Olympics

Difficulty: Hike - Easy, Clues - Easy to Moderate. A perfect place to take children.

Background: This park is a gem,owned by the town of Gloucester and is one of the finest town parks in the state. Though small, it has several paths running through it. The outermost path is a smooth, open trail that is used for cross country skiing on snowy winter days. The town has put in a scattering of picnic tables, exercise stations, bird feeders, a small play area and a re-created small stone shepherd's hut. It is a wonderful place for kids who delight in the small streams running through it and the ledges beckoning to be climbed.
We have been meaning to place boxes here for quite a while, plus we have been waiting for the right opportunity to place "Hour of the Olympics" (another in the Magic Tree House series.) Now that the Winter Olympics have started, take a break from watching it on tv and enjoy some of our favorite winter sports.

Directions: From I295 take Rt 44 west. After passing through the village of Harmony you wiil see a sign on the left side indicating Heritage Park (Chestnut Oak Road). Turn left and the parking lot is a short ways down on the left.

Clues: The clues are deliberately vague to encourage you to explore the area. The park itself is not large so you should be able to easily find everything. Read through the clues and take a good look at the wooden map that is placed high on a tree at the entrance to the park. Take your time and enjoy the park; this is not an Olympic speed event and no medals are given.

ICE IS NICE
Take the westernmost trail in the park to find the ramshackle tribute to Shayna. Locate the ledge approximately 15 paces from there. Stand at the base of the ledge and find the point where it is 340o to the SE corner of Shaynas's Folly. Hidden in the base of the ledge is a tribute to a sport that my kids practice on our front lawn on snowy winter days.

NO WALKERS ALLOWED
Find the southernmost bridge in the park. Take the trail towards the rising sun and you will see a small footpath heading south almost immediately up a series of ledges. At the start of the biggest ledge stop at the base of a large, dead pine tree. There should be an erratic-like piece of ledge 12 paces south (up the hill). Check the beginning of the ledge on the south part of the tree for a piece of memorabilia from a sport practiced here at the park and that was Fred's racing passion for several years.

COOL RUNNINGS
Find the meager spot dedicated to swinging children. Look for the ledge approximately 20 paces east of there in the pines. Look at the south end of the 2nd "fold" of ledge going into the ground (directly behind 3 tall, but thin pine trees). There you can find our dedication to the Jamaican contribution to Winter Olympics.

Before setting off be sure to read the waiver of responsibility and disclaimer.

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