Hiking in World's End

<Japanese after English version:日本語は英語の後にあります>

I went hiking in World's End. It sounds like a dramatic name, but it is just a small park along Boston harbor. 

Nice thing about this park is that you can walk along Boston bay in a quiet place. Because it is now January, along the beach there was snow. Near the snow on the edge, water was frozen on the surface. So it was visible for waves to go under the ice. It was interesting to see snow, ocean, and city of Boston in the same view.

Generally it is recognized that Boston winter is cold. In reality, it is more complicated. For example this week, it snowed on Monday at -15C (5F), then stayed at -15C (5F) for 2 more days, then it got warm up to 10C (50F) on Thursday. In Boston, temperature varies from -25C (-13F) to 10C (50F) in winter. Average is probably around -10C (14F). Due to this change below and above freezing point, usually snow melt and gets icy. This means it is hard for hikers to predict which equipment to use until they go to the trail. Of course, more north than Boston is colder, so more snow is expected. I was not sure if there was remaining snow at this park, but the snow was only near the shore. 

Another fun thing at this park is there are many dog walkers. Doggies don't care to walk on a muddy trail and get wet. All dogs are excited. Some doggies are curious about other hikers and they stared at me, some are shy. I remember once on a trail in the mountain, one dog was approaching and saw me and stopped on a trail. He was thinking about next action, and decided to do bushwhacking to avoid passing right next to me. The dog owner said that he was shy. It's cute. 

FYI this park is: http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/south-of-boston/worlds-end.html

先日World's Endというところへハイキングへ行った。World's Endというと世界の終わりとか果てということだが、まぁボストン湾沿いの小さな公園だ。１月ということもあってとても静かにボストン湾沿いを歩けて良いハイクだった。１週間ほど前に降った雪が海岸沿いでは溶けておらず結構な量が残っていた。雪と海の間は表面だけ氷になっており、波が透明な氷の下を行き来しているのが見えた。なかなか見ることない現象で綺麗。

ボストンの冬は一言で寒いと片付けられることが多いが、実際の温度は異常に寒い時からそれほどでもない温度まで様々である。例えばこの週は月曜日に雪が降り−１５C。２日ほど−１５Cが続き、木曜日は１０Cまで上がった。そうなると雪が溶けてぐちゃぐちゃ。でも夜はまた氷点下なので今度は溶けた雪が氷に。−２５Cから１０Cを行ったり来たりするので（平均は多分−１０Cくらい）New England の冬のハイキングはトレイルにその日行くまでどのギアを使うかが予測不可能。クロスカントリスキーかスノーシューかマイクロスパイク全部持っていかないといけない。

この公園のもう一つの良い所は犬がOKなので可愛い犬がトレイルを歩いているのを見ることができる。どの犬もトレイルでの散歩が嬉しくてたまらない様子。ほほ笑ましい！