Twenty-two minutes to the summit from the parking lot at the visitor center, up the Pine Hill Trail. This is the fastest route up Mt. Wachusett. But with no pack, I'm showing my age. Not too many years ago I could get up in about 15 minutes--with a pack. Every year, now, I see my times increasing, my breathing going faster.
Well, let's worry about age a little later. The Pine Hill Trail is the Interstate Highway of Mt. Wachusett. Probably more people take this route to the summit than any other. It's shown its age over the years, too, as it was getting wider (aren't we all?) and more worn and eroded. But for a few years now it's been going through a facelift. Trail crews have been narrowing the trail in most places, and putting in stone stairs, one or two at a time. Now, perhaps half the trail is paved with native stone. The steps, while essential, are to me a mixed bag. I really prefer a natural trail with all its warts. But this trail was getting so badly damaged that something had to be done, and the fix has been effective so far. Still a lot to do, though.
From the start of the trail to the summit via the Pine Hill Trail is about 1100 yards (1 km). The trail is steep for Wachusett, but it's all walking, not climbing. The early going right now is still pretty muddy in spots, but once you reach the junction with the Bicentennial Trail you hit the stairs it it's mostly dry and clean almost to the Down Summit Road. Above that, there are no stairs, so it's moist dirt, but not especially wet, in between the rocks.
A hazy, humid day, so the view wasn't particularly interesting. We turned around and got back to the bottom in 12 minutes. That was pretty close to the 10 minutes I used to do it in. Felt good!
Go to the Hiking Trails on Mt. Monadnock site today!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Moore State Park
Following an Easter brunch, we took a short drive into Paxton to Moore State Park. Beautiful in May and early June with hillsides and stream banks covered with rhododendrons and azaleas, right now it is just coming back to life. Our hike yesterday was relatively short (the park doesn't have any especially long or challenging hikes, anyway). We left the parking lot and turned up the Davis Road Trail. With all the recent rains, this trail was quite soggy, even as it ascended the hill. Just below the summit, we turned to the left and followed the Laurel Loop Trail to the top of the hill. I was hoping for some good views, but even though the hilltop was open, there were still enough trees surrounding it that we really couldn't see much into the distance.
We continued along the trail downhill, but didn't complete the loop, instead we took a different trail that paralleled Eames Pond. This trail isn't on the map found on the park's web site, although it was on the map found at the parking area. The trail was quite interesting through here, generally following the contours of the ground, but with enough ups and downs and turns to be "entertaining." Of course, we passed through areas of laurel and had various glimpses of the pond not too far below us.
During the hike, rain threatened us. We felt sprinkles, but it never turned into enough rain to get us wet. Today is perhaps the fifth day in a row with threatening or rainy weather. Maybe even longer. While we've seen some sun, it hasn't been especially forthcoming. More storms are predicted for tomorrow and later in the week. But we don't mind too much. This has been better than the tornadoes hitting some areas of the country!
Happy Hiking, and don't forget to visit Hiking Trails on Mt. Monadnock.
We continued along the trail downhill, but didn't complete the loop, instead we took a different trail that paralleled Eames Pond. This trail isn't on the map found on the park's web site, although it was on the map found at the parking area. The trail was quite interesting through here, generally following the contours of the ground, but with enough ups and downs and turns to be "entertaining." Of course, we passed through areas of laurel and had various glimpses of the pond not too far below us.
During the hike, rain threatened us. We felt sprinkles, but it never turned into enough rain to get us wet. Today is perhaps the fifth day in a row with threatening or rainy weather. Maybe even longer. While we've seen some sun, it hasn't been especially forthcoming. More storms are predicted for tomorrow and later in the week. But we don't mind too much. This has been better than the tornadoes hitting some areas of the country!
Happy Hiking, and don't forget to visit Hiking Trails on Mt. Monadnock.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Mt. Wachusett on a wet and foggy day
We tried the Harrington Trail today, a very rainy, wet, cool, foggy day. We parked by ourselves near Machias Pool on the south side of the mountain and hiked up the Administration Road to the Harrington Trail, so we really only did a short section of the complete Harrington Trail.
The Administration Road is under construction--or perhaps it's destruction. The old asphalt surface is being ground up or removed, leaving a more even, gravel surface that's pretty good for hiking. Lots of hay bales along the sides of the road are protecting the watershed.
And there was plenty of water today! Driving to the mountain we experienced some pretty heavy periods of steady rain. But it was worse on the road than on the hike. We donned our raincoats and army ponchos and headed on up the road. The stream that flows by the roadside part way up was flowing heavily, and seemed generally clear. We noticed a little bit of snow along the roadside, too. It was low 40s when we began our hike in midday, but obviously it had been much cooler not too much earlier.
After we passed the trail head for the Lower Link, we saw a piece of heavy equipment that was obviously being used for the roadwork. It was parked at the junction with the West Road. After that, the road turned from gravel to mud on the right and broken shale on the left. Not very good going today on either side.
