Midstate Trail Part 7 - Wachusett Mountain

It was a bright sunny day when we struck out on the trail. I was excited because we were going to be hiking one of the last 3 segments of the Midstate Trail and we'd be hitting the high point, Wachusett Mountain. We parked at Intervale Road, covered ourselves in DEET and went into the woods. We wondered how the trail was going to be after the tornadoes that had struck western Massachusetts and threatened the area. We quickly came upon a the Ware River. The water seemed low and slow to travel.

As we walked on we found that the trails had brand new foot bridges. As we crossed over a few of them, I remembered that National Trails Day was the day before and wondered if the bridges were installed that recently. The mud and water wasn't too bad but the bugs were pretty fierce.As pretty as the woods and river were, we quickly found that we would be road walking for a good portion of the morning. In fact, nearly the entire portion from Intervale to Ball Hill Road in Princeton was along paved streets. I do think that the paved streets might have been a blessing in disguise. When we were on the old dirt roads, the mosquitoes were outrageous. We pushed through very quickly to be rid of them.

At the end of the last dirt road we came to this old horse farm. The house looked as if it were empty, but the mail box was the coolest thing. Unfortunately it did mean more street walking for us.I got excited when we came upon the Providence and Worcester Railway bridge. I knew that this was a sign that our pavement pounding ways were at an end soon.

Soon we entered into the Massachusetts Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuary. For the rest of the hike we would be in the woods. We entered the Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary off of Rt. 62. The trails were well maintained and pretty.We followed the yellow triangles through the sanctuary. We went through several old pasture lands. Some had bird houses and benches for wildlife watching. We had a snack at a small pond and noted the beaver chew marks on the trees. Some of the ferns were extremely large. It appeared as if they were three to four feet tall. The greenery throughout the forest was lush and lovely.

At the end of the Chapman Trail we came across a marker that told us the distance to the summit. This is when we realized how quickly we had been hiking. We were about an hour ahead of schedule!We left the Audubon and entered Wachusett Mountain State Reservation. All of us had hiked Wachusett Mountain before. Dan has skied it many times. It's funny, whenever I think of the word Wachusett, I immediately get the jingle stuck in my head. Since we all live close enough to the ski area, we've heard the advertisements for Wachusett Mountain Skiing many times. I really should get out there to ski one of these days.

We followed the Dickens and Harrington Trails to the top. About half-way up we started hearing people. Being such a nice day, I knew there were going to be many hikers. When we found the summit, we saw all sorts of people and dogs. The trails at Wachusett State Reservation are good for nearly all levels.

When we arrived at the summit, we stopped for lunch. We also realized it would take us at the most an hour to get to the car. We phoned our friend that was to meet us for dinner to warn him that it would be an early dinner. While we snacked we watched families explore the pond. There were koi fish swimming around happily. We saw a few frogs and newts too.

About this time we noticed a change in the weather. The clouds had started to roll in and it seemed to cool off quite a bit. After we finished eating we wandered the summit a bit to see what we could see. From the summit, a clear day reveals views of Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire, the Berkshires to the west, and the Boston skyline to the east. We climbed up on one platform and could make out the outline of Boston pretty well. As you can see from the photo, there was a little bit of haze. We could see Monadnock pretty well but couldn't make out the Berkshires.

I did learn that this year the auto road was still closed. It had been for about a year. The summit was taken over by huge amounts of fencing and several construction vehicles. They also had removed the displays that were mounted up on the summit. Hopefully, they will finish construction soon. We started down the north side of the mountain and found the ski lifts. Ski lifts always look strange without snow. We also found this bronze plaque memorializing the 10th Mountain Division.

We looked down the mountain a bit and then followed the Old Indian Trail to West Side Trail and Semuhenna.There were many people coming up the trail. Towards the top we would hear questions like "how much further" and "are we close?" It always bothers me when I see people hiking without water bottles though. I understand Wachusett is a busy mountain with short hike options but the Girl Scout in me says "Be Prepared!" After all, you never know what could happen.

When we found the Old Indian Trail again I knew that Balance Rock was very close. It is pretty easy to spot a glacial erratic. A huge rock deposited in the middle of nowhere is just a fun discovery. Balance Rock led to photos of us looking strong. See I can lift this rock all by myself! After all, I didn't want it to roll down the hill.

We hiked the last half mile to the parking lot and found Dan's car. There were a few more cars there in the afternoon compared to when we arrived in the morning. Dan drove us back to Intervale Road and we picked up my car.

Our last stop was to Gardner Ale House. As much as Ben enjoys hiking, I know he enjoys beer too. So I visited the MA chapter of Views and Brews and found that Wachusett is one of the hikes for The Gardner Ale House. So the three of us went off to have some food and sample their beer.

I'm not a beer drinker myself so I can't judge that for you. But if you want good food near Wachusett, I would say try this place. The food was pretty good.

Vermont Views and Brew Weekend

This Memorial Day Weekend we went to camp at Woodford State Park in Vermont. I had decided on this site because of the Views and Brews hiking list I found via Peakbagger. Turns out that we've most likely completed many of the hikes in NH. So I checked out the Vermont Chapter of the Views and Brews and decided that Bennington would be easy enough for us to get to.

On Sunday, a group of us decided to hike up Harmon Hill. We found the trail head easy enough just off of Rt. 9. We started up the steep, steep trail. The "steps" were tough but not too bad for our dog. It was his first hike out with us and he was eager to go. After pulled us up to the top of the trail we came to a lovely path through the woods.

