Saturday hikes

Usually about this time of year, as the weather starts turning nice, M and I start to complain at length at how unhealthy we are, how sluggish we feel, and how much we need to start moving again. Bikes are dragged up from the basement and random nice Saturdays are devoted to getting confused about trail markers and maps.

I'm not one for your sterile, gym-based exercise (though I'm not dissing it, good on you for working out if that's your thing!) because I am apparently a child that insists any physical activity is fun (any innuendo is unintended, I promise). That's why winters are so brutal, when we can't take hikes or go kayaking, or generally enjoy the outdoors- what's there to do?!

I still often need convincing though but luckily, even though M is also really enthusiastic about his indoor seat-based hobbies, he's much better at adulting and forcing the much needed exercise on me/us (in a very nice, encouraging way of course). 

This past Saturday, the forecast was for a high of 60 and clear skies- perfect for a hike. Sunday was a rainy day so we saved all our sitting for then and took not one but TWO hikes. Yeah you read that correctly. TWO.

We hiked Mount Misery in Lincoln, MA which was short and not nearly as bad as it sounds (though as I was hunting for the link to that, I discovered we only hiked a small fraction of it somehow). It was a pleasant enough hike but it left us wanting a little more (that sounds insane to me now that I write it out but really, it didn't take us long) so we made our way to the Gardner Hill Conservation Area in Stow. 

The Conservation area was a really nice loop of a hike, not incredibly strenuous and with lovely views. We agreed that we'd probably pass on Mount Misery but Gardner Hill will definitely be a repeat visit.

There are a lot of random small bodies of water along the hike which is definitely what you want to see, though I'm not sure why. I think there's some primal instinct or something still buried in us that gets awoken when we're out and about in extra naturey nature, and that is constantly seeking a water source.

See? W A T E R

Here is also another example of satisfying our inner caveman. Someone walked by this rock and a little something inside them said "yes. Yes, here we make S H E L T E R."

 Speaking of "a little something," here is a little snake friend that I almost stepped on. I will admit to a very undignified squawk when that happened which M will not let me forget about but who wouldn't make a little noise when the ground suddenly moves very quickly right under their feet? Luckily, he stopped to pose for a picture before slithering fulling into the underbrush. 

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So that's our hike! It was a good one overall and hopefully is starting a new trend of movement. We went on a bike ride yesterday so things are looking up! Happy moving everyone!