![]() Speaking of the forest, apparently the elevation of the mountain is such that the humidity is high enough, and the temperature low enough, for the coniferous trees to count as part of the boreal forest (the largest biome in the world is the boreal forests of Canada and Russia, which go north into the tundras, and it is fascinating to have been in such a southerly part of it). Therefore, my Saturday was spent with two goals in mind: hike to the point of exhaustion, and get excellent photos of the summit and forest before the first goal was fully realized. The hike in at night up the mountain went alright, and camp was set up without too much of a problem. One of many photos I took of the forest, and one of the babbling brooks coming down from the summit Sadly, no bears were encountered… though I had purchased a combination tomahawk-style hatchet with included saw, both for woodcraft AND fighting off all the bears the woods could throw at me. Greylock is in prime black bear country the otherwise-primitive (no water or electricity) campsites all came standard with locking bear-proof steel boxes, to store food and pungent items (toothpaste, deodorant) inside at night. Besides being a serious backpacking experience (one has to hike 1.5 miles or so, from the parking lot to the campground), the trails there are reputed to offer interspersed GREENERY OVERLOAD with “my goodness gracious, I didn’t know scenic vistas were legally allowed to be THAT gorgeous.” As the photos posted below will demonstrate, those are both fair contentions. Lo and behold, Mount Greylock, the tallest mountain in MA at 3491 feet, came up. ![]() I started researching places in Massachusetts with good hiking and better views, as the state is close enough to be a good test run, but still a very different creature than Connecticut. Why the hell am I putting this off, what is stopping me?” What, indeed. That said, about a week ago I finally said to myself “the summer is nearly done, and I am still nowhere close to my goal of camping at least once per New England state. Prep and arrival black bears, not as many as expected This blog post chronicles the first of these NECE trips. That means between 1 and 3 camping trips to New England locales per month, every month, until I escape this New Haven in May 2014 (and let me assure you, I am quite ready to escape). That means 4-day weekends, every weekend. I am stacking my class schedule for the fall to be Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday only. But I promptly fell into that bad habit of too much work and school, again, up until about a year ago. So, with a car of my own, and my camping gear mostly still with me, I came to Yale intending on camping quite often. It was mostly left over from my days as a Boy Scout, and it was all in mostly good shape my dad even bought me a $150 Eureka tent, which I never even opened.īut I let things like school and work, and not having fun, get in the way of going out and thriving in the elements. I had, with me in Warshington DC, for 5 years and change, all the camping gear one would ever need. I planned out, and as of very recently, did the work involved in a couple of modifications and additions to the vehicle. Thusly, given that this week saw me move to pushups on a 45 degree incline at physical therapy, and then on Thursday I received the permission of the surgeon, I have returned to my beloved MFALCON.īut I was not idle during my convalescence. Definitely a fun vehicle to drive (and to think, I didn’t even get the chance to off-road with it), but too expensive per mile for me to drive any longer! I also ran Lucas fuel additive through several tanks of fuel, and both improved the fuel efficiency as well as brought the idling RPM from 1100 down to approximately 575 or so. As I send the Jeep back, the hood struts have been replaced (so the hood can remain open by itself) and the tailgate lock actuator (so now the gate can be opened from the outside AND locked). ![]() So to be sure, it has been a massive blessing to have borrowed my friend Andrea’s Jeep – but I am ready to be back to my car and the stick shift’s far finer control. ![]() Leaving the Jeep better than I received it
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