A Meeting In The Middle - In The Beautiful Berkshire Mountains 10/17/10

[Snow Miser]

Bear Mountain 2,316'

6.7 miles, Elevation Gain 1,560'

Undermountain Trail, Paradise Lane Trail, Appalachian Trail

John, Anna, Gary, Nigel, & Bob


Since it's difficult for some of us on these boards to coordinate hikes together into The Whites due to our geographic locations, we often times have to meet in the middle somewhere. So on this fantastic fall day, we picked a place between MA where Anna, Gary and Nigel live, and PA, where John and I live. That place was Bear Mountain in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of CT. I had never been to this part of the state before, and was amazed at how nice it was.



Our hike started at 9:30 am. The air temperature was a cool 45 degrees, and the sun was shining brightly. Normally in this part of CT, hikers would have to be aware of ticks, but the with the last few nights having frost, we were confident they had been kept down.




The Undermountain Trail makes its way up a steady grade and joins with the Paradise Lane Trail at a junction in approximately 1.1 miles.




Much like Kevin and Judy take Emma on their hikes, Anna and Gary also do the same with Nigel. And he was raring to get this hike going. One funny thing with Nigel is that he insist on blazing the trail, and no one is allowed to walk in front of him. So much so, that he was nickname Blaze on this hike.




At around the 3 mile mark, we came upon this nice little pond with a great view of the foliage looking up towards the summit of Bear Mountain.




Just before we hit the junction of the Paradise Lane Trail and the Appalachian Trail, we hit a somewhat boggy area. Luckily the trail was well maintained with log bridges.




Once we hit the Appalachian Trail, the climb to the summit was fairly steep up to a point where we had to do some rock scrambling.




When we hit the wall of rock on the final ascent, it was easy going as they were very wet and slippery. Nigel was having a tough time climbing them, so Gary and John had to lift him up the ledges in tag team stages.




Once on the summit, everyone gathered on top of the rock pyramid for some lunch.








One really cool thing about this summit is that a stone pyramid, built in 1885, about 8 feet high with a flat top, provides a great platform for checking out the panorama.




After leaving the summit, it was about a mile until we would meet up with the Undermountain Trail again, and a couple more miles until we got back to the parking lot. We couldn't have asked for a better day. Meeting up with great friends and getting outdoors is one of life's most enjoyable things to do.


A complete set of Anna's pics can be found Here

And a complete set of mine Here


Thanks for reading our report!

[smithtim]

beautiful pics and thanks for sharing


any way you could give a little more info on the trailhead / local as it looks like a place I would like to visit... thanks

[mtruman]

Beautiful way to spend a fall day and a great alternative meeting place! Nat and I are both originally from CT but haven't done any hiking in the northwestern hills. Your TR definitely makes me want to do some!

[Snow Miser]

any way you could give a little more info on the trailhead / local as it looks like a place I would like to visit... thanks

Tim, Thanks! The trailhead is located 3 miles north of Salisbury, CT off of Route 41. There is a small parking lot that can hold maybe 15 to 20 cars. Here are two good links to check out. Bear Mountain & Undermountain Trail

[MelNino]

Oh! I love Bear Mtn..hiked up it a few times. It's usually one of out last training hikes before the May Washington hike. And it's one of my favorite snow hikes (wear spikes).

From the rock pile you can see mts Everrett and Race...also "must hikes"

Great pics! And I love when people bring their dogs on hikes, so cute.

[KSearl]

Bob,

Great TR. Lots of great pictures. The pyramid on the top is very neat. It makes you wonder how long it took to put a structure like this together. Was it hollow or was it constructed of rock in the middle too?

What you describe about Nigel blazing the trail is funny. When I hike with my buddy and his dog, Dasher, same thing...no one was allowed to go ahead of him, he had to be in the front!

Looks like you guys still had some pretty nice colors down that way. I've never hiked the Berkshires, but I'm thinking I may need to plan a trip soon.

Again, great trail report and pics. Thanks for sharing.

Karl

[Snow Miser]

Thanks everyone! It was a very nice mountain. We will have to get back to the area to do Mts Everett, Race and Frissell.

Karl, It seemed like the tower was solid throughout. Just read a little history on the tower here.

[smithtim]

Tim, Thanks! The trailhead is located 3 miles north of Salisbury, CT off of Route 41. There is a small parking lot that can hold maybe 15 to 20 cars. Here are two good links to check out. Bear Mountain & Undermountain Trail

thanks for the info