Monument Mountain

Saturday we braved the chilliness and what seemed like imminent thunder storms and headed over to Great Barrington, Massachusetts to hike Monument Mountain!  We lucked out because while it looked like it was going to rain all day it only sprinkled a few times throughout the hike!  I really wanted to get in at least one more hike before the cold weather really sets in and with the leaves changing I figured this would be a pretty hike - I was right!  If I could use one word to describe our hikes so far the one up Overlook Mountain would be 'steep' while Monument Mountain would be 'rocks'!  There were rocks the entire way up, at the summit and the entire way down.  The hike took about 2.5 hours round trip and was a good little workout.  This mountain also has historical significance - Nathanial Hawthorne and Herman Melville often hiked Monument Mountain and it was there, while caught in a storm that they sought shelter in a cave and had discussions and imagined stories that would later lead to the writing of Moby Dick.  Here are some pictures of the hike with narrative captions!

Pre-hike car ride ... I may have been a little bored.

At the base of Monument Mountain!

This way!

Inscribed rock about halfway to the peak - stating that this area was preserved so that all in the Berkshire's may enjoy it.

Awesome view from the (almost) summit.

Chilling at the top of a mountain.

After spending some time at the peak we hiked to Devil's Pupit!

Devil's Pulpit - we were HIGH!

Adam and Devil's Pulpit.

View!

After the hike we headed into Great Barrington for lunch and found an awesome cafe named Gypsy Joynts!  Their menu was INTENSE, a total hippie eatery with some serious charm.  We order some post hike beers (and water) and I looked at the menu for what seemed like forever trying to decide.  I ended up getting the 'Gonzo Burger' which was a 100% farm raised burger topped with veggie chili, sour cream and avocado on a homemade focaccia - it was delicious! 

Everything tastes better when served in a major jar!

BAM!  So much food - and so delicious!

After lunch we walked around Great Barrington, which is such a cute little town - hit up the local candy store and stopped in Stockbridge, Massachusetts - another cute walkable town, before heading back to Albany for the night!

Seen in Great Barrington - hahaha!

The hike was a lot of fun and I love exploring new towns and trying out different restaurants.  I'm already looking forward to next spring when we can start hiking again - but in the meantime it's time to gear up for cold weather, cross country skiing and snow shoeing season!