Highpoints of MA, CT and RI

After climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2004 I starting thinking about the Seven Summits which is probably not a wise thing to start doing. Then I got the brainstorm that I should stay home and see America by climbing to the highest peak in each of the 50 states. If completed, this would include Mt. McKinley, the third-highest of the Seven Deadly Summits, and it would provide a lot of good training; to say nothing of providing a wonderful education about our great country and the opportunity to take a lot of interesting photographs, all without having to stay current on my shots.

So following some research, including a website and a packing list, I set out by car from Boston on September 22, 2005 on a three-day trip to test the concept by making the assault on the mighty highpoints of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. The trip was 496 miles round trip, including scenic detours both planned and unplanned; the weather was a perfect start to a New England Autumn and in all respects the trip was a success .. I made mistakes, learned from them and didn't break anything.

Norman Rockwell, Herman Melville, James Taylor, Stockbridge, Tanglewood ... Massachusetts's Berkshire Mountains have long been a cradle of American culture; there are some wild areas, too, albeit rather smaller than in previous centuries. Mt. Greylock sits at the northern end of the Berkshires along the Appalachian Trail just 10 miles or so south of Vermont. It is the centerpiece of Mt. Greylock State Reservation, a lovely area comprising some 12,000 acres surrounding four peaks which are forested in some parts by original growth timber.

Be sure to stop at the Visitor's Center at the bottom of the hill just off Route 7. It's very nicely done, containing among other things a marvelous scale relief map of the area, and the people are exceptionally helpful. If you can, make a reservation to stay at the Bascom Lodge, which is a rustic but accommodating hiker's refuge at the summit (on a Thursday after Labor Day, I was the only guest, but the staff were expecting a full house come Friday). Built in 1937 by the CCC, this log and stone building sleeps 37 in bunk beds and has room in the dining room to feed many more (lots and lots of Appalachian Trail hikers stop every season): everyday for breakfast and dinner at 8AM and 6PM sharp; family style, come hungry.

Lit from dawn to dusk (and bright), the Veterans War Memorial Tower is a displaced lighthouse that was intended for Boston but now sits at the Greylock summit; obviously out of place, it grows on you as the sun sets. A steep but short climb up a circular metal stairway takes you to a lookout just below the light that gives you a view in one direction of New York's Catskills and Adirondacks, and of various ranges of Massachusetts, Vermont and (perhaps) New Hampshire in another.

Bide a wee and hike the well-marked and well-maintained trails around the mountain (being conscious of deer ticks and Lyme Disease ... long pants are probably preferable whatever the weather). A beautiful spot when the weather's fair, with a sweet piney smell at the top and deciduous forest a bit lower. I listened to Chickadees and Blue Jays as I hiked along, and surprised a Turkey as I turned a corner, on the first day of Autumn 2005. The next day was foul and cold at the top, so I was lucky to have had the good weather when I did.

Bear Mountain (the tallest mountain in CT) and Mt. Frissell South Slope (its highest point, the place where the MA/CT line crosses Mt. Frissell whose peak is in MA) flank a dirt road that runs from South Egremont, MA to Salisbury, CT. The north end of this road is called the Mt. Washington Road and when it emerges in Salisbury, it is called the Mt. Riga Road; in the middle, at a tiny intersection by a diminutive church, it is called East Street. So many names for an obscure, 10-mile-long dirt road through the woods.

If you drive south from, say, the Stockbridge area, as given in the directions below, Bear will be on the East side of the road (to your left) and Frissell will be on the West (to your right). You will be able to see neither of them because of the trees. The trails for each start at the road, within 100 feet of each other, near an Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) parking lot on the East (left) side of the road.

On September 23, 2005, the second day of Autumn that year, I drove down from Bascom Lodge at the summit of Mt. Greylock, the highest peak in MA. I was going to bag Mt. Frissell, Connecticut's highest point. After parking, I set off at a rapid pace and quickly reached the summit, only to be told (luckily) by another hiker that the mountain I had just climbed was not Mt. Frissell at all, but Bear Mountain.

