Just for Fun!

February, usually our coldest month, also boasts the calendar's only day devoted to romantic love. Traditional fare for Valentine's Day might be a box of chocolates, or better, a fine restaurant meal. But what about a romantic walk in nature? Yes, February may be cold, but what can be more romantic than a walk in a snowy wood? (And you can walk off the calories from those chocolates!)

So far there has not been as much snow this winter as I would like, but we New Englanders know that snow is possible any time through April, so there is a good chance that we may have get to enjoy a romantic walk (or cross-country ski- or snow shoe-outing) through a snowy landscape by Valentine's Day.

As I have written in previous articles, one of the tricks of finding a good place to enjoy a hike in the snow is knowing where you can park. So last month when we had one good snowfall (about 12 inches), I decided to try the Nature Conservancy's Dundery Brook Trail (part of the John C. Whitehead Preserve) in Little Compton, RI – a place I had been in other seasons, but had never experienced under a blanket of snow.

Since the trailhead is directly next to Little Compton's town recreational fields and tennis courts, and behind the Wilbur and McMahon Schools (on Meetinghouse Lane), I figured that the chances were good that the parking lot there would be cleared. As it turned out, I was wrong; nevertheless I did find one parking space where the sun had melted enough snow for me to just fit. But since this trailhead is close to the town commons, and also to the public school, you could certainly find an alternative parking place if you don't mind walking a little further.

The Dundery Brook trail is not long (just a little over two miles round-trip), but it is beautiful, especially under a blanket of snow! The first half of the trail is on a raised boardwalk, which allows the hiker to view the forested wetland below without sinking in. In mild weather (with no snow or ice) this part of the trail is wheelchair- or stroller- accessible, but with a coating of snow on top, the path is more suitable for skis, snow shoes, or good hiking boots.

Two things I noticed about this part of the trail in the snow were: first, the loveliness of the native holly bushes, their shiny green leaves and bright red berries set off by the barren trees and the snow, and second, how the snow "hushed" outside noise so that the nearby songs of the robins were very present to me as I hiked. (Yes, there was a busy flock of robins, their orange-red breasts flashing about as they flew).

Occasionally I could also hear children's voices carried on the wind from the neighboring school's playground, and at noon I was serenaded by bells from the nearby church on the Little Compton village green.

All in all, between the chirping and fluttering of robins, the sounds of children at play, and the church bells, I felt like I had stepped into some charming picture-book.

At the edge of the forest, the boardwalk leads out onto a meadow-path (the Nature Conservancy's website says it is an old cart-path). To the left, the preserve borders on the property of Bumblebee Farm (the preserve is also known as "Bumblebee Preserve"), which is quite picturesque, but whose property is off-limits to hikers.

To the right, the path follows along the eastern edge of Bumblebee Pond, which hosts swampland and swamp plants, like cattails, a very important plant for nesting red-winged blackbirds and marsh wrens, and also important to the frogs and salamanders who lay their eggs amongst them, and other animals who both eat them and utilize them for cover.

As I was there on a snowy day, I did not see any nesting birds of course, but I was able — thanks to the snow — to see the prints of some deer that had passed by, as well as evidence of the hunt by some bird of prey (most likely a hawk) of some small mammal (wing markings and blood stains in the snow).

The path along the shore of Bumblebee pond is very pleasant — the elongation of this end of the pond making it feel as if you are following a river.

Eventually, you leave the pond side and follow the path into an open meadow, which offers a wonderful wide sky and at its edge some impressively large trees, and then the path continues down a lane which is edged by mixed evergreens (holly and juniper), until once again you reach the edge of the preserve's limits, and it is time to turn around for the return trip.

While the Dundery Brook Trail does not provide the kind of spectacle that you might get on a mountain top or at the sea's edge, it does offer up the romantic charm of a forest and meadow lane that seem as if they have hardly changed over the last century or more; it is a quiet place to enjoy alone or as a couple, and is an easy enough walk that even young children can enjoy it with you.

Now that I have tasted its romantic beauty in the snow, I look forward to returning in the spring when busy romances of birds and beasts are in full swing!