Sometimes it feels like bicycling has ruined me for walking. When Kelly suggested a stroll along the Norwottuck rail trail recently, I kind of grimaced to myself. It's hard to trudge slowly along the same paths we've briskly breezed along so often on the bikes. But, sucking it up (mostly), we (I) made the best of it and even improved upon the idea by deciding to turn the venture into a picnic...
A quick stop at Big Y on the way up for some grinders, drinks and snack food, and we were soon spread out on one of the picnic tables at the Elwell recreation area at the beginning of the Norwottuck proper.
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Fueled up, it was time to hit the trail; at sneaker speed. It was also bloggerette's first crossing of the famous train bridge...
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...certainly not her last...
The weather was more than cooperative. Sunny with passing clouds, in the 70's with a hint of humidity...
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...beau-ta-rific.
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Admittedly, there is much to be said about walking versus riding. There's the feeling that there's more time to spend, and the conversations get a little more involved (and/or convoluted)...
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By the time we got to West street, where the long and historic Hadley Common is, the bloggerette was beginning to fidget with hunger. We had to stop here so Kelly could take care of business.
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The town common proved an ideal resting point with several trees and a bench to rest on, and plenty of passerbyes to people watch. After several minutes, as the bicyclists and rollerbladers zipped by on their wheels, I decided to settle under a nearby tree and experiment with some shots for a time-lapse type slide show of a populace on the move...leisurely.
2 comments:
Tony,
Great pictures! I love heading that way on my bike. One day, past the plaza and maybe down another few miles, we saw a family of beavers. there were 4 or 5 of them.
Thanks... I'm guessing you're talking about the beavers in those wetlands on the far Amherst-end of the trail, past the colleges..?
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