view from pratt

view from pratt
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Soon after passing Binney Pond, I came to signs for a spring, and from then on it was uphill all the way. I was hoping I would make it to the top of whatever I was climbing before having to turn back.

Up till this point I hadn't met anyone since the trail runner at Watatic. But lo and behold, coming down the trail at me was the same trail runner! He said "hello again!" and passed on, sprinting down the trail like a deer. He had done the two peaks, just as I was doing. I wonder where he started?

Soon after this, I reached the summit of what turned out to be Pratt Mountain. There's a nice view here of an intriguing mountain to the NW. It looked sort of bald on top. There's also an overlook of Binney Pond, which I avoided because it was occupied with a small crowd of people. I'll have to come back for that some day.

From there, I pretty much retraced my route, although I did avoid the "detour" to the north of Watatic and stayed on the Midstate Trail on the way back. The trip out took me 3 hours, while the trip back took only 2.

On the Midstate Trail south of the MA state line I ran into a couple of really big ATVs, which was incredibly annoying. This kind of traffic is really aggravating on the trail, and I don't know if it's legal. Other than that, it was a very nice day for a hike. Cooler than normal for this time of year, and the bugs were still pretty quiet. Nice!