East Mountain(Great Barrington-AT)

After working a long 10 hour day at work I wanted to do a short hike on a beautiful Sunday and East Mountain fit the bill.  East Mountain is located on the Appalachian Trail in Great Barrington and is a nice 2.8 mile RT hike up to the ridge line views and back.  The AT crosses Home Rd in a rural part of town.

The trail wanders through hardwoods and quickly begins to climb amongst some rocky areas towards the ridgeline.

A small rock clearing provides a partial view through the trees out over the valley.

The trail crosses a small fotbridge over a stream that cuts steeply down through the rocks.

Dense woods on top of the ridge.  This appears to be a spot where mountain laurel are abundant in spring.

A large rock provides the first true viewpoint with expansive views south and west.  The Catskills can be seen rising very steeply in the distance, framing the woods and farms in the foreground.

The Housatonic Valley stretches out below.  A very bucolic view of the Southern Berkshires.

The large rocky ledge made for a great spot to relax and soak in the views.  The sun felt good.

Looking back north on the rock. A large camping group of kids was here as I arrived and they seemed to be really enjoying the location. After about 20 minutes, they moved on, leaving me in solitude.

Woods enclosing a private residence way down in the valley.

A beautiful summer day.

A second large rock clearing about a half mile further down the trail provides a great southerly view down over Sheffield and towards the Mid Hudson Valley of NY.

Trying to zoom down into the valley, but liked how the focus switched to the trees in this photo.

Hiking back down the AT.  Once off the ridgeline the blood hungry mosquito's were terrible and relentless, keeping me from fully enjoying my hike.

Nice, short 2.8 RT out and back.