Monday, December 31, 2007

Balance Rock & Pittsfield State Forest - No Hiking Today!
Monday, December 31, 2007

Pittsfield State Forest official site
Pittsfield State Forest winter map (PDF)

Ann and I were heading down to see my parents today, so I decided to use the trip as an excuse the visit two places near Pittsfield that I'd never been before. The first was Balance Rock in the northern reaches of Pittsfield State Forest - a large (estimates are around 165 tons) boulder perched on a narrow three-foot outcropping. In addition, there are several other interesting glacial erratics in the immediate vicinity. (For more info, I recommend Russell Dunn and Barbara Delaney's 2006 book Trails with Tales.)

Unfortunately, after making our way over a number of snowy roads on the west side of Pittsfield, we reached the road to the Balance Rock parking area only to find it completely unplowed and impassible by car. And since neither of us wanted to hike a half mile in to see the rocks (especially not with the car parked alongside the rather narrow road) we decided to come back another day and headed off to lunch instead. Bummer!

JMH
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