This weekend- 2 day overnight reverse loop to Mt. Greylock?

[jESQa]

Looking to do an overnight loop from North Adams, Rt 2 MA to Mount Greylock this weekend. Hike Full day Saturday, half day Sunday- does it make sense to do side trails Saturday since Rt 2 to summit is only 6 mi and we plan to camp at summit? We'd like to do 15-18 mi total. Starting at Rt 2 what about taking AT to Prospect Trail(or Money Brook) to Hopper Trail to AT (just south of summit) [or from Hopper to Overlook to AT]? What route would give us the mileage?

[rafe]

The one thing I haven't seen at Greylock summit is camping.

[Traveler]

Coming from the North there are a couple of options to use side trails, depending how energetic you are. The route you describe, AT/Prospect/Hopper/Overlook is a good one and probably about 10 or so miles. If you wanted some additional mileage and climbing, from the AT take Prospect down to Money Brook and follow MB west to the Haley Farm Trail and follow it south, that will bring you up to Stoney Ledge. Thats a really nice climb and should have nice color this weekend. From there you can follow Sperry Road to the Roaring Brook trail, to Overlook and summit. Thats probably in the 12 to 14 mile range, give or take.

Or... if you are feeling exceptionally fresh, take Sperry road to the CCC Dynamite Trail and follow that down to Jones Nose, turning north up JN to the AT and summit from there. If memory serves, thats probably a 17 - 18 mile trek (give or take) and may be what you are looking for. Sunday should be an easy day by comparison.

[tdoczi]

Rt 2 to summit is only 6 mi and we plan to camp at summit? We'd like to do 15-18 mi total.

go up, then down, then back up again?

sorry, couldnt resist.

[jESQa]

Coming from the North there are a couple of options to use side trails, depending how energetic you are. The route you describe, AT/Prospect/Hopper/Overlook is a good one and probably about 10 or so miles. If you wanted some additional mileage and climbing, from the AT take Prospect down to Money Brook and follow MB west to the Haley Farm Trail and follow it south, that will bring you up to Stoney Ledge. Thats a really nice climb and should have nice color this weekend. From there you can follow Sperry Road to the Roaring Brook trail, to Overlook and summit. Thats probably in the 12 to 14 mile range, give or take.

Or... if you are feeling exceptionally fresh, take Sperry road to the CCC Dynamite Trail and follow that down to Jones Nose, turning north up JN to the AT and summit from there. If memory serves, thats probably a 17 - 18 mile trek (give or take) and may be what you are looking for. Sunday should be an easy day by comparison.

Thanks Traveler- a few questions: when you say the route I proposed is 10 or so miles, I assume you mean one-way to summit? What is the level of difficulty of that route? The additional mileage you proposed (12-14 on saturday) seems like alot for beginners, would you agree? We'd like to do about 10 Saturday, and 6-8 on Sunday, of moderate difficulty.

[Traveler]

Thanks Traveler- a few questions: when you say the route I proposed is 10 or so miles, I assume you mean one-way to summit? What is the level of difficulty of that route? The additional mileage you proposed (12-14 on saturday) seems like alot for beginners, would you agree? We'd like to do about 10 Saturday, and 6-8 on Sunday, of moderate difficulty.

For something more suitable to beginners, the direct AT route to the summit may be the better choice, especially if you aren't used to a lot of elevation gain in a day. Its a solid 6 or so mile hike with about a 3,000 foot elevation gain to the summit. There is no camping on the summit, so unless you have reservations at Bascom Lodge you will need to hike down to one of a few camping areas. Camping areas are at Sperry Campground, Bellows Pipe Lean-to or Peck Brook lean-to, both are on the East side of the Mountain on side trails. The side trails are just off the summit and drop some elevation so Sunday will give you some climbing to get back to the AT and Rt 2. If you are thinking about campsites, you should call ahead for reservations. Some lean-to's are first come, but the campsites at Sperry can be reserved.

The route you cited AT/Prospect/Hopper/Overlook will be approximately 10 miles. The climbs aren't too bad in terms of difficulty but they can be long for beginners. My guess is it will be about 4,000 vertical feet to do that route, perhaps a few hundred more. Then once you summit you will have to descend to a camping area.