Dugan
New member
Sections 15, 14, 13 18.9 miles
Participants: Cracker & wife Alma, Jade & Carmen the Wonder Dog, NH_Mtn_Hkr, TramperAl, and me (Dugan the two legged)
Sent around a quick confirming email to see if everyone still wanted to participate despite the forecast of rain and thunderstorms. Thankfully, everyone is as nuts as me about getting out. We got some rain, but not as much as any of us expected. I'll risk the wrath of Jade by saying that with the temps and humidity, the rain was enjoyable.
We met near 63 x 116, then convoyed to Atkins Reservoir to drop cars near Atkins Reservoir at the southern end. We piled into my car (Jade - Carmen's towel is in my laundry), then headed up to the Leverett Coop (avoiding the kamikaze squirrel) to pick up Cracker & Alma who were joining us only for section 15. After introductions, we squeezed everyone back into my car then headed north to Farley Road.
We began the hike. I quickly realized I'd forgotten my *new* edition of the guidebook (available at the Leverett Coop for $15.95), dropped my pack, and ran back for it while Carmen took a dip in the Millers River. Having caught back up to the group, we proceeded in earnest.
The M-M (heading south) has a confusing bit over a railroad bridge. The trail drops off to the right (as aptly spotted by Alma the novice hiker), then follows a stream bed upstream to the other side. The high water route is to stay one the tracks, then drop left off the tracks immediately after the bridge. TramperAl faithfully stuck to the white blazes while the rest of us blue blazed the high water route. It runs along the stream for a while, which Carmen liked, passing some interesting ledgy rock formations in the streambed. Eventually, another blue blazed high water trail is reached. Cracker and Alma opted for the blue and ascended the ridge. The rest of us stayed faithful. The two stream crossings weren't too bad, be careful of the slippery rocks.
The trail continued, winding through the woods. The first ridge walk in Wendell SF has two blue blazed side trails, the first one leads to an excellent overlook, which I believe is known as Jerusalem Lookout. Today we saw mostly haze. Somewhere in this first stretch we hit a period of not unexpected showers. Too warm for rain gear, good for rinsing off DEET. We eventually reached the picnic pavillion and outhouses just after Ruggles Pond and took a long break. Where did the rain go now that we had a roof?
We continued on, finally reaching the powerlines. From there we descended to North Leverett Road. We all picked up the pace a little since the Coop - with all its yummy food - was a short .4 to the east. Along the way we saw a pasture of horses and goats. We reached the Coop then took turns going in to avoid deserting Carmen. Luckily the rain had stopped and we were able to eat comfortably outside. The Coop is a wonderful stop, an indoor bathroom, a cooler case with sandwiches, grain dishes, and pasta salads, baked goodies, and much more. Vegetarians and omnivores were both happy. For an extra-luxurious stop, they do have indoor seating available.
Thus fulfilled, Cracker and Alma left the group to go home. Unfortunately for them, the old guidebook and website showed section 15 at just over 9 miles. The new edition has it as just over 11 miles. I didn't discover the change in mileage until they were en route.
We strapped packs on over full bellies and continued along the way. We made the last 7 miles with little difficulty, having gotten the big hills out of the way with section 15. I don't remember all of it, these 7 miles passed in a haze of bad jokes and Monty Python humor. Somewhere in section 13 we lost the trail. I scouted this section last weekend, but never saw where we went wrong today. Even though we were not on "current" trail, we were still on true trail since there were white blazes. I had my ball cap pulled low to keep my glasses dry and could have easily missed the turn. Fortunately for us, this detour meant that we missed the bee nest in the trail that I found with several stings last week.
Back to our cars, Jade and TramperAl headed home. NH_Mtn_Hiker and I headed into Amherst (center 10 minutes away) for dinner at La Vera Cruzana. The smell had me drooling as we walked in the door. Though the bathroom leaves something to be desired, the food was very good. Nicely filled, NH_Mtn_Hiker drove me back to Farley for my car. By the time we got there, the rain was pouring again. It was hard to get out of his car to transfer gear to mine. I'd gotten wet enough for the day.
Overall a good hike with excellent company. Although, of course, no one hikes slower than TramperAl <grin>! We're hoping to do Day 4 (sections 12, 11, 10) soon. Stay tuned to Trips & Events for a date.
