Yep - it truly was a very wonderful winter hike with very wonderful guys in the scenic Arnold Arboretum!  The roughly five mile trip took us to all corners of the 280 acre expanse, scaling the three big peaks: Peter's, Hemlock and Bussey Hills.  Although it was a wintry afternoon with intermittent snow squalls mixed with some sun, we saw the early signs of spring with the flowerig witchhazel shrubs throughout the walk.  Another sign of spring was the mud on the trails that caused a couple slow falls and clothes covered in mud!  Still, we realized that the winter couldn't be all that bad, as a little corner was hiding thriving cactus and agave plants!  Wandering through the beautiful Pinetum we marveled at the large, unusual and awesome Dawn Redwoods (Metasequoia Glyptostroboides) - once through to be extinct and prehistoric, but discovered in the 1940s growing in a hidden grove in central China by Arboretum botanists.  On the summit of Peter's Hill we took in the ethereal view of the Boston skyline through the light snow, while an interloper to our group (Kevin the Teamster) brightened up our spirits with his story of the 1887 Forest Hills Train Disaster.  Reaching Hemlock Hill, Jonny described the the ravages to the magnificent hemlock grove caused by the invasive woolly adelgid insect.  On a positive note to that, Carlos pointed out an area of the Hill where insect-resistant hemlocks are now planted.  Once atop the Hemlock Hill summit, Ed described the infamous Bussey Brook Murders of 1865, while others brought up the Annie Dookhan testing scandal as we looked over to the Brutalist State Testing Lab on the horizon.  Hiking over to Bussey Hill, we manged to glimpse the beautiful skyline of the Blue Hills and the looming Great Blue Hill - and the distant view of Boston as the sun was setting was magnificent.  We ended our wonderful hike with everyone in fine spirits, and a large number of us had an absolutely delicious dinner (while doing some great shcmoozing? at the nearby Noodle Barn in Jamaica Plain center.  Bottom line: an incredible day was had by all!!

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