Hiking - Tully Mountain and Warner Hill, MA

On Saturday, we hiked with some friends to Warner Hill, a small summit on the Appalachian Trail east of Pittsfield, MA.  It's about a 3-mile section of the AT, for an out-and-back hike of a little over 6 miles.  We had to first pass over Tully Mountain, a flat summit with no view, but in general, the trail was well-worn and only gently rolling.  This was a good thing, given the high humidity as we hit the trail - we'd all be pretty worn out by the end of the day.

The most amazing thing about this trail section was the profusion of ferns.  According to the trail guide, the most common were spinulose wood ferns, not that I would ever know that or be able to identify them again.  They were everywhere, but especially in the open fields as we approached the summit of Warner Hill.

The summit had nice views to the north and west, with the Taconic Range and Mount Greylock being most prominent.  We could also see the spinning wind turbines at Jiminy Peak, near Hancock.

Taconic Range to the west

Mount Greylock in the far hazy distance

There was a nice breeze here, and virtually no bugs at all, so we had a leisurely lunch before retracing our route.  It seemed a lot longer heading back, probably because of the toll the humidity had taken on us earlier.  It was improving now, but the damage had been done.  The ice cream stop on the way home was definitely most welcome.