Mount Greylock
Where: Mt. Greylock
When: 10/20/96
With: Bill, Mary, Kevin, Andy
When: 10/20/96
With: Bill, Mary, Kevin, Andy
Back in the Spring, I suggested the idea of a father/son hike up Mt. Greylock to Bill. We made one attempt in May, but got rained out and the idea lay dormant all summer. A run of nice weather in October revived it, and I sent Bill & Kevin an e-mail suggesting a second attempt. "Sounds great!" was the reply, and the trip was on. In the intervening week, Mary got invited too, so Sunday morning I piled Andy and our gear in my car, picked up Mary, and we headed west. Andy almost didn't make the journey...he'd spiked a high temp the night before. But Sunday morning, his temp was way down (though still slightly elevated) and he was cleared for the trip.
It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed the views as we drove west on route 2. We'd arranged to meet Bill & Kevin at 10 at the summit and we arrived just 15 minutes late. They'd been there since 9:30. Our plan was to leave one car at the top, drive the other car down to the trailhead, and then hike back up. We decided to leave Bill's car at the summit and soon we were all heading back down in my car. The combination of a steep road and a heavy load meant some burning brakes by the time we reached the trailhead, but nothing too bad. A short time later we were on the trail.
Our route was the Bellows Pipe trail. It started with about a 2.5 mile walk due south along the valley between Greylock and Ragged Mountain, following an old road, then the trail turned west and climbed a little more than a mile to the summit on a steep, switchback route. From the map, I figured the first part would be an easy walk, with a steady but manageable incline. A good warm-up for the steep climb to follow. At the beginning at least, the trail met my expectations. We all walked, going at a fairly slow pace to accommodate Andy's need to stop at every puddle and stream to throw rocks. After a bit though, the route got steeper and a bit less civilized. Andy asked to ride, so up he went into the backpack. I was also carrying a daypack with lunch, etc., which I hooked to the child carrier pack with caribiners. The addition of Andy made the load fairly heavy, but it seemed manageable.
The trail continued to climb, sometimes fairly steeply, but it wasn't bad walking. The day was clear and sunny and unseasonably warm, and the lack of leaves on the trees made for some nice views. Andy alternated between riding and walking, which kept our pace slow. When he walked, he dawdled, checking out all the neat things to see. When he rode, I dawdled, starting to have a hard time with the weight. I figured I was just out of shape, but later found out that the combination of gear and boy I was carrying totaled more than 50 pounds.
We'd started on the trail around 10:45 and an hour later we started to look for a lunch spot. Just before noon we found a fallen birch log to provide seating and we stopped. By this time I was pretty grateful for the rest and concerned about the climb to come. The nice views we could see included the surrounding peaks and they looked formidable, and the weight I was carrying was becoming something of a problem. We had plenty of time though so I figured I could just go slowly. I also figured we were pretty close to the start of the climb, so it wouldn't be that much further anyway.
Soon after lunch, we passed a side trail to Ragged Mountain (this trail didn't appear on my map) and the trail leveled off as it crossed over the height-of-land. A short time later, we arrived at the trail junction. "1 mile to AT via lean-to" said the sign. I figured I could do a mile. A foursome who'd passed us earlier (3 girls and a guy) was at the junction and headed up ahead of us. We rested a bit and then followed.
The lean-to was just a short ways up the trail. Not the bombproof full log construction of White Mountain shelters, but it appeared to be quite adequate for its purpose. A possible destination for another hike.
Leaving the shelter, we continued our climb. The weight of the pack & Andy was really getting to me and I found I had to take a lot of rest stops, sometimes every 30 feet. Looming above us was Greylock, it's tower clearly visible, and it seemed an impossible height to scale. Mary was having a tough time also and the two of us straggled behind as Bill and Kevin pushed on ahead. Finally, Mary took my daypack, cutting my weight by about 15 pounds. The difference was helpful, but I still found myself struggling. I told the others that I was considering foregoing the peak. Instead, I'd just climb as far as the AT junction and then head to the auto road where they could pick me up.
That bailout turned out to be unnecessary, because a short time later, Bill took Andy. I took his pack and retrieved my pack back from Mary, but my total load was still much less than Andy alone and I was practically floating up the path. What a difference! We quickly arrived at the AT junction and the trail turned north again to follow the ridge to the Greylock summit. No thoughts of stopping short now, we continued up the trail. Kevin was in the lead, followed by Bill & Andy, then me, then Mary. She lagged behind and hooked up with a straggler from the foursome we'd seen before.
At last, the trail emerged from the woods at the auto road and we all stopped. Kevin continued on alone, determined to "kiss the car," while Bill, Andy and I awaited Mary and her new friend. After a brief rest, we make the final push to the top. Andy was walking again, so he could claim getting to the peak under his own power. The rest of us followed, enjoying our light loads and the prospect of finishing the hike.
The trail climbed through a last bit of woods and then dropped us into the parking lot. It was packed with cars. The beautiful day had drawn quite a crowd and it looked like a festival up there, with folks picnicking, playing guitars, napping, and just hanging out everywhere. We went to the car to drop some gear and then went to the summit tower to claim our prize. We took some pictures, admired the view and the beautiful day, and then hopped in Bill's car for the ride back down. Once again, brakes were burned on the descent, but we made it safely and parted for our homes.
Afterthoughts:
I seem to have missed a window of opportunity to hiking with Andy in the backpack. Small as he is, his weight is now too much for me to handle if I have to carry much else, at least for anything more than minor hikes. My choices:
* Get into much better shape, though it may not be reasonable to expect that I will ever be able to handle a 50+ pound load if the hike is long or steep.
