RoySwkr
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I had previously hiked the S part of this trail on an unusual hike on which I had become separated from the others early on and didn't see them again until the far end. The marking was so poor that we had hiked substantially different routes to get there. This time I got a map from the Greenfield rest area of the portion in Rocky Mountain park which turned out to be mostly accurate, but the first half of the hike would be done by following blazes and using a USGS map which didn't show the trail.
We started off following blazes N from Pine Nook Road above Eaglebrook School, mostly on old woods roads with some slippery oak leaves. We ignored a yellow side trail to Wooten Hill which apparently is a conference center not a summit. After ascending to a viewpoint on Traprock Ridge where we heard several thousand crows, the trail crosses a road and wanders in the woods again. Suddenly it comes out on a railroad track and the markers vanished. We reached the Deerfield River bridge by walking through a lumber yard, but by following blazes the other way found that the trail actually goes down the gully between the railroad track split and out the driveway of the gas company.
After crossing the Woolworth bridge (so designated by the PeakMaster because it carries Rtes. 5 & 10) the trail makes a quick zag R and L before returning to the woods permanently, after much less roadwalk than I feared. The trail now sometimes follows old woods roads and sometimes scrambles up rock ledges, there are actually old handrail posts to reach the platform at Sachem Head. The map posted at Poet Seat parking shows the blue trail ending at Stone Ridge Lane while the map we had called that road private and had the blue trail ending at the previous red trail intersection. Neither one is correct: the official blue blazes follow the red blazes downhill to points unknown, while some darker blue blazes descend ahead to the junction of High Street and Stone Farm Lane. We returned to the car at the tower lot via the White Diamond Trail, which was surprisingly easy walking considering the nearby terrain.
We started off following blazes N from Pine Nook Road above Eaglebrook School, mostly on old woods roads with some slippery oak leaves. We ignored a yellow side trail to Wooten Hill which apparently is a conference center not a summit. After ascending to a viewpoint on Traprock Ridge where we heard several thousand crows, the trail crosses a road and wanders in the woods again. Suddenly it comes out on a railroad track and the markers vanished. We reached the Deerfield River bridge by walking through a lumber yard, but by following blazes the other way found that the trail actually goes down the gully between the railroad track split and out the driveway of the gas company.
After crossing the Woolworth bridge (so designated by the PeakMaster because it carries Rtes. 5 & 10) the trail makes a quick zag R and L before returning to the woods permanently, after much less roadwalk than I feared. The trail now sometimes follows old woods roads and sometimes scrambles up rock ledges, there are actually old handrail posts to reach the platform at Sachem Head. The map posted at Poet Seat parking shows the blue trail ending at Stone Ridge Lane while the map we had called that road private and had the blue trail ending at the previous red trail intersection. Neither one is correct: the official blue blazes follow the red blazes downhill to points unknown, while some darker blue blazes descend ahead to the junction of High Street and Stone Farm Lane. We returned to the car at the tower lot via the White Diamond Trail, which was surprisingly easy walking considering the nearby terrain.
