On Saturday (the 23rd) I continued my section hike of the Taconic Crest Trail. This time only Joe ("Goat") could join me.
We went from Madden Road in Hancock to Phelps Trail (which we used as an access trail) in South Williamstown. These are both in Massachusetts, but about half of this section of the trail is in New York.
It was hot, especially during the middle of the day, which affected me more than I expected. The trail first goes up quite a ways, then follows the ridge, and then drops quite a ways on Phelps Trail. The initial climb wasn't bad, because it was still early in the day, but the middle section, which follows the ridge, several times drops steeply into a notch (called a "hollow" there) and then climbs steeply back out. It was those steep climbs out in the heat of midday which got to me. I was never in danger of not making it, but I had to take a lot more breaks than I usually would. Goat was very patient with me, though.
The trail is mostly regular forest trail, but parts of it follow ATV roads. At one point, while on an ATV road, I realized we hadn't seen a blaze in a while. Soon after we decided we'd better turn around, in case we were moving farther off trail. After about 3/4 of a mile back the way we came we found where we'd left the trail. There's a sign ten feet or more off the ground on a tree telling you that the trail leaves the ATV road there which we had missed.
This section doesn't have any views or ponds, but it does have some more of the nice fern fields we had in the first section, as well as several boundary markers and an old charcoal mound. Also some blueberries which were almost ripe.
While we were taking a break at Southeast Hollow an old black birch fell, about 20 feet away from where I was sitting. There was no wind at all at that point; it just came crashing down with no apparent cause.
Here are the pictures.
--
Cumulus
NE111 in my 50s: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2)
NE111 in my 60s: 84/115 (59/67, 23/46, 2/2)
NEFF: 50/50; Cat35: 39/39; WNH4K: 41/48; NEHH 89/100
LT NB 2009; CT NB 2017
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
We went from Madden Road in Hancock to Phelps Trail (which we used as an access trail) in South Williamstown. These are both in Massachusetts, but about half of this section of the trail is in New York.
It was hot, especially during the middle of the day, which affected me more than I expected. The trail first goes up quite a ways, then follows the ridge, and then drops quite a ways on Phelps Trail. The initial climb wasn't bad, because it was still early in the day, but the middle section, which follows the ridge, several times drops steeply into a notch (called a "hollow" there) and then climbs steeply back out. It was those steep climbs out in the heat of midday which got to me. I was never in danger of not making it, but I had to take a lot more breaks than I usually would. Goat was very patient with me, though.
The trail is mostly regular forest trail, but parts of it follow ATV roads. At one point, while on an ATV road, I realized we hadn't seen a blaze in a while. Soon after we decided we'd better turn around, in case we were moving farther off trail. After about 3/4 of a mile back the way we came we found where we'd left the trail. There's a sign ten feet or more off the ground on a tree telling you that the trail leaves the ATV road there which we had missed.
This section doesn't have any views or ponds, but it does have some more of the nice fern fields we had in the first section, as well as several boundary markers and an old charcoal mound. Also some blueberries which were almost ripe.
While we were taking a break at Southeast Hollow an old black birch fell, about 20 feet away from where I was sitting. There was no wind at all at that point; it just came crashing down with no apparent cause.
Here are the pictures.
--
Cumulus
NE111 in my 50s: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2)
NE111 in my 60s: 84/115 (59/67, 23/46, 2/2)
NEFF: 50/50; Cat35: 39/39; WNH4K: 41/48; NEHH 89/100
LT NB 2009; CT NB 2017
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
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