Ritzhikes

Where: Mt. Greylock When: 03/24/04 With: Solo For my traditional birthday vacation day I considered either a fishing trip to the Westfield River or a hike up Mt. Greylock. I wound up tossing the gear for both activities in the car and headed west toward Greylock. I'd seen an indication on some maps of a shelter in a ravine on the eastern slopes but none of my information sources (maps, trails guides, etc.) seemed to agree on its existence. On some maps it appeared at the terminus of a dead-end trail from the summit. Other maps didn't even show the trail and trail guides made no mention of it at all. I figured I could get in a nice hike and make a side trip to check it out to see if it might have potential for a future trip. I also had tentative plans for a camping trip in the southern Berkshires (Mt. Alander) the following week and wanted to check out the ground (i.e., snow) conditions. So, west I drove, following the Pike out to Lee and then travelling north on Route 7 up...