I decided against hitting the AT on my week vacation as planned, even though I could have with my tent as everything is still open except shelter camping and privy use. I knew the crowds would be too much. Instead I ended up spending 6 good days hiking with 4 nights camping on the more local New England Trail. Still some popular sections but few and it was easy to avoid people, everybody is really good with and respectful about keeping distance.

It's such a shame the more I find out and see what the NET (and other Blue Blazed CT hiking trails) used to do and to see old trail markings around cliff sections that are now routed around. A few examples I've found is the Tri Mountain peak and ledge it used to follow down to the road... Following Mt. Higby ridge down much further avoiding wet trail, following Lamentation Mt. ridge down further avoiding wet trail. The ridge walk past West Peak that was rerouted down to Edgewood Rd. in the 1990s is now totally hikeable but the trail still goes to Edgewood avoiding a beautiful ridge walk and shorter road walk. The Ragged Mountain/Wassel Reservoir are is a true shame what happened with the trail there, one of the nicest cliff walking sections in the state now avoided because of cliff jumping. The saddest part about it is that there is just as much if not more cliff jumping that goes on now as when the trail went through - so the hikers lose out and the cliff jumpers make out. The place is trashed 10 times worse now as when the trail went through as well.


The NET in MA is an even bigger shame. There are some really nice and big sections of the true/original M&M Trail (Metacomet-Monadnock Trail) that can still be hiked but could not be considered part of the NET because of property or whatever issues. I'm talking like 30-40 miles or more of the original M&M Trail that is now rerouted or a road walk when you follow the NET. There's a few parts where it's totally legal to hike the M&M Trail but theres a few mile road walk blazed around it for the NET, and a lot of people would never know. I would have never known about Mt. Craig - me and my buddy were about to do the road walk and then we just happened to walk by the guy who owns the house that you walk up his driveway briefly then hit the old M&M Trail to Mt. Craig and he was like "Hey you guys doing the trail? … make sure you follow the old route up my driveway to the right". He said some land owner is trying to get $$ and not allowing the NET over his property - but it's ok to hike it.


that's all for now but theres a lot more...