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My cousin Linda was up visiting my sister last week. Linda and her parents had lived with us for a few years when we were all young, and had lived close by after that, so she's more like a sister than a cousin; she comes up often. I was expecting to see her on Sunday at a family barbecue, but my sister called Friday morning and announced "We're going for a hike. We'll pick you up if you can spare the time."

Keep in mind that she lives in Haverhill - that's a long drive for a hike, but heck, why not? My wife had to be out for medical appointments anyway, so I said "Sure, pick me up. Where did you want to hike?"

They had no real idea. Linda knew that there was a nice park down in Rchester, but I couldn't find it on the Internet, so I suggested Massasoit State Park. My wife and I had driven in there once before but hadn't taken any of the trails because she really can't do that any more. It's closer than Rochester and probably bigger, so we decided that would be our goal.

It's easy to get to from Oak Point (Google Directions ). The three of us arrived about 1:00 PM after a nice lunch at Dave's Diner and we set off on the first trail entrance we spotted after the parking lot. We came to a fork quickly and my sister confidently charged off up hill. I looked at the map I had taken from the gate office and felt we were heading the wrong way, but on the other hand, there is no wrong way: we were out for a hike, not heading for a destination.

There are five lakes or ponds in Massasoit Park. The trails wind beside them, making it fairly easy to follow the maps. It took a while to convince my sister that we should keep the lakes on our right if we wanted to traverse the length of the park; getting our cousin to agree helped seal the deal. The main trails are wide and easy to walk but there are plenty of narrower side trails with more challenging terrain if you want (we did).

We only encountered a few people on the trails. There are also bridle trails; we didn't go near those. One person passed us several times on a bicycle, but mostly we had the woods to ourselves. It was a warm fall day, the trees were changing color, the lakes were bright and shining.. it was a great hike.

We emerged on the main road an hour and a half later. We were a little disoriented at first because we weren't on the road we thought we were, but a minute or two with the maps and a confirmation from a passing jogger soon had us heading back to the parking lot.

If you are still able to walk uneven terrain, I certainly recommend a visit. See the web page link above for more information.