urbanRecon
Member
4/2/2010 - Up Bellows Pipe (now known as Bellows River) to AT to Greylock Summit to attempt at Robinson Pt down AT to Thunderbolt to Bellows River and out. This will be a complete ramble.
Things to know:
1.My first time on Greylock
2.My first trip report
3.I am a fairly experienced hiker in all seasons
Called Greylock visitor center yesterday and the person said there's 2 ft of snow on Greylock. Even though the weather was forecast to get into the 70s, I decided to bring snowshoes, crampons, and microspikes. My wife agreed - she is a good hiker too, but I usually do all the research and packing.
Somehow found Reservoir Rd amidst the construction off Rt8 in N Adams (first of many "are we going the right way" moments) and got to the parking area @9am – 1 other car in the lot. Loaded up the pack with winter gear and summer clothes - felt very strange - this also turned out to be my real first spring hike with a complete mixed bag thrown at me. We usually opt for Mt Tom and the Holyoke Range in spring and let the Whites dry out... As we started up Bellows, my wife and I start joking about the 2 ft of snow report - it's bone dry, clear, and warm at this point and we're carrying snowshoes. Then it gets REALLY muddy - then we're hiking up a river - and there are basically no blazes - then we see the snow. We start to post-hole and decide for the shoes. This gets us up for a while - then it gets bone dry - shoes off. We get to the switchback which points us to the lean-to and up to the AT. This is where there really are no blazes except a very occasional faded blue one. Luckily I have a pretty good map and can see the general direction where we're going and my wife agrees (there was great husband/wife communication on this trip - very nice to have). It's muddy, getting steep, and we're pretty sure we're going directionally correct. We hear voices, we see snow, shoes on, Thunderbolt merges, we get to the AT - snowshoes to the top! We met up with a couple who came up TBolt who didn't have shoes - they were post-holing here, but pulling it off - glad we had ours.
NOTE: The snow is getting soft – who knows what it's going to look like by Sunday...
The conditions on the summit were spectacular – 360 views and really warm – unreal – great lunch break. Talked to a guy who came up Roaring Brook – said it wasn't too bad until he got to 2500ft – then he was post-holing pretty bad – no shoes for him either.
Now for the good part – I really want to see the Hopper – sounds like a great sight. We're tired, but I'm set on the Robinson Trail side trip. We head back down the AT North, miss the turnoff, back track, find the sign, get to the road (no blazes), then get to the sign - .25 miles to the lookout. My wife says, “I thought it was just 100 yds.” No, that's to the road. We start down the trail – steeply down, deep snow, no tracks to follow, a faint blaze here and there. I'm determined to find this – we cross a small bridge and that's the last blaze we can find – no obvious trail – I'm bummed – my wife gently reminds me we have a lot of ground to cover and we're spent. I listen – life is good – until we finish getting back to the AT – we're really spent now and we have 2+ hours to go. I want to take the AT down – she suggests going the way we came because we can find our way – I agree. We start back down Bellows and hit TBolt – we decide to head down TBolt because it's very obvious and the snow is clearing. We proceed down TBolt without shoes and love the trail. It's very muddy, but fun and beautiful – nice view heading down and it has historical significance in the skiing circle – good times – love the ski signs. We hit Bellows and bang a left – no blazes, but seems to be obvious – as long as we're not on some side snow mobile trail. We're not – find the lean-to spur and head down the Bellows RIVER trail – this trail is wet, muddy, and flowing. Finish with soaked, muddy boots, but psyched we made it.
Now it's time to fall back on VFTT advice – to the Freight Yard Pub (http://www.freightyardpub.com/). We find it – no problem! Even though I forgot the name of it, I knew kinda where it was based on last nights Google Map research. Very good post hike food, ambiance, and service. Good soup, burger, and steak tips – I can recommend it as well. Drive back to Cambridge and pull in at 8:30pm – great day on Greylock and can't wait for my next trip. Thanks to everyone's past Greylock reports – I got a great idea of most trails doing a forum search and especially thanks for the food recommendations this week – cheers!
Lessons Learned:
1.Post trip reports and trail conditions
2.Don't underestimate New England conditions
3.Ask for VFTT food recommendations
4.Listen to your spouse
5.Don't worry about post-holes – every one I see I'm just glad I have my shoes and smush them down – I think about the snow in the other person's boots – no worries!!!