All the rain had made it a bit buggy and muddy. Fortunately, there were some planks laid out us to avoid the mud. We were glad of if, unfortunately, the dog didn't feel it was necessary.

After such a strenuous hike up, the even trail was really a nice change of pace. We enjoyed the stroll through the woods. We met up with some other campers from our campground and a thru hiker. We asked a couple that we met up with at the summit to take our photo.

It was a hot hike and we all needed a rest. We snacked and had some water while we looked out over Bennington and the Taconic Range. As you can see the sky was a bit hazy.

We wandered our way back down the trail. Along the way we took some photos of the fungi and vegetation that we saw.

We found the "steps" down the path that we took slowly. The end of the hike came up quickly and we carefully crossed Rt. 9 to the car.

When we got back to our campsite and found the rest of our group had completed the second hike that was connected with this checklist. They said it was easy, so we thought about it for a second and decided to go. The trail was quite buggy and muddy but the view of the reservoir was pretty.

We returned to the campsite with one very muddy pawed dog. He was so tired that he plopped down and napped for hours.

We went to dinner at the Madison Brewing Co. that evening. Despite calling ahead with a reservation, they seemed extremely unprepared for us. The beer was okay, the food was pretty good, but the service was not so good. They did have a knight though.

Midstate Trail Part 6

Well, last year was a terrible hiking year! 2011 is going to be so much better. Unfortunately, I have lots more free time as I lost my full-time job last month. Since then, I've been running more and getting out on the local trails. I pulled out my books a few days into unemployment and decided I'm going to start finishing some of these hiking lists I'm working on. SO we went off to the Midstate once again. This little guy was at the parking lot of Intervale Road in Rutland, where we would end our 12 mile trek.

In Massachusetts it had been raining for over a week so we were prepared for very wet trails. Saturday was the first partially sunny day and we were all itching to get outside. We started hiking from East Hill Road in Rutland and less than a mile in we found this really nice open shelter. Compared to the other shelters we'd already seen on the Midstate, we were very impressed with how well-kept it seemed.

Near the shelter we spotted one of many garter snakes sunning themselves near the trail. He was going to be disturbed very soon.

As we walked on towardsRt. 122 we encountered a large group of what appeared to be Boy Scouts heading in the direction of Treasure Valley. The looked like they had just started out with brand new backpacking gear and sleepy looks.

We crossed over Highway 122 and shed a layer of clothes while admiring the Mass. Central Rail Trail. Quickly we were swarmed by mosquitoes that seemed undeterred by deet. We all talked about bringing our bikes back to do some cycling but it was time for some hiking. As we re-entered the woods we discovered the first of our many water obstacles. It was easy enough to get over but deep enough to soak up to the knee.

As we continued to hike the sun started to peek out. We ran across a pair of women on horseback who commented on the buggy climate. Little did we know our bug misery would increase. When we reached Dike #3, we found that there had been recent work to the rail trail.

Then we entered a swampy woods. The map indicated that the swamp had been named Blood Swamp. It was more like Blood Sucker Swamp.

We pushed through as quickly as possible to avoid the bites, but it was slow going when the trail disappeared in the water. We found some interesting bridge rebuilding along the way.

As much as we were challenged with the dampness and the mosquitoes near the swamp, the frogs and toads were loving it!

Then we emerged from the swamp. It was like a breath of fresh air. There was a lovely grove of flowering trees and two granite benches in memorial for Bob Ellis and Rolf Larsen.

There was a nice couple from Worcester having a snack at the benches. We chatted with them and had a snack ourselves while overlooking the swamp. A gentle breeze kept the bugs away and the sun was out. They told us about Barre Falls Dam and how they came to discover this hidden jewel. They checked out the map book that I had from the Midstate Trail Committee. I looked at their map of the dam. They generously let us keep the map. We went on our way determined to lunch at the dam. We knew we were getting close when we found the old cemetery.

Then we found the picnic areas. We ate lunch while watching disc golfers play hole number 18. Then we pushed on. Here are a few pictures from the Barre Falls Dam.

We lost the trail briefly near hole 13 but found it after a little poking around. The blazes weren't as obvious here as the side of the road had overgrown some. We followed old roads through the woods and met up with a father and son fishing. They had just discovered this area as well and we all agreed it was terrific. The father told us that about 2 miles straight down the path is an old prison camp that looked interesting to explore. We, however, were turning to follow the yellow triangles.

For the most part the trail was dry. We worried about the warning in the guide book about high water conditions in this section of the trail. There were some wet and flooded trails but nothing worse than earlier in the day. It is amazing how after hiking 8 miles the last 4 can just drag! WE continued to make good time but managed to take in some of the forest as well. We did find these lovelies at the side of the trail.

Lady-Slippers were in abundance throughout this section. We followed old stonewalls that had stood through many winters and summers. There was some logging projects that we came across as well. Some of them, I'm sure, were to prevent the beetle infestation from spreading. The last bit of trail had a slight incline to it. We had our first accident here. Mel slipped and cut her hand on a rock. Minor injury but still not fun for her. Then as we hiked, there was the creepiness of following a trail of blood. Kev guessed that it was from a deer kill that had been hauled out on the trail. Ick! We eventually found our last cart road and Intervale Road.

I was so turned around at the end. In the morning, I thought we would come out on the other side of the trail. We managed to complete the 12 miles in 6 hours (with lunch and snack breaks). I'm super encouraged that there are only 3 sections left to hike. The next section will have one of the high points of this trail.