Planning
Back in January, Bill, Mark and myself got together over a few adult beverages to discuss the upcoming hiking season. The last 12 months have been hectic; I now have a son who is 11 months old, Mark now has a son who is 6 months, Bill sent off a daughter to college, got engaged, and bought a new house - you get the idea. We gathered in Mark's basement with a plethora of trail maps and guide books and picked a nice 14 mile loop in Taconic State Park, where the borders of New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut meet. Several e-mails transpired since that January meeting-of-the-minds, and a few months later we had our weekend picked: May 14th & 15th.
Day 1: Drive West & Hike Up, part deux
Bill, who lived next door up until a few months ago, was at my house bright and early Saturday morning. We loaded up Brooke’s Nissan Murano and headed down the road to pick up Mark. We swung by Dunkin’ Donuts on the way to Mark’s to fuel up (on coffee and gas), and after picking up Mark and his overly-stuffed 40 liter Osprey were on the road by 7:30am. The hike we were to do was only 25 or so miles from last year’s hike on a section of the Appalachian Trail in southwestern Massachusetts, so we made the same drive west on the Mass. Pike and through the same Berkshire towns, continuing on to Millerton, NY where we parked at the trailhead on Quarry Hill Road.
When we planned the hike we saw that the first mile or so was going to be uphill, but we had no idea it would be this uphill. Though the sign at the trailhead said the first half-mile would be “very difficult,” it still didn’t ready us for what we were to do. We climbed over 900 feet in only six-tenths of a mile, encountering some areas where hand-over-hand was the preferred method of ascent. What made it somewhat worthwhile, though, was the awesome waterfall that we hiked next to for most of the climb. Upon finally reaching the top, after several false summits, we stood atop Lower Brace Mountain and it’s 2,200 feet of elevation a few miles later. Riga Lake made for a beautiful backdrop for a few pictures. Further on, at 2,311 feet, we summitted Brace Mountain. Despite its seemingly meager elevation, we were above the treeline hiking only through rock and waist-high shrubbery. Another mile or so and we stood at the intersection of the South Taconic Trail, our original trail, and the Mt. Frissell Trail.
We followed the Mt. Frissell Trail for only three-tenths of a mile before taking a left and heading north several miles on the Ashley Hill Trail. This trail followed a ridge and ran parallel to the Ashley Brook for over a mile. We stopped for several photo ops and water breaks, and thought we had found the campsite from heaven until we saw the "No Camping" sign posted only feet above our heads. Continuing on after some water, beef jerky, and granola bars, we hiked another mile or so before coming across the multiple tent sites on this loop. We settled on site #2, after closely examining all eight sites, and we carefully chose where we were going to set up our three tents. Mark and I were carrying our trusty Big Agnes and REI tents, and Bill was lucky enough to be using his new (from Christmas) EMS Big Easy 2 tent. I must admit, much to the dismay of the only person who regularly reads this site (me), that I encountered more boot problems. After several months of around-town wear, I was convinced my L.L. Bean Cresta's were fully broken in and properly fit to my feet. I found out, after our brutal climb, that I have some heel slip in the right boot as evidenced by a dime-sized blister on my heel.
We sent up the tents, got a fire going, snacked a bit on the obscene amount of food that Bill carried (including 4 Guinnesses!), and decided to do a bit more hiking - apparently 7+ miles on the first day of the first hike of the season wasn't enough. We saw on the map a pond that was about a mile and a half from the campsites, and it looked reasonably easy to get to. We grabbed our collapsible rods and left our gear and began hiking down to Hunts Pond. Mark and I fished for about an hour while Bill explored the general area, and after being skunked our first two tries (Unknown Pond in the White Mountains in 2009, and Guilder Pond last year off the A.T.), we finally struck gold: Mark landed a trophy 6" Pickerel, and despite its tender age and miniscule size we decided it would serve as a great, if not the greatest, appetizer ever. Back at the campsite we speared our hors d'oeuvre and positioned it the proper height over the flames to roast perfectly, which it did. The meat flaked off perfectly, and Bill even had some salt & pepper in his bag of goodies for us to season it with. For dinner, Mark and I boiled up some water for our classic dehydrated meals of fettuccine alfredo and meat lasagna, and Bill broke new ground by making a box of Near East rice pilaf...what a show off! We retired to our tents shortly after dinner, and each got a great night's sleep.
Day 2: To the Wives & Children We Return!
