This is our second trip to the Sibley Farm property. The first trip is described in a previous post. It was a beautiful day to be outdoors yesterday, as far as winter days go. The cold temperatures didn’t seem too bitter since the skies were clear and the air was calm. With errands to run we only had a short window to enjoy the outdoors, so we returned to Sibley Farm to explore some of the trails we missed two weeks ago. ...
With several inches of Wednesday’s snow still on the ground and no snow-specific gear, we targeted a nice flat well-traveled trail for our post-Thanksgiving Saturday hike. We chose the Grand Trunk Trail in Brimfield (also known as the Brimfield Trail and the Titanic Rail Trail). We’d done this trail over the summer with our daughter on a day of exploration and geocaching, and knew it would be passable in boots without too much trouble. In the summer we saw tadpoles, rabbits, and snakes — this time, not so much. ...
This past Saturday, Jess was out of town with her mother, so it fell to me to take Evie to gymnastics and then fill a few hours on my own. I made two important choices: I was going to pick up some beer, and get a hike in. After packing a lunch, I first dropped off some growlers at Tree House Brewing in Monson. Tree House is a world-class brewery which I’ve been following since they first opened in a barn in Brimfield in 2011 (they were brewing a test batch when the famous tornado struck; you can read about it here). They’ve gone from being the area’s best-kept secret to being listed as the brewers of the world’s best American IPA by Beer Advocate. If you’re at all a beer fan, it’s worth seeking them out. It’s worth browsing their site just to see their great beer photography. ...