mountaineering

Today was an exhilarating, if not challenging, day. Kristie and Sean came up from Providence for a day of hiking on Mt. Greylock, the highest mountain in Massachusetts. Part of our hike would include the Appalachian Trail too! We drove to Williamstown (rte. 7N) and entered via Roaring Brook Road. There is a small, dirt parking area there next to the brook.

We parked, donned our socks and boots and took straight to the Roaring Brook Trail, marked by blue paint. The first part was a foot/mountain bike trail that quickly became a foot path only. It was a steep hike, beginning at 1100 feet and moving up to 2400 feet. The trail was well-marked and well taken care of. Sean commented how nice trails are kept up on this end of the state, despite the crappy documenting done by the MA DCR. I guess there's a story behind that comment, but I'm sure Sean will get it, and that's all that matters.

Towards the top of Roaring Brook trail, we passed Deer Hill Trail and the falls, which one of the rangers at the welcome center told us is quite steep and a bit more dangerous to get to. Perhaps another time. We passed the Circle trail and a bunch of campsites on Sperry Road, an unpaved road in the woods. I stopped in the eco-toilet (you know, one of the port-a-johns with the poop-eating bacteria, yum!) and then we started on a descent where a sign said "Hopper Trail down". Little did we know we were going the wrong way until we hiked into a couple and their dog. They were also looking for the trail to the summit. They said they had started at the bottom and hadn't crossed any other trails yet. So I said, "Shit, that's where we're going too!" It turns out we had taken the wrong part of Hopper Trail.

After this discovery, we all turned to go [back] uphill. This time we went the other direction and saw that Hopper Trail connected further down on Sperry Road. The couple with the dog took the road ahead as we adjusted ourselves - donning jackets as it was starting to rain and me re-tying my boots after tossing out some pebbles. I have no idea how they get in there, but they do! Hopper Trail was nice; we saw some cute flowers, fungi (mushrooms and the type that grow on random soggy logs). I even got a photo of a beautiful frog while we were hiking.

Ascending, we passed Overlook Trail, which the ranger told us once had beautiful vistas, but now are overgrown and not quite worth the extra mileage. Soon after, we joined up with the AT (Appalachian Trail) until we reached the summit. What a gorgeous view!!! From the top one can easily see all the towns below: North Adams, Adams, Cheshire, and on a clear day, all the way up to Brattleboro, VT. There are many mountains visible in the distance, but we had such a thick cloud cover that it was impossible to see anything but those damn churches covering the town of Adams.

Atop Mt. Greylock (elevation 3491 feet!) there is what appears to be the highest built lighthouse in the U.S. It was built on top of the mountain in 1933, though originally intended for the Charles River reservoir in Boston, MA. At least no ships will ever hit the summit and ground out!

We scarfed down some PB&J sandwiches and nutty PowerBars and I tried to dry off my shirt by taking it off and letting it hang on a post. I took off my [stupid cotton] sweat-soaked sports bra and free-boobed it for the rest of the hike. Lucky for me, my hiking shirt was tight and kept me comfortable for the remainder of the day. We took some photos at the summit and then as the cloud cover increased (it had already thundered and rained a bit, but no lightning) we decided to head back before time got away from us. At this point it was just after 4pm, so we had been hiking for three hours already.

We took the descent back down Hopper Trail and followed Sperry Road for about a mile. We took a short one-mile detour down the March Cataract Trail to the falls. Kristie hung back as the trail was quite unkempt and she was resting her joints and back (she has a history of back injury). Sean and I took the treacherous route to the falls and saw that it was pretty, but not impressive. Nonetheless, I captured its beauty with my camera, realizing for the first time that my Canon has the ability to take photos in both sepia and black-and-white settings. Neat-o!

The ascent back up March Cataract Trail was only about a half-mile, but it was difficult! It was practically straight up and a bit slippery, with many moss-covered rocks and thin (maybe 3 feet wide?) trail. Yikes! We met up with Kristie and went back up to Sperry Road.

