I See Dead People

Hidden Trailhead
The trail is not the dirt path you see running off to the left. Instead, my finger is pointing to the trailhead in the bushes.
User: Blaze - 5/1/2013

Location: Visitor's Overlook

Rating: 1star
Difficulty: 1star  Solitude: 3stars
Miles Hiked: 2.30 Miles  Elapsed Time: 49 minutes

Comments:

This is a weird and bizarre trail.

First of all, it is very difficult to find.  There are no signs posted saying "Visitor's Overlook".  I found out about this trail after seeing it listed on a Somerville Lake Trails map, but it did not say exactly where it was or how to get there!  It's on the side of and behind the Lake Somerville Dam.  I basically found it by using my vehicle GPS and sniffing it out with my trail hunting skills.  However, once I found the trail, it was incredibly well marked!  Think about it - an incredibly well-marked trail that no one knows exists or can find.  Weird!

Second, the trail leads you to a cemetery.  This is the highlight.  Not a regular cemetery, mind you, but an unattended one hidden away in the woods.  No roads lead to this cemetery (as far as I know), just this trail.  A trail that takes you to dead people.  Kinda creepy.

To make matters worse, when I got to the cemetery, I almost stepped on a cottonmouth snake in the grass.  I didn't even see it, but I noticed something move near my boot as I was walking and when I looked I saw a snake with his head raised.  He was poised like the snake on that "Don't Tread On Me" flag.  Of course, I observed all of this from about 5 feet in the air because I jumped in sheer terror, lol.  A venomous snake... in front of this creepy, hidden cemetery... maybe this is where careless hikers die and are never heard from again?

After that adrenalin pumping ordeal, every root and twig on the trail looked like a snake.  I guess I was being hypervigilant (translation: paranoid and spooked).  On the way back, I saw a turtle on the trail.  He seemed oddly out of place.  I also saw a huge owl.  I've been hiking for years and never seen an owl before.  Just more weirdness.

Maybe there was a reason there was no "Visitor's Overlook" sign???

 



Log Photos
Hidden Trailhead
Trailhead
Distance/Direction Markers
Cemetery
Snake In The Grass
Turtle
Lake Somerville Dam
Trail Map
Owl