HELLO MASSACHUSETTS
AT Day 088: Tuesday July 4, 2023
Mile 1499.5 + 21.5 miles/34.6 km
Total Distance Hiked: 1521 miles/ 2447 km
Falls Village – Glen Brook Shelter
A: 5164 ft /1575 m D:3806 ft /1160 m
A light drizzle was falling as we left Falls Village this morning. Walking through the deserted streets in the early hours it looked like a bear has come through and turned all the garbage bins upside down. The sight of trash strewn everywhere was quite at odds in such a tidy and prosperous looking town.
As soon as we stepped off the road and into the woods it was a dance, trying to keep the wet grass off our shoes and clothes. Mainly hoping to keep our feet dry for as long as possible. Didn’t help so we gave up. Soggy feet it will be for the rest of the day.
The woods were misty and gave off that wonderful freshly cut cucumber smell. It was beautiful even though it was drizzling rain.
The rain and the humidity felt so tropical. It didn’t takeing to break a sweat climbing Prospects Mountain. There were no town views as everything was shrouded in mist. The rain eventually petered out although it was a while before the clouds started to break up.
This morning hiking felt so much easier than yesterday. I don’t know whether it’s because of the burger last night or being around well dressed people having a lovely night out or whether the trail was just easier this morning We certainly didn’t have the lows that we had yesterday, despite the rain. We were having a good morning hiking and it got immeasurably better when we got to the trailhead parking at Route 41/ Undermountain Road. We met two lovely Trail Angels, Lisa and Ron who had a table set up with an amazing spread of food and drinks. Ron is a keen hiker, having completed the Long Trail in Vermont. Lisa is the organiser. We spent almost an hour eating and chatting. If we stayed any longer it could have been beer o’clock.
Feeling re-energised on a day that was already going well, we did a long ascent to Lyons Head. Sweaty work and a few rock scrambles were worth the fantastic views off the summit. The sun was out so we stopped here at the overlook to dry the sodden tent. The landscape below was verdant green with huge property’s carved out. It was such a welcomed change from the previous few days. We watched a narrow band of a storm front approaching through what was now an almost blue sky day.
The overlook soon became busy with day hikers arriving in this now great weather July 4th holiday. We packed up the tent and headed on towards another big climb for the day, Bear Mountain. Huge stands of prolific Mountain Laurel in full bloom started to appear. Their faint perfume filling the trail. Seemed so unreal, I thought I was dreaming. It was so captivating particularly as the sun was shining and we were hiking through a corridor of the most perfect blooms. I must have taken hundreds of photos.
I don’t recall the ascent of Bear Mountain being all that difficult but the descent was a bit tricky. A couple of hikers we met earlier told us that the descent off Bear Mt today will be a lot like the descents off the much talked about White Mountain peaks in Vermont. Rocky and steep in sections which made for a couple of challenging spots. Especially with a pack, the concern being that the pack catches on a rock and tips you forward. But with slow and careful route selection we made it down without any problems. It would be a far more challenging descent in wet weather. The 360° views from the top of Bear Mountain were pretty sensational.
From Bear Mountain the trail dropped down to Sages Ravine, a deep and narrow river valley which we followed for a couple of miles. With the recent rains the waterfalls were thundering. We crossed the ravine on a series of rocks to start the ascent of Mt Race. Sweaty hiking in the afternoon sun especially once we neared the series of ledges which precede the summit of the mountain. Again the labour of the climb was offset by the splendour of the trailside blooms. And once we were on the ledges the spectacular views of the valley made it all worthwhile.
It was getting late in the day when started to descend Mt Race. We only had 2 miles to make it to the nearest shelter with one more obstacle along the way – Mt Everitt. The map profile suggested that it was going to be a steep climb but this did not prepare us for the reality. It was an ascent that was so rocky and steep in sections that timber footholds were drilled into the rock wall to provide traction. It took us a lot longer then we anticipated to get to the summit, which offered filtered views of the distant surrounds. From Mt Everitt we descent towards our camp at the Glen Brook Shelter passing long sections of water logged trail. Which at times resemble a creek.
We arrived at the campground around 7.30pm and were surprised that there was no body else camped here. We got the tent up on a timber platform and were horizontal just as it started to get dark.
Firecrackers for July 4th celebrations were going off somewhere below where we were camped. We could see the rainbow colours of the fireworks reflected in the sky. A physically exhausting day with spectacular vistas and amazing trailside blooms. All made even more memorable by the incredible kindness of strangers.