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Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Wellesley hike: Guernsey Sanctuary, the Sabrina Lake area

June 14, 2022 by Deborah Brown 3 Comments

On the Wellesley/Needham line, off  a street lined with some of Wellesley’s most beautiful mansions, a parking area just large enough for a few cars grants easy access to the 25-acre Guernsey Sanctuary. The trailhead is so much a part of its woodland surroundings that I blew by it, even though I’ve visited the beauty spot many times over the years. To reach the dirt lot from Dover Road in Wellesley, turn down Livingston Road. Livingston Road turns into Winding River Road, and near the Wellesley/Needham line is where you’ll find the parking area. Pro tip: when the house numbers reach the 150s/160s, slow down. You’re there. If you pass the  yellow “no salt zone” sign on the right, and the yellow fire hydrant on the left, you’ve gone too far.

Now that we have that figured out, let’s take an easy one-mile, 45-minute woodland hike along tranquil paths softened with the needles of hundreds of towering pine trees, and lined with early-spring wildflowers and ferns; walk along Sabrina Lake, a man-made 18-acre body of water; and cross the bridge, an Eagle Scout project, to explore Oak Island.

Start your hike at the entrance point that’s on the same side of the road as the parking lot. At the Guernsey Sanctuary sign, bear right and look for a short wooden bridge that spans a currently dried-up brook bed.

Guernsey Sanctuary, Wellesley
The Wellesley Conservation Council since 2020 has gone by the name the Wellesley Conservation Land Trust. The Land Trust is a frugal organization, so the plan is to change the signs around town as existing signs deteriorate.

From the bridge, step directly onto the stump rounds if it’s muddy or if you’d just like to have a bit of fun hopping from one round to the next. The “tree cookies,” as they’re sometimes called, were in 2020 sliced by Wellesley Conservation Land Trust volunteers from the trunks of fallen trees, and strategically placed as a nature-based solution to the mucky conditions that are often part of a Guernsey Sanctuary hike. Because the walking path rings a marsh, all it takes is a little rain to turn parts of the trail into a mud slick. The addition of the tree cookies encourages hikers to keep to the path instead of veering off-trail and trampling ecologically sensitive areas in an effort to keep footwear mud-free.

Guernsey Sanctuary, Wellesley
During rainy times, a brook runs under the footbridge. Right now the muddy brook bottom is the only hint that water recently flowed down that channel.

Shortly after the bridge, at the “Guidelines for Sanctuary & trail use” sign, go right. Soon after that you’ll pass a sanctuary access point in Needham at the end of the Locust Lane cul de sac in Needham.

Guernsey Sanctuary, Wellesley
Stump rounds placed at the edge of the path over often-mucky areas encourage hikers to stay on trail.

Technically speaking

If you can’t fathom so much as a casual stroll without fiddling with your phone, the Wellesley Conservation Land Trust has you covered. The Trust in 2019 brought technology to the Guernsey Trail with the addition of QR-codes at strategic spots along the one-mile circular trail. Support for the project was provided by the Wellesley Turkey Trot Foundation, and naturalists Bill Geizentanner of Wellesley and Ted Elliman of Sherborn, who conducted a botanical inventory of the area and identified 72 specimens and special places along the trail to be featured. Each of these features has a QR-code metal marker that identifies common and scientific names of the selected specimens and places, as well as information about various plants, trees, and water features along the trail. I tried out a few of the markers. Sometimes the QR codes worked for me, sometimes not. Success likely varies based on individual phone coverage.

Looking up from my phone I was rewarded, after an easy climb to the top of a slight rise, by a view of Sabrina Lake. (Landmark: a white house with a red roof sits directly across this narrow part of the lake.) The 18-acre privately owned body of water is approximately 1/2 mile long from north to south. Its deepest point is 10 feet, roughly in the center of the pond.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Environment, Hikes, Outdoors, Scouts

Linden Square, Wellesley
Riverbend, Natick

Wellesley Troop 185 Boy Scouts attain Eagle status

July 29, 2020 by admin 2 Comments

Wellesley Boy Scout Troop 185 earlier this month held an Eagle Court of Honor recognizing their recent class of 10 Eagle Scouts. Following COVID-19 guidelines, and with plenty of social distancing, the event was held outside at Elm Bank Reservation.

Wellesley Boy Scouts
Congratulations to the ten members of Wellesley Boy Scout Troop 185, who received recognition for their Eagle Scout accomplishment (nine of the scouts are pictured above).

Congratulations Edward, Nick, Rowen, Eric, Sage, Michael, Fletcher, Frank, Russell and Daniel.

Scoutmaster Paul Sullivan said, “I am very proud of these young men and the leaders they have become. Scouting is fun with a purpose and only about 4% of scouts nationwide earn this high honor… here we have 10 of them. The recognition of being an Eagle Scout will open many doors for them but it’s their good character that will keep them in the room.”

Troop 185 has a very robust program and is open to all boys in Wellesley and surrounding towns in grades 5 through 12. More information about Troop 185 can be found at www.mytroop185.com

New enrollment begins Aug. 10.

MORE:

Pandemic no match for this Eagle Scout project on Wellesley trails

Filed Under: Scouts

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