D is for Douglas

No, not me. I’m pretty egotistical, but not that much. Douglas as in Douglas State Forest. When trying to come up with a “D” adventure, I had a few options, none I was really thrilled with. Could have gone on a Duck Tour of Boston, but that wasn’t going to show us anything we haven’t seen already. Could have gone to see The Damned United (which has gotten very good reviews), but it’s not at the top of my list of movies to go see. Or I could have dragged Sage to Amherst and the Emily Dickinson Museum. But I didn’t want her to hate me for the 2 hours of her life she’d never get back, so I scrapped that idea as well. So the Douglas State Forest it was, and while it didn’t sound all that interesting, the weather was supposed to be great, so why not get out and do a hike?

Why not indeed! But first, we almost got tripped up by the threat of gunshots. It’s hunting season up here in New England, and Sage’s mom mentioned that state forests are often prime hunting ground. A quick look on the Massachusetts’ Department of Conservation and Recreation showed that indeed the Douglas State Forest was open to hunting. Thankfully, after more research, we found out that Massachusetts, like Maine, does not allow hunting on Sundays. Ancient blue laws turned out to be our friends for once, so Sunday we headed down the road to Douglas, a town that I no doubt could run into the ground if they gave me a chance.

We found a map that showed a bunch of hiking trails in Douglas, and we noticed that one went by something called a “Tri-State Marker”. Considering the forest was on the border of both Connecticut and Rhode Island, what better way to spend a splendid Sunday morning than hiking to a point where we could lay down in 3 states at once! So that was our goal for the day.

With a name like "Douglas", the forest has to be good.

The hike was nothing special. Th park is pretty flat, all the leaves have pretty much turned and fallen by now, and there wasn’t much to look at. We only got lost twice (not 100% my fault, as the map didn’t have every trail labeled, and the trails in the forest rarely had signs), but we managed to find our way well enough. Part of the trail is the Mid-State Trail, which runs the length of Massachusetts (from South to North), connecting Rhode Island with New Hampshire. It connects to the North-South Trail in Rhode Island, which heads straight to the Atlantic Ocean.

Not the quickest way to get from RI to NH. Probably not the most scenic either.

Just a short walk to surfing at Weekapaug.

After getting back on the right trail we made it to the impressive Tri-State Marker! While approaching the obelisk, a great surge of cosmic energy seemed to exude from all parts of the area. How incredible to be able to stand at the intersection of 3 states at once! How rare this moment must be! (In reality, not all that rare. According to this website, there are 65 instances in the USA where 3 states connect (including DC). At first I wasn't 100% convinced this website was very reliable, as it lists 3 different points for the convergence of Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee. But having looked into it, it's correct. Because of the changes in the course of the Mississippi River over the last couple centuries, the border moves around crazily at these 3 states. You can look it up.)

Sage is in Rhode Island, I'm in Massachusetts, and the camera is in Connecticut. What madness!

After that thrilling spectacle, we followed the Connecticut border north to create a loop and made it back to our car in one piece. The day turned out to be one of the nicest Indian Summer days you could ask for up here: Temps in the high 60’s, gorgeous blue skies, and no wind to speak of. So how to complete a great day like that? We raked leaves when we got home. Do we know how to live it up, or what?

Coming soon: Join us for the letter “E”, where Sage tries to figure out how we can afford a trip to Estonia on 2 weeks notice!