Blue Hills Reservation

Milton & Quincy, MA

April 20th, 2014

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Beginning our hike at the Chickatawbut Overlook, Xiying, Greg, Skye and Katherine review our planned route on the trail map. With crystal clear skies above, we looked forward to some great hilltop views.

And we're off... headed up to the top of Chickatawbut Hill as soon as Greg snaps his photo of the Boston skyline.

From Chickatwbut Hill we catch our first glimpse of Great Pond on the Randolph/Braintree border.

A bit further up the trail, Skye, Katherine, Assaf and Xiying enjoy a view of Hawk Hill across the valley. The evergreens glistened in the sunshine and looked almost out of place against the still brown landscape; as if they were artificial.

Greg leads the way as we hike down the far side of Chickatawbut Hill. We reach an outcrop where Katherine and Skye share the moment while enjoying an amazing view of Buck Hill to our west.

We could see people up on Buck Hill's open summit and knew we had to go there! And beyond Buck Hill, Greg points out the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory off in the distance.

Sometimes being in the hot seat is not so bad. Katherine, Skye, and Xiying enjoy the heat of the smooth, sun-warmed rocks as we make our way to the west.

	At the bottom of the slope Katherine is ready to push on. So we continue down one hill...

...and up the next one. This nicely crafted staircase brought us to the top of Buck Hill with an astounding 360 degree panoramic view! If there's one must-see place in the reservation, this is it! We wanted to stay there forever.

Our group photo on the Buck Hill summit, and a close-up of downtown Boston. And to the northwest we also had a clear view of New Hampshire's Mt. Monadnock on the horizon.

We took a roundabout route descending Buck Hill to the west before looping back around it to the east.

Later, Katherine and Skye count rings on a sawed tree that had fallen. How old was it? Old. Thick ring=good year. And on the Pipeline Trail, Xiying admires the baby trees sprouting through the leaves and moss.

As we neared the end of our hike, Katherine, Skye and Xiying enjoy the tranquility of two tiny streams merging right before they pass beneath the trail.

For some reason we were intrigued by the stream's conduit beneath the trail. Katherine takes a peek inside.

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