Brilliant trip reports. I'm just one of the herd myself and followed a south eastern version of your examples with a familiar path to Burnt Swamp in Wrentham then ventured to last week's adventure up Tower Hill Rd. in Cumberland, RI, Woonsocket then Blackstone, Mendon,
Upton, Grafton
, Westborough, Ashland to Sherborn, this time before sunset. 70 miles, wore booties, enough layers, good gloves, balaclava; pretty manageable.