Rambling in the Rain in Rockville, Rhode Island

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Joined
Jan 15, 2013
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Location
Vernon, Conn.
Several years ago I hiked the Narragansett Trail. My favorite part was where it passes by Long Pond in Rhode Island. Yesterday (the 8th) I led a GMC hike mostly on the Narragansett in that area. With me were Mandy and Sarah. It was cloudy all day, which was good because I forgot my hat. It was also very warm for October.

We started where the Narragansett heads east from North Road (which Google Maps thinks is called "Old Rockville Road") in the Ell Pond Preserve. This is a fun and beautiful section of the trail, with a lot more climbing up and down than you would expect for Rhode Island and views out over Long Pond. This also includes the chute which was in a brief scene in the movie Moonrise Kingdom. After we got to the Canochet Road trailhead we took the road and then the Blue Pond Trail out to Blue Pond.

Earlier Mandy had said that there was a pond somewhere in the area where she used to go to pick cranberries, and when we got to Blue Pond she realized that that was it, only on the opposite shore from where she usually goes. However, we saw some cranberry pickers on our side of the pond, and it didn't take too long before we found cranberries of our own to pick. I ended up with over a cup of cranberries, which was an unexpected benefit.

We then continued along Blue Pond Trail (which includes some tricky route finding) back to another Canochet Road trailhead. Then we hiked a little down that road and up Stubtown Road to the eastern terminus of the Narragansett Trail. Somewhere along this roadwalk it started raining hard. It would continue to rain off and on all day, but not as hard as it did at first.

We then took the Narragansett back past where we left it, along Long Pond again, and back to our cars. Mandy then had to leave because she had to work that afternoon, but Sarah and I continued west on the Narragansett. This section of the hike was easier than the eastern section. There were a few rocky sections, but it was mostly easy trail, and never had the scrambling we occasionally had before.

We took side trails off the Narragansett to the Connecticut border, and then north until we rejoined the Narragansett near Yawgoog Pond. That was real pretty, with tiny islands standing out in the mist. Then we hiked back to our cars on the Narragansett.

My thanks to Mandy and Sarah for sharing the day with me, and again to Mandy for pointing out the cranberries for us, which neither Sarah nor I would have recognized on our own.

Here are the pictures.

--

Cumulus

NE111 in my 50s: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2)
NE111 in my 60s: 56/115 (44/67, 11/46, 1/2)
NEFF: 50/50; Cat35: 39/39; WNH4K: 40/48; NEHH 88/100
LT NB 2009; CT NB 2017

"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
 
Nice write-up. One of my favorite places here to hike and run. As technical and rocky as you're going to find in Rhode Island I'd imagine.
 
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