Things to know:
1.My first time on Greylock
2.My first trip report
3.I am a fairly experienced hiker in all seasons
Called Greylock visitor center yesterday and the person said there's 2 ft of snow on Greylock. Even though the weather was forecast to get into the 70s, I decided to bring snowshoes, crampons, and microspikes. My wife agreed - she is a good hiker too, but I usually do all the research and packing.
Somehow found Reservoir Rd amidst the construction off Rt8 in N Adams (first of many "are we going the right way" moments) and got to the parking area @9am – 1 other car in the lot. Loaded up the pack with winter gear and summer clothes - felt very strange - this also turned out to be my real first spring hike with a complete mixed bag thrown at me. We usually opt for Mt Tom and the Holyoke Range in spring and let the Whites dry out... As we started up Bellows, my wife and I start joking about the 2 ft of snow report - it's bone dry, clear, and warm at this point and we're carrying snowshoes. Then it gets REALLY muddy - then we're hiking up a river - and there are basically no blazes - then we see the snow. We start to post-hole and decide for the shoes. This gets us up for a while - then it gets bone dry - shoes off. We get to the switchback which points us to the lean-to and up to the AT. This is where there really are no blazes except a very occasional faded blue one. Luckily I have a pretty good map and can see the general direction where we're going and my wife agrees (there was great husband/wife communication on this trip - very nice to have). It's muddy, getting steep, and we're pretty sure we're going directionally correct. We hear voices, we see snow, shoes on, Thunderbolt merges, we get to the AT - snowshoes to the top! We met up with a couple who came up TBolt who didn't have shoes - they were post-holing here, but pulling it off - glad we had ours.
NOTE: The snow is getting soft – who knows what it's going to look like by Sunday...
The conditions on the summit were spectacular – 360 views and really warm – unreal – great lunch break. Talked to a guy who came up Roaring Brook – said it wasn't too bad until he got to 2500ft – then he was post-holing pretty bad – no shoes for him either.
Now for the good part – I really want to see the Hopper – sounds like a great sight. We're tired, but I'm set on the Robinson Trail side trip. We head back down the AT North, miss the turnoff, back track, find the sign, get to the road (no blazes), then get to the sign - .25 miles to the lookout. My wife says, “I thought it was just 100 yds.” No, that's to the road. We start down the trail – steeply down, deep snow, no tracks to follow, a faint blaze here and there. I'm determined to find this – we cross a small bridge and that's the last blaze we can find – no obvious trail – I'm bummed – my wife gently reminds me we have a lot of ground to cover and we're spent. I listen – life is good – until we finish getting back to the AT – we're really spent now and we have 2+ hours to go. I want to take the AT down – she suggests going the way we came because we can find our way – I agree. We start back down Bellows and hit TBolt – we decide to head down TBolt because it's very obvious and the snow is clearing. We proceed down TBolt without shoes and love the trail. It's very muddy, but fun and beautiful – nice view heading down and it has historical significance in the skiing circle – good times – love the ski signs. We hit Bellows and bang a left – no blazes, but seems to be obvious – as long as we're not on some side snow mobile trail. We're not – find the lean-to spur and head down the Bellows RIVER trail – this trail is wet, muddy, and flowing. Finish with soaked, muddy boots, but psyched we made it.
Now it's time to fall back on VFTT advice – to the Freight Yard Pub (http://www.freightyardpub.com/). We find it – no problem! Even though I forgot the name of it, I knew kinda where it was based on last nights Google Map research. Very good post hike food, ambiance, and service. Good soup, burger, and steak tips – I can recommend it as well. Drive back to Cambridge and pull in at 8:30pm – great day on Greylock and can't wait for my next trip. Thanks to everyone's past Greylock reports – I got a great idea of most trails doing a forum search and especially thanks for the food recommendations this week – cheers!
Lessons Learned:
1.Post trip reports and trail conditions
2.Don't underestimate New England conditions
3.Ask for VFTT food recommendations
4.Listen to your spouse
5.Don't worry about post-holes – every one I see I'm just glad I have my shoes and smush them down – I think about the snow in the other person's boots – no worries!!!