Participants: Cracker & wife Alma, Jade & Carmen the Wonder Dog, NH_Mtn_Hkr, TramperAl, and me (Dugan the two legged)
Sent around a quick confirming email to see if everyone still wanted to participate despite the forecast of rain and thunderstorms. Thankfully, everyone is as nuts as me about getting out. We got some rain, but not as much as any of us expected. I'll risk the wrath of Jade by saying that with the temps and humidity, the rain was enjoyable.
We met near 63 x 116, then convoyed to Atkins Reservoir to drop cars near Atkins Reservoir at the southern end. We piled into my car (Jade - Carmen's towel is in my laundry), then headed up to the Leverett Coop (avoiding the kamikaze squirrel) to pick up Cracker & Alma who were joining us only for section 15. After introductions, we squeezed everyone back into my car then headed north to Farley Road.
We began the hike. I quickly realized I'd forgotten my *new* edition of the guidebook (available at the Leverett Coop for $15.95), dropped my pack, and ran back for it while Carmen took a dip in the Millers River. Having caught back up to the group, we proceeded in earnest.
The M-M (heading south) has a confusing bit over a railroad bridge. The trail drops off to the right (as aptly spotted by Alma the novice hiker), then follows a stream bed upstream to the other side. The high water route is to stay one the tracks, then drop left off the tracks immediately after the bridge. TramperAl faithfully stuck to the white blazes while the rest of us blue blazed the high water route. It runs along the stream for a while, which Carmen liked, passing some interesting ledgy rock formations in the streambed. Eventually, another blue blazed high water trail is reached. Cracker and Alma opted for the blue and ascended the ridge. The rest of us stayed faithful. The two stream crossings weren't too bad, be careful of the slippery rocks.
The trail continued, winding through the woods. The first ridge walk in Wendell SF has two blue blazed side trails, the first one leads to an excellent overlook, which I believe is known as Jerusalem Lookout. Today we saw mostly haze. Somewhere in this first stretch we hit a period of not unexpected showers. Too warm for rain gear, good for rinsing off DEET. We eventually reached the picnic pavillion and outhouses just after Ruggles Pond and took a long break. Where did the rain go now that we had a roof?
We continued on, finally reaching the powerlines. From there we descended to North Leverett Road. We all picked up the pace a little since the Coop - with all its yummy food - was a short .4 to the east. Along the way we saw a pasture of horses and goats. We reached the Coop then took turns going in to avoid deserting Carmen. Luckily the rain had stopped and we were able to eat comfortably outside. The Coop is a wonderful stop, an indoor bathroom, a cooler case with sandwiches, grain dishes, and pasta salads, baked goodies, and much more. Vegetarians and omnivores were both happy. For an extra-luxurious stop, they do have indoor seating available.
Thus fulfilled, Cracker and Alma left the group to go home. Unfortunately for them, the old guidebook and website showed section 15 at just over 9 miles. The new edition has it as just over 11 miles. I didn't discover the change in mileage until they were en route.
We strapped packs on over full bellies and continued along the way. We made the last 7 miles with little difficulty, having gotten the big hills out of the way with section 15. I don't remember all of it, these 7 miles passed in a haze of bad jokes and Monty Python humor. Somewhere in section 13 we lost the trail. I scouted this section last weekend, but never saw where we went wrong today. Even though we were not on "current" trail, we were still on true trail since there were white blazes. I had my ball cap pulled low to keep my glasses dry and could have easily missed the turn. Fortunately for us, this detour meant that we missed the bee nest in the trail that I found with several stings last week.
Back to our cars, Jade and TramperAl headed home. NH_Mtn_Hiker and I headed into Amherst (center 10 minutes away) for dinner at La Vera Cruzana. The smell had me drooling as we walked in the door. Though the bathroom leaves something to be desired, the food was very good. Nicely filled, NH_Mtn_Hiker drove me back to Farley for my car. By the time we got there, the rain was pouring again. It was hard to get out of his car to transfer gear to mine. I'd gotten wet enough for the day.
Overall a good hike with excellent company. Although, of course, no one hikes slower than TramperAl <grin>! We're hoping to do Day 4 (sections 12, 11, 10) soon. Stay tuned to Trips & Events for a date.