The familiar pitter-patter of rain on our tents awoke us in the middle of night, but the temperatures only dipped into the mid-40's, no match for our entry-level synthetic insulation 20* sleeping bags! The rain had ended by the time we all made our way out of the tents to start breakfast, thankfully, and we had just enough time to pound down a few cups of Starbucks VIA and some oatmeal before packing up our wet tents and hitting the trail shortly before 8am. Moments after starting our hike to the top of Alander Mountain and it's 2,239 summit it began to rain...and it didn't stop for over an hour. We came upon a cabin near the summit that had two hikers, presumably a father and son, who took our picture and chatted for a few. They gave us some advice and directions, and we carried on. The top of this mountain was the same as Brace Mountain in that it was above the treeline, thereby offering us no protection whatsoever from the whipping wind and sideways rain. We donned our appropriate gear for said conditions and carried on, returning to the South Taconic Trail and hiking south back towards Brace Mountain. The rain, which was on and off all day, made the rocky trails incredibly slippery and slowed us down considerably. We had anticipated a noon arrival to Mom's Country Cafe, which Mark and I ate at last year, and we were just getting to the top of the waterfall descent at noon. We made our way down the steep, rocky trail at a snail's pace and finally arrived at the car at 12:45pm. As I mentioned, I had a small blister develop on my right heel on the first day of the hike. I tried cinching down the laces right where my ankle bent in order to hold my heel in place, but all that did was cause severe pain on the front and sides of my ankle. I plan on being patient with these boots, but if they don't work out I'm going right back to the Salomon Quests, which were insanely comfortable but were returned due to my severe wanting of all-leather boots. No more! Comfort is key, and if it means buying new boots every three years, then so be it.
We threw our packs and wet clothes in the back of the car and made the 20 minute drive back to South Egremont, MA to eat one of the greatest lunches ever at Mom's Country Cafe. We topped off our meals with slices of homemade pie, downed some coffee, and two hours later were back at our homes, bragging to our spouses about our weekend. In all, we hiked a total of 17 miles in two days. We summitted 3 mountains, crossed 2 rivers, and caught 1 Pickerel. It was an incredible success, and we hope to fit one more hike in this summer.
Back in January, Bill, Mark and myself got together over a few adult beverages to discuss the upcoming hiking season. The last 12 months have been hectic; I now have a son who is 11 months old, Mark now has a son who is 6 months, Bill sent off a daughter to college, got engaged, and bought a new house - you get the idea. We gathered in Mark's basement with a plethora of trail maps and guide books and picked a nice 14 mile loop in Taconic State Park, where the borders of New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut meet. Several e-mails transpired since that January meeting-of-the-minds, and a few months later we had our weekend picked: May 14th & 15th.
Day 1: Drive West & Hike Up, part deux
Bill, who lived next door up until a few months ago, was at my house bright and early Saturday morning. We loaded up Brooke’s Nissan Murano and headed down the road to pick up Mark. We swung by Dunkin’ Donuts on the way to Mark’s to fuel up (on coffee and gas), and after picking up Mark and his overly-stuffed 40 liter Osprey were on the road by 7:30am. The hike we were to do was only 25 or so miles from last year’s hike on a section of the Appalachian Trail in southwestern Massachusetts, so we made the same drive west on the Mass. Pike and through the same Berkshire towns, continuing on to Millerton, NY where we parked at the trailhead on Quarry Hill Road.
When we planned the hike we saw that the first mile or so was going to be uphill, but we had no idea it would be this uphill. Though the sign at the trailhead said the first half-mile would be “very difficult,” it still didn’t ready us for what we were to do. We climbed over 900 feet in only six-tenths of a mile, encountering some areas where hand-over-hand was the preferred method of ascent. What made it somewhat worthwhile, though, was the awesome waterfall that we hiked next to for most of the climb. Upon finally reaching the top, after several false summits, we stood atop Lower Brace Mountain and it’s 2,200 feet of elevation a few miles later. Riga Lake made for a beautiful backdrop for a few pictures. Further on, at 2,311 feet, we summitted Brace Mountain. Despite its seemingly meager elevation, we were above the treeline hiking only through rock and waist-high shrubbery. Another mile or so and we stood at the intersection of the South Taconic Trail, our original trail, and the Mt. Frissell Trail.
