Copicut Woods

It's Presidents Day weekend, the busiest ski weekend of the entire season.  My season ski passes are not good anywhere today, but it's a day off from work and I don't want to waste it sitting at home.

Oddly enough, we just came through a rainy spell and much of our snow is gone for now.  I'm thinking perhaps it's time to get our for a winter hike at another Trustees property in the state.  

I head south to Copicut Woods just outside Fall River.  About 1h30m to get there.

Winter can tough on some of these trails.  Note the felled trees that now cross the paths.  Other areas appear to be ready for some spring maintenance when that season arrives.  You can also see the long shadows projected by the winter sun, even in mid-day.

More rock walls on this property.  Most likely, there were "roadside" walls back in the day.

I'm not sure which of these signs is worse.  In any event, it means trouble for hikers like me.

This little brook ran underneath the tail (see below).  Despite being winter, there's lots of water moving.

The trails got very confusing when it got to the road.  There were lots of cars parked here at the Conservation Area, where hikers were coming from multiple directions.  The conservation area plaque was on a hillside for an earthen dam.

Here's the view from the top of the dam.  It turns out this is the Copicut Reservoir.

There were a *lot* of hikers out today.  It was an annual hike, but I didn't catch the name of the organization.  At one point I must have passed about 60 hikers going the other direction.

Nice place for lunch break.  As you can see, the sunglasses come off because despite the blue sky, there are a lot of shadows in the woods.

Well, it looks like this might have been an even better place to have lunch.  Oh well.

Although I didn't find any snow, there were ponds in the woods that were still frozen.

Today's hike covered 5.26 miles in 1h46m.  The elevation gain was negligible:  only 172'.  Nonetheless, it was a great way to spend a real day off from work.

• 
  

New Jersey Pine Barrens

This "easy" hike on a very, very cold day was taken during our substitute vacation (we were supposed to be in Colorado but with the Covid labor shortages and flight cancellations we were afraid we wouldn't make it back in time for Betsy to teach her January class).  In any event, we wound up at a Marriott property outside Atlantic City.  After exploring several towns at "the shore", today we opted for a nature hike for a change of pace.

We visit Jakes Branch County Park.  This tip came from our son Matt who relayed that this park had a great nature center.  We decided to check it out for him and we discovered even more.  The property was just off the Garden State Parkway in Ocean County, New Jersey.

We're here!  There's less snow on the ground than the other day, but it is COLD!

The visitor's center looked very cool with an observation tower high above.

Exhibits inside were first rate and included examples of wildlife to be found.

Getting to the observation deck required an easy climb of a couple flights of stairs.

We gazed across the Pine Barrens out toward Lakehurst Naval Air Station
(where the Hindenburg exploded in 1937).

The parking lot views are a little less exciting.

The panoramic view from the top shows that the Pine Barrens are very flat - no mountains or hills.

We hit the trail.  There are some obstacle-course-like activities that the kids would absolutely love!

The sandy trails littered with pine needle are easy on the feet.

From time to time, intentional fire breaks can be seen crossing the trails.

After we did an outer loop, we explored the interpretive nature trail (check out the map above to see both loops).  There were numbered concrete posts describing vegetation and other interesting elements.  There was also a paper guide, but unfortunately, I forgot to pick it up back in the building.  Instead I took pictures of all 10 posts.  These are the first two, but I will spare you for all of them in this blog.

There was not a lot a wildlife to see on this very cold day.  This bird of prey perch up high may have been part of the reason.  I'm sure he was looking for his next meal.

I can't remember what #4 was (I have since misplaced the guide to the nature trail).

Our winter adventure in the woods covered 3.01 miles in 1:18.  From there we hopped in the car and set off for the beach.

You thought I was kidding, didn't you.  
The only downside besides the wind.... I forgot my book.

Gap Mountain

It's a holiday!  Even though we've already been plenty busy this Columbus Day weekend, there's still time to squeeze in one more hiking adventure.  It will just be Betsy & me today and we need to be home in time for Betsy to teach afternoon lessons.  I check out my Southern New Hampshire Hiking Guide and find an "easier" hike less than an hour away.  This one is called Gap Mountain in Troy, NH.

  

There are two approaches to climb to the summit of Gap Mountain.  We opt for the one from the north parking lot because the book says that it is a little less steep in the approach.

It's always a good idea to double check the directions and trail maps before hitting the trail.

See?  We just have to follow the white rectangular blazes to get to our destination.

The treckking poles really help when you have to ford a stream.

Yes, lots of green still on the trees, but lots and lots of leaves falling, too.

You'd think this would be the top with a flag planted here, but as it turns out, it was just a false summit.  Some other hikers who we started with turned around here without knowing they missed the summit.

Finally we see lots of fall colors.  But the haze persists, so we aren't able to see
 the top of Mount Monadnock to the east.

Here's the proof that we we really did make it to the top.

We had to hoof it back down the mountain, since as I mentioned, the Music Studio of Betsy Fiedler did not take this as a holiday.  We worked up a sweat, but we made it with a little time to spare.  Our adventure today was 2.66 miles with an elevation gain of 817 feet.  I promised Betsy it would be less of climb than Wachusett, but it turns out it was only 200' less.  

I've included the elevation chart, so you can see it pretty much up then down.  Next time, maybe I'll try the approach from the south to compare.

Mountain Meadow Preserve & Field Farm

The next stop on our Columbus Day Weekend explorations will be to western Massachusetts and some Trustees properties that until now, have remained unvisited.  In fact, in 34 years living in New England, we have never ventured this far west on Rt. 2.  Today's the day we change that.  For company, we bring along my parents, and for them, I choose a mostly flat easy-going trail.  

Even though it is part of the Trustees of Reservations in this state, he Mountain Meadow Preserve actually straddles the Massachusetts-Vermont border.  We actually drive up a dirt road out of Massachusetts into a parking lot in Vermont.

Being a little uncertain of where we may find our next meal, Betsy wisely packs lunches for everybody.
Believe or not, we were not the only people finding this remote parking lot.   There was one other car and several other dog-walking locals who visited while we were here.  

Now fortified, it's off on to the trail, trekking poles in hand.

Although hiking in Vermont, we're just a few steps away from walking back into Massachusetts.

You could say that I'm "out-standing in my field."
I won't, but you could :)

The trail signage was very good.  The trick was to avoid looping on the same trail over and over.

Of course we did make it out, and here's the property marker proving we were there.

You'll be glad to know my mid-80 year old parents survived this 1.11 mile hike.  The elevation gain was extremely modest 99 feet.

Afterward, we still had some time as the gray skies continued to clear.  We headed next to Field Farm, another property of the Trustees, less than 15 minutes away.  The property consists two architecturally interesting houses one of which is a guest house (B&B) and the other now a small museum.

The color-soaked Berkshire mountains provide a sweeping backdrop to the beautiful manicured grounds surrounding the houses.

This house had a silo built right into the exterior.

I crossed two Trustees properties off my list, but there's still more to see in this corner of the state.  Mount Greylock (the highest peak in Massachusetts) was just a little further drive to the south.  We had to choose between going there and going for ice cream back in Williamstown.  You can probably guess where we wound up.  Yum.