I recently had to travel to the Boston area for an event in the suburb of Woburn. Whenever I travel, I always try to find some time to see something interesting or explore something new and when checking out Woburn I couldn’t help but notice that Middlesex Fells reservation sat between Boston and Woburn when I did a quick search for trails in the area. That’s when the crazy idea hit of why take a cab from Boston when I can hike it.
I arrived in the Boston Back Bay station in the morning and divided my adventure up into two parts since I decided to meet a colleague in Boston for lunch. I had all of my luggage and some water and snacks packed into a backpack that weighed about 20 pounds. I spent the remainder of the morning rucking around the Charles River Esplanade area and enjoying the views of the river for a nice ~10 mile adventure.
It was a rainy and misty day so the views of the bridges were not the clearest
but it was great seeing many of the interesting looking trees in the park
as well many of interesting statues throughout it.
After a nice long lunch meeting I then set out (a bit too late) on my approximately 12 mile ruck to Woburn via the Middlesex Fells reservation. The walk to the reservation did take me through parts of the Boston area that I had never visited before and there were a few interesting sites along the way like this footbridge across the Mystic River.
When I arrived at the nature reservation, I started down the Middle Road trail and headed towards the panther cave.
I was able to capture some pictures of the rock outcroppings that started to pop up as I approached the area of the cave, but didn’t get to capture any great pictures of the cave itself as by the time I arrived in the area darkness was starting to rapidly set in and I switched focus to getting myself back to one of the main roads that paralleled the park and to the hotel hosting the event as quickly as possible.
While I was not without a small flashlight, there is a definite note to self to pack a headlamp next time so I don’t need to cut my adventure short. From what I did see of the preserve, however, it’s definitely an area that I would love to explore more of if the opportunity presents itself in the future. Regardless the day made for a fun 22 mile trek that was much more fun than a cab ride.
Surviving Ultra 