A hike, and some solitude, on the Cheshire Harbor Trail

12:00AM / Friday, July 05, 2002Print Story | Email Story

As I drove along West Mountain Road in Adams on Wednesday afternoon, toward the Cheshire Harbor trailhead, I looked through the trees and saw the tower crowning Mt. Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts, and my destination. It looked like a fairly long haul, but then I remembered that Cheshire Harbor is perhaps the most often-hiked trail in the Berkshires, the easiest and most direct way to the summit. In fact, hundreds of people hike the trail during the annual Columbus Day Greylock Ramble. But I had never hiked the trail before. You get to the trailhead via Notch Road, to West Mountain Road and then park in a little turnaround in a field. The glimpses of water along West Mountain Road are the only views of Cheshire Harbor that you will actually see. The trail begins as an old farm or logging road, rising at a slow, easy incline. After a few switchbacks, the incline gets a little steeper and the trail a little rockier. Still, it's not too rough of a climb. It was, however, about 90 degrees and very humid, so I was drenched after about 15 minutes. I'm not complaining; I love the hot weather, the steamier the better. Even the Berkshires feel tropical. Although this is a popular hike, I didn't see a soul on the trail. Probably the heat and warnings of severe thunderstorms kept people away. Not me. I must admit that I like finishing a hike without seeing anyone else. This is one reason I enjoy winter hiking so much, for the solitude. It's more rare, of course, to have the woods to yourself in the summer. The Cheshire Harbor Trail shows signs of overuse, with some serious erosion, and a lot of redirecting off the trail where the main path got muddy. In years past, this trail was popular with four-wheelers, motorcycles and ATV's, but motorized vehicles are banned now, except for snowmobiles. The trail rises steadily through a hardwood forest and then...well, it keeps on rising steadily. It's a good walk, but there's just not much to see, at least when the early summer foliage is heavy. And, other than on some occasions near Peck's Brook, you do not hear the sound of running water. I like a trail that changes textures often, a trail that touches all of your senses. After 45-50 minutes, the trail crosses Peck's Brook, via a wooden bridge, and things get more interesting, with a fir and spruce forest. The trail then crosses the road, where you take the Appalachian Trail to the summit, traversing a bog, where you walk on wooden planks. The trail curves around a small, man-made pond, which was once used as a water supply for Bascom Lodge. Now it's used by frogs, including the loudest bullfrog I've ever heard in my life, a fine baritone. The little pond is beautiful, with a creepy little pump house on the far end. After crossing the road again, you stay on the AT for the rest of the way to the summit. Before getting to the top, a radio tower looms ahead, emitting an eerie whine caused by the wind. By the time I arrived the towers, the weather was beginning to turn, overcast with stronger winds, a storm feeling in the air. You pass a rock etched with a line by Henry David Thoreau: "It were as well to be educated in the shadow of a mountain than in more classic shade. Some will remember, no doubt, not only that they went to college, but that they went to the mountain." The poet etched this himself while on one of his hikes through the Berkshires. Not really, but I had this funny image of him sitting there with a chisel. I also once read that Herman Melville came to the summit (the war memorial tower was originally meant to serve as a Boston Harbor lighthouse) to celebrate finishing Moby Dick. So I pictured Melville drinking and Thoreau defacing a stone. Maybe the heat was getting to me. Because of the weather (it was so overcast there was not much of a view from the summit) I did not linger as long as I planned. I headed back the way I came, past the radio tower, along the Appalachian Trail and then to the Cheshire Harbor Trail. I enjoyed the descent more than the climb; I took my time to look around more. As I got to lower elevations, though, the no-see-ums and dive-bomber bugs were after me. The only way to keep them off was to pick up the pace, so I did a trail run for the last 15-20 minutes. Running down a mountain is exhilarating, and very intense. It's not like a regular jog at all, because you have to choose your footing so carefully, looking ahead for good footing and trying not to slip. Your momentum is carrying you on a wild ride and you try to avoid Ethan Frome's fate. By the time I got to the trailhead, I was ready to get home for a shower. The trip had taken two hours and forty-five minutes, and I'd covered about 6 and one-half miles, rising to an elevation of 3,491 feet. More importantly, I'd been to the mountain.

Winter Storm Warning Issued for Berkshires

11:52AM / Friday, December 26, 2025

Another snowstorm is expected to move through the region overnight on Friday, bringing 5 to 8 inches of snow. This is updated from Thursday's winter weather advisory.

The National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., has posted a winter storm warning for all of Berkshire County and parts of eastern New York State beginning Friday at 4 p.m. through Saturday at 1 p.m.

The region could see heavy to moderate snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour overnight, tapering off Saturday morning to flurries.

Drivers should exercise caution on Friday night and Saturday morning, as travel conditions may be hazardous.

Saturday night should be clear and calm, but warming temperatures means freezing rain Sunday night and rain through Monday with highs in the 40s. The forecast isn't much better through the week as temperatures dip back into the teens with New Year's Eve looking cloudy and frigid.