New England Day 14, Travel At Your Own Risk

 Day 14

Thursday, October 21, 2021

     The Monument Mountain Motel didn’t do breakfast, so I asked the owner for suggestions. 

     He raved about the bagel shop up the street.   It was the right call.  I ended up having a corned beef bagel sandwich that covered me well into the afternoon.

     There was only one thing on tap for the day, Mount Frissell, the highest point on Connecticut.  That’s why I stayed in Great Barrington.  But, there was one stop to make along the way.  

    I was passing through Sheffield anyway.  A detour of a few blocks brought me to their covered bridge, long closed to traffic.

     On the other side of the bridge is this curious plaque.

     And this one from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

    Back in 1966, six year old Thomas Reed was in his bedroom on the family farm.  He sees strange lights and strange figures in the hallway.  The next thing he knows, he's in the woods looking at a UFO.  Then he and his younger brother find themselves in some sort of strange craft.

     A year later there are more strange lights, slamming doors and they find themselves back in the UFO.  Two years after, they're in the family car with their mother and grandmother.  The car stalls, bright lights start flashing and all four are inside the UFO with "ant like" creatures.  This time, numerous townspeople also reported seeing bright lights in the sky.  

     It was time to head off to find the trailhead.  To get to the state high point, you need to head to Salisbury, Massachusetts.  From town, it’s seven miles of a single lane dirt and gravel road. The fastest I felt comfortable to drive was 20MPH, and only in limited sections.  Otherwise, I felt myself staring at the road fifty feet in front of me looking for potholes and rocks. Yeah, it was slow going.  Fortunately, I never met anyone coming the other way.

       The trailhead to Mount Frissell begins just over just over the state line in Massachusetts. 

     Sure, it said one mile to the top of Mount Frissell, but it’s a mile you earn.  It started out with a fairly sedate hike uphill to Round Mountain.  It’s mostly forest floor, with a few steep sections over large rocks.

     Eventually, you come to a clearing atop Round Mountain.  Great view!

    That’s Mount Frissell. The peak isn’t exactly the state high point.  But, you do have to hike all the way up first, then back down a bit.

      From here, the trail actually heads down for a while, before heading back up to the peak.  Suddenly the trail dead ends at a large rock cairn.  Thirty seconds to the right and you'll find the sign in box for bagging this short, but challenging peak.

      Continue on and you can complete a loop trail that also goes passed the tri-point marker where Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York meet.  If you go left at the cairn, there's a another trail that loops around the peak, then down.  Mount Frissell actually sits on the border with Massachusetts.  The Connecticut high point in on the south-eastern slope.  This is from the side trail down to the high point.

     Eventually, the trail curves back into the trees, until you come across this small marker.

      For those of you scoring at home, this makes thirty-one state high points.  The view from the marker...

     As always, the sign in box for bagging the state high point...

   From the hike back down...

     Back at the car, I was about to pull out when a car drove by.  I knew I had to face that seven mile drive back to pavement.  I also knew pullouts were few and far between.  With all the blind curves and hills, I really wasn't looking forward to this.  

     I still had  little time.  So, I followed Hwy 7 south to Cornwall to check out their covered bridge.

     Then a very brief stop in Kent at the Kent Falls Brewery to celebrate one more high point in the books.  This is a small lake I passed en route to the brewery.

   I only had time for one pint, but it was all good.. Nice place, great staff and a smooth Porter!

    Twenty minutes later, I was pulling into Karen and Paul's driveway.  I've known Karen since freshman year in college.  We've been a part of each other's lives ever since.  As her two dogs sniffed and barked, we started catching up.  

    We met Paul for dinner at a local chain called Maggie McFly's.  Great food, great conversation.  The conversation continued well into the evening back at their place.  They both had to work in the morning, so eventually we called it a day.

      

Coming Up,

A Day in Southbury