl, staring us down, perched on the archway at the end of the boardwalk to the beach. What an unexpected welcome. We couldn’t have orchestrated anything better. We stared back, big smiles, and then continued on our adventure.
I walked the trail with my friend Jen. We walked about 12 miles each time, sometimes more, sometimes less. And an “epic” distance thrown in one weekend so I could complete 44 miles before the end of my 44th birthday year. We began on November 30, 2014, and finished on November 24, 2018. 22 walks in 21 days over 4 years. We most often drove two cars, leaving one at the end. But sometimes we got rides from spouses and parents, and when the trail passed near Carlisle (our hometown), we just walked from our houses. One time Jen walked my way and we kept going, and the other time I walked Jen’s way and we kept going. We mostly started walking at sunrise, but a few times started in the dark. Sometimes on Saturday, sometimes on Sunday, and an occasional holiday Monday. We had an open invitation for others to join us – but only one friend was game to get up that early and walk that far. We didn’t plan to walk mostly in the winter, but that’s what ended up working best for us. Summer was too hot for me, and too busy with gardening for Jen. With snow not arriving some years until February, late fall and early winter was ideal. We did have some really cold days. But it was just part of the adventure.
One time, we were walking on a neighborhood road when it struck me that something seemed odd. There were mature trees, but something about the landscape seemed disturbed, not quite natural. I commented on this to Jen and wondered aloud what used to be there. A few minutes later we came to a little pocket park, in the middle of a cul-de-sac, in the middle of the neighborhood, where there was a simple monument, an American flag, and information that this area had been Camp Curtis-Guild, a military training base used in WWI. And also during the Civil War, and the Revolutionary War, and the Spanish-American War. I loved coming across the history of these places. Another place, Indian Ridge in Andover, caught my attention because the sign said, “Those in poor health were once advised to walk around the Ridge twice a day.” Back in 1897. I love that. That lead to learning more about Alice Buck, who was instrumental in its preservation, and the fundraising efforts held at that time to conserve the ridge. Every walk led us through stories like this. Try looking up the mysteries of Hockomock Swamp.
The trail is well marked, and the maps are detailed, but they really didn’t tell us how that day’s journey would unfold. We happened upon “hidey-hole” trees, messages from local hikers (“Beavers Unite!”), picnic spots, peaceful cemeteries, well-constructed kiosks, boardwalks, birds, big trees, streams, the mighty Merrimac, funny typos, interesting mailboxes, little libraries, town centers, hill tops, benches, things to stand on top of, “no” signs, a fellow BCT section hiker, highway crossings, Rte 27 (lots of times), historic sites, war memorials, a funeral procession, directional signs, rock walls, granite posts, dogs and their people, a mink, operating cranberry bogs, old cranberry bogs, power lines, DPWs, big rocks, woodland views, local notices, farmland, farm animals, big upturned roots, bridges, mill sites, forestry projects, swamps, community farms, fallen trees, and more. On one cold day, some high school boys invited us to join their pond hockey game, and showed us where to cross, in the place where they hadn’t fallen in.
As we traversed from town to town, we were struck by the number of different logos we saw – land trusts, conservation groups, towns, community organizations – local, state, national. So many people engaged in an effort to create all of this. Grateful to them, and grateful that we got to enjoy it. Reaching the end was bittersweet, of course. We were happy to finally connect the beginning to the end, but sad that there were no more segments left. We have wondered what to do next. And lately we’ve been thinking we might just try doing the trail all over again.
