Birch Hill Loop(Town of Williamstown, Berkshires)

Did an after work hike in the northern Berkshires today, exploring the slopes of Birch Hill, a foothill just east of the Taconic Ridge in Williamstown.  Parked on the shoulder of Petersburg Road(Elevation 760 feet) where there is room for one or two cars and immediately dropped down to an easy rock hop crossing of Birch Hill Brook.

The Buxton Ravine Trail is a beautiful climb up the northeast slopes of Birch Hill through the Hunter Property, a 190 acre conservation area owned by the town of Williamstown.

The Buxton Ravine Trail climbs nearly 600 feet in about 8/10 of a mile before meeting up with the Hunter Family Loop and then Bob's Ski Loop, both part of the Taconic Trail State Park.  Once up high, the ridge walk is quite pleasant, passing through several expansive areas of ferns.

The 1611 foot true summit sits about 50 yards off trail and is fully wooded.

From the summit, the trail continues west, dropping slightly on a wide ski trail.

At the west end of Bob's Ski Loop, the trail emerges in an enormous meadow.  From this open vantage point, the Taconic Ridge towers almost directly above to the west.

Looking SW from the top of the open field towards Berlin Mountain's ridge.

After the brief hike through open fields, I headed back into the woods on the Sarah Tenney Trail, heading east on the slopes just south of Birch Hill's summit.  Eventually met back up with the Hunter Family Trail on the east edge of Birch Hill's ridge, then looping back towards the Buxton Ravine Trail. 

Descended via the Buxton Ravine Trail back to the car, for a total of 4.4 miles RT and 1000 feet of climbing.

Map below.  Blue Lines=Route Taken

Simonds Hill & Cleveland Hill(Town of Pawlet, Vermont)

Just north of Manchester in the middle of nowhere in Vermont sits a small group of peaks known as the North Pawlet Hills that are all accessible to the public-and all have a little something to offer!  The only trailed peak out of the bunch is the highly popular Haystack Mountain, but a couple years ago I had bushwhacked up to its northern neighbors, Lincoln Hill, Bald Hill and Middle Mountain, and found awesome views.  The two remaining peaks that I haven't hiked, Simonds Hill and Cleveland Hill were the two I'd be climbing today.  I parked at the end of rough Rees Road in a large field(Elevation 640 feet), the NW entrance to the North Pawlet Hills.  I hiked the continuation of the road uphill, beyond the Nature Conservancy signage and into the woods.

The road begins in pretty decent shape, steadily climbing past a small cabin, but deteriorates fairly quickly into a rough woods road and even just a foot path.

 

I climbed the road heading generally east, then south on a lesser woods road, before simply bushwhacking up towards Simonds Hill.  The summit ridge was actually very nice and open, and easy walking through sedge grass right up to the 1210 foot summit.

I headed over to the south facing slopes, which were also fairly open and steep, offering up decent views towards Cleveland Hill, my next destination.

From the same clearing, enjoyed this view towards Haystack Mountain, towering over 700 feet higher to the SE.

 

From my drive in, I thought I had seen some ledges on Simonds, so I descended west to an area just below 1000 feet and found what I was looking for.  A long, wide open area of west facing ledges stretching out over the Route 30 valley below.

To the north, the view stretches as far as Lake Saint Catherine, with the eastern Adirondacks on the horizon.

SW views.

After enjoying the great views on Simonds, I headed over towards Cleveland Hill, contouring along Simonds steep south slopes.

I utilized a combination of bushwhacking and some rough woods roads to make my way over to Cleveland Hill's 1384 foot summit, which was wooded but fairly open.

I explored the southern slopes just off the summit and found a nice framed view south over the Pawlet countryside.

The south slopes were wide open and great for exploring.

From a steep area of ledges, I found a killer up close view of Haystack Mountain!

Just below the ledge views towards Haystack, I found another view south towards Pawlet over Haystack's long south ridge.  With the leaves off, these ledges would have incredible views!!

After enjoying all of the views, I made my way back around Cleveland and then Simonds, eventually descending a rough old woods road that I found to be called Oak Ridge Road. 

Hiked a touch over 5 miles RT, with 1100 feet of combined ascent for the day and of course didn't see another soul.  In addition to that, there were no bugs and no humidity, making for a picture perfect summer day!  

Map below.  Red P=Parking   Blue X's=Summit's hit today

Noble Mountain's SE Knob(Giant Mountain Wilderness Area-Adirondacks)

Did some exploring off trail near the High Peaks today, hiking up to the 2550 foot Southeast Knob of Noble Mountain from Route 73.  Parked in a small pull off on the shoulder of the road right beside the North Fork of the Boquet River(Elevation 1180 feet), and then crossed the water heading north.  I was hoping to rock hop across, but the recent wet weather was enough to raise the water level so I had to get my feet wet.  It wasn't more than shin deep anywhere though, and I made it easily across.

