Along Old Battle Road in Concord. We headed off to the NEOC winter party. I wanted a jog somewhere in Concord-Carlisle. First choice was Walden, second the Cranberry Bog. Driving along 2A, I spotted the Minuteman NP bike-walk trail. I'd driven by in early December, noting its potential but had slipped my mind. It had to be this route! Beth dropped me off opposite the Minuteman Voc-tech HS entrance. At the outset, I’m thinking it’s maybe 3.5 mi to Concord Center. We agreed to meet at the DD on Thoreau St. I’m not sure where it was but CC is small. Off I go into a splendid landscape (largely snow-free) of natural beauty and American history, stopping a bunch of times to read signs - e.g., where Paul Revere’s ride ended when captured by the British. There were numerous old homes and cellar hole remnants. The path system got more complicated but there were no signs indicating direction to Concord Center. Finally I asked a man who said “Yes, straight”, then “but turn right at the fork”. 200m later, there was the fork where I turned right. But I could see another jct in 150m. It was a pyramid-shaped enclosure of woods by stone walls. On the far side was a small exit path that looked more like an MTB path, nothing like what I’d been on.
But there were 3 young people across the pyramid that I pursued a short distance, finally asking them if they knew which path led to Concord Center. These were two women, early 20s, and a young man, late 20s at most, with an accent I was curious about but did not inquire. Not surprisingly, he had his gps/cell in hand. It was easy to see exactly where we were. It surprised me that this path system was on the screen but there it was, incl. the pyramid and the small path I thought was an MTB path. We scrolled the way to CC on the Old Battle Rd-trail. It appeared circuitous and too far given party time, Beth expectation time etc. He came up with a predicted of 53’ w/o distance or manner, bike vs foot, also assuming no confusion, perhaps. They had offered to take me to CC & by this time I said yes. So we walked & talked for 15’ to their car near the top of Bedford La. They were from Worcester & came to Concord for the day as they'd been there before many times. The two woman were U Mass students & he was living with them yet working at Logan airport. We talked about maps & mapping & somehow that led to his telling me that he and one of the women were from Argentina (the other from Spain). I said I’d been there, to San Isidro…which is where they had grown up. Her father once was in the boat building business. We talked about the wide, muddy Plate ("river of silver") estuary.
It was the driver’s b-day. She'd bought herself the spanking new 2016 we were in. They dropped me off in CC. Now to find Thoreau. I should have recalled where it was having lived in Concord for some 4 yrs. -- but that was 30 years ago. I asked a woman coming out of a store. She sent me the long way so it was another 3/4 mi to the DD lot where Beth was. Beth said she wondered what would become of me seeing that the distance to town was more than thought. Not what I expected in the way of adventure without much time but at least as good. The sat view is like turning on a light.
After, we drove by 251 Fiske to the Bog entrance, fed Mocha there & went off to the usual excellent NEOC party hosted by the Parsons. Amazing how dark Carlisle & streets are after dark.
Old Battle Road & Trail
310 was on & off one too many times.
It had to be this route!
Colonial America