To thru-hike the Appalachian Path (AT) in its entirety — roughly 2,190 miles from Georgia to Maine or vice versa — one is required to stroll 90 miles of path darting via the Berkshires in western Massachusetts.
In proportional phrases, the Massachusetts part makes up a small fraction — about 4% — of your complete path’s size. However by way of lore, Massachusetts’ Appalachian Path provides a number of standout options.
I launched into a southbound (SOBO within the vernacular) thru-hike of the AT on June 30, having summited Maine’s Mount Katahdin and headed due south into that state’s infamous 100-mile wilderness. At time of scripting this dispatch, I’m in bucolic Kent, Connecticut, having hiked practically 750 miles.
Western Massachusetts is my dwelling territory, so I could also be a fan of its charms. However from practically the minute you start climbing this traditional path south, from a couple of hundred miles away, you start listening to about not-to-be-missed features of the Massachusetts part.
“Make sure you cease by the ‘Cookie Woman,’” mentions virtually each northbound AT hiker who has skilled Massachusetts. The Cookie Woman is a legendary cease, a blueberry farm in Washington run by Ruth and Liz Sangree, a mother-daughter staff, each schoolteachers, who took over the farm — and AT hiker internet hosting duties — final 12 months when unique Cookie Woman, Marilyn Wiley, died after 30 years on the farm. Free (donations accepted) cookies, hibiscus lemonade and a shady porch greet each smart thru-hiker who makes the .01-mile detour.
Ten miles additional south is Higher Goose Pond, a must-stop in accordance with thru-hikers meting out path recommendation. The positioning provides a cabin with a bunkroom, full with mattresses (remarkable), and a pristine pond with docks for diving in and canoes for trying out the water.
And, most legendarily, the volunteer caretaker makes scorching espresso and pancakes for in a single day residents within the morning.
“There’s undoubtedly a unique really feel in Massachusetts,” says Cosmo Catalano, a longtime AT volunteer from Williamstown. “This state has very distinctive options: Higher Goose Pond, and Father Tom campsite,” an in-town tenting spot in Cheshire particularly for AT thru-hikers.
“And we get a whole lot of site visitors in Massachusetts,” provides Catalano, who has section-hiked 500 or 600 miles of the AT and has tended the Massachusetts part for 20 years.
“A number of stuff is completed for you in Mass. There are a whole lot of in a single day websites, about seven miles aside. And there’s extra infrastructure, and a whole lot of ‘path magic.’”
Path magic is an important and appreciated lifeline for AT thru-hikers. It refers to any time somebody gives provisions for hikers, or leaves goodies or water alongside the path. These often-anonymous volunteers are referred to as “path angels,” rightfully so. The Sangrees, for instance, are path angels of the very best order.
As I labored my method south via the Berkshires in mid-August, the area was amid a summer time drought that dried up most the pure water sources alongside the path. With out water, a hiker hefting 30 kilos and climbing up and down the mountains of western Mass. would possibly final about 5 miles in New England’s August warmth and humidity.
At the least a dozen occasions I took benefit, with salivating appreciation, of path magic water caches left by street crossings, topping off my bottles for the following sweaty stretch.
Like a church
It’s extra than simply the particular facilities and path magic that set Massachusetts aside on the AT.
“For north bounders (NOBOs), Massachusetts is particular as a result of it’s the gateway to the north,” notes Sam Del Molino, a ridge runner on the path. “Massachusetts begins to select up elevation once more. And Mass. has a bit little bit of the whole lot: farm fields, rocks and rivers, tough climbs, water to cross, Mount Greylock, a legendary mountain. And you’ll see the Inexperienced Mountains of Vermont.”
Path ridge runners themselves are one other uncommon facet of the Massachusetts AT. Solely a handful of AT-hosting areas make use of ridge runners, together with Georgia and elements of Virginia and Maine, along with Massachusetts.
On this state, ridge runners are staff of the state Division of Conservation and Recreation. Their job is to hike their part of the AT, present some path upkeep, and work together and work with hikers to make sure security and adherence to protocols.
“We’re actually uncommon right here in Mass.,” says Denis Boudreau, who has labored as a ridge runner on the Massachusetts AT for 13 years. “We’re climbing the path about 60% of the time, doing upkeep about 40%. A big a part of our job is educating folks.
“We see the path nearly like a church — it’s a sacred space. We would like thru-hikers to really feel respect and love for the realm, the cities, different hikers. As a ridge runner, that’s a part of our job, to foster that form of relationship.”
Passing via city
Massachusetts’ 90 miles of Appalachian Path serves as a form of welcome transition level for thru-hikers, whether or not they’re headed both north or south.
For SOBOs, the Massachusetts path begins to ease up in elevation achieve, for one factor, and smooths out with much less intense rocks and roots obstructing passage as compared with Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. It’s additionally the primary state through which the path passes via small cities, reminiscent of Cheshire and Dalton, giving proximity to native libraries, consuming institutions, grocery shops and houses of hiker-friendly residents. Passing via cities is commonly talked about by hikers as one of many path’s highlights.
For NOBOs, Massachusetts marks a return to climbing mountains once more after tons of of miles — via northern Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and the northwest nook of Connecticut — of comparatively flat and viewless terrain.
“They haven’t seen something like Race Mountain shortly,” recollects Del Molino, who northbound thru-hiked the AT in 2018. From Race Mountain within the state’s southwest nook, with its rocky summit and 360-degree views, as much as Greylock and its spectacular high distinguished by the Battle Memorial Tower, the mountain views of Massachusetts give a touch of what awaits NOBOs in New Hampshire and Maine.
Outsize contribution
The enchantment of the Massachusetts path, with its comparatively pleasant terrain and particular path options, might partly clarify a noticeable improve in climbing site visitors on the state’s AT.
“The profile has been raised fairly a bit right here,” Catalano says. “We’re undoubtedly seeing extra use. I’d say 20% extra, simply anecdotally. We’re seeing extra hikers earlier within the 12 months.” Solely about 10% of AT customers are thru-hikers, he notes.
Boudreau agrees. “The phrase is getting out,” he says, having seen spikes in AT site visitors following profitable Hollywood motion pictures together with “A Stroll within the Woods” and “Wild.” “I meet folks from everywhere in the world,” he says: “Russia, China, Japan.”
Massachusetts is probably not on the high of the record for hikers’ favourite stretches of the AT — that’s sometimes reserved for the White and Smoky mountains. However it’s secure to say, a thru-hike of the path could be a much less satisfying journey with out the memorable options of the Berkshires stint.
“That is an incredible expertise,” Del Molino says of thru-hiking the AT. “It’s an inherently useful expertise, as soon as in a lifetime.”
Mountaineering the 90 miles of the Massachusetts part makes an outsized contribution to the Appalachian Path journey.
Eric Weld, a former Gazette reporter, is the founding father of agingadventurist.com.