Dear Folks, I am in the process of catching people up with some early hikes and other encounters with nature that I thought people might find interesting as part of a "How It Began" (HIB) series. Mostly this will describe specific hikes and perhaps some lessons learned along the way...if there are any. They are meant to be short and, perhaps helpful in some way to other hikers or fellow-travelers. I will post the dates of when I hiked a specific mountain since the ones in this series are NOT posted at or near the date hiked. SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 But special I remember thee, Wachusett, who like me Standest alone without society. Thy far blue eye, A remnant of the sky, Seen through the clearing or the gorge, Or from the windows on the forge, Doth leaven all it passes by. Nothing is true, But stands 'tween me and you, Thou western pioneer, Who know'st not shame nor fear, By venturous spirit driven, Under the eaves of heaven, And can'st expand thee there, And breathe enough of air? Upholding heaven, holding down earth, Thy pastime from thy birth, Not steadied by the one, nor leaning on the other; May I approve myself thy worthy brother! from "A Walk to Wachusett" by Henry David Thoreau I don't really know where to start with this mountain. I have hiked it a number of times, sometimes with family and sometimes alone. This particular hike was a solo one on a fabulous fall day. I took some time at the top to work on a sermon before hiking back down to have coffee with a friend and colleague who lives and serves nearby. Wachusett is a monadnock, which is to say it "standeth alone without society" in Thoreau's words. Monadnocks rise up as a single hill in an otherwise lower landscape. There are a number of these in the area. Two of which--Watatic and Monadnock, itself--will be written up soon. This means that--much like the ridges of the Pioneer Valley--they have an unobstructed view in spite of the relative shortness of their peaks. My trip was about 4ish miles (give or take a mile). I started at Balance Rock Trail (because I am sucker for big rocks) and headed up Old Indian to Semuhenna to West Side Trail back to Old Indian Trail to the top. After exploring a bit, I settled on to the observation tower to do some work and to eavesdrop on a group of birdwatchers who were cataloguing raptors. My way down was even more of a ramble. Be sure to have a map with you. There are a bunch of trails leading to different locations and trailheads. Honestly it wasn't my favorite trail up. That would probably be Harrington/Mid-State Trail. However it worked for the day. The one thing that is worth noting is that Wachusett is a ski mountain. In this case that means that there are many great views that would not otherwise be possible, thanks to ski trail clearings. On the other hand...it is not as remote or wild as Thoreau's time. It is an extremely accessible place, with both the good and the bad that go with that. Unlike even many ski mountains, it has a parking lot at the top. It can be a bit jarring walking off a secluded trail and encountering a scrum of humanity and their cars. This is still Henry's "Watchtower of Massachusetts" but now...it actually has a tower on it. I suggest weekdays in the morning. Then there are fewer people. That said, I do love this mountain. The walk up and down is always worthwhile. Both the views and the foliage are worth pausing and examining. Fall is best, but spring is nice too. Summer and winter can be a bit chaotic, but other people experiencing and loving nature isn't the worst thing, right? Update: I have been up Wachusett since I posted this and--in April of 2023--I made a short video of a slightly different hike from the one described here. I ended up on the same peak...but it was quite a bit longer. Here it is!
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Dear Folks, I am in the process of catching people up with some early hikes and other encounters with nature that I thought people might find interesting as part of a "How It Began" (HIB) series. Mostly this will describe specific hikes and perhaps some lessons learned along the way...if there are any. They are meant to be short and, perhaps helpful in some way to other hikers or fellow-travelers. I will post the dates of when I hiked a specific mountain since the ones in this series are NOT posted at or near the date hiked. SEPTEMBER 18, 2021 Not every hike is in New Hampshire, right? Another place I like to go is the Pioneer Valley in Central Massachusetts. The drive is easier and shorter, which is good. Also--while the mountains are not tall-- since the valley is so low and flat, the views they provide are spectacular...most of the time. Our first excursion was the Seven Sisters range between Bare mountain and Mount Holyoke. The name "Seven Sisters" is in honor of a group of historically women's colleges that were conceived as being a female counterweight to the ivy league. Most of them remain women's colleges today. However Radcliff College merged with Harvard and Vassar College (the alma mater of one of my sons) became co-educational. Two of the sisters (Mount Holyoke College and Smith College) are in the Pioneer Valley and--as you may have gathered by the shared name between college and mountain--this trail has something of a special significance to those communities. I will say this, the low elevation fooled us. It is actually a pretty challenging trail. This was particularly true in our case as we hiked it both ways, treating it as an out-and-and back to Mount Holyoke. It is 5 miles one way and, although they are short, there are about 10 distinct peaks (not 7). So double those numbers and you get a sense of what we did. We were going up or down constantly. While we have since learned that many of the trails in this area have fairly constant views, this trail was more closed in. My back hurt. I was dehydrated and filled with a good dose of despair. I am glad my wife didn't leave me. I was awful. Strangely we weren't even the only people who misjudged. Every 5th person we saw was in some state of despair as well. It kinda perked me up a bit, actually.... Fortunately the visitors center at Mt. Holyoke was open so we could refill our water bottles for the way back. Also, the view from the porch at the center was great and made the trip worthwhile. On our way back, knowing what we were up against, we slowed down quite a bit and managed to get back in fairly good order. I learned a few things about hiking on this trip. I learned to check the map and be honest about my abilities. I learned you can never have too much water. I also learned to enjoy what I can when I can. I also learned about the area and the cool natural features it offers. The views we did get were great. Later hikes in this area went well...including some of my favorite hikes of the year. So there will be more from the Pioneer Valley. However, I do suggest leaving a car at the other end of this one... |
Adam Tierney-EliotI am a full-time pastor in a small, progressive church in Massachusetts. This blog is about the non-church things I do to find spiritual sustenance. Archives
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