* Stick to shorter hikes on easy terrain.
* Stick to hikes where Andy can walk the entire way.
The latter may be the best. I found myself regretting having to urge Andy along when he was walking, when all he wanted to do was throw rocks, look at leaves, touch moss, etc. And how much fun could it have been for him to just ride on my back? Until he's older, we should take short hikes and plan on lots of time to complete them, so Andy can explore to his heart's content.
More pictures
It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed the views as we drove west on route 2. We'd arranged to meet Bill & Kevin at 10 at the summit and we arrived just 15 minutes late. They'd been there since 9:30. Our plan was to leave one car at the top, drive the other car down to the trailhead, and then hike back up. We decided to leave Bill's car at the summit and soon we were all heading back down in my car. The combination of a steep road and a heavy load meant some burning brakes by the time we reached the trailhead, but nothing too bad. A short time later we were on the trail.
Our route was the Bellows Pipe trail. It started with about a 2.5 mile walk due south along the valley between Greylock and Ragged Mountain, following an old road, then the trail turned west and climbed a little more than a mile to the summit on a steep, switchback route. From the map, I figured the first part would be an easy walk, with a steady but manageable incline. A good warm-up for the steep climb to follow. At the beginning at least, the trail met my expectations. We all walked, going at a fairly slow pace to accommodate Andy's need to stop at every puddle and stream to throw rocks. After a bit though, the route got steeper and a bit less civilized. Andy asked to ride, so up he went into the backpack. I was also carrying a daypack with lunch, etc., which I hooked to the child carrier pack with caribiners. The addition of Andy made the load fairly heavy, but it seemed manageable.
The trail continued to climb, sometimes fairly steeply, but it wasn't bad walking. The day was clear and sunny and unseasonably warm, and the lack of leaves on the trees made for some nice views. Andy alternated between riding and walking, which kept our pace slow. When he walked, he dawdled, checking out all the neat things to see. When he rode, I dawdled, starting to have a hard time with the weight. I figured I was just out of shape, but later found out that the combination of gear and boy I was carrying totaled more than 50 pounds.
We'd started on the trail around 10:45 and an hour later we started to look for a lunch spot. Just before noon we found a fallen birch log to provide seating and we stopped. By this time I was pretty grateful for the rest and concerned about the climb to come. The nice views we could see included the surrounding peaks and they looked formidable, and the weight I was carrying was becoming something of a problem. We had plenty of time though so I figured I could just go slowly. I also figured we were pretty close to the start of the climb, so it wouldn't be that much further anyway.
Soon after lunch, we passed a side trail to Ragged Mountain (this trail didn't appear on my map) and the trail leveled off as it crossed over the height-of-land. A short time later, we arrived at the trail junction. "1 mile to AT via lean-to" said the sign. I figured I could do a mile. A foursome who'd passed us earlier (3 girls and a guy) was at the junction and headed up ahead of us. We rested a bit and then followed.
The lean-to was just a short ways up the trail. Not the bombproof full log construction of White Mountain shelters, but it appeared to be quite adequate for its purpose. A possible destination for another hike.
Leaving the shelter, we continued our climb. The weight of the pack & Andy was really getting to me and I found I had to take a lot of rest stops, sometimes every 30 feet. Looming above us was Greylock, it's tower clearly visible, and it seemed an impossible height to scale. Mary was having a tough time also and the two of us straggled behind as Bill and Kevin pushed on ahead. Finally, Mary took my daypack, cutting my weight by about 15 pounds. The difference was helpful, but I still found myself struggling. I told the others that I was considering foregoing the peak. Instead, I'd just climb as far as the AT junction and then head to the auto road where they could pick me up.
That bailout turned out to be unnecessary, because a short time later, Bill took Andy. I took his pack and retrieved my pack back from Mary, but my total load was still much less than Andy alone and I was practically floating up the path. What a difference! We quickly arrived at the AT junction and the trail turned north again to follow the ridge to the Greylock summit. No thoughts of stopping short now, we continued up the trail. Kevin was in the lead, followed by Bill & Andy, then me, then Mary. She lagged behind and hooked up with a straggler from the foursome we'd seen before.
At last, the trail emerged from the woods at the auto road and we all stopped. Kevin continued on alone, determined to "kiss the car," while Bill, Andy and I awaited Mary and her new friend. After a brief rest, we make the final push to the top. Andy was walking again, so he could claim getting to the peak under his own power. The rest of us followed, enjoying our light loads and the prospect of finishing the hike.
The trail climbed through a last bit of woods and then dropped us into the parking lot. It was packed with cars. The beautiful day had drawn quite a crowd and it looked like a festival up there, with folks picnicking, playing guitars, napping, and just hanging out everywhere. We went to the car to drop some gear and then went to the summit tower to claim our prize. We took some pictures, admired the view and the beautiful day, and then hopped in Bill's car for the ride back down. Once again, brakes were burned on the descent, but we made it safely and parted for our homes.
Afterthoughts:
I seem to have missed a window of opportunity to hiking with Andy in the backpack. Small as he is, his weight is now too much for me to handle if I have to carry much else, at least for anything more than minor hikes. My choices:
* Get into much better shape, though it may not be reasonable to expect that I will ever be able to handle a 50+ pound load if the hike is long or steep.
* Stick to shorter hikes on easy terrain.
* Stick to hikes where Andy can walk the entire way.
The latter may be the best. I found myself regretting having to urge Andy along when he was walking, when all he wanted to do was throw rocks, look at leaves, touch moss, etc. And how much fun could it have been for him to just ride on my back? Until he's older, we should take short hikes and plan on lots of time to complete them, so Andy can explore to his heart's content.
More pictures
