#mill river

There are a lot of trails behind Smith’s campus along the Mill River that are great to run on, including a solid 4 mile loop that starts and ends on campus. There is also the Norwottuck Rail Trail which is a biking and walking path that goes through Northampton, Hadley, and Amherst (running all the way down it and back is about 9 miles; pictures here). Both of the wooded trails behind Smith and the Rail Trail are beautiful especially during the Fall months. Another run that I often do is to Cooley Dickinson Hospital, through/around the park next to it, and back to Campus, which is along Elm Street (a main road). It’s less visually appealing, but easier if I want a shorter run (somewhere between 2 and 3 miles).

Restoring Lake Warner comes from years ago when friends from work and I would paddle out in canoes on quiet mornings, meeting in the middle of the lake to watch and study the turtles that lived there. Even then we could see the lake struggling. This song follows the long work of understanding the science, reducing phosphorus, and bringing balance back so Lake Warner can thrive again. Only…