Halloween at Mount Watatic
There were so many fun things to do that I will not even call them chores after moving into our new place in Massachusetts. For a person like me who’s never lived in a house before, I got flooded by the overwhelming joy. Hiking around and exploring new trails with TT became my second priority unfortunately, we were just not that active in fall 2020.
I lived in San Francisco for 2 years back in 2009, the city was windy and chilly most of the time, owning a good amount of winter clothes wasn’t that weird since I also went snowboarding at Mammoth Lakes sometimes. However after moving down to LA, those heavy outfits became a silly burden that took up half of my wardrobe space for 8 years. Being a winter clothes hoarder for many years, now those itchy sweaters and thick jackets can finally come out from their vacuumed bags to keep me warm in New England.
The autumn colors were still flickering like bright flame when the first snow came on the day before Halloween. According to one of our neighbors this doesn’t happen often.
We had a fun snow fight in our backyard, and invited Sha-Sha to come out experiencing the winter. That was her first time touching snow, Sha-Sha quickly went back into the house without any hesitation.
Before moving to New England, I wondered how it’s like to live in a city without high mountains, that’s such a foreign idea. Quentin didn’t know how to answer my question when I asked him how people “hike” when there are no elevation differences. Alicia later told me we won’t be able to “hike” around here, it’s more like strolling through the woods. She later recommended us to visit Mt. Wachussett or Mt. Watatic before it gets too cold if we are looking for elevations.
Wapack Loop
- Route : Loop
- Length : 3.6 mi
- Elevation : 820 ft
The parking lot was packed and extremely muddy around noon on October 31th. We parked our car at Old Pierce road just like others.
The first snow fell before most leaves dropped from the trees, I had a plan to upgrade my camera the coming Thanksgiving, the unexpected winter encroached on autumn caught me unguard, I had to take all the pictures with my cell phone instead of with my dream gear.
The summit didn’t look as impressive as the snowy path we took, the lighting at noon made the scenery look flat.
To have a mask on during an elevation gain hiking wasn’t easy for me. We invited Claire to this hike that day and somehow she did it like nothing is bothering her, very strong. After moving to the east coast, TT became extremely curious about everything he can smell on our first few mini walks. He is not all that amazed by every inch of the soil anymore or I can’t imagine how long it will take us to finish this hike.
Although 2020 shut Halloween down, we still put out a pumpkin and some candies that night. A little bit sad but not too surprised to find out later no one came to our door for trick or treat.
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