Saturday, January 23, 2010
When I pulled up directions to Readsboro via North Adams on my TomTom, it tried to route me along route 2 through Grafton and over Petersburg Pass... since I've never driven that way before, I decided not to risk it on the way there. The trip home, on the other hand, was a different matter... especially since going that way would allow me to check out the view from the top of the pass and the winter parking at Grafton Lakes State Park.
There are a couple of organized bike rides in the summer that go up and over Petersburg Pass. I have trouble imagining ever doing that, but then I'm not a terribly dedicated rider. From the MA side it's a non-stop 4 mile climb, with an elevation gain of somewhere around 1600 feet, and then a similar descent down into NY. The first time I drove over the pass it was foggy and the climb seemed endless. At the top there's a large dirt parking area which provides access to the Taconic Crest Trail (TCT) which starts to the south near Pittsfield and finishes 35 miles later across the VT border north of Williamstown. I've stopped there a couple of times to take pictures, but never in the winter.
The parking area was a muddy, rutted mess with a surprising number of cars there. I took some pictures looking off into MA in the east, then walked south along the well-packed snow on the TCT for a little ways to try and get some photos to the west. Not much luck, though I did get some of the trail and the area around it. Once I got back to the car, I realized that the best views in the past were from the open hillside above the parking area, and as luck would have it -there was a well-packed path up there. So up I went to take a few more pictures before hopping back in the car and heading on my way.
As I was looking up at the hill above the parking area I noticed several cleared paths running to the top of the mountain... my first thought was "Looks like an old ski area." Apparently I was right... what's really surprising to me is that the ski area was operating until around 1980! I've only ever known this as a natural area, so it boggles my mind that only 30 years ago it was part of a ski resort.
Traffic was pretty light along route 2, and I was taking it pretty easy, since all my running and hiking earlier had left me a bit tired... which is probably why I spotted the pileated woodpecker swinging in a sumac tree alongside the road, presumably munching on sumac berries. I've never managed to get a decent photo of one, so I was tempted to stop and try, but there really wasn't anywhere to pull over, and no doubt he would have flown away when the car stopped. I'm always a little bit surprised at how big they are and how red their heads are... very cool indeed.
photo courtesy of wikipedia
Grafton is far closer to the border than I've ever realized, and not much later I turned off route 2 to check out the winter entrance to the park... actually, it's the same place I've always parked when I've gone there, the Mill Pond parking area. I suspected the lot would be packed with snowmobile trailers and I was right... there were a few cars there, but it was mostly trucks and trailers. I'd like to get over there to do some snowshoeing this winter; what I saw todays suggests that going during the week is probably a much better idea than the weekend (once again, that whole "working for a living" thing gets in the way of what's truly important...)
JMH
