Last weekend was our final preparation hike before climbing the “big daddy” of all climbs in the northeast - Mount Washington, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

My son and I chose Mount Greylock (3,491-feet) in the Berkshires to be our last hike before Mt. Washington as it has some challenging trails, but also offers magnificent views of six states depending on visibility at the top.

If you’ve been following this log of our preparation for Mt. Washington, then you know so far its included hikes up Mt. Tom in Massachusetts, and Mt. Sunapee in New Hampshire.

I’d originally chosen a 12-mile 8-hour hike - known as Greylock in the Round - to test our endurance level, but the weather forecast for the day was not good, and so we modified our plans to take the Gould Trail to the summit instead.

The Gould Trail is one of the shortest routes to the summit but is strenuous. It ascends over 2,100-ft in about 3.2-miles. But with an early start we figured we could be off the mountain before the predicted bad weather closed in on us.

The entrance to the trail is in a small parking area off West Mountain Road in Adams, and it will be the first lot you come to on this road. The second lot is used for another short hike to the summit along the Cheshire Harbor Trail.

The lower part of the Gould Trail takes you through typical northern hardwood forest as it ascends rapidly. You’ll pass over brooks using man-made foot walks and you’ll see a number of large overturned trees, some block the trail but are easily passed around.

The blue-blazed Gould Trail is well-marked and eventually before you meet the Notch Road at 2.8-miles, you exit from a predominately fir and spruce forest to the Gould Shelter - in 2008 when we did this hike, this is still being built.

We crossed the Notch Road and picked up the Appalachian Trail - white blazes - to take the final 0.4-miles to the summit.

At the summit - if the weather cooperates - you can take a peep at the Adirondacks in New York, the Green Mountains of Vermont, New Hampshire’s southern Peaks, and see across to Connecticut, along with familiar peaks of western Massachusetts. We had a clear if somewhat hazy view when we toured the summit, but could see the gathering rain clouds on our western horizon so limited our stay to just 30-minutes.

All the roads to Greylock’s summit are under construction during the 2008 season and not due to be reopened until 2009. So if you want the open and stunning views perched above the surrounding mountains then you’ll need to hike it. If you just want the view at the top then I can recommend the Gould Trail.

Be aware the war memorial tower at the top is closed until road repairs are complete in 2009.

While the round trip is advertised at 4-5 hours, we hit the summit in around 90-minutes going up. We spent 30-minutes admiring the views and taking photos, and then made a speedy return to avoid the bad weather closing in. We were back in the parking lot at our car within 3 ½ hours of starting out - even with a stay at the summit.

And the thunderstorms and rains did come, just an hour after we got off the mountain, and returned to our lodging in North Adams.

The Gould Trail is not the most interesting and scenic hike on Greylock. Mount Greylock has many interesting features such as waterfalls, old-growth trees, ravines and valleys that are better explored using other suggested trails which you can find listed here.

Next weekend, my son and I climb Mount Washington and though we haven’t chosen our final ascent trail yet, you can bet that if the weather is good then we’ll have a tiring but exhilarating hike on the mountain. Stay tuned for my post next week on our Mt. Washington climb, when you can find out if our preparation was enough to tackle this unforgiving mountain, or whether we succumbed to its demanding trails or severe weather.

Have a great week,

Cliff Calderwood
Publisher
New England Travel Online Magazine

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