Maps, Elevations & Summary
Distance: 3.1 miles
Elevation gain: 750 ft.
Total Time: 2.8 hrs.
TRAIL REPORT
Today I wanted to try and get a little elevation into my hike so I decided to try Mount Watatic. It is one of the most popular hiking venues in Massachusetts so I started very early. Even so, the trailhead parking was almost full when I pulled in at 7:30.
The parking area is at a point where the Midstate Trail (blue triangular blazes) crosses route 119 in Ashburnham. It also turns out to be the southern terminus of the 22 mile long Wapack trail (yellow triangular blazes), which heads up to North Pack Monadnock in New Hampshire.
The trail headed out of the parking area through swamp and past a small pond.
Just beyond the pond, the Wpack trail makes an abrupt right return to head up Mt. Watatic. There are signs on thhe trees ointing out the change in trail direction. Alternatively, if you continue on the misstate trail, you could also get to the summit via Nutting hill, a longer but less steep hike. Opting the steeper route, I turned tight and soon came upon a large split boulder, or a :glacial erratic" for those in the know. The trail passes between the boulder halves and starts its relentless climb through the woods.
The trail is rocky and in parts covered with protruding tree roots as it heads up. The next 0.3 miles is pretty steep, with a vertical rise of over 300 feet making for ann 18% grade. Although it is steep, hteh trail is devoid of large boulders and there were no scrambles anywhere on the trail. However, I was happy to find the trail reaching a level section once it parallels and old stone wall. This marks the first views of the hills to the south of Watatic and turned out to be a good place to catch my breath and have some water.
The level area also had a granite marker, dedicated to Gary Evans.
Gary was the owner of Evans on the Common in Townsend, an outdoor clothing and equipment store. The 72 year old suffered a heart attack and died in the clearing on New Years Day 2014. I'd like to think that the last thing he saw was the beautiful view of he mountains and the valley below.
After the short break, I started back up another short but steep ascent which opened up at the rock summit, affording some nice views. Although it was starting to rain, the humidity was still low enough to make out the Boston skyline, some 50 miles distant. Much closer was Mount Wachusett.
To the southeast was a flask summit which afforded better views and was already covered with hikers at 8:30 in the morning. Blood Hill in Ashby could be seen in the distance.
After taking off the pack I found the summit cairn as well as a granite marker with some sentiments about the mountain.
T
he grassy areas were covered with low bush blueberries, so I decided to forage for a while. All of a sudden there was a series of blood curdling scream from one of the trails just below the summit. I ran off to find a woman flat on her back, screaming in pain. Her dog had knocked her over and she thought she had a broken ankle. Her husband eventually helped her up and she hobbled off with the aid of a crutch fashioned from a downed tree limb. She probably got off with a sprained ankle, but I did not envy the pain she was going to experience on the very steep descent to the trailhead.
I headed back to where I had left my pack and came across two little girls who were picking blueberries with their parents to feast on; problem was, they weren't blueberries. They were very dark blue, almost black with red stems. I was afraid these might be Virginia Creeper berries so i pointed out a patch of blueberries to the parents and suggested they dump the berries they had gathered.
Setting out from the summit, I decided to return via the longer, but less steep route described earlier. Following the Wapack trail, I started down an access road but almost misses the left turnoff which the Wapack trail followed. After a about 10-15 minutes of descent, the trail started up again reaching the summit of Nutting Hill which was a series of granite ledges. I found a family there who were commenting on the disappointing views and were surprised when I told them they weren't on Mt. Watatic. I pulled out the trail map and pointed them in the right direction to get up the right mountain.
Just beyond the Nutting Hill summit, the Wapack trail took a right turn in its continuation up to Emmerson Hill in New Hampshire.
I Took the blue triangle blazed Midstate trail to the left and quickly descended down to route 119. The trail here is no steep, but very rocky, almost a washed out stream bed. I did spy some indian piped hiding against one of the rocks right in the middle of the trail.
Legend has it, these grow above the grave of a dead indian. In reality, they generally grow above a decaying beech log from which they derive their sustenance (no chlorophyll, hence the white color). After a further couple hundred feet, I was back at the original Wapack trail junction near the pond. The overall hike took less than three hours, even with side trips, picture taking and conversations with other hikers. A big thumbs up on this one.
