A Hike on Mt. Greylock

First of all, let me say that "Mount Greylock" sounds like it should be a terrifying location the Hobbits have to pass through in Lord of the Rings, when in fact it is a pleasant state park in Massachusetts. On a similar note, "Officer Shaft Hunter" sounds more like the name of a gay porn star than the name of an actual Maryland state trooper who lost his life in the line of duty. Don't get me wrong - I mean no disrespect to Officer Hunter or his sacrifice. That's just the first thing I thought of when I noticed that a section of I95 in Maryland had been dedicated to his memory. Perhaps there is something wrong with me.

Anyway, I had been really happy that Valerie had agreed to go on a long hike on the Ashuwilltikook Trail. The trail was pretty and was within Valerie's comfort level of wilderness (flat, paved, and with not too many bugs). Still, I had been jonesing to get out into the real outdoors and had been intrigued by the proximity of the aforementioned Mt. Greylock, which at 3,200 ft. is the highest point in Massachusetts. Unfortunately we were running out of days on our Berkshires trip and I couldn't see how I was going to get away for a day of hiking. To my total surprise, Valerie suggested going there and going for a hike, which leads me to the following conclusion:

The subliminal suggestion app I installed on her iPhone is working.

Anyway, on a grey but comfortable morning we set out for the mountain, which was a short drive from our timeshare. The good folks at the Visitor's Center suggested a hike that took us along a gravel forest road past the park's primitive campground out to a nice vista. Gravel, somewhat flat - again, within Valerie's wilderness tolerance level.

The park's campground was interesting (and deserted, despite it being nice weather and the middle of summer - though it was a week day). There must be bears up there, since each campsite had a bear proof locker. Also, the campground was such a short walk from the parking lot that you really wouldn't need to backpack to get there. You could easily wheel a wheelbarrow full of camping gear up the gravel road to the place and set yourself up the world's cushiest "primitive" campsite.

Valerie Taking in the View

We continued up the forest road until we came to what was, in fact, a beautiful view. We sat at a picnic table and soaked it in in silence for about two minutes, at which time a very chatty group of eight senior citizen hikers arrived and swarmed the area. Eight people meant four pairs in simultaneous conversation, the loudest of which involved one guy's history of dental work. "I have at least 15 crowns. Some of them have been replaced one, some two times ..." This talented raconteur smoothly segued from general dental discourse into a particularly entertaining anecdote about the dental exam he went through when he applied to the Air Force Academy. Just as he started recounting the third day of the entrance process I jumped up and, using the element of surprise, tackled him and threw him over the edge of the cliff. In the stunned silence that followed I resumed my contemplation of the view before us.

Kidding.

As our hiking pal was beginning to recount the third day of his Air Force Academy physical I reached the point where I could not take this root canal of a conversation any more and so we got up and left. We hiked back to the car and drove to the summit. Admission to the park is free, but they charge you $6 per car to drive up to the summit. The good news is that the guy collecting money was on his lunch break when we got to the top and so he just waved us through. All scenic vistas are nice, but a bargain vista is the best! After a quick snack at the lodge (excellent curried squash soup!) we explored the summit. It was something of a cloudy day and so the view from the top was not as spectacular as I'm sure it is other days. Still, it was clear enough for us to see not only Massachusetts but also New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont! The lack of macro scale views also led us to concentrate on the smaller things - there were lots of lovely wildflowers about.

Mountain Wildflowers

Then it was down, down, down. We were a little low on gas and on the way up I was noticing that the "Distance To Empty" indicator was going down about four miles for every mile we drove. Fortunately, with gravity in our favor the indicator barely budged on the ten miles back down the mountain.

Cheers to Valerie for enduring a somewhat hilly, bear infested, cloudy mountain hike!