So on that lovely fall day, I climbed two mountains (three, if you count Round, on the way to Frissell).

Bear Mountain is reached by going around the metal gate at the back of the AMC parking lot. You pass a large AMC sign up on a tree, warning you to behave yourself, and then by a small cabin to your right. After 1/2 mile or so, you come to an intersection. The trail ahead is flat, as is the trail to the left. To the right, the trail ascends through the trees up some natural stone steps, marked with the white AMC blaze; this is the way.

The trail is easy to follow but if you are in doubt, pause and look around for the white AMC blaze which may be on a tree to your left or it may be on the rock itself ahead of you or under your feet.

At the summit is a huge cairn built in 1885 by Owen Travis. It stands some 10 feet high or more, and as I climbed it I marveled at the huge effort that must have gone into its construction. The current structure is a reconstruction done in 1983 after years of deterioration; its current height is less than the original ... when you see it, you will agree that Owen was a prodigious mason.

The Mt. Frissell trail is found by turning right up the dirt road out of the AMC parking lot, back the way you came by my directions, past the stone pillar marking the MA/CT border on your right. On the left, 100 feet up the dirt road (or less) is the trail, marked with red blazes. This trail in parts is harder to follow than the Bear Mountain trail but the advice about pausing to look for blazes applies here, too, particularly blazes on the rocks which sometimes show not only the way, but a turn as well.

After the first scramble, you stand on a ridge, the top of Round Mountain. Bear Mountain is clearly visible behind you, and Mt. Frissell rises ahead of you across a small col or valley. You descend and then ascend, coming nearly to the summit. Straight ahead of you, unmarked, is the short trail to the summit proper with its log book strapped to a tree (in MA). To the left, as indicated by the red blaze on the rock, the trail leads you down and to the right, coming eventually to a small cairn and the green, circular metal marker showing the highest point in Connecticut.

I stayed the night at the White Hart Inn in Salisbury, CT. I can recommend both the Inn and the town as places to spend some time.

Rhode Island's mighty Jerimoth Hill sits on land owned by Brown University on which they have built supports for telescopes and such for astronomical observation. Until 3 months ago (July 2005), however, the access to the spot from Rt 101 was across a very short strip of private land and only Brown University had the legal right to use it. The owner -- a 77-year-old, flamboyantly-gay music teacher to some of the small children in the neighborhood -- was reputed to have frequently driven off innocent Highpointers at gunpoint. The story is told of a Boy Scout troop and its leaders being forced to lie face down in the dirt for 45 minutes waiting to be arrested for trespassing by the bemused local Ocean State constabulary.

This past July, however, to the delight of Highpointers the world over, the property was sold to Jeff and Debbie Mosley who have an entirely different view of things. With the help of the now-recovered Boy Scouts and the Highpointers Club the Mosley's have built a little stone pathway from the highway to the sainted highpoint of the great state of Rhode Island. On September 24, 2005 when I showed up, I was met by Jeff Mosley who was fantastically solicitous. The RI highpoint ain't much, but meeting and talking to Jeff Mosley made the trip well worth while.

One of the things Jeff told me was that Rhode Island has a pair of nesting Bald Eagles on a little island or such in the Scituate Reservoir, just off Rt 116. He said that there often were people standing on a platform with telescopes, as well there might be for such a sight, but I drove around the entire reservoir and could see neither hide nor hair of eagles or oglers. The National Wildlife Magazine confirms this phenomenon but gives no information about how to locate the birds. If anyone knows something about this, I'd love to hear from them.

Please note that hiking and mountain climbing are dangerous sports and many people are injured or killed every year participating in these activities. The author is not responsible for any misadventures resulting from the information provided on this site.
Anyone participating in these sports does so entirely at their own risk.


Bascom Lodge seen from the tower at sunset	Veteran's War Memorial Tower

Highpoints of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island