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On May 7th. Mike and I hiked up to Mt. Everett from the Race Brook Trail in Sheffield, MA. This is a great trail to hike when there has been recent rainfall as it is said that the falls are spectacular during these times. The hike up to the summit of Everett is a very strenuous one. The trail follows the brook for a short time and then wanders through the deeply wooded forest, occassionally meeting up with the falls again along the way. There are three brook crossings and during periods of high waters the crossings can be tricky. I would not want to be crossing them after all of the rain that the east has seen over this past week. The trail rises at a steady steep uphill pace for much of the way and only becomes a bit more forgiving when it crosses over the brook for the third time, at which point you are nearing the Race Brook campsites in the col between Mt. Race and Mt. Everett. The campsites are about .4 miles from where the Race Brook Trail converges with the Appalachian Trail. Turning north on the AT takes you to the summit of Mt. Everett and south takes you to Mt. Race. We chose to go north to Mt. Everett. As we hiked on towards Everett, it became noticably warmer and more exposed. The hike once again took on a steep ascension as we neared the summit. The strata underfoot had changed considerably as we were now hiking along the Taconic Range. Along the way we were afforded great views of the Connecticut Valley and distant mountain ranges. It was a great day. Here are some pictures of our hike.
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I've hiked this area many times over the past eight years. The falls are truly magnificent in spring. In summer Race Brook tends to dry up to the point of stagnant pools so you went at the right season. If you haven't tried Mt. Race, I recommend it over Everett. Race has a half mile ridge line with unobstructed views of the valley all the way to Greylock. On a clear day it will take your breath away. Much more impressive than Everett which is mostly topped with growth with occasional views.
I prefer the nearby campsite south of Race on the A.T. at Sages Ravine. There used to be a wonderful campsite on the A.T. at the base of Race at Bear Rock Falls, but they closed it down due to I suspect, its proximity to the river and overuse as well as erosion from campfires. A new site was opened on the opposite side of the trail but it can't be anywhere near as atmospheric as the old site.
Great pictures of the falls. -
We've been up to Everett several times via the service road that connects to the AT. This was our first time up from the Race Brook Trail. For the sake of time we did not hike over to Mt. Race. We did run into 4 hikers though who were just coming back from there. They could not stop raving about the views from the ridge line of Mt. Race. I'll have to incorporate that into a section hike of the AT for some time in the not to distant future.Originally posted by Judgeh
If you haven't tried Mt. Race, I recommend it over Everett. Race has a half mile ridge line with unobstructed views of the valley all the way to Greylock. On a clear day it will take your breath away.
I am assuming that it is very dry on the summit for much of that section of the AT from CT into MA. Are there any reliable sources of water come summer?
We were not overly impressed with the camping area at Race Brook, but decided that it would do if we were to ever be in need of a place to camp while hiking the AT. The privy would have failed miserably though if Edelweiss were to rate it. Other than the privy, the site appeared relatively clean. We'll have to check out the camping at Sages Ravine when we hike to Mt. Race. I'm assuming that there is a bear problem in that camping area as well. Do you know whether that is the case?Originally posted by Judgeh
I prefer the nearby campsite south of Race on the A.T. at Sages Ravine.
I was surprised at the number of hikers that we saw along the trail on that day. A total of 20. In all the times we have hiked up to Mt. Everett, starting from the service road, we have never seen more than a handful of people. I'm sure that the mild weather and lack of bugs had something to do with that though.
WindsongComment
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There are two ways I usually approach Race and Everett.
One is a overnight backpack which starts on day 1 on Rte. 41 in Salisbury south of Bear Mt., over Bear and overnight at Sages Ravine. In Sages Ravine there is a great water source in a beautiful and fairly large, fast moving stream. Day 2 approaches Race from the south passing over another great water source at Bear Rock Falls; over Race and down Race Brook Trail or over Everett and down the access road or out to Jug End Road.
The second approach is a circular day hike which starts at the parking area for Washington state park (Everett), goes south on the road for a hundred yards, turn left at the church and take road to a gravel pit and then along the eastern edge of Plantain Pond. Ultimately you connect with the A.T. at Bear Rock Falls and then north to Race and Everett and down the access road to the car.
Either way it's a great workout with wonderful views. Probably the best that Connecticut and Mass. have to offer in terms of hiking.
Generally speaking, it's probably one of the heaviest travelled portions of the A.T. because of its proximity to some major population centers and because of the many side trails providing opportunities for day hiking. Only in the most extreme weather will you be alone.
At Sages Ravine there have been signs warning of bear activity for several years. Sages and Bear Rock Falls are only two or three miles apart if memory serves. It's probably the wise thing to use a bear cannister, especially during peak hiking days as I'm sure the place is packed with campers. I usually go in late fall or very early spring when there hasn't been a lot of human activity. Haven't seen bear there yet.Comment
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In summer, the area of the Race Brook campsite is swampy and unappealing. Only in absolute desperation would I ever stay there.Comment
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