just about a week later, the horse caves had me back. this time along with hjordis, kieron and tove - and a whole bunch of friends.
we took a different path this time, not the steep ups and downs over mount norwottuck.
the kids had a great time exploring on their way up and we spend an eternity at the horse caves themselves, trying out the various cracks and caverns in the rocks.
inside this tiny crack, the kids found some cave paintings, presumable going back to the pioneerthals millenia ago:
after a lunch at the caves, we did climb up mount norwottuck where the kids erected a faerie village by the cliffs - prison and all:
i have a bit of catching up to do - i am reaching way back into may and june, and august is already here!
the last day of may, i went out on the m-m trail again, starting out at the notch in south amherst and climbing mount norwottuck in the early morning sun.
the views north, over amherst, were breath-taking, but the carpet of trees that stretched south and west were what held me the longest. the peacefulness of a stretch of green, so seemingly undisturbed by human development, was precious beyond words.
from here, the path led downhill and through a narrow rock crevice to the horse caves, a hiding spot during shays’ rebellion in revolutionary war days.
i loved these bizarre plants that grew by the side of the trail - cancer root, as i found out - and spring was still fresh enough to make every flower stand out like a little gift.
but the most memorable encounter on my hike was that with a tiny fawn. coming around a bend, i almost stumbled across it lying right next to the trail.
trying not to scare it beyond the unavoidable, i took a couple fo quick pictures and retreated as silently as possible.
the next section of the hike was very different indeed, leading through a more swampy - and buggy! - terrain.
this section spat me out at route 9 in belchertown and i decided to add on another section since the going was good.
after climbing up along a beautiful spring, covered in emerald-green moss, the sky quite suddenly turned dark on me. i had ten miles behind me at that point and two more to go to finish this section of the trail that was to get me to mount lincoln in pelham. when the winds got fierce and the sound of thunder came closer, i decided to end my day early and, ten miles behind me or not, gathered up my reserves and came jogging out of the woods on gulf road in belchertown, where a samaritan woman with a sleeping toddler in the backseat gave me aride back down to route 9.
it is hard to believe that july is just around the corner - summer is here! in this seemingly endless rain, it is good to remember the fun things and projects that filled our spring this year.
there was tove’s birthday party at unity park in turners falls with lots of sun, friends, and even some baseball:
a (mostly) peaceful, sunny afternoon swimming and playing at the montague creek (turns out the drowning performance was “good enough for the blog”):
cozy days at home reading…
a trip to the natural history muesum at amherst college with their friends allie, sara, and lindsay:
garden beds being built…
…and planted:
and - so exciting! - a chicken coop going up in our backyard! (thank you, linda!!!)
you might not have known this, but i have officially become a local. it happened kind of overnight and many people haven’t realized it - but it’s true: we now own our own flock of poultry, just like all the other americans around. people here firmly believe that chickens belong into your backyard (i think i added the ducks to prove i haven’t entirely converted to yankee life - yet). quite a concept.
right now, though, the chicks and ducklings are not yet in my backyard (though i really wish they were stinking up their own living quarters rather than mine!) but inside, under the heat lamp, growing feathers.
here they are - hjordis is holding the araucanas, kieron the black austrolorps (yup, i know! and they are just getting whiter as the days go by - i am beginning to get suspicious…), and tove is squeezing her love into the buff orpingtons.
and here are a couple of the ducklings - these are the khaki campbells - doing what they do best: drinking and making a mess of it. did you know that it takes four ducklings only about 25 minutes to empty a gallon of water into the cage and turn it into a pool? thankfully, they are also some of the cutest things i have ever seen, which is very helpful to remember when i muck out their living quarters twice a day.
the other thing about ducklings and chicks is that they grow up really fast: here they are, ten days old! and i haven’t even started building their coop yet!!
hjordis doesn’t go anywhere these days without randomly starting to turn herself upside down, turning a few cartwheels or bending herself into odd shapes. my back hurts just watching her but she is certainly enjoying herself:
for her birthday, she took us out to the greenfield bike trail - a short section of trail that runs along the green river and the highway from the green river swimming pool halfway into town.
with i-91 skirting the trail almost the entire way, it isn’t a very peaceful ride - and the greenfield jail on the other side of the trail doesn’t particularly add to its charm either. i imagine it must have been a beautiful place before they put the highway in place and it makes me wonder who chose to build an interstate highway right next to such a pretty place.
we enjoyed our ride nevertheless, finding beauty along the way. and after a short playtime at the park, we headed back home to meet up with our friends for some fun birthday play, dinner, and, of course, cake!
i just love those spring and summer firsts, when you get to revisit all the good places after a long winter break. bike riding is way up there on the list, right along with hiking. it felt wonderful to be able to dust off and oil up our bikes and take them out on the turners falls trail again.
this is one of my favorite pictures - kieron and hjordis looking over the canal in turners falls. we spent much time exploring the shore there - and found a good-size leech along with some baby ones under a few rocks.
we had some good races along the quiet trail and are hoping to get back there soon to do the entire trail.
the next hiking debut came just a few days later when i ventured back out onto the m-m trail. the seven sisters are a series of ups and downs in the holyoke mountain range, starting at the connecticut river in south hadley and ending up at the notch in south amherst.
having heard that it is a more challenging hike and it being the first one of the season, i decided to only hike this one section and started walking around 11am. the day turned out to be excruciatingly hot and i was drenched before i had even reached the first peak.
i knew i had plenty of time to sit and rest but with the foliage still undeveloped, there was very little shade anywhere, and the sun was merciless that day. i realized pretty early on that i might not have as much water as the heat warranted.
the only cool and shady place along the way - the summit house on skinner mountain, complete with parking lot - was overrun with people and not very inviting. but the views were breathtaking, if hazy. pictures can do it no justice.
the december ice storms have caused some incredible damage along the way, that - just like the views from skinner - was hard to catch on camera. there were entire sections of forest with trees broken off like toothpicks, leaving the woods a mess of tangles.
while the ice storm damage was stark and lacking all grace, the ever-present cycle of growth and decomposition of the woods is both fascinating and beautiful:
it was a gift to see the wildflowers peak out of last year’s foliage.
there seemed to be no end of peaks and valleys on this section - the views being more than gratifying and my only regret is that i didn’t find enough shade or bring enough water to sit and just enjoy the peace.
hiking up mount sugarloaf seems to mark the beginning of our summer hiking every year. the climb is steep and we don’t usually dare attempt it before all the snow and ice are gone.
this year, we happened to pick an exceedingly windy april day to make our debut - the wind was strong enough to entice even the more reluctant hikers amongst us into adventure.
we ducked down behind the tower walls on top of the hill for some shelter during our snack.
the kids were very amused about this patch of grass growing out of an old pipe:
