happy fourth!

However you are celebrating this Fourth of July, I hope you are having a delightful time!  A friend and I had planned on going up to NH for a day of hiking; however the possibility of severe thunderstorms had us thinking twice.  (This is the second time this year our plans for hiking have been foiled.  I'm 0-2.)

Instead, I suggested we head over to Breakheart Reservation.  The last time we tried to run there, we just jumped in at a place that looked like it was part of the park.  Somehow we ended up along the giant powerlines and knew this couldn't be right.  Eventually we gave up, found the main road and headed back to town to run the lake.

This time we drove and made sure we entered the park at the right place.  We ran around the Reservation for about 50min.  Up and down, up and down.  It was pretty hilly...the kind of run that you absolutely hate doing, but love the fact that you've just done it.

It was a beautiful place, and I'm mad at myself for not having visited sooner!  There are two main trails, an inner loop and an outer loop.  Both are paved and wide.  Jutting off of the main paths are a number of unpaved loop trails.  We were hesitant to take any of these because last time...well, we didn't want to end up along the power lines again.  There are also two good sized lakes (one with a swimming area), tons of picnic tables, and a few playgrounds, too!

Despite the humidity and the warm temps (we should be used to it by now, right?!), it was a great run!  I wish we'd had more time to explore some of the unpaved trails.  For now, I'm just glad I know where it is, what it's all about, and to expect a hilly run when I'm there.  Below are some pics from our run.

Happy Independence Day, America!

Looooots of people come here to swim and picnic.

Yep, just a little humid.

We entered on the Wakefield side; this is the Saugus entrance.

One of the smaller inclines we experienced.