My friend S. and I have been exploring the Middlesex Fells for the past few weeks. While our early morning minihikes have been thoroughly pleasant, and we appreciate having a get-away spot so close to home, we've been a wee bit underwhelmed by the parts of the reservation we've surveyed so far. 

This may be due to unreasonable expectations. I, for one, am old enough not to have any, but it seems they're harder to expunge from your character than you'd think, particularly after a lifetime founded entirely upon them.

Despite the romantic name and the grandiosity of the literature on the Fells ("fells" by the way is a fancy, Middle English way of saying "a barren or rocky hill," from the Old Norse fjall), romance (at least in vehicularus) is prohibited...


...and the promise of epic hikes and grand vistas is a little overstated...


...when you consider the scale...


Nonetheless, there's lots to see...


There are miles of trails we have yet to get to, of course, and there's no point in nitpicking when the Fells is obviously a great little getaway for day hikers, mountain bikers, campers, and kayakers.

One serious problem I noticed all along the paths we traversed were major dead limbs hanging over paths. The DCR does the best it can on a tight budget, but this is not something to skimp on.

Sunday we dropped into Sheepfold, a gathering spot for dog owners. And while most dog owners and their dogs were well-behaved out in the open, we discovered a phenomenon back on the trails that was worthy of a Darwin Award:


I confess I have no earthly idea what these folks could possibly have been thinking. They were halfway there - they went to the trouble of picking up after their dogs - good boy! - but then left the biodegradable waste in a plastic baggie on the trail - bad, ba-a-a-a-d boy!.

It could have been a single offender, but I suspect there was a meme involved. Chances are, we're dealing with a copycatter here.

But come on, people. This is ridonkulous.
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*I am exaggerating a bit here. The scale is actually in half-mile units. My sense looking at the map initially was that we were in for some major hiking, but much of it is so low-impact it's strollable. In fact, we encountered several families with strollers on the trails. This is the perfect park for a family outing, and you can bring Fido along, too.  Kudos to the DCR for keeping it multi-use and accessible.