Wachusett Mountain XC with Chip

Where: Wachusett Mountain
When: 1 February, 1987
With: Chip


I have no idea how/why we decided to go here. We must have had a map or some indication of trails in the area. We drove out from Boston, probably along Route 2, and found our way to the backside of Wachusett Mountain, along Westminster Road. We may have parked at the Stage Coach Road trailhead (obvious parking area), or where the Harrington and Dickens trails meet at the road. The latter location is less obvious, especially in the winter, but our photos show us visiting spots along those two trails.

Details are very sketchy, but our first route took us uphill and eventually to the wind turbine farm. I remember being on an open slope under the turbines, and it being very windy. From there, we made our way back to and across Westminster Road, and presumably followed the Dickens Trail, because we wound up at a telecommunications facility next to that trail. We scaled the fence and climbed the tower as high as we dared. I remember being more concerned about microwave radiation than being caught trespassing.

I returned to the facility in December 2021, just to see it again. It's pretty much unchanged since our visit in 1987.

Popular posts from this blog

Mt. Hale

Image
Where: Mt. Hale (4054'), NH When: 5/28/2024 With: Solo My original plan for this NH48 4K peak was an overnight loop - Haystack Road parking, North Twin trail, Fire Warden's trail, Lend-a-Hand trail, Twinway, North Twin Spur, North Twin trail. It would have tagged Hale, filled in an section of the Twinway that I missed when I took the Zeacliif trail in 1991 , and red-lined the North Twin Spur. At some point earlier this year my plans changed and I decided to claim Hale on a day trip, following a different loop. I can always do the overnight loop another time. The stars aligned and both my schedule and the weather forecasts were clear, so off I went. Out the door around 5:15, and at the Hale Brook Trail trail three hours later. Big storms had come through overnight, and a few lingering showers were around for my ride north, but there were also patches of blue sky. Two other cars were in the trail head parking lot when I arrived. I grabbed my pack and was on my way quickly. The o...
Read more

Mt. Cabot

Image
Where: Mt. Cabot, NH (4170') When: 9/17/2024 With: Solo My alarm was set for 5:00, but I was wide awake at 4:00, and when Jane got up around 4:30 I decided to call it a night. I pulled out of the driveway a few minutes after 5:00, and was at the trail three and a half hours later. This was the first long trip (432 miles round trip) for my new Subaru Crosstrek, and  I'd had to delay this hike by a month or so while I put 1000 break-in miles on it. It did just fine though. There were two other cars in the lot when I arrived: a pickup truck with MA plates and a sedan with Virginia plates. A woman was by the sedan, packing up, and she started up the trail before I had a chance to say "good morning". The temperature was in the mid-50s, so I removed the North Face sweater I'd been wearing and stowed it in my pack, and left my puffy Patagonia jacket in the car. I took a photo of the trail head sign for the timestamp and was on my way. I decided to try something new this ...
Read more

Mt. Madison & Mt. Adams

Image
Where: Mt. Madison (5367') & Mt. Adams (5793'), NH When: 10/3/2024 With: Solo I was already two hours into my drive north when dawn finally broke. I'd had a fitful night of sleep (as usual before a hike), and rolled out of bed 20 minutes before my 5AM alarm. I got on the road quickly and was at the Appalachia parking area three hours later. When I'd driven past Appalachia about the same time two weeks ago on my way to Mt. Cabot , it had been full, with cars overflowing onto the highway, but today there were plenty of open spaces. One other hiker was packing up to go, and he set off while I was getting ready. I was on my way up the Valley Way trail pretty quickly, a few minutes before 8:00, but never saw him again. A few steps along, I came to the junction with the bottom of the Air Line trail. Depending upon how I felt after climbing Mt. Madison, I might climb Mt. Adams as well and Air Line would be my return trail. Or I might just tag Madison and return down Valley...
Read more