Hike of Mt. Greylock

Adams, MA

October 22nd, 2011

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Summiting the tallest mountain in Massachusetts... it's not quite like conquering the Himalayas, especially for those who drive to the top! But it still makes a really nice day hike. We began our journey on the east side of Mt. Greylock and hiked northwesterly along the Bellows Pipe Extension and Bellows Pipe trail to the Appalachian Trail (AT), and then southerly along the AT to the summit.

Along the way, Maddy, Eric, Therese and Zach check out the Bellows Pipe Shelter. The shelter was about 1050 feet higher than our starting point, but we would gain another 1200 feet before reaching the mountain's 3491 foot summit.

So we proceeded in an uphill direction, into the fog when we got to the AT, and eventually rounded the summit as the Mt. Greylock War Memorial came into view.

	The summit lodge provided nice shelter from the cold wind and fog, and gave us a chance to get our bearings. So despite being pretty crowded and not outdoors, we hung out there for a while and ate our lunch.

Suddenly the fog lifted just enough for the Town of Adams to appear below. We grabbed our packs and rushed outside to get a better view.

The clouds lifted some more and our view expanded. We took note of Gould Farm below us, where our hike began. It is the large green field at the bottom of the pictures.

Further to the left, our view of Ragged Mountain below us was becoming obscured as the clouds started to roll back in again.

All five of us on the Greylock summit, happy that we were able to enjoy the scenery.

	What goes up must come down, and we took the Gould Trail on our way back down the mountain, stopping along the way to admire Pecks Brook Falls.

Eric chills out next to the falls. And further down the Gould Trail, we all fit very nicely inside a hollow tree.

By the end of our hike, the clouds had continued to lift and the Greylock Summit was in the clear. Through binoculars Maddie watches people at the lip of the summit, right where we had been a couple of hours earlier.

Remember Gould Farm - the big green field seen from the summit? Well, here's the summit as seen from Gould Farm. We crossed it on the last leg of our hike as we closed in on our van, eager to rest our legs on the long drive back to Clark.

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