Weetamoo ... it means "sweetheart" ... or so I read somewhere ... maybe in one of Ken Weber’s Walks and Rambles books... or maybe I picked it up from a Randolph Scott movie on a tape that Mina made for me from the Western Channel. I’m thinking what it really means is "bugs". My plan was for a quick hike around Weetamoo Woods. The trail circles a swampy area that I imagine to be every bit as foreboding as the Grimpen Mire ... there are a number of promising paths that quickly lead into impassable bog. On the main trail there is an old sawmill site that apparently dates back to the 18th century. Stones used in the foundation as well as the stone remnants of the race-way and dam along with cellar holes from millworker’s houses remain. The walk through the woods, when it is not bug season as it apparently is now, is very enjoyable. Another attraction here is a rocky crest not far from the south entrance that overlooks the woods ... and a TV tower or two.

I normally save the crest for the tail end of the hike but not this time. I went there almost directly but since the only way to escape the bugs was to keep moving I spent very little time atop the crest ... in fact I decided to abandon my trek in the woods for a meal at Gray’s Ice Cream where, after explaining that they didn’t do "sit-down" meals, someone in the kitchen decided they would make a cheeseburger for me anyway.

I took the cheeseburger to go and ended up picnicking not far away at Pardon Grey Trust, a 230-acre working farm now owned by the Tiverton Land Trust. I walked through the open fields surrounding a copse of trees sheltering a small cemetery. The breeze was sufficient to keep bugs away and I decided I would begin rereading the Hobbit when I got back home.