The hikers did a fantastic job with smiles throughout. The weather was cool but without rain. Catherine gets the award for best trail navigation, as she found us after starting out late. Jennie, Mary Alice, and John, the elders of the group, performed extremely well. Stephen gahered no tics, unlike in last spring's outing. The hike was a a bit abbreviated due to time; we omitted the part of the Fairhaven Bay loop. Dinner was a hit. Reports of sound sleep that night reached the organizers.

The 2009 October Glory Take-A-Hike event covers 5.3 miles in the Concord hiking trails (white on the map). The hike starts and ends at the parking lot on Rt 117 just east of the Sudbury River. Routes to Fairhaven Bay and Walden Pond are essentially round trips that can be omitted if desired. The crotch of the Y is the intersection of the Fairhaven and Andromeda Trails, so people can wait there if they want to skip one leg. The round trip to Walden is about 25 minutes; similar for Fairhaven Bay. More distance can be covered by circling Walden Pond, another 1.5 miles, but we won't plan that in the trip.

So here are some details for Saturday's hike. We will meet at 10 Trinity Place (2 streets south of the church) and then travel in as fewest cars as possible to the parking lot on Rt117 just before the Sudbury River. The hike willl take us to Mt. Misery, and then over to Fairhaven Bay via the Fairhaven Trail, and then over to Walden Pond on the Andromeda Trail. We will return along the same route, omitting Mt. Misery. We should be back at the parking lot by 5:30. Then it's back to our house for dinner.

Hikers are:

• Nancy Litchfield
• Stephen Winthrop
• Jane Williamson
• Annie Stubbs
• Art Jahnke
• Nan Jahnke
• Warren Bailey
• Catherine Williams
• Jennie Bush
• John Blank
• Barbara Buell
• Mary Alice Hoes
• Fred Knight

FAQ

1. What do I wear? The temperature will be in the forties. I'll have a fleece and maybe some mittens. Possibly a hat. I'll have my comfortable shoes, either sneakers or boots.
2. What are the route and distances? The total hike (shown on the map) is 5.3 miles. The sections can be done separately. You can wait at an intersection while the group does one leg, e.g., to Walden and back in ~25 minutes.
3. What's for dinner?Boeuf Bourguignon.
4. How's parking?On the street at 10 Trinity Place and limited at the parking lot on Rt117, so we'll use as few cars as possible to get to the hike starting point.

Ann and Fred Knight