Mt. Frissell: The Top of Connecticut and More

Chris and me at the marker for the Connecticut-Massachusetts border near the trailhead

Once more in the northeast I had the pleasure of hiking a highpoint with my son, Chris.  I picked up Chris and Mollie after they arrived at Newark Airport from their return trip to Japan and Korea for a vacation; a story for another blog.  There was no rest for the weary, as we headed immediately from the airport to Boston where Mollie was due to begin training for her new job on Monday June 27th.  After nearly 24 hours of travel they still managed to be entertaining travel partners, staying awake the entire time and telling me about their trip.  When we arrived in Boston, I was the one who immediately collapsed into the bed at Chris's house.

At 6:00 the next morning bright sun was streaming through the window and the birds were chirping with the promise of mother natures' blessings.  Within an hour we were up and out, eating at a Cambridge greasy spoon and looking at maps on my iPhone to do the minuscule amount of planning that I did for this trip.  I contend that spontaneity, not variety is the spice of life.

About four hours later we arrived at the trailhead, parking in an AMC parking lot. Our journey was a verdant green movie flashing through the windows as we briefly stopped in Stockbridge to grab a cup of coffee and a trail snack in a hurry to get to Mt. Frissell, then sped past the beautiful, little surrounding Berkshire towns on our way to a little dirt road leading to our trailhead.  Were it not for the blessings of serendipity we probably would not have known where the trailhead really was located.  But fortunately there was a hiker in a nearby parking lot who set us in the right direction while lacing his boots for a hike.  God must have been with me that morning because I had the uncharacteristic urge to stop the car and ask for directions.  Likewise, it was a great blessing when we headed off on the trail we chose, in the wrong direction, that we encountered another hiker headed in the opposite direction who assured us that we needed to turn around 180 degrees if we were headed for Mt. Frissell.

Finally oriented in the vast, but finite space we call earth, we began to see the red markings that indicate the Mt. Frissell Trail.

While, I am sure that we reached the highpoint of Connecticut 2,380 feet, and the top of Mt. Frissell 2,453 feet, to this day I am uncertain about the exact distance and amount of climbing we did to get there.  It turns out that Connecticut's geographic highpoint is on the slope of Mt. Frissell and the summit of Frissell is in Massachusetts.  The highest mountain summit located within Connecticut, Bear Mountain is 50 feet lower than it's real geographic highpoint.  Connecticut's highest point is indicated by a pile of stones and a green marker on the slope of Mt. Frissell.  Got that???  It's pictured here...

The High Point of Connecticut

Yes, this is the top of Connecticut!

On the border of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts

Turns out that you can hike a bit farther along the trail and arrive at a monument marking the spot where the borders of Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York meet.  We were willing to pay the price of another few hundred feet of ups and downs to enjoy this quirky adventure.

Chris and I spent a great day together enjoying the beauty of the Berkshires before we headed back to NYC.