Category Archives: Outdoors

New England Trail, Outdoors, Public Transit Hikes, Transportation

New England Trail Public Transit hikes overview

My spouse Sara and I are section hiking the New England Trail using public transit. There are some areas that require overnights due to the distance between public transit stops, but most can be done as day hikes.

Here are the sections I’ve gotten to with information about public transit options. Click the “Full post” links for a detailed description with photos.

Massachusetts

Connecticut

  • CT Sections 20-21 have no close public transit access.
  • CT Section 19: CTtransit 34 (2 mile walk) to midpoint on Hatchett Hill Road.
  • CT Section 18: CTtransit 912 to Winslow Place Park & Ride (2 mile walk) to southern end.
  • CT Section 17: CTtransit 912 to Winslow Place Park & Ride (2 mile walk) to northern end, 926 to Albany Ave & Mountain Road (1.1 mile walk), 66 to Farmington Ave & Old Mountain Road (0.5 mile walk)
  • more to come…
New England Trail, Outdoors, Public Transit Hikes, Transportation

Pioneer Valley Public Transit Hikes: New England Trail MA Sections 3 & 4

My spouse Sara and I are section hiking the New England Trail using public transit. There are some areas that require overnights due to the distance between public transit stops, but most can be done as day hikes.

In 2022 we hiked Massachusetts Section 3 and Section 4, which are in the towns of West Springfield, Westfield, and Holyoke.

A plethora of delicate mushrooms scattered amongst a lush carpet of moss.
  • Hike difficulty: Moderate – some steep climbs, long distance.
  • Approach difficulty: Moderate – crossing two busy highways and navigating a narrow underpass.
  • Distance: 7.5 miles (7.8 miles with approaches)
  • Transit: PVTA B23 (schedule, weekdays only) from the Holyoke Transportion Center (HTC) or Holyoke Community College (HCC) & R10 (schedule) from Springfield Union Station. Route G73E provides trips every half hour from Northampton’s Academy of Music to Springfield Union Station. B48 provides service from Northampton to the HTC, R41 provides service from Northampton to HCC, and P21E provides service from Springfield Union Station to HTC. Use the transit directions below for directions from where you live.

Interactive map:

 See full screen

Directions to the northern end: Take the B23 to the Westfield / Apremont (Flag Stop) – Stop 5053 (transit directions), walk 0.3 miles west of Route 202 to the trailhead (walking directions). Be careful crossing Route 202.

At the southern end, the bus stop is just to the east of the trail right after you cross Route 20 (transit directions). Be careful going under the railroad underpass on Old Westfield Road and crossing Route 20.

Section 4 runs from Route 202 to the I-90 underpass.
Our timing (late September) was perfect for amazing flushes of mushrooms. Here, a gilled mushroom with umbro stands above the duff.
A hand painted sign reading “Armageddon Trail” with skull and crossbones. The tree has begun to grow around the sign. In the background, the leaves on the living trees are still vibrant green.
A luscious mushroom cap with sunlight pouring through a spider web.
Purple aster at the base of an oak of some kind (we are guessing).
One of the many views along East Mountain.
A gorgeous yellowish-gold coral mushroom nestled in the dry leaves.
Emerging from the MassPike (I-90) underpass.
The guardrail of the MassPike is visible at the top as Section 3 begins at Bush Notch.
Autumn olive at peak ripeness.
Peckham Industries quarry.
A smattering of bright orange-red chanterelle-type mushrooms poking through the dried gray-brown leaves in striking contrast.
An old beaver-gnawed tree with fresh oyster mushrooms at its base.
Signing in to the log book at the Harold Akey Camp Area.

New England Trail, Outdoors, Public Transit Hikes, Transportation

Pioneer Valley Public Transit Hikes: New England Trail MA Section 2

My spouse Sara and I are section hiking the New England Trail using public transit. There are some areas that require overnights due to the distance between public transit stops, but most can be done as day hikes.

Last month we hiked Massachusetts Section 2, which is in the towns of Agawam, Southwick and Westfield.

  • Hike difficulty: Moderate – two steep climbs, otherwise mostly flat.
  • Approach difficulty: Hard – walking along highways with heavy traffic without sidewalks for much of the way. At the north end, in times of low water, the Westfield River can be forded and there is a transit stop right on the other side of the river.
  • Distance: 3.5 to 4.1 miles (6.9 to 7.5 miles with approaches)
  • Transit: PVTA R14 (schedule) & R10 (schedule) from Springfield Union Station. Route G73E provides trips every half hour from Northampton’s Academy of Music to Springfield Union Station.

Interactive map:

 See full screen

On the PVTA’s R14 bus to the end of the line, Pheasant Hill Apartments.

Directions to the southern end: Take the R14 to Pheasant Hill Apartments (transit directions), walk 1.2 miles on S. West Street to Rt. 57 to the trailhead (walking directions).

At the northern end, walk 2.2 miles on Feeding Hills Rd to Little River Rd to Rt. 20 to the bus stop in front of Chipotle (walking directions). Or if the Westfield River is low, you can ford the river and catch the R10 bus back to Springfield Union Station at Westfield Street (Rt. 20) and Old Westfield Road (transit directions).

