The Mountain House and Old Mill sites

In the rural confines of the Town of Montgomery, once existed the Moore Mountain House (due note Mountain House Road). Atwater Moore had operated a whip shop along nearby Moose Meadow Brook. Establishment of the Westfield Reservoir eliminated the whip shop as well as other mills along Moose Meadow. On this day we covered all those sites, locating foundations, well sites, mill sluices and eventually following Moose Meadow Brook down to the Westfield Reservoir. After partially circumnavigating the Reservoir on a pretty indistinct trail, we were fed back out onto a woods road that would eventually take one down into Tekoa Mountain. However, our course lay back to the north towards our point of origin. Branching off into the woods a couple of times, a few old fountains were located. One (a probable school house) had an assortment of buried pottery and other artifacts.

Giving Thanks at Tekoa Park.

A beautiful late fall Thanksgiving morning brought me to the the borders of Westfield and Russell. Here lay Tekoa Park, an under used tract of public land I had seen marked on maps for many years. Thanks to our friends at the Hilltown Hikers, a blazed trail that followed much of a lot older trail can be used for access. A steep - but short - climb up a ridge will eventually take you to Hosmer Lookout. Several metal remnants remain, anchors to a tower that once existed. Sans foliage, there is an impressive view of majestic Tekoa Mountain across the Westfield River. Geologically, a possible old quarry site in the summit area and an old stone quarry site near the trailhead where one first enters the Park.

Chester. Oh, Chester!

Out in the wilds of Chester MA once again, is a lost burial site. A couple of previous attempts to find it by Hilltown Hikers had proved fruitless. With a larger group - and hopefully a bit more information - we descended near Chester Center The original center for the town pre railroad days.

A large tract of land was covered that constituted a pretty thorough search. But again, we left empty handed with three graves still hiding somewhere out there. As we parted ways with our noble hike leader Liz, several us us took off on our own exploring. Nearby was Hiram's Tomb so that was next on our agenda. We finished this trip with a visit to a quartz quarry right in Chester Center followed by the Center's cemetery. Here, one can find the parents of Hiram Smith (of Hiram's Tomb fame) resting away in a more conventional fashion.

School House Trail - Washington

Meeting once again with a small band of WMHH - or just the "Hilltown Hikers", as they like to use nowadays - we met on a back road in the sleepy little town of Washington. It was not far from our meet/hike on October 7th. We took the Schoolhouse Trail in a ways, seeing a town boundary marker and an old mill site. We were squeezed somewhat a bit for time this day, so a return was made via our route we had entered upon

All that is gneiss, may not be granite!

Good friend Gary had personal business down in Monson MA where his family had roots. I tagged along for the adventure, having explored the area several times in past years. While he attended to bushiness, I took a walk along the main road looking for any evidence of a rail line that once existed bring the famed Monson Granite (gneiss, really) down from a quarry to the rail line that still runs through town. Finding nothing, I returned and eventually set out with Gary to explore the cemetery and other features in the area.

Eventually we reached the site of the old quarry, mostly filled in, but conservation property presently. Hiking a few of the trails we did not definitively identify the old rail line site. We did see leftover blocks of stone from the old quarrying days and the area does provide an abundance of good hiking. Back at the entrance kiosk, a map was obtained that allowed a little more fruitful search for the rail line. So we moved our area slightly, located a good section of the old line route, and then headed out of town.

On the way home in Palmer we picked up an early dinner at a converted train station. Adjacent, is a site that once belonged to a Baptist church complete with a semi-underground grotto! The grotto had been filled in but now exists as a partially excavated project! The Turnpike was not far off and we we on our way home as the sun was now setting earlier and earlier.