My Hike at Fells Reservation

A friend and I went out to to Fells Reservation, located north of Boston.  Fells Reservation is family and dog friendly nature reserve that has nicely laid out marked trails, some even stroller friendly.  At the main entrances to the reserve's hiking trails there are bulletin boards with maps of the trails, and postings of regular activities and events that happen such as hikes for all ages and interests. Many nature reserves have websites that hold all of this information that you can check ahead of time.

My friend and I both like to explore as we hike so while we kept mostly to the marked trails, there were a couple times when we decided to go explore a bit off trail.  Going fully off trail is not recommended for families with small children, but there are some more challenging trails that may be good for families with older children and can be used as a fun orienteering experience. On our off trail hike we followed along a stream that was dried up.  We had to navigate a few obstacles like plants with thorns and fallen trees or branches that hand to be navigated around as well as poison ivy patches.  These types of obstacles are more avoidable if you stick to the trails because they are supposed to be maintained well.

Along the pond trail there were small pathways to the pond's edge.  Since it is late in the summer most of the pond was dried up leaving a boggy marshland (very wet mud) with some areas that still had water a couple feet deep. Basically, where the pond stood was now wet muddy land with lily pads, logs, and some rocks.  I decided I wanted to look closely at what is living in this bog. I found some animal tracks that we identified as raccoon tracks, heard the persistent chirp of a black bird, saw some water-striders going across the small puddles and a few turtles in the distance.

Can you find the hidden frog?

My favorite animal find in the bog/pond area was when I rolled over a log (replacing it to its original place afterwards, of course).  I found under the log, what my friend identified as, a spring peeper, it's totally cute. I took a couple picture of the frog before it decided to hop away.  It is hidden well because of its camouflage coloring he just blends into the surroundings. 

Can you find the frog in the pictures? HINT: He is between the two sticks.

 Can you find him in this picture?

Next time I'll have to remember to bring my binoculars.  There were some animals in the distance, like a turtle swimming in the center of the pond and a few birds that we heard up in the trees, binoculars would help us get a closer look.

Over all I think my hike went very well.  I hope you will take time to explore a nature reserve near you. So come on and Meet Me Outdoors.