Boston

After a great day on the bike I had almost made it to Boston but it was getting dark and I needed a place to stay. I was lucky enough to find a sign for a state park that was just 6miles off the road. With the sun setting and my phone dying, I kicked it into gear so I would arrive before it got too dark.

After about a half hour I arrived at Lynn Woods. I thought the large brown highway sign had read State Park but when I arrived it looked more like a nature preserve in the middle of a major metropolitan area. There was clearly no camping and the park closed at sunset. I was stuck, it was already dark and I was in the middle of a Boston suburb. I quietly scouted out an area trying to find a compromise between being out of view but not too far out of sight so if I got into trouble someone could find me.

I settled on a spot and started to pitch my tent. I heard someone walking close by so I crotched down and turned off my headlight. I was silent. I was pretty sure the person didn't see me but I could see him. I watched for about 10 minutes as he walked back and forth about fifty feet from one spot to another. I couldn't see what he was doing but I didn't want to get any closer and find out. Finally I saw him leave and I was able to stand up again. I started to let my imagination run away from me for a minute but realized quickly that I didn't have a choice and I better just get through it.

I finished pitching my tent and crawled into my sleeping bag. I hadn't had dinner but didn't want to risk cooking, a snickers will have to do. I said my prayers and fell asleep, for a short while. Every hour or two I would wake up and tell myself I needed to get moving before the sun came up, I would look at my watch and it would be 1am. I drifted back to sleep but would continue waking up every few hours.