Saturday, June 16, 2007
Bella, the bear, and Mount Greylock
With Smelly Blob #2 (Sara) out of town, Bella and Dave headed out west (western Massachusetts that is) to bag a state high point. Mt Greylock rises like a Phoenix in the sky of western Mass, towering to an elevation of 3491 feet. We started off on the Hopper Trail (parking lot at 1100 feet) on the east side of the mountain, which steadily ascended to Sperry Campground. Because the road to the top of Greylock is closed until 2009, the campground was deserted. After a refreshing drink from a stream near the campground, we continued our ascent to the summit, reaching the War Memorial Obelisk after about 2 hours of hiking. Again the place was deserted, which was a bit creepy since it's so developed. After enjoying the views to the east, and eying the developing storms that way, we continued north on the ridgetop along the Appalachian Trail. Here, at the junction with the Bernard Farm trail, we had our most exciting moment of the day. We spooked a small black bear about 30 feet ahead of us. Fortunately it bolted away from us, and Bella proudly woofed from the safety (?) of her leash attached to Smelly Blob #1. After the heart rate came back from near-fatal levels, we continued on north, reaching the summit of Mount Williams, with nice views down to the town of North Adams. After cautiously crossing Notch Road (orange road signs ominously warned "Pass at your own risk"), we headed down the Money Brook trail. I was pleasantly surprised at this nice section of trail, which included a side path to a high waterfall, and a nice path (once we descended to the junction with the Mt Prospect trail) paralleling the mixed alluvial-bedrock (Geomorph!) channel. We returned to the car after about 5.5 hours of hiking, 2300 feet of elevation gain, and around 11 miles of distance. A very nice day and a very nice hike. Fortunately the heavens waited to pour down on us until we were headed back to Worcester safely sheltered in the car.
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Thursday, June 07, 2007
Birthday on Wachusetts
Having turned 33, Sara, Bella, and I took a short hike at Mt Wachusett in the late afternoon. We headed up the Bolton Pond trail (humming Michael Bolton's version of Sitting on the dock of the bay) past Bolton Pond (admiring the handiwork of the beavers who added a couple of feet to the height of the dam) and the 8th wonder of the world, Balance Rock. Balance Rock consists of a large rock balancing on top of another rock. We continued our trek up the Semuhenna trail, connected to the West Side Trail, and headed back downhill via the Old Indian Trail back to Balance Rock (still precariously perched!). A nice hike a short distance from Worcester.
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