9/6 Tom, Field and Willey

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gooly

New member
Joined
Jun 17, 2008
Messages
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Location
Templeton, MA
I wondered what the heck i was doing while my car was hydroplaning most of the way up 93. It was raining hard on the outskirts of Hannah. I was way too close to the mountains to turn around, i had to see what it would be like...

...to my amazement, the rain had ceased right around Lincoln and i thought it wouldn't be so bad...

There were plenty of cars at the Highland Center on what seemed to be a cruddy day. Jackson and I made our way up the Avalon Trail towards the A-Z Trail. The very easy grade and footing made for quick time to the Mt Tom Spur Trail. Jackson made friends with two other dogs at this junction and we soon learned that their owners were from a town very close to where we reside. Onward we went to catch a view of the Presidentials. I watched a cloud form and consume the top of Washington during my ten minute break, snapped a few photos and headed back to join the Willey Range Trail.

The sun had decided to make an appearance on my way up to Field and i had passed a few smiling faces along the way. I seemed to flow up the trail in a sort of meditative state and before long i was at the cairn marking the top of Field. There was a group of hikers there eating their lunch so i opted to keep moving on to Willey.

Again i found myself almost in a trance as i walked and thought about the crap that life can sometimes throw at you. All the while, the awesome view of Crawford Cliffs appeared from the top of Willey. I rested hear for awhile to admire the precipitous slopes of the cliffs, Mt Jackson and Webster. The clouds rolled in and out limiting the views. I had wondered about the Kedron Flume Trail as my way out and asked a few people on the trail what they thought about it being dog friendly. Looks steep on the map and i heard there were ladders. I got a 50/50 response out of four groups. I decided that not knowing the terrain ahead and arriving to where i was safely that i would simply head back and take the Avalon Trail down.

The Avalon Trail was much more fun and steep than the A-Z trail. I found a water bottle and saw a guy take a gnarly spill down a slab. It was sort of graceful but his head and shoulders got lower than his legs somehow and was partly in the woods. He was ok though, well that's what he said when i asked. I had passed a few hikers on my way out. I had forgotten about the water bottle until i took my pack off. Sure enough it belonged to someone i had passed...they were grateful of its' safe return.
 
Glad to hear someone got out.....that should've been us.... :( That's the hike we were going to do, well most of it anyways. We were going to do Tom/Field, but opted not to.....

So are you saying that the Avalon Trail is better going up it, rather than down it?
 
Glad to hear someone got out.....that should've been us.... That's the hike we were going to do, well most of it anyways. We were going to do Tom/Field, but opted not to.....

So are you saying that the Avalon Trail is better going up it, rather than down it?
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I had read your post early saturday morning and almost responded that you should just go for it! I'm glad that i did get out. i missed the rain completely out on the trail, it poured only minutes after i had pulled away from the parking lot.

I didn't actually go up the steeper section of the Avalon Trail...i opted to take the A-Z Trail to the Mt Tom Spur Trail, which was fairly mellow. I would've enjoyed going up it though, and next time i probably will!
 
Yep, shoulda, coulda, woulda.....hate when that happens. Now today I'm doing my usual break walks, thinking this would be an awesome day for a hike, but nooo I have to be at work..... :rolleyes:
 
Today sure would have been nice to get out...dumb work! Plenty more days to come...hope you can find the time to go...
 
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