EVERETT
I
considered several options for my first hike in Massachusetts, but ultimately
settled on Mount Everett in Washington State Forest. It was a hike that we could do in a few
hours, which would leave us plenty of time for an afternoon hike in
Connecticut. It offered good views, a
high-elevation (for Massachusetts) pond, and old growth forest, too.
We
left the Holiday Inn early Saturday morning and stopped at On A Roll for breakfast.
After a nice meal we drove south into the State Forest. The gravel road that goes most of the way up
Mount Everett was open, so we drove up as far as Guilders Pond. There is another gate just past the pond,
which was closed.
We
started our hike with the loop trail around Guilders Pond. It’s a lovely little lake, and the trail
passes through old growth hemlocks. The
hemlocks appeared the be healthy, but we actually ran
into an arborist on the trail. He told
us that the hemlock woolly adelgid had reached Massachusetts, and the trees
were doomed. So that was
depressing.
We
completed the loop around the pond and walked up the dirt road to a small
parking area at the second gate. We
could have continued up the road but took the trail instead. The trail headed straight for the
summit. Shortly before it was a rock
outcrop with good views. The summit
itself was lightly wooded. The trees
were just tall enough to prevent a view.
We initially started down from the summit in the wrong direction, but I
realized my mistake quickly. We
doubled-back and descended the correct side of the mountain. That trail took us down to a shelter with
another nice view. The shelter is at the
end of the gated road, so we walked back down the road to our car.
That
hike was pretty short, so we decided to squeeze in a
quick hike to the exceptionally well-named Bash Bish
Falls. Unfortunately, the small parking
area was completely full when we arrived, and there were no apparent options
for improvising a parking spot. We
thought about waiting for someone to leave, but we were on a tight
schedule. We decided to skip it and
headed for Connecticut for our second hike of the day.
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!