This route took us to Stony Ledge, which has an elevation of 2560 feet and the most gorgeous view of a cushy-looking forest valley. We all had a treat of pieces of Ghirardelli Mint and Chocolate mini-bars (which I now realize have HFCS {high fructose corn syrup} and PHOs {partially-hydrogenated oils}, blech!!!). After resting, chatting and taking in the breathtaking view for about 15 minutes, we moved on.

Our final descent was down the Stony Ledge Trail. It was probably one of the steepest descents I've made in a while. It was very stony, hence the name, but I was lucky enough to have found two perfect branch walking sticks at the last overlook, so used them until my knees started killing me. Then Sean gave me his poles and I was much happier for the remainder of the descent.

We returned to the car after about seven hours of hiking, about 7.5 to 8 miles for the day. Of course that's a rough estimate, but I'm sure it's damn close. I threw down a towel in the trunk and we tossed in our mud-caked boots, moving on our way back to Pittsfield.

Once in town we stopped at Jae's Spice (a new restaurant that opened about a week ago) to check out the menu and the wait list for a table. I immediately liked the food selection (I knew I would as I've eaten at Jae's other restaurants in the Berkshires), and Kristie put Sean's name on the wait list. We had 30 minutes to drive home, shower, change and get back for dinner. This was all successfully done in about 30 minutes and we only had to wait about five minutes after we walked in the door.

Our waiter, Ian, was a young, tall kid who was really sweet and attentive. I ordered a glass of Prosecco, Jae's Screaming Spicy Roll I (Yellowtail, scallion, cucumber, chili sauce) and Bibim Bab, a Korean rice bowl served in a hot stone pot. I also tried the Mandoo (beef dumplings, or potstickers as Kristie was calling them, as they were steamed, not fried) and they were delicious.

All of our food was great, except there was an issue with Sean's meal. It was advertised in the menu as General Lee's chicken, served with okra, but when it came out the chicken was on a bed of steamed broccoli. The only reason Sean ordered it was because he likes okra (go figure!). So, being the strong-headed Chinese woman that she is, Kristie approached the management, claiming misrepresentation of the food on their menu. The manager came to speak with us about the okra, saying it has been difficult acquiring it from the south; when the shipments arrive, the okra is usually mottled and bruised looking...but apparently they have frozen okra on hand. Why would anyone tell a customer that!? I don't know, but it was silly and they reduced the price on Sean's meal, given that he ate the whole thing, broccoli and all. Then, after all that, Kristie was maddened by her meal too, as it was missing the black mushrooms that were advertized on the menu. The manager (who spoke with us about the okra) came to say that the veggies are tossed up in a large batch and scooped out for individual servings and that Kristie's food was probably a scoop that just so happened to not have mushrooms in it. So he offered to bring some out and did...only they were canned straw mushrooms, not black mushrooms, as Kristie pointed out.

It was a big ordeal, but I sat there giggling at the absurdity of it all, privately and deeply enjoying my Bibim Bab. It was delicious!!! I added the chili sauce and ate every last piece of rice with my chopsticks. Ian was impressed at my chopstick skills. Oh yeah baby.

After dinner, Kristie and Sean hopped in their car and drove back to Providence. Just then, my cousin Abby and her boyfriend Jorge showed up. My parents, Abby, Jorge and I watched the Olympics' opening ceremony and discussed low-impact and low-elevation hikes for Abby and Jorge's weekend. We decided on some nature walks in Canoe Meadows and the Pleasant Valley Bird and Nature Sanctuary.

Then I snuck a few Hershey's nuggets before washing up for bed and getting to my writing. Now I'm about to pass out and I've got another full day of hiking ahead of me. Blake is coming in from NYC and we'll be hiking Mt. Washington (in MA, not NH). I have to go buy some bread in the morning for our PB&J sandwiches and refresh my Camel Back. Until next time....