Chronicle by Charlie;

The purpose of this event was a retirement celebration for Charlie; the 2nd such acknowledgment of the transition.  Bob was the host for the event and offerred the wilderness beyond his back yard for our adventure.

After a staggered arrival, the PhDs set out into the vast forested wilderness of Attleboro; hundreds of acres of oak forest with a scattering of pines. There was intermitant snow cover; the woods were flat & continuous; outcroppings of rocks dotted the landscape. The climate was relatively mild.
The hike was on wide trails; with occaisional water crossings, as we traveled on in the bleak wilderness.
We soon encountered signs of life; various hobo camps in the woods; replete with stolen furniture and hardware. The leaf covered trail continued on indefinetely.   We crossed stone walls and more water hazards, and came across another hobo camp, this one with a grill and a fire pit with wooden furniture. The bums live as well as the residents in Attleboro.

The hike eventually took us out of the forest, where we passed the edge of a golf course.  continuing backinto the woods, the terrain became more variable, and we came to the base of a hill that we had experienced back in the 80s, as part of a PhD biking adventure.  We encountered piles of junk at the base of the hill, including a rusted car that spawned a guessing game to identify the vehicle.
Now, more than 20 years later, we would climb the hill on foot. A steep scramble on a gravel path led to the paved road, and we approached the summit, with the water tower.
At the summit, a great debate arose over the direction vector to the Blue Hills. We circumnavigated the water tower, then descended the way we had come up.

The hike back to Borbs was via a new route in the forest. We arrived back just at sunset.
The ensuing festivities including feasting, review of pictures of previous PhD adventures, a slanderous roast which included a clever word association game, and presentation of all kinds of retirement gifts; whose theme centered around geocaching.   The cameraderie was great; it was good to have all the fulltime member PhDs together once again.
GPS trail of the hike...