“Remoted” – Day 391 (Sunday)

Willard Brook State Forest.

Nature has been calling and today, I finally answered when a couple friends and I met at Willard Brook State Forest to hike. I’ve driven through this park and past it countless times, but haven’t stopped the car to enjoy it. 

Today was the day to visit this forest. My friends live close to Mount Watatic, which we've climbed several times, and which has been really busy lately. The MidState Trail runs through the woods that are practically in their backyard, but today was a great chance to expand our wooded horizons. The several months of not seeing these friends and the housebound isolation had worn on my psyche.

Even though I live near the Lowell, Dracut, Tyngsboro State Forest, I have been there only once, three or four years ago with my niece. It had been months since my last trip to the woods for hiking, although there were the two Saturdays of snowshoeing at Saima Park before the cardiac adventure temporarily derailed all activity. 

Grill graveyard.

Today's walk was old-school and unplugged. We followed the markers for the “Friends” and “Butterscotch” trails, and listened for sounds of the road. We saw only one other person on the trails, a man with a beautiful German Shepherd. The technology stayed in my pocket, except to take a few photos. There was no “map my walk” step counter activated for the obsessive tracking of steps and calories, partly because I forgot until we were done. There were no social media check-ins, just because. 

Near a little picnic grove there was an apparent graveyard heap of rusted and broken grills that have outlived their usefulness. We chatted as we walked on the trails and when we were done, we sat at a picnic table near Damon Pond and talked. The therapeutic and restorative effects of the woods and friends were much needed.