Staying on the trail is recommended! The signs read “Danger Open Pit Stay Away” and “Posted Private Property”
The view to the west.
The old fire tower has partially obscured views of the area.
The trail passes by the Springfield Underground Reservoir.
One of the two steep sections.
A view of the Westfield River, with Rt. 20 (and bus stops) across the river.
Climate change, Community, Outdoors

Hudson Valley Walk Podcast

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Crossing the Rip Van Winkle bridge.

Three years ago I spent a week walking in the Hudson Valley of New York, asking people their thoughts and feelings about climate change, staying with people I’d never met before each night, gaining an understanding of what stops people from taking action, and finding some serendipitous surprises about my influence in the world.

What I didn’t know then was that the biggest challenge would be editing the podcast! There’s just one episode, and it’s finally ready:

Thanks to Barry Febos, John Michelotti, Kristen Wilmer, Kaya Weidman, Ed Baum, Julia Indichova, Connor Stedman, Lori Gross, Fiona Fraser-Gross, Ethan and Dyami Soloviev, AnnMarie Tedeschi, Tom Houghton, Sarah Scott, Petra Aldrich, Air Nonken, Sarah Womer, Sara Katz, Myk Freedman, Julie Rosier and Oliver Brown.

Pictures from the journey:

Hard not to think about it, isn’t it?
A good spot to play pennywhistle by.
Susun Weed’s swimming pool.
The Catskill Mountain Railroad
The cutest railroad car ever
On the streets of High Falls, New York
At the top of Bonticou Crag
“He Was a Nice Guy” by Anti Liu, at the Unison Arts & Learning Center
The address was “1 Fourth St”
Poison ivy and “flowers”
Castleton Commodities power station right across the street from…
Our Lady of Mercy church
I walked past the Balmville Tree a few years too late…
For it had died.
The two mile walk across the Newburgh-Beacon bridge.
Sarah Womer of Zero To Go.
Climate change, Outdoors, Transportation

Transportation equity: walking

I’ve been walking the sidewalks of Northampton, Mass. lately, and with the recent snow and ice storms it’s been a rough ride.  Northampton’s sidewalk clearing laws stipulate that property owners must clear or treat the entire width of the sidewalk within 24 hours of the end of a storm, and keep it clear or treated after that.

Let’s imagine an alternate history where after a storm, each property owner was required to clear the entire road in front of their house, and they had 24 hours to do so, but the sidewalks were cleared by trained professionals.  Obviously a disaster, but the current (opposite) situation is unfair and difficult for sidewalk users.

We shouldn’t have to wait 24+ hours to have safe passage, and the inconsistency and lack of enforcement of each property owner’s obligation to keep it clear makes the dangerous even after that.

What’s impacts does the current policy have?

  • There’s a disproportionate impact to people with less money and can’t afford a car, and to people for whom it’s unsafe to drive, such as undocumented people.
  • Wheelchair users end up riding in the street, using a private vehicle if they have one, or rely on van services, which are usually funded by tax dollars.  Wheelchair users do use the rail trails that are plowed in the winter.
  • Public transportation access is limited.  Most bus stops are not right at someone’s house and their destination is also not right at a bus stop.
  • Those with a car use it more, which has environmental impacts but also health impacts as people don’t get as much regular exercise.  Children are driven to school instead of walking.

The City of Northampton has a complete streets plan.  I couldn’t find mention of keeping the sidewalks clear of snow & ice, so I decided to research how other cities manage.

  • Burlington, Vermont plows all their sidewalks with small plows, concurrently with street plowing during the day and at night in time for schools to open.
  • Amherst, Mass. has a sidewalk plowing route for major sidewalks and prioritizes sidewalks that facilitate students walking to school.  After the initial plowing route is done, residents are required to maintain the sidewalk in a passable condition

As a step towards treating sidewalk plowing as we do street plowing, I would like to see us move towards a system similar to Amherst’s, where the city assists residents by plowing the sidewalks during a storm on major thoroughfares (which are especially dangerous to walk in the street), and then property owners must maintain them after that.

Let’s make it so all of us, regardless of how we choose to get around (walking, biking, public transit, driving), have equal access to transportation.

Outdoors, Public Transit Hikes, Transportation

Pioneer Valley Public Transit Hikes – #3: Mt. Tom Range

I’ve started a new series of hikes using public transportation leaving from Northampton, Massachusetts. Our third hike will be Saturday, April 15, 2017 – details below. You can also follow the series on the PVPTH Facebook page.

Mt. Tom Range from Rt. 141 to Rt. 5

Mt. Tom range from the Oxbow
Mt. Tom range from the Oxbow

  • Difficulty: Hard – steep climbs, long distance.
  • Distance: 6.5 miles.
  • Transit: PVTA R41 (schedule , map) & B48 (schedule, map) from the Academy of Music, 274 Main St, Northampton, MA 01060,  $1.25 each way.

