Western Mass Vacation Part I: Into the Woods

I've done plenty of road trips criss-crossing chunks of the Northeast--but I've always looked out at the landscape flying by at 70 miles per hour, and thought, "Man... it would be nice to be out in that landscape."


Well, the first part of the vacation trip was just that--I went out to Western Massachusetts for a class (on "The Lost Art of Steam Heating," if anyone is curious), and then took a few days off, to hike around Mount Greylock--the highest point in the Commonwealth.

It was two solid days of solo camping--I have to admit that despite all of the trips I've been on (Yosemite, Saguaro National Park, Badlands, Big Bend), I've never gone off on my own. I thought this would be a valuable experience--I've always gone with other, more experienced hands (Leper, Bird, Drea). I wanted to find out if my knowledge, skills, or equipment were woefully lacking somewhere. Yeah, Jess, I know--"Two days, big whoop." ;) Think of it as a test run.

First bit of news upon arrival: the road to the campground is closed until Memorial Day.


So that meant getting to the campsite was a 1460 foot uphill hike with full gear. Wow.. that hurt.... but holy cats--the view. This was up to a campsite that overlooks the peak (Greylock), with a beautiful view of the valley below.


That night, I was pounded by rain--it actually kept me awake long enough that I only woke up around 11 AM. But wait... I'm on vacation... by myself--who cares! Glad that my tent's rain fly worked just fine. But going back to the overlook, I looked out at the mountain peak:


Huh. Just a bit fogged in. Probably not the day to enjoy the panoramic view of three states offered at the peak. However, there were several short day hikes to try out--such as out to a waterfall--really going strong with the previous night's rainfall.


I was amused to see the sign at the falls: DANGER: FALLS IS END OF TRAIL. Huh... bet there were a few people who were dumbasses in the past, eh?

All sorts of random neat things seen in the woods while hiking. For instance, many of the rocks have very distinct marble (I think) inclusions in their seams.


Also, a tree stump with a juvenile tree growing out of the middle of the old one. No idea if it was the same species or not.


As usual, a few examples of the golden hour making hack photography look nice.



Nice weather the next day--so I made it up to the summit by about lunchtime.



That tower is The Veterans War Memorial Tower--It takes the form of a perpetually lighted beacon to honor the state's dead from World War I (and subsequent conflicts). The light used to be the strongest beacon in Massachusetts, with a nighttime visible range of up to 70 miles.

As for lessons learned--well, a two-person tent is nice and roomy, but it's a lot of weight to haul up solo. Also, "strike anywhere" matches my ass--it's a good thing I brought up the whole matchbox, otherwise it would have been two days of sucking on dehydrated food and cold press coffee. Speaking of coffee--a coffee press is lovely for car camping, and sharing with friends... but when on the trail, it's going to be instant from now on--both the weight, and the cleanup. Composting toilets were a lovely available luxury at that campsite.


Also, as horrifying as freeze-dried powdered eggs sound as a concept, they were a tasty protein boost for breakfast.

As for the solo camping experience: it was actually very isolating. Since folks can't drive in, I was the only camper there--I had the entire 14+ site campground to myself. I saw the ranger there once, who was doing road maintenance. I probably saw half a dozen people total over those 48 hours (and exchanged about a dozen words).

Overall, it was very nice--I would recommend it highly to any of my introverted and/or misanthropic friends. No human contact for that long was actually a rather nice experience.

But no real epiphanies, resolutions, or great self-disoveries here. And nothing that makes me suddenly want to go full-house Thoreau-Walden-Pond (from the Wikipedia article):

Thoreau summited and spent a night in July 1844. His account of this event in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers described his approach up what is today the Bellows Pipe Trail. Scholars contend that this Greylock experience transformed him, affirming his ability to do these excursions on his own, following his brother John's death; and served as a prelude to his experiment of rugged individualism at Walden Pond the following year in 1845

[EDIT: R. referred to this as my 'Unabomber camping trip.' Made me laugh, so I had to share that]

Also, no forty-days-in-the-desert-style revelations (anyway, I don't think I can afford to take that much vacation time). Plenty of time thinking... also ended up singing to myself a lot. Spending an evening lying on a picnic table, starting up at the darkening cloudy skies. Definitely something I'm planning on doing again sometime. Either solo, or with friends--I'm happy with both of these options.