We followed the Mt. Frissell Trail for only three-tenths of a mile before taking a left and heading north several miles on the Ashley Hill Trail. This trail followed a ridge and ran parallel to the Ashley Brook for over a mile. We stopped for several photo ops and water breaks, and thought we had found the campsite from heaven until we saw the "No Camping" sign posted only feet above our heads. Continuing on after some water, beef jerky, and granola bars, we hiked another mile or so before coming across the multiple tent sites on this loop. We settled on site #2, after closely examining all eight sites, and we carefully chose where we were going to set up our three tents. Mark and I were carrying our trusty Big Agnes and REI tents, and Bill was lucky enough to be using his new (from Christmas) EMS Big Easy 2 tent. I must admit, much to the dismay of the only person who regularly reads this site (me), that I encountered more boot problems. After several months of around-town wear, I was convinced my L.L. Bean Cresta's were fully broken in and properly fit to my feet. I found out, after our brutal climb, that I have some heel slip in the right boot as evidenced by a dime-sized blister on my heel.
We sent up the tents, got a fire going, snacked a bit on the obscene amount of food that Bill carried (including 4 Guinnesses!), and decided to do a bit more hiking - apparently 7+ miles on the first day of the first hike of the season wasn't enough. We saw on the map a pond that was about a mile and a half from the campsites, and it looked reasonably easy to get to. We grabbed our collapsible rods and left our gear and began hiking down to Hunts Pond. Mark and I fished for about an hour while Bill explored the general area, and after being skunked our first two tries (Unknown Pond in the White Mountains in 2009, and Guilder Pond last year off the A.T.), we finally struck gold: Mark landed a trophy 6" Pickerel, and despite its tender age and miniscule size we decided it would serve as a great, if not the greatest, appetizer ever. Back at the campsite we speared our hors d'oeuvre and positioned it the proper height over the flames to roast perfectly, which it did. The meat flaked off perfectly, and Bill even had some salt & pepper in his bag of goodies for us to season it with. For dinner, Mark and I boiled up some water for our classic dehydrated meals of fettuccine alfredo and meat lasagna, and Bill broke new ground by making a box of Near East rice pilaf...what a show off! We retired to our tents shortly after dinner, and each got a great night's sleep.
Day 2: To the Wives & Children We Return!
The familiar pitter-patter of rain on our tents awoke us in the middle of night, but the temperatures only dipped into the mid-40's, no match for our entry-level synthetic insulation 20* sleeping bags! The rain had ended by the time we all made our way out of the tents to start breakfast, thankfully, and we had just enough time to pound down a few cups of Starbucks VIA and some oatmeal before packing up our wet tents and hitting the trail shortly before 8am. Moments after starting our hike to the top of Alander Mountain and it's 2,239 summit it began to rain...and it didn't stop for over an hour. We came upon a cabin near the summit that had two hikers, presumably a father and son, who took our picture and chatted for a few. They gave us some advice and directions, and we carried on. The top of this mountain was the same as Brace Mountain in that it was above the treeline, thereby offering us no protection whatsoever from the whipping wind and sideways rain. We donned our appropriate gear for said conditions and carried on, returning to the South Taconic Trail and hiking south back towards Brace Mountain. The rain, which was on and off all day, made the rocky trails incredibly slippery and slowed us down considerably. We had anticipated a noon arrival to Mom's Country Cafe, which Mark and I ate at last year, and we were just getting to the top of the waterfall descent at noon. We made our way down the steep, rocky trail at a snail's pace and finally arrived at the car at 12:45pm. As I mentioned, I had a small blister develop on my right heel on the first day of the hike. I tried cinching down the laces right where my ankle bent in order to hold my heel in place, but all that did was cause severe pain on the front and sides of my ankle. I plan on being patient with these boots, but if they don't work out I'm going right back to the Salomon Quests, which were insanely comfortable but were returned due to my severe wanting of all-leather boots. No more! Comfort is key, and if it means buying new boots every three years, then so be it.
We threw our packs and wet clothes in the back of the car and made the 20 minute drive back to South Egremont, MA to eat one of the greatest lunches ever at Mom's Country Cafe. We topped off our meals with slices of homemade pie, downed some coffee, and two hours later were back at our homes, bragging to our spouses about our weekend. In all, we hiked a total of 17 miles in two days. We summitted 3 mountains, crossed 2 rivers, and caught 1 Pickerel. It was an incredible success, and we hope to fit one more hike in this summer.