East Mountain Ledges-Appalachian Trail(Berkshires)

Decided to do a quick early evening jaunt up to the ledges along East Mountain's ridge on the Appalchian Trail in the southern Berkshires.  Parked along Homes Road, just SE of Great Barrington, where the AT crosses, elevation 1083 feet.  The humidity, unfortunately, was on the rise as I set out, following the familiar white blazes east, and in no time at all I was sweating pretty good.  

Passing through a lovely fern glade on a level stretch of trail.

The climb up towards East Mountain's ridge is steady but never too steep.  Nicely laid out trails and stone steps also aid in the ascent.

Just about one mile into the hike, the trail comes to the first good view point.  From a wide open ledge just a couple feet off trail, atop a set of slanted boulders are spectacular views.  To the west, the view encompasses the Taconic ridgeline running north above Catamount Ski Area(Mount Fray).  This makes a good spot to stop and linger, and soak in the vista.

After enjoying the first good views, there is a noticeable drop and reclimb up towards another nice view spot.

 The second vista, less than half a mile after the first, sits just off trail on another slanted ledge.

From here, the view south and west is quite nice.  Many of the southern Taconics across the Housatonic River Valley are visible, with the high point being 2608 foot Mount Everett.

After enjoying the views, I turned back, retracing my steps back down to the road.  Instead of going to the car, however, I continued west, across the road and up towards neighboring June Mountain's summit.

The 1225 foot summit is wooded and nondescript, but there is a fairly large erratic beside the trail near the top.

Returned to the car from there, a mere 2/10 of a mile away.  Total for the day was about 3.2 miles RT and 850 feet of climbing.