October Newsletter 2021

**Acadia National Park, view from Pemetic Mtn summit. Pic by M Waldman**

THC Fall Gathering, Saturday 10/2, Grafton Lakes State Park

Join us at our second Fall Gathering on Saturday 10/2 at Grafton Lakes State Park! This will be a nice time to see old friends and meet new ones! If you are a new member this is a great time to meet other active members in the club and learn more about who we are and what we have to offer!

There will be a short meeting at 9:30 which will include a brief update about the Club, recognition of our THC volunteers who continue to volunteer throughout the pandemic, and the drawing of names for four winners of $25 Amazon gift cards. You must be registered and be there to win!

Then we will hike around Shaver Pond or another trail and check out the autumn colors in the trees. We will enjoy a BYO lunch by the beach after the hike. You are free to paddle or do another hike with friends after lunch. Please note that if you can make it only for the meeting or for the BYO picnic you are welcome.

See the Outings page for more information and how to register.

THC Dinner cancelled

The Board decided to cancel the dinner we had planned at Buca di Beppo due to the current high rate of COVID infection from the Delta variant. We started planning for the event in early summer when the infection rate was under 1%. Now with the high infection rates and the Delta variant we realized many people would be apprehensive about meeting to eat inside with a large group. Next year should be a lot better! In the meantime, join us at the Fall Gathering!

Pittsfield State Forest - hiking trails abound!

The Taconic Crest Trail winds in and out of Massachusetts and New York before ending up in Vermont. On the New York side, we partner with Department of Environmental Conservation which has jurisdiction for trails and their maintenance. On the Massachusetts side we work together with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the state agency that oversees the sections that wind through Pittsfield State Forest and into Hancock, Williamstown, and Petersburgh. The DCR is steward of one of the largest state parks systems in the country. Its 450,000 acres is made up of forests, parks, greenways, bike trails, historic sites and landscapes, seashores, lakes, ponds, reservoirs, and watersheds. They are awesome!

Pittsfield State Forest is an 11,000-acre property with over 30 miles of trails and is the DCR property most accessible to the central Berkshires and Tri-Cities. It is easily accessible from Rt. 20 in Hancock at the top of Lebanon Mountain or from Cascade Street in west Pittsfield, where a paved circuit road winds to the ridgetop for an overlook, a field of spring blooming wild azaleas, and Berry Pond, the highest freshwater pond in the state. Camping is available in upgraded campgrounds at lower levels and primitive camping at the top of Berry Mountain. A northeastern entrance in Lanesboro at Balance Rock State Park provides both hiking and mountain biking opportunities as well as the unique 165-ton balanced boulder for which the park is named.

From parking near Berry Pond, Tower Mountain is easily reached by heading south and following the Taconic Crest Trail’s blue and white trail blazes. There used to be a fire tower lookout there, and maybe someday there will be one again (?). Not far from the entrance to the park is the .75-mile Tranquility Trail, an accessible hiking trail.

Check out the amazing diversity of the PSF trails online at https://www.mass.gov/locations/pittsfield-state-forest or better yet with the Club this October. Look for the outing late in the month describing a 7-mile hiking loop.

**Overlook on Berry Hill, PSF. Pic by M Waldman**

Hunting Season is here! Grab your blaze orange vest!

It is now bow season in NYS and MA. Deer hunting season with rifles in NYS runs from the third Saturday in November plus 23 days. In MA shotgun season for deer is November 29 thru December 11. You can find out the specifics online. The good news for hikers is MA does not allow any hunting on Sundays.

In addition to wearing blaze orange or fluorescent pink vests, hats or other articles of clothing, it is recommended to stay on well-used trails. Bushwhacking during hunting season is not recommended! Let the hunters enjoy their limited time in the woods.

OUTINGS: Refer to the THC website outings page for details about the outings and how to register. We are scheduling on a short-term basis rather than seasonally, so check the website periodically.

Saturday October 2: Fall Gathering, Grafton Lakes State Park
Wednesday Oct. 6: Roaring Brook Greylock Loop: Williamstown, MA B
Thursday, October 7: Lost Pond and Berrymill Pond B
Thursday, October 21: Pittsfield State Forest (PSF) Loop Hike: Lulu Brook Trail to Berry Pond & TCT to Tower Mtn. B
Thursday, October 28: Echo Lake from Platte Clove B
Thursday, November 4: Sarah Tenney - TCT - Shepherds Well Loop B

We had nice cool and dry weather for our September outings, pictures below.

**Hopkins Memorial Forest to TCT hike, pic by L Siegard**

**Lake Bonita. Moreau Lake State Park, pic by M Waldman**

**Ashokan Reservoir cycle, pic by passer by.**

**Housatonic Heritage Hike to Twin Pond on TCT, pic by K Ross**

NewsletterMartha WaldmanSeptember 30, 2021October 2021