The First True Section

 Hike Date: January 9, 2022 Borderland State Park to Massapoag Lake, Sharon

BCT Map 11 Start at Point C, End at Point A 

BCT Direction: North

BCT Distance 4.4M

Remaining Distance: 223.06

Percent Complete: 3.0%

Borderland has always been a go-to park for us.  Its relatively close to home and with the boys boundless energy, a great place to walk around with paths wide and smooth enough for the grandparents.  Most of these explorations have been somewhat limited to the area around the mansion house (well worth checking out if you can catch a tour) and the carriage path down to the farm on the other end of the property.  The last few years we've started to explore a few of lesser used trails in the more wooded section of the property.  

We've probably seen the BCT trail markers in here in the past, maybe even commented on them... But when planning this weeks stage, it made sense to start here, in a place the boys are familiar with.  We would start in the park and then leave it, taking on the first section for us that follows a road north to the shoreline of Lake Massapoag in Sharon, MA.

The weather was cold and snowy and it always takes a little more energy to keep the feet moving through all that white stuff but with boots and jackets and crampons we made it through.   The first part of the trail starts at the Borderland parking lot and winds down our familiar path to the edge of the pond.  If you break off here for a short detour, you can find a fire roaring in the lakefront shelter where we have routinely stopped for cocoa on previous adventures.  This small touch is one of the best hidden parts of the Borderlands experience.

From there we quickly left the main path and headed up into the woods on the French trail, and then connecting in a snow covered winter-wonderland with the Split-Rock Trail, the Ridge Trail and finishing up in the park on the Morse-Loop Trail before taking a small spur toward the boundary.  It felt... far.

By the time we emerged onto the surface streets of Sharon the boys were close to revolt, but the novelty of the different terrain and the secret of the trail markers "hidden" in plain sight on telephone poles was, as hoped, enough to keep the motivation high.  The knowledge that we were closer to the car at the end than the car at the beginning was also helpful, at least for K.   Helpfully, snacks are always also good to keep things moving.

A short time later we reached the lake and the end of our hike and sat down for lunch.  The sun had come out and the Sharon Community Center where we had parked had a beautiful bench overlooking the lake.  Only downside was nothing was dry and the wind was cold!  But, the first real leg of the trail was in the books!