Mountain on With Eager Feet

(Solo) Miller Forest Tract – Monson

Tue, 18 Nov 2014 15:36:12 +0000

This past Saturday, Jess was out of town with her mother, so it fell to me to take Evie to gymnastics and then fill a few hours on my own. I made two important choices: I was going to pick up some beer, and get a hike in.

After packing a lunch, I first dropped off some growlers at Tree House Brewing in Monson. Tree House is a world-class brewery which I’ve been following since they first opened in a barn in Brimfield in 2011 (they were brewing a test batch when the famous tornado struck; you can read about it here). They’ve gone from being the area’s best-kept secret to being listed as the brewers of the world’s best American IPA by Beer Advocate. If you’re at all a beer fan, it’s worth seeking them out. It’s worth browsing their site just to see their great beer photography.

Peaked Mountain – Monson

Mon, 10 Nov 2014 03:11:03 +0000

You cannot ask for much better fall hiking weather than we had this weekend. Mild enough that only a few extra layers were needed, no real wind to speak of, and a clear blue sky letting ample sun through to warm the air just enough. There are two sides of November, and I love them both — this was without a doubt the “beautiful sunny late fall” side.

Last weekend while at Rock House, we picked up a trail map for Peaked Mountain in Monson. It’s a bit of a drive (40+ minutes), but we knew we’d have enough time for a couple hours there if we packed a lunch. With the weather so nice, we decided to give it a shot.

Wachusett Mountain – Princeton

Sun, 26 Oct 2014 02:22:37 +0000

Jess and I have been talking about testing ourselves with a longer, tougher hike before winter changes things too drastically. With my mother visiting and able to bring Evie to gymnastics, we decided this weekend was the perfect chance to give a longer outing a try.

We departed for Wachusett Mountain State Reservation in Princeton, MA, home of the famous Central MA ski area. We had been pouring over trail maps and plotting a route that would take us around the mountain before going up and over. We knew we’d be looking at several hours of hiking and so packed a lunch and more water than usual.