The Hiking Diaries

I’ve hiked most of the trails on Mount Wachusett during all my years hiking it. But some of them not very often, while others I could hike in my mind, I hike them so regularly. As I was wondering if I’d hiked them all, I thought, “wouldn’t it be a fun fall activity to hike all the Wachusett trails?” And so that’s what I plan on doing.

Most of my hiking is done in the morning before work, but some of the trails beg more time than that. For instance…wouldn’t it be fun to walk from the Audubon sanctuary all the way up Harrington trail to the top of the mountain? That one will have to be done without the dogs, since the Audubon sanctuary doesn’t allow dogs. On second thought, maybe it wouldn’t be fun if I couldn’t take the dogs.

Okay, I’ve just amended this activity to be an adventure with the dogs. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll get up extra early for some of the longer hikes. (Because, truthfully, it’s much more fun hiking in the morning when the mountain isn’t crowded than tackling it on the busy weekends.)

Just to get you oriented, here’s a map of Wachusett Mountain….

Yes, it’s a small mountain. Someone once told me it’s actually the minimum height to be called a mountain (2,005 feet). However, in googling that piece of information, I found that there is no official definition of a mountain. Some geographers put a mountain at 1,000 feet above sea level. The Oxford Dictionary puts it at 2,000. By whatever definition, Wachusett certainly isn’t a tall mountain. Here are some other mountain heights to compare it to:

• Mt. Greylock, Adams, MA: 3,491 feet (the highest natural point in Massachusetts)
• Mt. Grace, Warwick, MA: 1,617 feet
• Mt. Monadnock, Jaffrey/Dublin, NH: 3,166 feet.
• Mt Washington, White Moutains, NH: 6,289 feet

By the way, you’ll be seeing more of this map as I mark off the trails I’ve completed. And blog about them. Because every hike has at least one special moment. And usually more.