Finally we reached the Harrington Trail. Although the hay bales weren't particularly high, the road crew had left a small opening in them (with a slight rise to keep the water from the road out) so hikers could make their way onto the trail. We crossed the bridge over the stream and had to walk through a stretch of muddy, watery trail.
As the trail headed uphill, the snow got more frequent and deeper, although it probably never amounted to half an inch (12 mm). The fog moved in too, and there was little to see. The rocky trail was not particularly slippery, fortunately, and after about 45 minutes total we reached the summit.
We had seen a set of footprints on the way up the trail, but there was no one at the summit. While I was a bit hesitant to take it, we decided to go down by the Jack Frost Trail so we just walked across the summit and headed down the Mountain House Trail. The start of this trail is a bit confusing. It goes by one of the viewpoints and then past the small pond near the summit. But when it reaches one of the parking lots, the blazes disappear and it becomes very difficult to find. Usually when we head down this way, we don't try to follow the blazes, so I knew how to get back onto the trail, but someone unfamiliar with it could get very confused.
The Mountain House Trail wasn't too badly affected by the rain. It's steep enough near the summit that the rain doesn't puddle up, and it's rocky enough that it isn't particularly muddy. When we turned onto the Jack Frost Trail, we shortly did run into some puddles, but not much mud. The trail was pretty good until we passed the High Meadow Trail. You may know that Jack Frost traverses a steep, hemlock-covered hillside after that. I was explaining how we needed to be careful about the set and very slippery tree routes when, sure enough, I almost slipped on one!
We made it down the hillside with only a couple more slips, and continued back to the Lower Link and finally the Administration Road to the car, a little wetter, but well -exercised!.
Looking at the map of the mountain though, it appears that it may actually be shorter to go down the High Meadow Trail, cut across by Echo Pond, and take the Echo Pond Trail to Machias Pool. I'll have to try that sometime. The Jack Frost Trail actually curves back so much it adds quite a bit of distance to the hike.
That's it for today. As usual, don't forget to check out Hiking Trails on Mt. Monadnock.
Happy Hiking!
The Administration Road is under construction--or perhaps it's destruction. The old asphalt surface is being ground up or removed, leaving a more even, gravel surface that's pretty good for hiking. Lots of hay bales along the sides of the road are protecting the watershed.
And there was plenty of water today! Driving to the mountain we experienced some pretty heavy periods of steady rain. But it was worse on the road than on the hike. We donned our raincoats and army ponchos and headed on up the road. The stream that flows by the roadside part way up was flowing heavily, and seemed generally clear. We noticed a little bit of snow along the roadside, too. It was low 40s when we began our hike in midday, but obviously it had been much cooler not too much earlier.
After we passed the trail head for the Lower Link, we saw a piece of heavy equipment that was obviously being used for the roadwork. It was parked at the junction with the West Road. After that, the road turned from gravel to mud on the right and broken shale on the left. Not very good going today on either side.
Finally we reached the Harrington Trail. Although the hay bales weren't particularly high, the road crew had left a small opening in them (with a slight rise to keep the water from the road out) so hikers could make their way onto the trail. We crossed the bridge over the stream and had to walk through a stretch of muddy, watery trail.
As the trail headed uphill, the snow got more frequent and deeper, although it probably never amounted to half an inch (12 mm). The fog moved in too, and there was little to see. The rocky trail was not particularly slippery, fortunately, and after about 45 minutes total we reached the summit.
We had seen a set of footprints on the way up the trail, but there was no one at the summit. While I was a bit hesitant to take it, we decided to go down by the Jack Frost Trail so we just walked across the summit and headed down the Mountain House Trail. The start of this trail is a bit confusing. It goes by one of the viewpoints and then past the small pond near the summit. But when it reaches one of the parking lots, the blazes disappear and it becomes very difficult to find. Usually when we head down this way, we don't try to follow the blazes, so I knew how to get back onto the trail, but someone unfamiliar with it could get very confused.
The Mountain House Trail wasn't too badly affected by the rain. It's steep enough near the summit that the rain doesn't puddle up, and it's rocky enough that it isn't particularly muddy. When we turned onto the Jack Frost Trail, we shortly did run into some puddles, but not much mud. The trail was pretty good until we passed the High Meadow Trail. You may know that Jack Frost traverses a steep, hemlock-covered hillside after that. I was explaining how we needed to be careful about the set and very slippery tree routes when, sure enough, I almost slipped on one!
We made it down the hillside with only a couple more slips, and continued back to the Lower Link and finally the Administration Road to the car, a little wetter, but well -exercised!.
Looking at the map of the mountain though, it appears that it may actually be shorter to go down the High Meadow Trail, cut across by Echo Pond, and take the Echo Pond Trail to Machias Pool. I'll have to try that sometime. The Jack Frost Trail actually curves back so much it adds quite a bit of distance to the hike.
That's it for today. As usual, don't forget to check out Hiking Trails on Mt. Monadnock.
Happy Hiking!
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