Mount Greylock

Rockwell Rd., Lanesborough
413-499-4262
or 413-499-4263

At 3,491 feet, Mount Greylock is the highest peak in Massachusetts. Acquired by the Commonwealth in 1898, it was Massachusetts" first state park. For years, Mt. Greylock has inspired artists and writers, including authors Herman Melville and Henry David Thoreau. After arriving at the summit by foot-trail or auto road, you can see a panorama of five states.

January 18th, 2004 Hike

Marcy and I started at 11AM from the hopper trail parking area. I had planned a hike to the Greylock Summit. My route was going to be be over Mt. Prospect via snowshoe trail to the Applician Trail. I planned to go south on the AT going over Williams, Fitch, and finally Greylock itself. I planned to stay till night fall taking pictures and talking to my spirit. I will would of accend via the Hopper trail back to my car.

What really happened was that it took myself 3 hours to summitt and go over Mt Prospect. The climb was step and afforded myself great views but only once in a while. Once I got to the AT trail I made a decision to go back to the car via the Money Brook Trail. If I were to stick to my plans then I would of gotten home way to late.

The Money Brook trail has some good parts but mostly it is hard to follow and very boring. But it did get me back to the car in good time and we headed for home after a 4 hour hike.

January 9th, 2004 Hike

Last night was a failure but I did learn some lessons. I arrived at the trailhead to Greylock around 8PM and at that point I did not think I was going to go through with the adventure. It was -9 degrees and on top must have been -15 or so. I geared up because I thought that I would at least have a good winter night (full moon) hike. I planned to go back home after. I started to climb and it was so beautiful and I was having such a good time I decided to go for setting up a base camp and spend the night. The next day I would hike all day before returning to camp and then make a decision to stay another night.

Lesson 1: Make a list and check it twice ... I suddenly realized that I forgot Marcy"s food. If a dog (or a human) is going to make it through a night of -10 temps, then they should have food. It is what keep the furnace burning. This bummed me out but I decided to give her my jerky and some nuts. I would cut the trio short to just summit on Saturday and go home. Then I realized that I forgot my memory card for my camera. 75% of the reasoning behind such and advenure was to get some shots of the sunrise and winter beauty of the full moon. With that shot I just wanted to sleep the night and go home. At least I will would have bagged one adventure.

Lesson 2: Do not pitch tent on deep snow ... My thinking was that I would have a soft place to sleep. Instead I got a lumpy bed that was like sleeping on a bag of gym balls. Next time I would clear a level area and let the pad do the comfort part.

Lesson 3: Bring appropriate gear ... I borrowed a bag from my friend Paul. He told me that it may have lost its initial -30 rating; Boy did it! A side lesson also is to have a bag that is big enough. I learned from a previous adventure to sleep with water, food, and clothes inside the bag to keep thawed out. For some reason this bag wasn"t big enough and I ended up with no room for the insulation to work. I was stuffed inside without any room to even pull the hood tight. I struggled and fell asleep with my head partially exposed. I awoke an hour later with lips burning and cracked and I couldn"t feel my feet. My legs were chilled and that has never happened. Marcy was shivering wildly. I took one look at her and knew we must retreat or freeze to death.

Lesson 4: Not one learned but it is good to have a extra large pack. I rushed to put on my boots but couldn"t. They were frozen so bad I couldn"t tie the laces let alone get them on. I soon was understanding that I was close to a emergency situation and might have to leave stuff on the mountain. That is where the large pack was handy. Instead of compressing and folding I just stuffed the entire camp into the pack. I barely got the tent in last. The pack was huge and it was all I could do to mount it.

I couldn"t feel my fingers and all my dexterity was gone. I stumbled down the mountain and Marcy finaly warmed up enough to stop shivering. Actually I ran down the mountain which is not a good thing to do. Well now I am at home and safe. Before I do that again I need a stove, thermos, bag, 4 season tent, and most importantly a neck gator (I really miss that the most). Tonight ... Well I am off to summit Greylock, yea another drive up into MA. Maybe I can get some great sunset and moon pics.

Thursday 07 August 2003

Monica and I had a good time. We hiked Mount Greylock in the North Western corner of Mass. We enjoyed the sun at times and even a real soking as it rained on the way down. Apart from the bad dog (Marcy who got into a dog fight among other things) the day was very fun. A great day.