F is for Flat

Friday, June 8th, 2012:

I called Pennsylvania 'Flatsylvania' because of how little overall elevation change there is in the state.  Well, there's a stretch of trail that I hiked yesterday and today, from a half mile south of Grange Hall Road to Finerty Pond, that I could call 'Flatsachusetts'.  It was remarkably flat, easy trail, despite maintaining elevations around 2000 feet.

There were only two exceptions to this flatness, and they were minor exceptions.  First and Foremost among these is Warner Hill.  Note that it is not called a mountain.  That's because there's just a hundred feet of 'climbing' required to get to it from either side.  And yet Warner Hill offers some Fabulous views - Fantastic, dare I say, on this clear day.  That's Mt. Greylock on the horizon.

You can see how Flat the closer-in landscape looks in the shot above - that's where the northbound trail goes.  And its first order of business is to descend Warner Hill on this gentle and beautiful Fern-covered hillside with a scattering of blackberry plants in Full Flower.

The only other exception to the "Friday Flatness" rule is this bizarre thirty-foot rock scramble up what is practically a cliff.  Flat for miles on either side of it!  I guess that's what glaciers can to to a place.

Flat trail means Fast trail.  I hiked nineteen miles and was done by 4PM.  Haven't had a day like this since ... well, since Flatsylvania!

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Here's today's map and link to additional photos:

AT Day 146 - Warner Hill at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in Massachusetts