KenC
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- Sep 8, 2003
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Unable to head north to the Whites this weekend, Mickey7 and i decided to hit the Greylock area early and do what i'll call a circumnavigation of most of the main peaks. Normally i wouldn't post a report as Greylock doesn't carry the "weight of a 4K" but the geography and layout of the reservation allows you to make a very nice loop with varried forests and terrain, mixed in with some brook walks and some heartrate elevating climbing.
We hit the trail at the Mt Williams Res. On the AT northbound. After entering the woods it's a pleasant walk through the watershed area. However the trail begins a steep ascent up the ridge to a nice lookout at the AT/Mt Prospect trail intersection. The views to the west are great into the Taconics and the scattered berkshire towns below.
We headed south on the Mt Prospect trail through a variety of forests. A surprising amount of mud and very slippery moss covered rocks and wet roots in areas. Along the trail there was plenty of evidence of a decent sized Moose we were sharing the trail with. Didn't see it but it's tracks followed the trail for quite a distance. The blueberries along the trail helped explain the bear tracks in the sometimes boot sucking mud on the tail. Bear activity is very high in the berkshires! UNfortunately all we saw were tracks this day.
After a quick snack of the Galehead Like Summit of Mt Prospect, we began a rather long decent down into the "Hopper" giving up all the altitude we climbed! The trail was poorly marked and very overgrown but wasn't a problem untill we were on a brief traverse before dropping down Money Brook. There was an area very washed out, almost talus like, and we totally lost the trail. We decided to just bushwack down to the brook and pick it up on the other side. So a quick "WHack" for the day. Picking up the Money Brook Trail we had a pleasant walk along the brook which is a very interresting spot with steep walls down to the brook below. Nice spot for a cool dip!!
Catching the Hoper Trail we began the long ascent back up to Greylock to connect with the AT just south of the summit. At this time we ran into the first hikers we had seen all day! 3.5 hours without seeing anyone! Varried trails along this route. Rocks, Root's, mud but a nice trail through differing forests. A quick stop at a quiet pond, then up to the At and summit.
Great views with a slight breeze to keep things comfortable in the days heat. A quick stop at Bascom lodge for water and up to the War Memorial Tower for lunch. The summit was not that crowded considering it was a sunday in July. Just a scattering of people and hikers.
After lunch we picked up the AT and headed North. Our first stop would be Mt Fitch, well not a stop, you just walk over it and when you head down a bit you know you've been there. A nice walk along the ridge was quite wet with again a fair amount of mud. Continuing on up to the rock slab and small lookout oin Mt Williams. Nice views to the east with quite a bit of haze at this point. A quick drink and snack and we begin the drop from Mt Williams then another brief climb back up to the At/Mt prospect trail intersect. The retrace the AT back to the car.
This was a nice hike. I would have been great to be up north but we managed a "Whites Like" hike of 11.5 miles with 4,300 feet of climbing and enjoyed every minute of it. If your ever out this way i'd highly recoment this loop. It is especially nice in the spring or fall when the foliage is not out as it has many great views.
We hit the trail at the Mt Williams Res. On the AT northbound. After entering the woods it's a pleasant walk through the watershed area. However the trail begins a steep ascent up the ridge to a nice lookout at the AT/Mt Prospect trail intersection. The views to the west are great into the Taconics and the scattered berkshire towns below.
We headed south on the Mt Prospect trail through a variety of forests. A surprising amount of mud and very slippery moss covered rocks and wet roots in areas. Along the trail there was plenty of evidence of a decent sized Moose we were sharing the trail with. Didn't see it but it's tracks followed the trail for quite a distance. The blueberries along the trail helped explain the bear tracks in the sometimes boot sucking mud on the tail. Bear activity is very high in the berkshires! UNfortunately all we saw were tracks this day.
After a quick snack of the Galehead Like Summit of Mt Prospect, we began a rather long decent down into the "Hopper" giving up all the altitude we climbed! The trail was poorly marked and very overgrown but wasn't a problem untill we were on a brief traverse before dropping down Money Brook. There was an area very washed out, almost talus like, and we totally lost the trail. We decided to just bushwack down to the brook and pick it up on the other side. So a quick "WHack" for the day. Picking up the Money Brook Trail we had a pleasant walk along the brook which is a very interresting spot with steep walls down to the brook below. Nice spot for a cool dip!!
Catching the Hoper Trail we began the long ascent back up to Greylock to connect with the AT just south of the summit. At this time we ran into the first hikers we had seen all day! 3.5 hours without seeing anyone! Varried trails along this route. Rocks, Root's, mud but a nice trail through differing forests. A quick stop at a quiet pond, then up to the At and summit.
Great views with a slight breeze to keep things comfortable in the days heat. A quick stop at Bascom lodge for water and up to the War Memorial Tower for lunch. The summit was not that crowded considering it was a sunday in July. Just a scattering of people and hikers.
After lunch we picked up the AT and headed North. Our first stop would be Mt Fitch, well not a stop, you just walk over it and when you head down a bit you know you've been there. A nice walk along the ridge was quite wet with again a fair amount of mud. Continuing on up to the rock slab and small lookout oin Mt Williams. Nice views to the east with quite a bit of haze at this point. A quick drink and snack and we begin the drop from Mt Williams then another brief climb back up to the At/Mt prospect trail intersect. The retrace the AT back to the car.
This was a nice hike. I would have been great to be up north but we managed a "Whites Like" hike of 11.5 miles with 4,300 feet of climbing and enjoyed every minute of it. If your ever out this way i'd highly recoment this loop. It is especially nice in the spring or fall when the foliage is not out as it has many great views.
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