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RITBlake
10-18-2004, 04:59
has anybody thru hiked the Metacomet trail which runs from Meriden CT up in to NH? We're going to give it a shot over thanksgiving break

Sleepy the Arab
10-18-2004, 18:13
Check this thread out: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1873

UCONNMike
11-26-2004, 19:23
Blake and I didn't get to hike the Metacomet Trail in CT over break, cause i came down with mono and my doc told me I shouldn't sleep out in the cold. But it didn't stop me from going on a day hike. We hiked the first section of the Metacomet, and it was great. We hiked the first section which took us to Castle Craig and Ragged Mt. The trail was marked cleary with blue blazes, and we found it really fun to hike. It is a middle of the row as far as the level of difficulty, but the fact that it hasn't been done in full recently (to our knowledge) adds to the appeal. We plan on doing another day hike of the trail tomorrow, and are looking forward to spring as we plan to take another crack at hiking the 51 mile trail in full over a weekend. We will keep in touch on our future day hikes as well as our attempt of the whole thing.

cmr_hiker
06-03-2005, 13:08
has anybody thru hiked the Metacomet trail which runs from Meriden CT up in to NH? We're going to give it a shot over thanksgiving break
I planned a thru hike back a couple years ago. Had a tough time going with two ladies (then girlfriend and also a future roomate) anyways the southern part of the trail was pretty whack.

so rising corner to the big Y was fine. just a few redirections due to a new development of suburban houses. very fun easy going. no way to cross the river though. which led to a brutal summer road walk. actually this road walk eventually led to heat exhaustion. once we got to the Big Y it was nice in the refrigerator sections etc.after big y it turned into the local hangout. there was a quarry and some kids asked if we had goggles because they were swimmin in the quarry and the kids keys fell out of his pocket while they were diving in. at the sportsmans club there were redirections which meant we needed to follow orange survey tap tied to branches. this sectoin was pretty dry. the quarries had a lot of trash/beer cans from kids hiking to the top and having a party area. crossing the turnpike was easy, there is a tunnel. after rt 202 there was a spot where a mountain biker had driven off a cliff and passed away. it really didnt look like there would be such a sudden drop but there was. (this happened a few years before our trip) it was hot and overgrown. not a lot of trail maintenance in this section. A few nice sections but the trail isnt sweet until you get to holyoke. which is about 30 miles or so. im looking at my old guidebook. actually the guidebook (9th edition) was pretty horrible. lots of misinformation in it.

anyways this year im gonna pick it up from the mt holyoke house and go to monadnock. :sun

the trail doesnt look to end to end friendly at all. when we went years ago we actually saw one other person with a pack that started at holyoke. i will be taking some detailed notes on the 90 miles or so that i have left to do.

its unfortunate that this trail doesnt receive much attention. this is the only place ive even seen it mentioned in a forum as a long distance pathway. later on i plan on an LT shakedown for an 06 AT thru hike. anyways take care yall.!

cmr