Tully day 2

It was still dark when we woke (we had decided on an early start the night before).  After a delicious frosted raspberry Pop Tart, we broke camp and hit the trail.  We took the mountain bike trail that followed the other side of Long Pond.  I had never hiked this trail before, and was a bit skeptical due to the map showing the trail hugging a road for most of the way.  I was pleasantly surprised, when the trail remained an entirely clean single track with only one glimpse of the road.  

Now with our packs a few beers and a few meals lighter, we breezed through this mostly flat section of the trail.  About halfway along the pond, we stopped to admire the work of some beavers.

Shortly after passing these trees, we got to see and experience the resulting product of the beavers carpentry skills!! We came upon a flooded stream with a bridge halfway underwater!  Without a proper plan, Mozo attempted to cross the flooded section by stepping on the most irregular log he could find, which of course resulted in one waterlogged Mozo!!  After watching what not to do, I safely navigated the water hazard, and we continued on. 

This incident proved to be the curse of Tullys last stand!! From there on out, it was smooth hiking and a couple of miles later, the mountain bike trail made its way out to the Tullys half way point, were we retraced our steps from the day prior.

All in all, the Tully Redux proved to be a much more enjoyable hike than in years past with only a few hiccups along the way!  

Tully Trail Redux

 This past week, myself along with a buddy (Mozo), ventured off on the Tully trail in central MA.  The Tully is a 22 mile loop that encompasses a wide area with a vast landscape of terrain. I try to hike the Tully every year and turn it into an overnight backpacking trip staying at the Tully campground.  Now before I get into how the trip went, I have to tell you about the dreaded Tully curse!!  Before this week, I had hiked this trail 4 times, and each time something has gone wrong!! Amongst other things, I/we've had major equipment failures, whining hiking partners, and once ended up lost at some hillbillies shack, where I'm pretty sure the owners were admiring our pretty mouths!!  

On this trip, I plotted a slightly shorter "lollipop" loop, with a light pack load in hopes to break the Tully curse!  Here's how it went:

Sunday morning we parked at Royalston Falls and took the Tully southeast towards the campground.  Usually when we start, we take the western route, which is a 15 mile stretch, primarily made up of old logging roads, road walks, and now a major trail detour.  That section has proven to be miserable over the years. So I cut it out!!! CUZ I CAN!!!!!

So east we went.  About a half mile in we  came to the Royalston falls shelter, which is an adirondack style shelter for hikers of the Tully and the NET trails that intersect here.

Another third of a mile from here are Royalston falls.  The Falls are a beautiful booming cascade that fall into a deep ravine.

From the falls we followed along the ravine along a ridge above and eventually entered Royalston state forest.  Now for whatever reason, Royalston State Forest has always given the feeling that I'm being watched or hunted!!  The place is just strange and is also an exact clone of Endor from Return Of The Jedi (minus the Ewoks)!! We did come across some pretty big bear scat (fresh and loaded with berries) however we didn't run into anything and made rather quick work of the big scary forest! 

The next section was where the curse tried to strike.  At about the halfway mark, the trail follows a long and steady incline, that travels along high tension power lines.  We ascended the trail and after 10 feet, the trail disappeared into an overgrown almost impervious wall of thick vegetation.  With no trail visible, we bushwhacked for about a mile straight up hill!!! Now pardon my French, but this was a MOTHERFUCKER!!!!! Eventually we made it to the top and back to the trail which led us to the top of Jacobs hill (our lunch spot).

After lunch, we followed the Tully along a ridge and back down along the edge of Spirit Falls.  From the base of Spirit Falls, we made our way along Long pond and eventually to the campground.

Tully campground is a "walk in site" campground (no cars) maintained by the Trustees Of Reservations.  Upon arrival, we set up our tents, started a fire, threw on our dinner, and sat down to a few well deserved beers!  YOUR MOVE TULLY!