Once on the north side of the creek, I bushwhacked north/ northwest through damp woods, heading towards a small high spot at just under 1900 feet that looked like it may have some open rock.  I was able to find much better views from there than I expected, as the open rock slab was quite broad.  My first view was SE up the Route 73 corridor towards the Northway.

Circling around the open rock in search of additional views and I managed to find this cool framed view south.

Emerging from the wet woods, I hit a substantial area of open rock, with incredible views south.  Sweeping views into the former Dix Wilderness area.

To the SW, the clouds were hanging tough, shrouding the tops of the higher peaks.

One more view south/ southeast before continuing my ascent.

At a spot around 2150 feet, I hit a red marked trail, which I was actually quite shocked to find.  The "trail" was cleared and blazed all the way up to the knob I was heading for.  Seems like this is definitely a trend with a lot of these bushwhack peaks lately.

From the SE Knob, a view to the true summit of Noble Mountain, about 400 feet higher.

Open rock slab on the SE Knob.

The informal trail swings around to another east facing set of ledges and then up to the top of the 2550 foot knob, complete with a neat rock formation and view of the true summit.

The east facing ledges offer up broad views towards the many peaks of the Hammond Pond Wild Forest.  A careful eye can pick out the Route 9 corridor down near the wetland below.

Nice views east towards Holcomb Mountain and its open rock.  That is a peak that remains on my to do list as well!

Circling around to the south/ southwest viewpoint from the open rock I was hoping in vain for a little clearing from above.  The clouds, however, gave way just enough to offer a view towards Noonmark and Round Mountain(the open rock to the far right is the rock that's visible above Chapel Pond).

From the knob, I descended on the red "trail to see where it lead.  Incredibly, the "trail" lead me almost literally back to the spot where I had crossed the creek in the morning.  It stopped short of actually coming all the way down to the creek by a mere 1/10 of a mile. Me second creek crossing actually felt nice as it cooled me down on my way across.

Hiked just over 4 miles RT with nearly 1600 feet of combined ascent for the day.  Of course-didn't see another soul. 

Map below.  Blue P=Parking   Red X=Lower Ledges/ Open Rock Slab   Black X=Noble's SE Knob

Unnamed Exit 29 Hills(High Peaks Wilderness/ Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest-Adirondacks)

Happy 4th of July! With today being the holiday, I wanted to avoid any crowds, so I did some off trail exploring in the hills just north of Palmer Pond on Blue Ridge Road near Exit 29 of the Northway.  Conditions were nearly perfect with low humidity,  partly sunny skies and temps in the mid to upper 70's. 

I parked on the north shoulder of Blue Ridge Road at a spot where state land comes down to meet the road(Elevation 880 feet) and headed north into the woods.  Almost immediately I was climbing the slopes of a small peak heading NE.  I contoured my way around the slopes, weaving my way up and down and then over to the first unnamed hill I wanted to hit.  This small peak barely rises to above 1100 feet, but is steeper than you would think and even offers up a view towards the bigger peak I was heading to next, just to the north.

The woods between the peaks were remarkably open and easy to navigate with fallen pine needles making for soft footing.

A steep, but straightforward climb brought me up towards the open woods atop the highest peak I'd be hikiing today.  As I hit the summit ridge, I began to get the first good views of the day to the south.

Arriving at the wooded 1420 foot summit of the unnamed hill, and my highest point of the day.

Although there are no views from the summit. there are very nice views just south of the summit from open rock slab.

Rock cairns mark the best view of the day, from a ledge just under 1400 feet, looking out over Frontier Town to the SE.

After enjoying the views, I turned back west, heading over the small peak I was on and continuing over towards the next peak.  I was able to garner one more neat view south towards the Northway from another small rock slab.

A small drop, followed by another ascent, brought me over to the next peak I was aiming for to the SW.  This peak was even smaller than the last, barely touching 1250 feet in elevation, but again offering up decent views.  This is a look west from open rock below the summit.

The best view from this small peak, was from a large area of rocky ledges looking SW towards the unnamed hills just south of Palmer Pond(which also have solid views!).

From this small peak, I carefully descended through some tricky ledges before finally picking up an old woods road in between peaks.  I followed this for a short distance before one more final climb and drop back down to my car.

Hiked about 2.9 miles total(all bushwhack) with over 1100 feet of combined ascent.

Map Below.  Red P=Parking    Blue Lines=Route Taken