M-M day hike

Friday, August 26, 2016
Start: 153 Packardville Rd Pelham, MA 01002
End: Spear Library, Cooleyville Rd, Shutesbury, MA
Miles: ~10.75 miles

I started from Packardville Rd around 8:30am. It was foggy and overcast when I started, though it was sunny and blue skies by the time I finished. I followed the trail along past some radio towers and walked until I hit Amherst Rd. Then I road walked up Amherst Rd and onto North Valley Rd and then entered the woods again. After ~1.5 miles of woods walk, I road walked a good portion on Shutesbury Rd before entering the woods before Rt 202. Then I had a long woods walk paralleling Rt 202 which utilized old logging roads. After a number of miles, the trail emerged onto Town Farm Rd. At that point, I called the taxi that was going to pick me up and let them know that I’d be an hour earlier than anticipated, if they could pick me up early. I then followed that out to Prescott Rd which turns into Cooleyville Rd and walked up the road to the Shutesbury library. I arrived at 12:30pm. My taxi arrived by 12:35pm to return me to my car at Packardville Rd.

Overall, the hike was enjoyable. The blazes were much more consistent than in past sections and the terrain was relatively easy. I brought along a lot of extra water, rather than risk dry creek beds or trying to filter from stagnant ponds. I also mapped the route beforehand and sent it to my phone so I could follow along using GPS.