7/13/2011 - Mt. Wachusett - Making Mountains out of Mole Hills

Yesterday, I teamed up with fellow blogger and forum member Maddy and Molly, her 9 month old Bernese Mountain Dog. Maddy is recovering from a knee injury, Molly is young and just getting started exploring woods and mountains with her mom, and, as we all know, I am trying to get back into proper hiking condition. Therefore, we set out to meet a realistic goal of hiking the 2006 foot talk peak of Mount Wachusett, a glaciated monadnock, in north-central Massachusetts.

We started our ascent around 9:15am via the dirt Administration Road for a short distance where we then headed into the woods on Lower Link Trail and the Jack Frost Trail. After a pleasant woods walk of approximately 0.6 miles, we began a steep climb up the side of a ridge where we would gain most our elevation in a short amount of time. We were both pleasantly amused by the grade of the trail in front of us. I hadn't looked at a topo map before the hike and Maddy, although she practically lived on the mountain in her younger years, didn't seem to remember the trail being quite as steep. However, we both amusingly agreed we needed this type of climb and none of us were really challenged to be honest. Once on top of the ridge, we made quick time along the ridge to the junction of the Mountain House Trail (one of the three major trails to the summit).

Once on the summit, we lounged by the summit pond for approximately 45 minutes. Molly played in the water while Maddy and I shared some of her homemade Tarahumara muffins while we discussed past and future adventures.

Unfortunately, I was not amused by all the construction activities taking place on the summit. Big excavators were working hard behind a large fenced off area at the very top. Who knows what kind of shenanigans were going on. Anyway, after taking some obligatory summit photos, we made our descent via the Mountain House and Jack Frost Trails where we finally picked up the High Meadow Trail to the shore of Echo Lake.

Echo Pond is probably a more accurate name for the body of water at the southern base of the mountain, it is quite small for a lake. However, Molly, the Bernese Mountain Puppy, didn't seem to really care as she quickly tried to find a way to go for a swim once we arrived at the bottom of the High Meadow Trail.

By this time, the toes of my right foot were becoming quite a bit tired and raw feeling in my new Vibrim FiveFinger shoes. I was probably at my mileage limit in the FiveFingers as this was only the second time I had worn them in the woods and the first time on mountain terrain. We had intended on taking the Echo Lake Trail back to our cars but, because of how my feet were feeling, we just decided to take the easy way back to the cars via the dirt roads. I also was unable to read the topo lines on the poor quality photocopied maps the park had supplied and wasn't sure what the Echo Link Trail was like.

We were back out our cars and loaded up at 2:15pm. Thanks to Maddy and Molly for joining me for five great hours in the woods. Next week, I think we will be heading north to tackle something a bit bigger. Stay tuned.