The Great Wander of 2026
Day 12: June 4th, 2026
States Hiked: Connecticut, Rhode Island (13 total so far)
Trails Hiked: Stone Bridges Trail, Fort Adams Loop
Distance Hiked: 5.3 miles, 5.8 miles
Elevation Gain: 62 ft. elev. gain, 236 ft. elev. gain
Cumulative Wander: 86.1 miles
Duration: 1h 46m, 1h 46m
Getting around tolls in New England isn't easy when the alternative is driving down 30mph speed limit roads that even time and space forgot in the dustbin, but alas, what is a wander if not finding strange, unusual, and less-traveled places?
A pain in the ass, but in this case, at least the hotel was close to something that would allow me to check another state off the list before I traveled to the one I was excited about.
Turns out, even walking under a highway bridge was set to be the pain of the ass variety that day, a fitting omen for what was to come.
After having to cross the street twice to avoid highway ramps and sidewalk construction, I meandered through the "olde village" of Mystic, which looked pretty neat, truthfully. With more time and less urgency, I might've made some stops along the way. It reminded me of Renfaire but with a latter century twist, and there was also a giant-ass aquarium. Had it not been a perfect weather day in early June, I would've partaken, but the ass-draggingly slow drive through the town later made me glad I didn't opt for that.
Instead, I crossed the street to a hotel where the trailhead supposedly was, and the difficulty I had finding the access point should've been an omen in and of itself.
Maybe I'm just a nitpicky trail snob, but I enjoy things like being able to see the trail, not having vines and thorns crossing the trail, and knowing where the hell it's actually going, also with a dash of "that's not a trail, that's a field with no path."
I also didn't see any stone bridges on the Stone Bridges trail.
The latter half was somewhat better in terms of being able to walk through it without bushwhacking with a katana, but that's not saying much.
Heading to Newport while once again trying to avoid tolls added an hour to the commute, and that was before there were multiple accidents getting through Providence. Then I tried parking next to what looked like a bike trail, but the limo drivers and bus presence alerted me that it might not be zoned for my type of activity.
Once upon a time, I lived in Newport for a hot minute, and I thought it'd be cool to return 20 years later and check out what I couldn't appreciate at the time. I now understand why Dad wouldn't drive except to work in Fall River, because I could've walked through town faster than I drove. I eventually found free parking next to the shore, but saw no trail or even a sidewalk. This led to traversing the road to Fort Adams on very narrow roads, and by the time I looped around said fort while unsuccessfully finding a loo, I gave up on eating in town as well as trying to find the statue of my famous ancestor in the square.
This day was made of nope.
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