Meet Saturday 4/15/17 to catch the 10 a.m. bus at the Academy of Music – we’ll take the R41 bus through Easthampton and get off on Rt. 141 at the top of the hill just after passing into Holyoke.  We’ll hike north on the New England/M&M Trail, up over Mt. Tom and along the ridge, heading down after Mt. Nonotuck to East St and then Route 5.  We’ll catch the B48 bus back into Northampton by late afternoon.

If you’re coming from Williamsburg, Leeds or Florence, you can catch the R42 bus which becomes the R41 at the Academy of Music.

Community, Cooperatives, Outdoors

A Camp Co-op

I’ve got a handful of possible co-op projects in the works right now: a housing co-op, a community investment co-op, a bike shop conversion and a camp co-op.

2016-10-02-11-06-32

One of my favorite places to visit is Monroe State Forest.  There are shelters, old growth forest, and Dunbar Brook has pools and waterfalls, surrounded by fern covered boulders.  I would love to have a wild place close to home to visit and camp with friends, but purchasing land on my own would be too difficult.  And of course I like to sharett. So why not go in on it?

The Camp Co-op is a wild space shared by 10 to 15 households.  Ideally it would be in a forest by water – a river, stream or lake.  We would purchase the land together and decide together how it would be used and cared for.

Here are some goals and ideas I have:

  • Members could sign up for exclusive use times and there would be many shared use times.
  • Within biking and bus distance of Northampton, Mass.
  • Non-buildable land, so that it’s affordable and minimally taxed
  • Ideally no road access, just a foot and bicycle right-of-way. No motor vehicle use.
  • Zoned so that we could build a tent platform or 3-sided or open sided shelter.  We could also erect a canvas tent for the winter with a portable wood stove.
  • We’d have a forest management plan which would include a focus on growing acorn, nut and fruit trees, and would use wood from the site for campfires.  We wouldn’t export wood, unless we are able to purchase more acres than needed for the camp.
  • A safe and respectful space, for each other and for the land.
  • An annual membership fee would cover the taxes and accounting, and minimal supplies.
  • The price and number of shares would be set so we could buy the land with cash, and low enough to be affordable for many.  We could loan money so that some people could pay in installments.  If feasible, share price would be based on ability to pay.

And some questions:

  • How would we govern ourselves? Consensus or majority? Collective or board?
  • Drug and alcohol use policies?
  • Long term camping?
  • What’s the impact of many people on the space? Would we rotate through different parts of the land to allow it to recover?
  • If the share price is originally dependent on the land price, how would that change if someone wants to sell their share?  Would it be the same price, adjusted for inflation, or adjusted for the land value (the market)?

Want to join me?

Outdoors, Transportation

What do I want?

This past weekend I went on a two day walking and camping journey, never leaving the city of Northampton, but feeling miles away.

I started with one destination in mind, about an hour’s walk:

2016-08-06 17.38.42After crossing an abandoned beaver dam, I ate lunch and took a nap under mosquito netting.  I had purposefully not set a goal beyond the first stop.  I could stay where I was and do nothing, explored the area or continuing walking for the rest of the day.  So I asked myself, what do I want to do?  And nothing came back.  I didn’t know.  It was painful to sit there and second guess my desires, and just not feeling like doing anything, but know that that was doing something anyway.

Finally I decided to stash my pack and follow the deer trails.  I got turned around a couple of times, found a great spot to camp, and found myself observing more, less concerned with what to do and just doing it.

I found a beautiful spot to set up a hammock on top of a boulder, strung up between two trees that I had to climb high up in to secure the ropes!

2016-08-06 18.15.10I left the next morning more able to pay attention to the forest and follow my interests.  On the walk back I stopped in unannounced on two friends and reconnected!

Climate change, Outdoors, Transportation

Hudson Valley walk 2016

2015-04-23 15.46.01
The text reads: “To the Town of Shelburne, during dry season 1929, Perini & Amrollini”.  Found along the road on last year’s walk.

On May 13th my yearly walking journey begins in Albany, New York at the Albany 2016 – Break Free From Fossil Fuels, an action to block fossil fuel trains and fight for climate justice.  From there I’ll head south toward New York City, on foot and by train, arriving in Brooklyn on May 21st.

On last year’s walk (Walking journey 2015), I walked to Vermont and back from Northampton, staying with friends and new-found friends, recording a radio show and listening and sharing stories.  I was surprised how many people were inspired by my journey, even though I had no goal other than to enjoy the world and the people I met.

This year I will be adding to that goal, and asking people their thoughts and feelings about climate change as I walk, trying to better understand what’s needed to move the movement forward, helping people come to terms with their feelings and help them find a place to take action that’s not coming from a place of guilt or coercion.  I’ll share what I find out with you in radio or video form.

I won’t be carrying camping gear so I’ll be staying with people.  I’ve found hosts for each night.  I’ll be passing through Hudson, Germantown, Saugerties, Woodstock, Bearsville, High Falls, New Paltz, Marlboro and Beacon.  Know anyone I should meet?  Or would you like to walk with me for a day? Please be in touch!