504. MA NET - Wendell: Ladybug along the Lane

How astonished we were to see that the place we had originally planned to leave this ladybug - the old woody lane where "Sir Wendell" meets "Lady Montague" - had been rechristened with the red blazes of the Robert Frost Trail, and that the white-blazed M&M/NET had been relocated further to the east, never again to encounter Lady Montague at all! No problem, though. We were heartily hailed by a passing troubadour who happily invited us to a spirited soiree at Hidden Valley, very near to the location of the first letterbox ever to be planted in the state of Massachusetts! We very nearly decided to leave the ladybug there at the site of this special "Walking Tour Concert", where both guests and musicians were required to walk the NET in order to arrive at the soiree at the appointed hour. However, next morning in the light of day, we reconsidered our plan, and thought that taking the ladybug on a lazy stroll amidst the pink-blooming mountain laurel blossoms along a new piece of NET, far from the "madding crowd on the other side of the tracks", would be much more to her liking...

So, in order to find this ladybug's new reception site, head north from Shutesbury/ Locks Village, around the north side of Wyola, north up West St. and west on Montague to the 4th Gate of Wendell on the south side between Dirth and Carlton on the north. (Near this gate can also be found a fine emblazoned crest of the NET, and the castle approach road appears to go by the stately name of Hemenway - although my old map simply calls it "Swamp Road", a name seemingly more suited to an ogre than a lady!) Anyway, a leisurely stroll down this extremely gentle garden path for a mere matter of minutes, staying left at the fork for perhaps another 150 steps or so, should bring you to see on the right a 2-trunk maple with a skinny 3rd, left of which lies aslant a large mossy green rock with a white pine behind. Between white pine and green rock - your lady awaits!

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